Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 323: Coming together

Chapter 323: Coming together

Inside the humongous banquet hall of the palace, the number of envoys from various kingdoms as well as nobles was astounding, the hall was abuzz with people laughing and talking.

As Ara and Hamon approached the hall, "His majesty and her majesty have arrived!" A loud voice announced their presence as the towering double doors were pushed opene for them.

The hall fell silent as all the pair of eyes shifted towards the entrance. Hamon and Ara soon appeared together. The king stood tall in his elegant black suit as he causally removed his over coat and handed it to the servants at the entrance, his silver hair was tied behind his back as usual, however it glistened under the chandelier lights. Beside him, the queen showed off her beautiful figure, which, were it not for her rounded stomach, was unbelievable for a pregnant woman.

Even her dress looked unique, none of the nobles had ever seen any dress made with fur before, and they all stared at her in wonderment. As the couple stepped inside the hall, the people spoke in a booming chorus, "Hail His majesty and her majesty!"

As the royal couple strode into the hall, everyone bowed their heads in respect. Ara looked around the hall as they made their way towards the high table, and she soon caught sight of Eadlin who stood beside Henry, she offered Ara a bright smile as their eyes met mid air.

Ara had already spent some time with the princess when Hamon brought her back a month ago and gave her back her title as a princess. However, Henry didn’t allow Eadlin to stay even for a night in the palace before he came and took her back to the Boxton mansion as if she would be eaten if left in the palace.

Ara’s eyes shifted to her brother who stood protectively beside his fiance. Who would have thought her stone aloof brother would one day find a woman to settle down with? Ara shook her head in disbelief.

Hamon and Ara soon reached the high table, they sat down and looked upon the people in the hall with pride.

Hamon addressed the guests in the hall in a loud voice, "Good evening to all of you, today is a joyous occasion to give names to our unborn children. Please enjoy yourself before the shaman arrives!"

It was a tradition known to everybody, although the parents of the child would pick the names, but when it comes to the royals, a shaman would need to confirm if the name was fit for the child before it was officially announced to the public. And again, the King had changed the tradition this time by having the ceremony before their child’s birth.

"Yes, your majesty!"

Hamon’s devotion to Ara had once been the widespread topic of rumors in society, but now there was no one on the continent that didn’t know how beloved his wife was to him. And as soon as he sat down, he immediately studied his wife next to him,

"Let me know if the crowd is bothering you, we can move to a more quiet place."

"No, I’m fine." Ara smiled at him in reassurance, and he stroked her cheek with his finger and smiled back. However, because Hamon hadn’t been in public often, and when he was, he always carried a strange overwhelming air around him, many people in the hall were surprised to see his smiling face, they had never seen such warm smile from the king before. The warmth in it caught several people’s breath away.

Despite Hamon’s doting concern, Ara felt very excited about the lavish banquet, and was also looking forward to announcing their babies names.

The head butler approached Hamon and Ara, then spoke quietly, "Your Majesty, should I start to present the gifts now?"

"Of course." Hamon muttered, and under the head butler’s direction, the guests began to step forward to present their gifts to Ara. The envoys of the neighboring kingdoms were the first to give their gifts.

"My sincere congratulations to you, your majesty. I here by present to you fresh Azura lemons of Greenwood, it helps to promote good health and safe delivery for pregnant women."

Ara’s eyes brightened up hearing the lemon of Greenwood, she’d missed it so much, it had a different taste from regular lemons in Findara, she couldn’t help but salivate at the thought of it’s sour and sweet taste. Back when she was a soldier in Greenwood, the Azura lemons were one of her favorites from all the fruits.

Ara composed herself and smiled warmly to the envoy of Greenwood before accepting the gift, "Thank you for your thoughtful gift."

Soon after the envoys finished representing their kingdoms with the gifts, the nobles began to step forward one after the other. Ara exchanged friendly words with a few of the guests before they returned to their position.

There were countless nobles who wanted to give her expensive presents and make an impression. After Ara had received over dozens of gifts, Mary, her friend and right hand lady approached.

"Your majesty!"

For the first time, Ara stood up from her seat and held out her hand towards her friend, "Mary, it’s been awhile. Oh, and congratulations, I heard your wedding is a month away, it’s nice you made it to the ceremony despite your wedding preparations."

Mary clasped her hands around Ara’s, "It’s nothing, your majesty. It’s an honor to be here, and I’m glad to see you again after a long time. I haven’t had the chance to come to the palace due to the preparations."

"Since your wedding will be before my delivery date, I’d be sure to attend, I can’t miss it for the world." Ara exclaimed excitedly. However, Mary’s throat thightened with emotions and her eyes filled with tears, because her wedding was close to Ara’s last month of pregnancy, however she couldn’t help but feel emotional for Ara’s willingness to attend.

"Your majesty, that is so nice of you. Thank you."

As Ara and Mary were speaking, three more women stepped up from behind Mary, it was princess Eadlin and Evangeline, the flower of society, as well as Emma, who had gone from being the head maid to being the king’s cousin now, she also had the title of a lady in the society and was starting to be known for her outstanding fashion designing skills.

The four women gathered around Ara and joined in the discussion of Mary’s up coming wedding.

"Your majesty, lady Cabrera’s wedding will be grand, she’ll be getting married to the infamous marquis Walter’s son, Fraden. He’s charming!"

"Yes. Oh, princess Eadlin’s wedding will also take place after her Majesty’s delivery, I can’t believe I’ll be the only single one among the circle." Evangeline pouted, and the other ladies laughed out loud at her expression, their laughter only drew more attention to them, causing several young maidens to look at the women in envy.

These four women were now Ara’s closest aides, and were the ones Ara opened her mind to at the palace. Ara smiled brightly and said, "I’m glad you all made it to the banquet today."

"Oh sweet heavens, how could we miss the ceremony." Evangeline remarked.

Eadlin presented a little jewelry box to Ara, she took it and opened it, reveling a red bracelet. Eadlin then said, "Sister-in-law, it’s a bracelet from the vermilion tribe, it will protect you on the day of your delivery. I hope you like it."

Ara’s eyes widened in astonishment, she had heard about the vermilion tribe bracelet for pregnant women, it was said to have the power to give energy to women during delivery, and also avoid the risk of possibly losing of life while giving birth, however it wasn’t easy to get one as it wasn’t easy to locate the vermilion tribe. Such valuable gift was priceless to Ara, she smiled,

"I like it so much, thank you Eadlin for your priceless gift."

"Wow, princess Eadlin, I’m curious, how did you get one of those?" Emma asked in bemusement.

Eadlin beamed, "Well, I had someone get it for me in advance." And that person was none other than Henry, who had gone for three days to find the vermilion tribe after Eadlin told him she wanted to gift the bracelet to her sister-in-law on this day.

Evangeline, standing next to Eadlin also held out a box, she opened it, revealing a neatly folded beautiful brown fur coat, "I personally travelled to the north to get this, I’m worried that the cold will harm you, so please use this when you go outside."

A coat personally picked by Evangeline, a fashion leader of the kingdom, was incomparable to anything sold in an ordinary clothing store. Ara smiled cheerfully as she accepted their gifts, "Thank you for all your wonderful gifts, I will cherish them all."

Mary, who had missed out on giving her gift because of the other three women’s arrival, hurriedly glanced sideways to signal her handmaid, "Your Majesty, this is what I’ve prepared." At her words, her handmaid stepped forward carrying two adorable colourful coats with little cats embroidered at the front.

Since Ara’s delivery date was still in winter, Mary’s gift brought a smile to Ara’s face, "Thank you for your thoughtful gift."

"Not at all, I’m very happy that her majesty is pleased with my gift." Mary scratched her nose and smiled innocently.

As Ara lingered for awhile around her friends, the head butler stepped forward to interrupt carefully, "Your Majesty, the rest of the guests are waiting to present their gifts to you, shall I tell them to wait?"

"I..." Ara was about to reply, but Hamon, who had been quietly watching his wife converse with the women with a soft expression, immediately spoke first, "That’s enough gift for today, my wife will take a break first. Leave the gifts that haven’t been received today."

The head butler nodded at Hamon’s order, "Yes, your majesty."

The number of gifts were far too many for Ara to accept alone in her condition anyway. Hamon turned to Ara and said, "You haven’t had time to spend with your friends lately, so go back to the palace and talk comfortably, you can come back after some time. I’ll handle things here."

Eadlin and Emma were already familiar with Hamon’s show of affection towards his wife, however it wasn’t the same for the Mary and Evangeline who seemed envious of Ara for receiving her husband’s care and careful consideration.

The two answered at the same time, "Thank you, your majesty."

However, Hamon’s eyes were still focused on Ara, he lightly stroked her cheek and spoke in a soft voice, "Make sure to have something to eat in the palace, don’t starve yourself because you’re trying to lose weight, you need food."

Ara quickly nodded, "I know." She pulled Evangeline who also pulled Eadlin’s hand, the ladies pulled each other out of the hall. Hamon simply shook his head in disbelief as he watched them pull each other out, at least she had people to care about her now, she wouldn’t be lonely when the time comes. He thought to himself.