Adeline and Edwin chatted for some more time and discussed how they were going to further the punishment of Lillian. And after talking for quite a while, Adeline then finally concluded the meeting by saying, "Brother Edwin, please keep in mind that I have already taken you as my Personal Advisor from today onwards."
"But I will still have to get the written permission from the King. Until then, you will have to work for me without getting any titles as such. I hope you won't mind if the letter from the King takes some time to arrive." Adeline had already guessed that it would take some convincing to make her father agree to this decision of her.
Edwin understood that because it was a fact that he was a recently released criminal. And he had still not forgotten how the King had even refused to see his face. He was at least glad that Adeline had not done that to him and was even ready to give the most important title to him.
Yes, that title came with a price. But he was willing to pay that price since Adeline was not doing anything wrong.
Adeline called Bennett inside the room and then ordered him, "Bennett, prepare a workroom for Prince Edwin and help him get settled. He will be working for me from now on, so I was thinking that it would be better if he had his own room here."
"As you wish, Your Highness," Bennett bowed to Adeline and then led Edwin out of the room.
Adeline leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes to let everything sink in. She was feeling content with her decision to let Edwin serve him. He had already proved himself very useful.
"Why did the Mystic Coven never show this path to me?" Adeline thought to herself, "I never asked them though. And I guess they did not think that it was their place to give me suggestions regarding Lillian's punishment."
A different worry hit her again, "Or they never suggested that to me because Lillian is too powerful to be contained by some magic circle?" She sighed and reminded herself, "I should visit them soon. In secret. I need to have a proper conversation with them."
"For now, I need to have a proper conversation with the King." She remembered the promise that she had made to Theodore and thought while smiling, "And I also need to have a proper conversation with my father."
She nodded and got up from her chair while whispering, "I need to do that before the suitors start to line up in front of the Palace. I bet they will start lining up very soon now that I have crossed eighteen."
Adeline then headed out to the King's Court thinking he would be there. But the Court was empty. She then went and checked in the workroom of the King. But that was also empty. His assistant was also not around.
"This is odd! Where is everyone?" Adeline frowned and mumbled, "Didn't he come to the Court today? Did he get sick again?"
She then walked towards the main door of the King's Court and asked one of the guards, "Didn't His Majesty come to the Court today?"
"No, Your Highness," the guard replied with a subtle bow.
"Do you know where His Majesty could be then?" she asked again.
The guard replied somewhat reluctantly, "Er… I think His Majesty is in his quarter. But I don't know for sure."
Adeline nodded her head and went out of the King's Court. Her guards instantly followed behind her as she made her way to her father's quarter.
She noticed that all the Royal Guards were standing outside of the quarter so she assumed that her father was inside in his own quarter. She then asked one of the Royal Guards and found out that the King was in his private chamber.
Her guards waited alongside the Royal Guards and she walked alone towards the King's private chamber. She ordered the guards to announce her presence to the King.
But the guard apologized and said, "His Majesty is having a meeting with someone else right now. Will Your Highness wait in the living room for some time?"
"Who is he meeting?" Adeline asked with a concerned look on her face. She was worried that her father might actually be sick as she had suspected.
But the guard replied, "His Majesty is having a meeting with some councilmen. I will inform Your Highness immediately after they leave."
Adeline heaved a sigh and nodded, "Sure. I will be in the living room then."
She waited for the councilmen to leave for almost about an hour. She was now starting to think that they would never leave. "I think it would be better if I just return to the Court and get some work done."
Just when she thought that, a guard came to inform her that she could see the King now.
She swiftly got up from her seat and entered the King's private chamber. Dragomir was sitting on his bed and there were a few chairs laid down in front of his bed.
Dragomir smiled and apologized to Adeline, "I am so sorry Adeline. I made you wait for so long, didn't I? Had I known earlier that you were waiting, I would have ended the meeting with the councilmen sooner."
Adeline settled herself down in one of the chairs and shook her head, "It's alright, father. It's okay to make me wait every once in a while."
She darted her eyes on her father and asked him, "Father, are you having a problem with your health?"
Dragomir smiled and denied that "No, it is nothing serious. My back felt sore and I wanted to rest. That's all." He leaned back comfortably and then asked, "Tell me, did you have something important to discuss with me?"
Adeline regretted having come to meet her father with work-related matters even when he was resting. "It is important but it is not that urgent. The matters can wait. I am sorry for disturbing you, father. I should let you rest."
Dragomir waved his hand to indicate that it was not a problem. And he asked, "I am okay. Sleeping for the whole day is very boring anyway. I am glad that you came here. And as you are already here, why don't you tell me why you came for?"
It suddenly dawned upon Adeline that both of the things that she was going to discuss with her father had the potential to shock him to the core.
Her decision to make Edwin her Personal Advisor would sound too rash and Theodore… well…
She suddenly remembered Theodore telling her the reason why everyone had forgotten about him. That meant telling her father everything about Theodore all over again. And telling everything about how she had fallen for a Devil.
And there was a high chance of a lot of things going wrong.
She began to sweat while thinking about all the what-ifs. Her heartbeat began to escalate. And her throat parched before she could even speak.
Dragomir was waiting for his daughter to say something but she looked too disoriented. And he asked worriedly, "Adeline, are you sure you are okay?"
Adeline was lost deep in her thoughts. She was practicing some lines inside her head about how she was going to start the conversation with her father.. But Dragomir's voice startled her and she blurted out the unfiltered version of her practice line, "I am in Love with my guardian angel and I want to marry him."