She Belongs To The Devil

After half an hour or so, Dragomir ordered the guards to take the luggage to Nigel\'s quarter and briefed his children, "I have prepared a family gathering tonight to welcome Nigel and his family."

"So there is a feast tonight!" Adeline gave an accusing look to Dragomir, to which he laughed and responded, "I wanted to keep it a secret to surprise you. And it was worth it to see you laughing."

"Yes, it was a nice surprise," Adeline replied like a pampered baby that she was while hugging her dear brother.

Dragomir then looked at Theodore and asked him, "Theodore, be there in the gathering, okay? You are already a part of this family now."

Theodore was nervous as well as excited at the same time. He felt very honored to have been invited to a family dinner and he accepted without thinking too much, "I will be there, father."

Dragomir then glanced at Nigel and Rhea and suggested, "You two must have been tired. Rest well and prepare for the family dinner tonight."

"Yes, father. Thank you for the warm welcome." Nigel gratefully bowed to his father. He was overwhelmed to hear about such a grand welcome dedicated to the four of them even when a tragedy had happened just yesterday.

And Nigel thought to himself with a sad smile on his face, "You sure know how to melt my heart, father. At this rate, going back to Aberdeen will be really hard."

He didn\'t know yet that it was going to be even harder.

---

As the light from the sun started to fade away, the light from the torches and lanterns started to take over. The whole Palace looked brighter than usual.

The maids and servants were busy preparing the grand dining hall which was seldom used. They set up around fifty sets of cutleries for the Royals. Dragomir\'s wives, concubines, children and their spouses, and grandchildren were going to gather and have dinner together.

King Dragomir was readying himself for the dinner.

He was wearing his grand clothes and was checking himself in the mirror. "I hope this will make me look good in the painting," he mumbled to himself.

When Dragomir had first planned tonight\'s family dinner, he had not thought that this would turn out to be the last family gathering that he would probably have.

And after knowing that his end was near, he wanted to immortalize one of his happiest moments with all of his family members. Thus, he had called a few painters to capture the gathering tonight.

"Are the painters here?" Dragomir asked his assistant who entered his room.

The assistant bowed and politely replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. They are already inside the grand hall and are preparing themselves."

"Good. And what about the others? Has everybody arrived in the hall?" Dragomir asked while getting ready to head out.

"Yes, Your Majesty. All of them are waiting for you."

"Let\'s go then." Dragomir walked ahead of his assistant. After walking in silence for about a minute, Dragomir asked his assistant, "Laurence, call the meeting of the council tomorrow, will you? I want to have my will written down."

Laurence\'s feet stopped for half a second when the King brought up the topic about his will out of nowhere. "I will, Your Majesty."

Laurence looked at his King from behind and he could tell that something was definitely up.

Dragomir was looking around the scenery of the Palace as though he was trying to imprint each and everything in his mind.

When he finally reached in front of the grand hall door, Dragomir took a moment to himself. He put on a smile on his face and asked the guards, "Don\'t announce my presence. Just open the door as silently as you can."

The guards were confused by that peculiar request from the King but they did what he asked. 

The moment the door opened, Dragomir could hear the chatter and laughter of his family. Everyone looked very cheerful and was talking and gossiping with each other. The twins were the star of the dinner as expected. They were being passed around as though they were the family\'s brand new toys.

The fake smile on Dragomir\'s face turned into a real one, and a very wide one at that. "I hope they will remain this happy even after my death. I hope no one will turn against their new Queen once I\'m gone."

"Father! Are you going to keep on standing there?" Adeline playfully waved at him and pointed to the seat at the head of the table. "I saved a seat for you," she jokingly said to her father with a bright smile.

Everyone in the room stood up and bowed their head when Dragomir entered the room. They waited for him to take his seat and when he gestured to everyone, they all sat back down in their respective chairs.

Dragomir looked at Nigel\'s family and happily welcomed them again, "I hope everyone got to meet the newest additions to our family. Nigel, Rhea, thank you for giving me those beautiful grandchildren. Circumstances had us apart but I am extremely happy that I got to see them."

Nigel and Rhea looked at each other and smiled. They were overjoyed to have received so much love from everyone.

Queen Claricia\'s happiness was incomparable to everyone else\'s. Their arrival added so much joy and sweetness to her dull life that she was full without even eating.

When the maids finished serving everyone in the hall, Dragomir said in a softer voice than usual, "Everyone, please enjoy the dinner. And feel free to eat and talk without any restrictions."

The moment Dragomir said so, Raphael raised his hand and asked while pointing at the painter behind him, "Your Majesty, is it really necessary to be watched by them while we eat? They are making me nervous."

Almost everyone in the hall burst into laughter, including Dragomir. Dragomir then answered his son who was pouting, "It is hard to gather all of you here, so I seized the opportunity. We might not get an opportunity like this again. So try not to focus your attention on them and just act natural, Raphael."

Only Theodore and Adeline understood the real meaning behind the King\'s seemingly normal sentence.

Adeline instantly looked down and tried to control herself from bursting into tears.

Theodore could sense the mental struggle that Adeline was having. So he placed his palm on her clenched fist under the table and gently patted as if to calm her down.

Adeline took a deep breath in and raised her head. She looked at her father and everyone around the table. Everyone was putting their differences and yesterday\'s trauma aside and were happily dining and laughing.

"If only this could last forever," she thought to herself while looking at her father.