Chapter 883: Royal Family Dinner
"Luckily, I"ve managed to appease her... although I believe it will be a slightly unpleasant evening if you do not apologize to her. Thus the two of us will need to go down together, my son."
"Oh."
"Don"t oh me. It"s time for us to go down, Liam."
"Alright, Father." Julian nodded slowly.
It was already way past the time of his agreement to meet up with Rowena. There was no doubt that she would be worried about him, but they"d also made some plans in case something like this happened.
If Julian wasn"t able to return and meet up with Rowena within the week, then she was free to continue the journey on her own.
He was more than confident that Rowena would be fine.
Although he wished that he could return to her side, since Julian had no choice, he decided to follow the King of Verona and come with him for supper.
It was very strange to Julian that the king, the crown prince"s father, acted so normal like an ordinary commoner as they entered the dining hall.
Someone like Rowena"s father was really not the norm, or the King of Verona was just an extraordinary father and husband.
He seemed wise, doting of his son, and also very kind. It really made Julian sad.
If he actually met his real parents, would his father be someone like the King of Verona?
"King Xander and Prince Liam have entered the dining hall." a servant announced their presence as they stepped inside.
There was a long banquet table filled with a bountiful feast fit for more than three people, but the table was only set for three.
As the King of Verona said earlier, his wife, the queen did look annoyed to see her son.
"Liam." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Greetings, mother," Julian said with a small bow and took a seat on the opposite side of her.
"What"s the matter, Liam?" the queen asked. "You usually sit by my side."
Julian stared at the woman who was the crown prince"s mother and felt a wave of anxiety stab him in the gut.
Was it true that a mother knew her son better than anyone else? The gaze that the older woman gave him was precisely similar to that of someone suspecting him.
"A-ah, sorry mother." Julian faked a cough and looked away. "I am actually feeling unwell and I did not wish for you to catch what I have."
The queen"s gaze narrowed at Julian. Her son somehow looked different today. What was it… she couldn"t pinpoint.
Maybe what made the queen feel as if she wasn"t facing her son was the way her son addressed her, there was no affection in his tone.
The Crown Prince Liam was doted upon by his mother, but now he was distant.
>"Cough.. cough…" Julian continued his acting and coughed more violently.
When she saw him coughing again, the queen knitted her brows and thought she was overthinking. Who else could this young man be if not her son? Just look at how much he was the spitting image of her husband who was sitting beside him.
"Liam" might act differently because he was really feeling unwell. The lingering suspicion in her face faded when she nodded curtly. "Very well, this is why I do not like you going out. Who knows what diseases you could pick up from the common folk?"
"What"s the foul mood for, my queen?" The king asked. "Liam, you should still apologize to your mother, you know?"
"Yes, I"m sorry for leaving… I just couldn"t help myself," Julian said.
"I forgive you, my son. Let"s just have a meal together as a family," The queen said. "The cooks has prepared your favorite, b.u.t.tered oysters."
Julian"s eyes widened. Since he grew up with the Marlowe family who were farmers, he didn"t actually get used to seafood. He tried oysters once after they landed in Kilshade. It was… ew. He actually developed some rash afterward. He had promised himself to never eat oysters again.
However, it seemed oysters were Prince Liam"s favorite dish. What should he do?
If he rejected it, his cover would be blown and he could already imagine his head on the guillotine.
He faked a grin and knew he needed to eat and pretend like he enjoyed the food. Which was going to be a pain.
Julian had the eyes of Prince Liam"s entire family on him.
Speaking about Prince Liam of Verona. Where exactly was this prince anyway? Julian hoped the guy didn"t just suddenly appear at the palace"s doorsteps.
That would really spell a disaster if that were to occur.
However, if Julian was here, then he wondered where the actual prince was. The person surely didn"t escape the Verona as Rowena did with Ashland, did he?
Even though the queen seemed frightening, the king appeared to be a good father so Julian really didn"t understand why someone like Prince Liam would run away in the first place.
Compared to Rowena, Prince Liam"s circ.u.mstances didn"t seem that bad at all… and it made Julian feel jealous.
Not everyone had such an opportunity to not only be born as royalty but to have good and caring parents as well.
"This person doesn"t understand how good his life is," Julian said underneath his breath.
"What are you mumbling over there, Liam?" the queen said. "You haven"t been touching your food at all."
Julian soon forced himself to eat the oysters and tried not to gag as he ate them.
He didn"t understand how anybody could like such a slimy type of food. Gosh... he hoped he could immedi
ately excuse himself after dinner so he could hide the fact that those oysters gave him rash.
"Is it not good?" The queen raised an eyebrow when she saw Julian barely touch his food. Maybe his appet.i.te was gone because of his being unwell.
His response confirmed her suspicions.
"I don"t have an appet.i.te, mother," Julian lied. Actually, he was really hungry. So, he had been munching on the bread but try to avoid the seafood. He had eaten only two oysters and already felt awful.
"Just eat a little bit more. Otherwise, you can"t sleep because you are hungry."
Julian had no choice but to take more.