In the large dining hall, King Valerie and Queen Lorelia were gathered together to have the morning breakfast, along with Prince Illay, who was elegantly seated opposite them. However, Xanthus's seat next to King Valerie was left empty since he was absent.
Mild knife-cutting noises from their breakfast platter were echoing inside the walls of the hall but apart from that, there was an oddly deaf silence persisting among the three. But a few times, Valerie darted his cold glance towards Xanthus's empty seat, with vague darkness in his gaze.
The serious ambiance made Lorelia and Illay extra cautious as they both didn't bother to initiate a conversation in their breakfast gathering. However, soon the silence broke with a soft knocking sound on the doors, and one of the door halves was pushed open inside.
