The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 234: An Uninvited Guest

Chapter 234: An Uninvited Guest

"My Lady, you should not worry about anything. We won’t give you a single chance to complain about our performance." Mr. Warren reassured Annalise as he guided Garron and the others to arrange the lanterns around the garden and the walkway.

A deep sigh escaped Annalise’s lips as she turned her attention to the women who were busy arranging the stone table in the garden. They had covered it with a silk cloth, and a vase full of beautiful flowers was sitting in the middle of it. Now, they were arranging the seats.

Everyone had woken up early this morning to prepare the entire castle for her parents’ first-ever visit. They had already cleaned the entire castle and even prepared a room for her parents.

Aunt Claire, Sera, and Leela were busy in the kitchen as they prepared a light breakfast for everyone and Marley was supervising them as the dragon shifter had been smitten by Aunt Claire’s cooking skills.

Crown Prince Elijah, Ezra, and Kenric were sitting around the table under the willow tree in the far corner of the front garden as they discussed something.

She hadn’t seen Valerius since she woke up and she couldn’t even feel his presence in the castle. When she asked Kenric about the first dark lord’s whereabouts, she was only told that he would be back before breakfast time.

As for Damien...

"Missing me, Princess?" The familiar voice greeted her right before a powerful muscular arm slid around her waist, coming to rest against her belly before she found herself engulfed in a warm back hug.

"What made you so confident?" She asked in a teasing tone as she allowed her body to fall a giant his firm chest, trusting her soulmate to keep her from falling on the hard ground.

Damien just chuckled in response before he placed a soft feathery kiss against her temple and then rested his face against the side of her head. "Look, even the castle seems to be waiting for your parents’ arrival. Also as if it has gotten ready to welcome them."

Annalise couldn’t disagree with Damien’s words as she too had the same thought when she took a look around the castle. Somehow, the place looked even more beautiful than usual. The walls appeared clearer, along with the floors and ceilings. The old paintings, portraits, and vases were also carrying a brightness to them. The vines appeared to be filled with a light of life and the castle was filled with the morning sunlight that just made everything appear even more beautiful.

Besides, the servants had also done a great job in decorating the castle with new curtains, rugs, couch covers, vases, paintings, lanterns, candles, aroma lamps, and other decorative objects.

The outside of the castle was looking just as good as the inside. It seemed like the Cursed Castle had completely transformed into a new place. The garden was filled with beautiful flowers and green shrubs that were designed beautifully by Mr. Warren. The pavilion was covered in vines and flowers, and the fountain was looking absolutely wonderful.

The place that she saw on her very first arrival was nothing like what she was wrong right at that moment. The previous Cursed Castle carried an aura filled with darkness, destruction, abandonment, and loneliness. However, its current aura screamed royal, elegant, beautiful, grand, and powerful.

"Well, it’s my parents we are talking about. The castle sure understands just how important today’s guests are." Annalise stated but couldn’t conceal the smile that spilled on her lips as soon as she finished speaking.

"Really?" Damien was sure in a good enough mood to play along with her. "If that’s the case, shouldn’t you compliment our house?"

"Should I? But how?" Annalise was really serious when she asked the question and turned to look at her husband as she turned in his arms to face him with her questioning eyes fixed on his handsome face.

"I’m sure you will be able to think of something good enough." Damien quickly stated before he placed another kiss on her forehead and then scurried away before she could have asked him anything more.

Letting out a sigh, she turned her attention back to the female servants and noticed them heading back inside the castle. Since she had nothing better to do, she too followed behind them to help with the preparation before her parents’ arrival.

*****

Annalise stood next to Valerius with Kenric standing on her other side and Damien right beside him. Crown Prince Elijah, Ezra, Marley, and Leela were standing next to them too and behind them stood all the servants as they all waited for the arrival of their guests.

"Why are you nervous?" Valerius asked in a whisper all the while keeping his gaze fixed on the dirt road leading into the forest and down the mountain toward the Capital City. He probably picked on her emotions through their bond.

"I think I’m more excited than nervous." She replied as clutched and unclutched her fingers into little tight fists. Despite her attention fixed on the road ahead, she noticed as Valerius turned his attention on her and she didn’t need to look at his face to know that he wasn’t least bit convinced by her answer.

"They are your parents, you should only be excited to see them." The first dark lord reminded her as he gave her a small pat on her shoulder before pulling away.

Their conversation ended there as they finally heard the sound of horses and carriages making their way toward the castle. It took a couple of moments before they all got to see the caravan of royal guards heading straight to the castle.

"Wait, what are the royal guards doing here?" The one who raised the question was Aunt Claire as she immediately realized that the guards didn’t belong to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

"Stars!" Annalise almost let out a long deep sigh as she finally realized exactly what was going on right when her gaze met the familiar sight of the King’s royal carriage. "What is he doing here?" She asked right before she noticed her parents’ carriage following right behind the King’s.

Kenric nudged her with his elbow from beside her as if to remind her that she wasn’t supposed to talk about the King with such an attitude. Since she was in the wrong, to begin with, she didn’t protest and just focused her attention on their uninvited and invited guests.

The convoy stopped right in front of their high iron gates and her parents were the first ones to step out of their carriage before her father went next to the King’s carriage and called to him, only then did the Majesty decide to climb out of his royal carriage.

The servants kneeled down on the ground to bow to the king while the others bowed formally to greet the King and Annalise’s parents.

"No need for being so formal. We all are a part of a family here and there are no outsiders. Let’s be at ease, everyone." The King announced as he along with the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess approached Annalise and her husbands.

"Mother, Father." Annalise greeted her parents again with her husbands and was answered by a sweet and warm hug from her mother and a head pat from her father.

Once the greetings ended, they all made their way inside the castle. Since it was a nice sunny day in mid-fall with a light cold breeze blowing, they all decided to settle down in the front garden while servants moved to serve refreshments under Leela and Marley’s supervision.

"This place looks nothing like what we saw the day we came here to offer an alliance with the dark lords. It seemed to have transformed into a completely new place and a beautiful one too." The King praised as his gaze moved all around the academy and he took in the beauty of the place.

"Right. I noticed it too, I mean it’s impossible to not notice such a big change in this place." The Grand Duke added as he took a proper long look at the surroundings.

Annalise noticed Kenric looking at her with a knowing smile on his face and she had to try her best to not smile in return.

"All these past couple of months, I keep hearing things about just bad this place and the thr..." The Grand Duchess suddenly trailed off as her gaze landed on her daughter’s husbands but then taking a deep breath, she continued - "... and the three dark lords. It kept me awake at night and gained me during the day as I can’t make myself believe that I actually pushed my daughter into such a dark misery filled life."

Her gaze landed on Annalise for a few seconds before once again moving on the dark horse as she finished with a warm and sincere smile - "But I can finally be at ease as I can see the truth with my very own eyes and not from other people’s mouths."

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