Chapter 22 - The Banquet Pt. 4

The first thing that popped into Lilith’s head was that he was the noble that had the affair with the Queen, Harvey Dunton. It was a far stretch, but researchers speculated that Queen Nora started her relationship sometime in early 1816. It was early 1816. He could have been that person. Or maybe he was someone that was reporting to the Queen on the work that she was doing. Whatever the case was, it definitely was none of Lilith’s business and not what she was focused on right now.

As Lilith neared the Queen she wondered if she could ask her for directions to the kitchen but after remembering how she acted towards her in the banquet hall, Lilith would probably be told that she was useless, and not the directions to the kitchen.

The Queen stood with her back facing Lilith, she was focused on a bouquet of flowers that rested on a little table. Since she seemed to be in deep thought, Lilith walked by her silently, but she guessed it was not quite enough because Nora raised her head and suddenly turned around.

With her hand on her hip and slight sway in her step, she looked at Lilith.

“Your Highness,” Lilith bowed to greet her.

“Where are you off to? Has my son sent you to do something?” she asked strictly.

“Yes, His Grace has sent me to get him some fruits,” Lilith replied.

“Fruits? After eating so little?”

“He must not be feeling the best, Your Highness. His Grace has requested fruits because it is likely to be easier on the stomach.”

Nora clicked her tongue and swept her dress to the side, approaching Lilith. “And where do you suppose you will find these fruits?”

Lilith glanced up for a moment. “The kitchen, Your Majesty.”

“Hmph,” Nora smiled. “This is the royal palace, and you think we store food in the kitchen. Such is the mind of a simple servant.”

“Ahh, apologies for my mistake, Your Highness.” Lilith bowed slightly.

“Come, I will show you where to get the fruits. I cannot have my son starve because of one person’s insolence.” Nora turned on her heels and walked down the hallway.

Lilith simply followed behind her. The two weaved through many corridors and then after a while arrived at a simple unassuming wooden door in an unassuming hallway. It was impressive how people knew where they were at all times and how to get from place to place.

“Why are you just standing there, open the door.” she almost snapped.

“Yes, of course, Your Highness.”

How could she think that the Queen was going to open the door? Lilith’s cheeks burned as she entered the room. She laid her eyes on shelves upon shelves of produce. A storage room! Of course. They also had one back in the manor. Why hadn’t Lilith thought about that? Maybe it was because she kept all of her fruits in her apartment in the kitchen.

At the thought of her apartment, Lilith’s stopped. Her apartment. Her home. She missed her home. She missed her things. She missed her bed, her pillow. Her couch, where she would curl up and watch all of her shows. She missed-

“Have you gone blind?” The Queen brought her out of her thoughts rather harshly. “The fruits are right in front of your face.”

Lilith sniffled, collecting herself. She had to remember where she was and what she needed to do. Now was not the time for self-pity.

“Right, the fruits for His Grace.”

Quickly, she scanned the shelves and came across some boxes of fruit. Keeping it out in boxes like this would make them go bad quickly. Lilith always ate her fruits quickly so she was able to keep them in a bowl on her counter. But she still had some in her fridge. Like berries, kiwi and watermelon.

Taking down the boxes, Lilith collected some apples, pears, strawberries, and grapes. Since she was in the storage area, the kitchen should be close by and so next Lilith found the kitchen, with the help of the Queen, and she washed, cut, and placed the fruits all in a bowl for the Duke.

The entire time, the Queen was over her shoulder making the most unnecessary comments about the way she prepared the food for Raymond. But since she was used to living on her own, Lilith was confident in her abilities to make things like a fruit salad. That was the most basic thing someone should know how to do, next to frying an egg.

Once Lilith made it back to the banquet hall, she was even more exhausted. She would have loved to beg Raymond to leave but he needed to spend time with his father. She could not take away one of the last times they would have together.

Raymond frowned when he saw Lilith enter the room after his mother. Had they been together? What did his mother say to her? He could see Lilith’s expression, she looked tired.

“What happened?” he whispered to Lilith as she put the bowl in front of him.

“Her Highness just wanted to make sure that I was adequate enough to prepare this for you, nothing major at all, Your Grace.” Lilith smiled at him.

“You call me ‘Your Grace’ a lot more now.” he kept his voice low.

“In the presence of the great King, how could I not address his son with his proper title.”

“This is my first time hearing you call me that so frequently.” he picked up a clean fork from the table and stabbed a piece of apple.

“Well, I do prefer Mr. Cavill. It had a nice ring to it… Your Grace.” Lilith smiled a bit.

“And ‘Your Grace’ does not?”

“It just does not sound the best coming off of my tongue.”

The person to the right of Raymond, a high-ranking noble, glanced at them before looking back at the people they were having a conversation with. It made Lilith aware that she was the only servant who was having a full-blown conversation with the person they served. She guessed she was so used to strumming up a conversation with Raymond and since he got used to actually responding, it was like the most natural thing for them to do.

Raymond hummed and ate a piece of strawberry next. “And what if I wanted you to call me ‘Your Grace’ from now on.”

“Well, I don’t see a knife to my throat now do I?”

Raymond’s lip lifted a bit. His conversations with Lilith were always interesting. It was weird to see how she did not talk to him like other people did. At first, he saw it as a sign of disrespect but now, it almost made him feel like they were acquaintances. It made him feel normal.

After his mood was lifted, Lilith went back to her place and he ate his bowl of fruit. It was every bit of refreshing as he hoped it would be. And once he was done, he was ready to leave. He was beyond frustrated with having to sit in the same place for hours on end. He could never come to understand the people who did it so effortlessly.

Raymond had the mind to say that he was not feeling well and then escape, but then his mother would worry once more, so he had to suck it up until the end. And when the banquet was finally over and people could leave, he was the first one out of his chair and heading towards the door.

“Heartless bastard. Running the first chance you get. Can’t you be a little less selfish?” Landon called out to him.

“Just focus on becoming King and stay out of people’s business,” he said without turning back and walked through the door.

Once Raymond was in the halls of the castle he felt like he could finally breathe. He stretched out his back and neck. The chair was not that comfortable either. It was more like torture than a celebration.

“It seems you really are not fond of public gatherings Mr. Cavill. As a Prince, I would have expected differently.”

“I may be a Prince but I was not raised like one.” he simply said.

“And yet, you charm all the young maidens of the land.” Lilith gave him a look.

“You seem rather interested in that topic,” Raymond said carefully.

“Well, you are like the main character in a book where you have hundreds of women at your fingertips but never reach out to any of them. I find it quite intriguing.”

“The main character.”

“Yeah…” Lilith trailed off as she looked behind them to see more people coming out of the banquet hall. “And I suggest to the main character that he picks up his pace if he wants to avoid getting dragged back for more celebrations by the Queen.”

Lilith shivered when she saw the Queen exit the room and she turned her head to face front. Raymond seemed to listen to her words and without looking back, he began to walk faster.