Dragon King's Harem 141. Awkward Royal Dinner I (Patreon)

Dragon King's Harem 141. Awkward Royal Dinner I

Marissa frowned.
"It's a deadly poison that works very quickly. We won't have time to give them the antidote. Besides, we have to find out what kind of poison it is." Even though Marissa had some guesses about the poison, the queen still wanted to take that poison to a higher level.

"Then... What about poison resistance?" Sela gave an idea.

Poison resistance was different from the antidote. Since it was used to nullify poison for a while.

"Just make it nullify all types of poison. So what we need to do is find out when the queen will use it," Sela added. So instead of guessing the type, Marissa just needed to make the strongest Poison Resistance. It would neutralize all the poison that enters one's body.

Upon that suggestion, Marissa was deep in thought. This time it wasn't because of Argod or what happened earlier, but because her brain was trying to find a way to make that Resistance. Some speculations, mixtures and ingredients popped into her head. Her pupil moved side to side.
"I don't know if I can make it or not. But I can try it," she replied.

Sela's face brightened.
"Okay. We'll tell His Majesty this tomorrow. Sela is sure His Majesty already has a plan for this."

-----

The night was getting late and the moons were clearly visible when I walked down the corridor to the dining hall. Several guards followed me. Another formal attire covered my body. Even though it was not a big party, I also invited Chancellor Allan, Eir, Al and General Guillotine for this dinner.

I arrived in front of the dining hall. The guards bowed and opened the door for me.
"The King has arrived," announced one of them.

As soon as I entered that room, everyone stood up from their seats and bowed to me.
"Your Majesty," they greeted. Prince Arter, Eir, Al, General Guillotine sat in a row. While the other rows were filled by my women, except Marissa of course. So was Jyne. Even though she wasn't part of my harem yet, she decided to sit across Arter.

I simply nodded and gestured to lift their heads. My feet continued to walk to my seat.

Like Jyne's welcome party, I gave a short speech about Arter's visit without mentioning the duel or the letter. Which was followed by a toast. Then dinner started.

The dishes were more plentiful and varied than Jyne's welcoming party since Arter's visit was a formal one by the order of the Fox King.

But, the dinner itself didn't last long since Eir, Al and General Guillotine kept staring at Arter in displeasure, even though they tried to hide it. Especially Al. It seemed Arter had been irritating him for the past couple of days.

On the other hand, even though Arter had noticed, he didn't seem to care and chatted with me nonchalantly. He realized that his duel request would anger everyone. I accompanied him to chat without any burden since I understood the reason. Although... I could say our chat was a little weird since he mostly asked what I used to do with my wives. It was a bit private, but I answered him as best I could.

Not only that, Arter took that opportunity to tell many things about Jyne, especially her habits, her hobbies, her romance stories collection that made her leave the palace just for her stupid dreams and her spoiled habits. It created a bad tension between the siblings, but I tried to eliminate it. It seemed Arter was still mad at her.

As for Jyne, she looked gloomy throughout the dinner. She didn't eat much. Sela and Evelina had tried to cheer her up. I even complimented her outfit since she did look beautiful in her favorite dress. But that didn't make her smile. She just replied with a simple thank you before she reluctantly ate her food. It seemed the letter had given her a big hit. I knew she worried about the outcome. Not to mention Arter's annoying attitude throughout dinner.

In between the tense dinner, Evelina asked why Marissa didn't come with us. Although I wanted to tell the truth since she said it openly, I could only say she was too tired as an excuse.

Upon that awkward and tense atmosphere, I decided to end dinner early. Also, I only allowed them to drink a little wine so they could keep their consciousness. It was the best choice under these circumstances since alcohol would only make things worse. So I decided to make this dinner just a formality. I didn't even enjoy my food one bit. This was my first time having dinner on a hot seat.

After that almost messed up dinner, I returned to my chamber. Instead of doing my duty to plant my seeds in them, I asked Sela and Evelina to take a rest and prepare themselves for the full moon. I was sure, I would keep them awake all night. Tonight, I decided to take a couple of skills that I would use against Arter.

As soon as I got to my room, instead of changing my clothes, I walked over to a bookshelf. I had to do something before I opened my portal. After I removed a few of the books, I could see a red crystal embedded in the wall. Like when I took my dimensional ring, I smeared my blood there.

The wall on the side shifted, revealing a dark secret passage. A musty smell wafted from there. Without wasting time, I went into it. The crystals on the sides turned on like automatic lights, revealing a stone passage that was shrouded in a thick layer of dust.

In caution, I walked down the passage and up the endless stairs. As I was almost at the end, the ceiling was getting shorter to the point I had to bend my body to reach the dead end.

Carefully, I pushed a big stone above me. The moonlight greeted my eyes as the stone shifted. Once I got out of there, I was already at the highest level of the palace. The wind ruffled my hair and the scenery below me was so incredible. The city lights looked so small and the moons looked so close to me. Standing here made me feel like I'm the king of this world.

A red gigantic crystal by my side was Draconis' greatest protector crystal. It was a protective crystal that protected this city and palace from portal skills and other tribes' attacks. A strong barrier protected it, rendering the crystal inaccessible by air. That's why I had to use this secret path to get to this place.

I stretched out my hand to the crystal.
"Argod Escavia de Emperor requests permission to open the portal."

The crystal glowed brighter for a while before finally dimming.

[Protector Crystal permits Argod Escavia de Emperor to open the portal]
[Save point 1: Crimson Flame Palace.]

'Sweet.' With this, I could open my portal from within this Palace.