The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 266: Mother-in-law

Chapter 266: Mother-in-law

Annalise wasn’t sure how she expected the Midnight Queen to react but she was surely taken aback when the latter suddenly burst out into a fit of laughter.

The time that her Mother-in-law took to calm down was enough to make Annalise get a headache from all the anxiety and nervousness she was feeling.

"Annalise..."

The sudden call of her name from the Midnight Queen pulled Annalise’s attention toward the woman and at the very same time, she felt her heart dropping in a deep pit.

"... come here and sit closer to me, child." The queen continued as a servant placed a chair right next to the Queen’s, at the head of the table.

Annalise’s quickly looked at her husbands one by one and once again she felt Valerius giving her fingers a light squeeze in reassurance.

"Come on, Princess, don’t make Mother wait, that’s a very impolite thing to do," Damien whispered the words next to her ear right before he stood up to make way for Annalise.

Despite the loss of energy that Annalise suddenly felt in her legs, she somehow succeeded in making her way to the chair specially placed for her. For a moment, she almost lost her balance and ended up on the floor if not for the hand that grabbed her arms at the right moment to steady her.

"I’m sorry, Your Majesty!" Annalise quickly apologized to the Queen as she pulled herself out of the latter’s hold and bowed in apology.

This time, the Queen stood up herself and dragged Annalise to sit on the chair which made the latter even more flustered but she didn’t dare to make a single sound and just followed the Queen’s silent order.

Once Annalise was in her seat, the Queen too returned to her chair before pouring a glass of wine and offering it to Annalise.

"Here, drink a little wine to help yourself calm down." The Queen said softly as she pushed the glass into Annalise’s hands who took it and with a little nod, emptied the whole content in one single take.

This time around, she was not the one panicking but it was actually her husbands who almost seemed to be ready to jump out of their chairs.

"Annalise, drink slowly." Came Valerius’ worried voice and Annalise even felt his hand coming to rest over her wrist as if he was ready to pull the glass out of her hands.

"Princess..." There was worry in Damien’s voice too and even though Kenric remained silent, Annalise felt his worry too through the bond.

Once Annalise was done drinking all the wine, she placed the empty glass on the table and her gaze immediately looked at Queen as if seeking her approval.

The Midnight Queen smiled as she brushed away a loose curl behind Annalise’s ear before taking hold of her hands in her own as she asked - "Are you feeling any better?"

Annalise wasn’t sure if it was because of the wine or from all the distractions her mind got in the last couple of seconds, but she indeed feeling slightly better. So, she nodded her head in affirmative in response to the Queen’s question.

"Good." The Queen appeared delighted as she softly patted the back of Annalise’s hands. "Now, there’s one thing I’ll like to tell you first and foremost... you can’t go around addressing me as ’Your Majesty’ as if we are strangers. Call me Mother from now on, no matter the place or occasion."

Annalise was surprised by the Queen’s words. Even if it was normal for her to call the Queen - mother behind the doors during family time, it was still a rule to address her as the Queen when in official meetings or gatherings. However, the Queen just told her to let go of that formality.

She felt the impulse to once again look at her husbands for their opinions but somehow stopped herself from doing so. After taking a few long moments to process the situation, she once again found herself nodding her head in the affirmative. "Yes... mother..."

The moment she said those two words, she immediately received approval from her mates through the bonds while the Midnight Queen also started clapping her hands in happiness.

"Let’s have another drink to memorate such an important moment of my daughter-in-law acknowledging me as her mother." The Queen suggested as she refilled the glasses with wine that had such a rich taste that Annalise felt her mouth watering immediately.

As soon as the Queen reached out for her own glass, Annalise too didn’t waste any time and grabbed hers, immediately bringing it to her mouth and gulping down the entire content in one single take.

When she put down the glass on the table for the second time and looked up at everyone, she found everyone’s attention focused on her. While some looked worried, others seemed amused.

"I... well... the wine... it tastes good..." She spoke out the words with her cheek burning in slight embarrassment.

The first one to chuckle was none other than Kenric who seemed to be really enjoying the moment.

Silence fell over the table as everyone sipped their wines. In the meantime, Valerius refilled her glass with wine as well.

"Drink slowly from now on. Don’t be in a hurry." He advised, or more likely ordered her.

Annalise nodded her head in understanding as she picked up the glass and took a little sip this time, savoring the rich and sweet taste of wine.

"I also wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for my sons’ behavior. They not only disappointed you by not appearing at the wedding but they also didn’t allow you to be a part of the bonding ceremonies. I will try to make up for all the losses in your final bonding ceremony with Kenric... if he didn’t mess up things just like his brothers."

The last sentence was undoubtedly directed at Kenric whose smile finally disappeared as he became the center of attention.

"Wait! Why am I involved? I completed the bonding ceremony back then to save her life." Damien complained from his seat next to Valerius.

The Midnight Queen totally ignored her son’s plea and it made Annalise amused. The more time she was spending with her Mother-in-law, the more she was starting to like her.

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