She Belongs To The Devil

It was almost 3 in the morning when Ariel and the others finished their conversations and finally went to sleep in their respective rooms.

Thus, when the maids came knocking on their doors at around 7 for breakfast, none of them showed any signs of waking up.

Osanna sighed in slight frustration and entered the room after excusing herself. "Ariel…" She shook the princess who was still deep in her sleep. "Wake up, Ariel. Everyone is waiting to have breakfast with you."

Ariel groaned and covered her face with the thin blanket. "Osanna, tell them I'm not hungry. I want to sleep a little longer."

"You're not in Wyverndale yet, dear! We have to leave for Wyverndale soon, remember?" Osanna leaned closer and tried to coerce the stubborn Princess. "You know your mother is waiting for you to come home soon. Are you going to keep her waiting?"

"Ugh! I'm up. I'm up." Ariel finally kicked the blanket off her body and sat straight on her bed.

Osanna helped Ariel in getting ready for the day.

A maid from the Aberdeen Palace guided Ariel to the beautiful garden where everyone was supposed to have breakfast. However, when she reached there, the only ones who were present were King Conall and her father.

'Am I too late or too early?' Ariel looked at the maid who had guided her in confusion.

The maid seemed to understand her concern. "I'm sure everyone else will join you shortly, Your Highness."

"Is that so? Thank you!" Ariel dismissed the maid and joined her father at the table. She then greeted both the men present there. "Good morning, Your Majesty. Good morning, Father."

Theodore, who was sipping his tea, coughed slightly upon hearing Ariel addressing him formally for the first time. "Good morning, Ary." He smiled, though he was sad on the inside thinking that his only daughter was growing up too fast. 'Is she going to stop calling me Dad? I was so sad when she suddenly stopped calling me Dada one day.'

"Good morning, Princess Ariel." King Conall offered the tray full of biscuits to Ariel.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Ariel picked a biscuit and dipped it in her tea, silently hoping the others would soon join the table.

As she had hoped, Damien and the other royals soon joined for the breakfast. The breakfast ended on a happy note, and right after that, those from Wyverndale were ready to head back home.

"Take care, Silvy." Nylah lovingly hugged her cousin, and so did Ramon. "We're going to miss you."

Silvia hid her teary eyes. "I'm going to miss you all too."

Zach smiled and ruffled Silvia's neatly tied hair. "Don't cry, munchkin. We will come visit you soon."

"I'm not crying!" Silvia landed a gentle punch on Zach's chest. Zach smiled and wrapped Silvia in a hug. Silvia also didn't resist, she rested her head on his chest and silently wiped her eyes on Zach's shirt.

At last, after bidding goodbyes to everyone, Theodore, Damien, and Ariel teleported to Wyverndale Palace along with the other people from Wyverndale, and their belongings. Within a matter of seconds, everyone appeared in front of the Queen's Court.

Ariel felt a huge sense of relief as soon as she opened her eyes and saw the familiar surroundings. She didn't realize how much the matter regarding everyone's safety was weighing at the back of her mind until she found everyone safe and sound inside the impenetrable barrier.

The maids and guards were slowly dispersing from the area with the belongings, and amidst the commotion, Ariel's eyes fell on the beautiful woman who came and stood still at the top of the stairs of the Court.

"Mom! I'm home." Ariel grinned and swiftly ran to embrace her mother. "I missed you so much, Mom." Even though it hadn't been that long since she last saw her mother, Ariel felt like they had been apart for several months, if not years.

"My baby! I missed you too." Adeline kissed Ariel's forehead several times, clearly relieved to see her daughter back in her arms, unharmed.

"I missed you too, wife." Theodore shamelessly joined the two, pulling them both into a tight embrace and almost suffocating them.

"Dad!" Ariel freed herself and frowned at her father. "Go on, suffocate your wife as much as you want," she retorted, earning laughs from those around.

Adeline also chuckled and focused her attention on the kids who were still standing at the base of the staircase. "Welcome home, everyone. I missed you all too." She then smiled at Damien, happy that he also decided to come back. "Damien, welcome back, dear."

"It's good to be back." Damien smiled brightly upon receiving the warm welcome.

"Theo, why don't you take the children to the meeting room and keep them busy while I finish the report I'm working on?" Adeline looked at her husband and asked for a favor. "I need to get an informal report about Romania and Brenalia from them, in case some issues need my immediate attention."

"Sure. Happy to be at your service, my Queen." Theodore kissed Adeline's cheek and led everyone to a large meeting room.

Upon hearing the news about the arrival of their children, Nigel and Rhea soon came to the Court to welcome their kids. Fenris and Nefriti also joined in soon after. Edwin and Juniper were eager to hear how their daughter was doing back at her home, so they also came to the Court. Raphael was also in the Palace, so he also joined in on the fun.

Adeline had thought that she could focus on her work, but she was wrong. It had been a while since she had last seen her niece and nephews. And she also didn't want to miss out on the fun stories, she knew it was fun because she could hear roars of laughter all the way in her workroom. So, she decided to put off her official work for the day and joined the family gathering.

"…and then Joy took us to see the capital. We ate lots of food and also bought gifts for you all." Ariel was happily sharing the story with everyone present in the room.

"Where's my present then?" Raphael looked at Ariel and held out his hand. "I hope you didn't forget your dear uncle."

Ariel shook her head and smiled. "It's in the luggage. I think Osanna took it back to my room. So, I will give it to you later."

"Okay, let's go then."

"Where?"

"To your quarter to get my gift," Raphael grinned.

Ariel clicked her tongue and teased her uncle, "Tsk… Tsk… You're so greedy."

"How am I greedy when I'm only asking for the gift that you got for me?"

Adeline cleared her throat to stop their squabble and asked everyone, "How about we go to the main dining hall? I've ordered the chefs to prepare brunch for us."

"That sounds nice, Aunty." Zach was the first one to agree and get up on his feet. "Let's go. I didn't eat much during breakfast because I had just woken up and didn't feel like eating. So, I'm starving right now."

"Alright then, let's go."

As they all were heading towards the main dining hall, Ariel caught up to her mother and relayed the issue that the ministers of Brenalia had brought to her attention during the meeting there. "Mom, the ministers of Brenalia had a request. They wanted you to grant the permission to set up storehouses for grains and produce in Paradise Edge."

"Hmm…" Adeline nodded her head. "I was thinking about that myself. I will have to talk to King Conall about this first since Paradise Edge is his territory. Thank you for telling this to me." She smiled at her daughter.

The two of them walked hand in hand, sharing some more information, until they reached the main dining hall.@@novelbin@@

Everyone settled down at the huge dining table. The moment the food was served, Zach and Damien started eating eagerly.

Damien closed his eyes and almost let out a moan when the steak melted in his mouth, instantly taking him down memory lane. "Was this prepared by the same chef who used to cook back when I used to come here often?" He couldn't help but ask after savoring the heavenly taste of the food.

"You can tell?" Ariel asked, surprised. "Yes, it's the same chef. He is getting old though."

Adeline had thought that Ariel would be upset after hearing Damien mention the past, reminding her of his notable disappearance. However, she was pleasantly surprised when Ariel showed no hint of displeasure or lingering resentment.

'She must have forgiven him by now,' Adeline thought and smiled to herself.

The family continued chatting while enjoying the food and drink.

Zach was starving, so he ate too much too fast and sat there quietly–taking deep breaths and listening to the others. However, it looked like he was itching to say something, but he wasn't saying it as if he was waiting for someone else to bring up that topic.

When no one brought up the topic he was eagerly waiting for, he lightly slammed the table, garnering everyone's attention, and then blurted out, "Why is no one talking about the most important things that happened during the trip?"

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"And what's that?" Adeline raised her brows, curious to listen to what her youngest nephew had to say.

Zach glared back and forth at Ramon and Ariel, and mumbled, "L-Love."