This was the first accident in the Central Storage since Kasser ascended the throne. He knew his presence was vital to Central Storage, so he changed his mind and decided to go.

The Central Storage, half a day’s walk from the capital, was the largest treasure house in the kingdom. High-class blue seeds were found only in the Central Storage.

Once the seeds were harvested, they went through the Central Storage first before being transferred to their respective storages. These smaller storages were closer to the supply compared to the Central Storage.

As such, the management of Central Storage was stricter than anywhere else in the kingdom. Even the smallest accidents could pose such difficult risks to overcome. If these were not addressed immediately, there would be a disaster for the whole kingdom.

With rapid strides, Kasser walked past the chamberlain, the man scrambled to follow him out.

“Bring me my sword.” He commanded. 

The chamberlain gestured towards a servant to do so.

“Right away, Your Majesty!”

“Send for the general right now. Tell him to come to the chancellor’s residence.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

There were many thoughts rushing in his mind right now as he stalked down the hall. He was anxious to leave the palace, more so as many things seemed to have sprung out of thin air. Should Larks appear while he was away, the damage would be unthinkable.

It was fortunate that there was still a cease after they had just dealt with them recently.

We’re still fine for now. He thought, but still, he couldn’t shake off his anxiety.

There was something different in the active period right now. The massive Lark Army, in the beginning, was just the start.

I must send for reinforcement to Lester to secure the walls.

As he left the palace, he couldn’t help but think about the people he was leaving behind. And at the forefront of his mind, he wondered how the queen would fare in his absence…

Just the thought of leaving her made him feel weak. His steps slowed down, thinking about the tortured and worried expression of his people should an attack ensue as they lose hope surviving until tomorrow…

Jin was an Anika, and therefore safe from any attack of the Larks, but she’d be the only one.

But surely it isn’t just the Larks I would have to worry about.

Anything that could go wrong might go wrong indeed. He could wind up hurt if a building were to collapse on him during Larks’ attack, or end up traumatized by the distress he would be exposed to upon witnessing his people dying helplessly around him…

“Chamberlain.” He paused in his steps as the chamberlain skidded to a stop beside him. “Should a signal go off, and I’ve yet to return, I want you to take the queen to the undergrounds without delay.” He commanded a bit more harshly than he had intended, making the chamberlain flinch, but he eventually nodded.

“Of course, Your Majesty. As you wish.”

Immediately, he quickened his steps once again as he finally left for the emergency.

Alone in the office, once the king left in urgency, Marianne couldn’t help but smile bitterly at herself. It wasn’t that she was disappointed because the king always placed the kingdom above his own needs, she was proud of him for that, but rather the fact it had become second nature for him to disregard his own wants for the sake of the kingdom.

Always, always whenever she’d tried to bring up an important discussion with the king, an emergency would arise. It was like the universe was conspiring against her.

She couldn’t help but at times look at the king through a mother’s eyes, instead of a servant’s. Despite her position of being unable to say anything in regard to how the king did his job, she couldn’t deny that she had raised him, took care of him when he was young as if he were her own son.

She watched him stumble and fall, and become the king he was today, a man of great achievements and honor. She couldn’t help but be proud of him, but also sad for him. She had hoped, in her many years of guiding him, that one day he would find true happiness. That he would find the time to find it.

He’s always put it off some… no, most of the time. And that’s what worries me the most, she mused to herself.

She then remembered the queen, no more than a shell of her past, left with nothing but a murky memory of who she was…

It didn’t matter how hard she tried to support him, she couldn’t help but wonder if her love was even enough to fill the gap of a mother’s in the king’s life.

In Kasser’s youth, he’d learned to keep his thoughts to himself. Growing up earlier than the rest of his peers, not a complaint was heard from him. Marianne couldn’t begin to fathom the loneliness he must have felt through all those years.

Years of solitude, one that could never be filled, acknowledged or even revealed.

Most had begun to already think that perhaps this time, the king and queen would be the first to break the jinx that every royal couple the kingdom had had. However, the anxiousness remained with Marianne…

The queen has been acting strange since yesterday.

It seems, after all, there’s a new problem at hand.