Demonic Lycan's Royal Consort

Chapter 20 : Royal Dinner

As a royal descendant, she was required to participate in special training. The first class she had that day was archery.

People may wonder, why would vampires who possessed innate strength capable of smashing elephants into pieces needed to learn such an inefficient thing.

The answer was that, for the preservation of their life. Every single second on the battlefield decided life and death. In case the power within their body was overdrawn, they could only remain to be a sitting duck then. If a vampire could also incorporate their force into the arrows, the result would be even better.

Irene was calm as she held the bow in her hand. She had just launched an arrow but was missing the target. Lowering her eyes slightly, the long silky hair covered a part of her face, making her expression unreadable.

This ground was available for high-ranking nobles’ descendants as well. Celosia strode forward beside her, the breeze knocking her strand of hair gently.

Arrogantly, the daughter of the duke nocked an arrow to the bow, pulling it with great concentration, aiming at the target far ahead, more than four hundred meters, then she released it. In an instant, the arrow hit the target straight in the middle.

“I hope that the Princess has seen it and gained some insight.” She turned her body, facing the silent Irene.

“Oh, what?” Indifferently, she lifted her head, as if realizing that Celosia was there. Nonchalantly, she added. “Didn’t see it.”

She spun her body, placing the arrow down, completely ignoring the fuming Celosia.

“Princess, I am sorry that I am not good enough to teach you.” She began to say weakly, attracting the gazes of a few nobles near them. “I just saw that you seem to have difficulty and just wanted to give a little demonstration."

She was playing a pitiful game? In an instant, the people around them seemed to be showing distress after listening to her words. Although the gazes were discreet, the emotions covering their faces when looking at her weren’t one of appreciation either. Instead, they tended to have a hint of blame and accusation.

However, how would Irene care about noble ladies’ little schemes like that?

“Glad that you know.” She lazily responded to her little declaration, the pair of eyes swept over the shrinking noble sons and daughters, who avoided eye contact with her. Inwardly shaking her head, she went to the palace with thoughts filling her mind.

Her hand actually hurt.

It meant that the unscrupulous man she encountered before wasn’t a simple figure. She just wasn’t sure what his purpose was. There was difficulty in moving her fingers as if they had been paralyzed.

This kind of strain and soreness could only be recovered through time. The ball of energy would unravel by itself, thus disappearing, as long as she didn’t force herself to do too strenuous exercise.

A maid hesitantly walked up to her and whispered. The content caused Irene to curl her lips slightly.

It was an invitation to dinner with the king and other members of the royal family. Nodding at the palace maid, she dismissed her. “I see. You can go.”

The room prepared for her was still the same as last time. Although she rarely occupied it, the palace maids were still responsible for cleaning it up. When she entered the room, it was spotless that there wasn’t any dust visible.

She took a quick shower, and changed into her usual dress; a black dress with an intricate red rose attached to the shoulder. Her mind wandered slightly to see what kind of family dinner it was.

After all, the intervals between drinking blood to replenish energy were longer for vampires compared to how often humans need to eat to keep themselves alive.

If vampires went on hunger strikes for a long time, they wouldn’t die. Similar to a robot without electricity, they would be in slumber until someone woke them up. However, this kind of vampire would usually go feral and their thirst for blood was devastating.

“Your Highness, this way, please.” When she opened the door, there was already a maid waiting.

With her silence acquiesce, the palace maid led her toward the dining hall. The guard announced her arrival, then stepped on each side to give her way.

As she entered the dining hall, the king had already arrived along with the queens. There was also Queen Lamia, whose complexion has gotten better. She enthusiastically called her to sit beside her, ignoring Edmund who had just taken a step into the room.

“Sit here, Irene.” She motioned to the seat beside her.

Among the people who had arrived, she had the best impression of Queen Lamia, so she didn’t hesitate to take a seat beside her. Queen Lamia nodded with satisfaction when she saw Irene sitting next to her.

Other princes also arrived, even Draven, whom she rarely saw the figure of. They took a seat beside their own mother queens. When Kairos saw that Irene was sitting quietly so close to Queen Lamia, his gaze stopped in her direction a few seconds longer. Then, he walked in her direction.

“Irene, it’s been a while.” Suddenly, a breeze blew on his face, and in a blink of an eye, Edmund already took an empty seat beside Irene.

Kairos paused, then decided to take a seat beside his younger royal brother.

After Stelian entered the dining hall and took a seat beside his queen mother, the member of the royal family was complete.

Irene involuntarily glanced at the only empty seat remaining, so fleeting that none noticed. The dinner, which consisted of only the heart of spiritual beasts and blood, commenced.

“Irene, how’s Blackcourt City?” The king suddenly asked. During dinner time, he seemed to have lost the oppressive demeanor of a king, the aura in his body seemed warmer and much more approachable. This kind of gathering wasn’t held often, only occasionally according to the king’s mood.

“It’s good, Your Majesty.” She politely replied. However, thinking that it was too perfunctory, she added. “We have decided to strengthen the defense to ward off more beasts accidentally entering the city.”

King Darien nodded at her words, seemingly in approval. Whether it was merely a formality or not, she didn’t care much. However, Queen Izora hurriedly said to her, “It’s been some time, the matters in Blackcourt City should have been finished, right?”

Slightly confused, she still nodded.

“Then, how about spending a few days in the palace?” She quickly got to the point.

Irene was a bit startled. Seeing her hesitant look, Queen Alvira explained further. “You haven’t met your study companion yet, she will come to the palace within a few days.”

Her eyes flashed. All doubts disappeared and she obediently nodded. “Thank you, Your Majesty. This subject is willing to stay in the palace to wait for her study companion.”

She didn't give too much thought to the matter regarding the study companion, as long as the study companion never interfere with her decision.

The atmosphere was neither cold nor warm, but Irene still inadvertently remembered that sight of dinner in a human household. It was a family of four, the parents and two children. She just accidentally saw such a scene, which caused her to be confused and in a daze at that time.

Such a memory had been buried deep inside the corner of her recollection. She didn’t know why she remembered it again. Perhaps it was the contrast between that human household and the royal family. That human’s house was lit with a lamp so bright, meanwhile, in this dining hall, there were only lamps farther away from each other, unable to thoroughly illuminate the whole spacious room.

It was somehow in line with her imagination before that vampires lived in gloomy castles.

Nevertheless, dinner had gone smoothly. The heart of the spiritual beasts were top-quality goods, and they were rare. For Irene, even though she was unable to remember where she had experienced it, she seemed to sense a familiar sensation. The blood was also nourishing, the purer version of the one she had seen delivered to Queen Lamia.

Speaking of Queen Lamia, she was glad that she showed signs of improvement. The unnatural paleness had been reduced so that she no longer looked like an anorexic corpse.

The dinner lasted for an hour and a half. The king had inquired all of his daughter and sons about their activities. Perhaps, the affection in the royal family was only limited to this. Irene suddenly had such a bitter thought crossing her mind.

After the dinner was concluded, she didn’t linger in the dining hall. With quick but graceful steps, she walked out behind the king. Noticing her presence, Queen Lamia glanced back at her and said, “You should visit the palace more often.”

Such a request made her stiff all of a sudden. With a somewhat rigid expression, she only gave a polite reply. “Thank you, Your Majesty. If there’s time, I will visit the palace again.”

A king’s thoughts were unpredictable. When she said these words, King Darien glanced at Queen Lamia, then at her briefly.

The guards and a few palace maids escorted the king to his resting chamber. Stelian had left with Queen Alvira, and the other princes also went somewhere. There were only Queen Izora and Queen Lamia left.

The two queens seemed to have teamed up persuading her to go with them, which was an offer she couldn’t refuse. Thus, she was brought by them to a place she didn’t know about—not that she was familiar with the royal palace.

“Sit, Irene.” Feeling confused and at a loss, she glanced at where the two queens were going and her pupils abruptly constricted.