The next morning the personal maid of the new lady of the second prince residence was found dead in the lotus pond. It was rumoured that she had tried to seduce the second prince and when the mistress knew about it, she declared to execute the maid by drowning her in the lotus pond.
While the court people were discussing the colourless atmosphere at the second prince's residence, the common citizens were busy in getting ready for the arrival of their crown prince. The whole north side where the residency resides was decorated in flowers and garlands. The people wore new dresses and prepared gifts for the prince and his wife.
When the sedan reached the gates, Emmy was shocked to see the sea of people gathered around the area. She saw Alex getting down the sedan and chattering with the common people. His demeanour had no presence of the highly sophisticated royal heir, along with him he walked through the crowd, eating the delicacies they had prepared for him. Emmy felt happy to see such a personality of Alex, she never thought this haughty, ill-tempered prince could have a soft approach to his subjects.
Emmy also got down from the sedan and walked towards Alex, who was busy stuffing his mouth with all those delicious food. When he saw Emmy approaching, smiling sheepishly offered her a cream stuffed cake.
All the people surrounding them watched this interaction and waited for Emmy's reaction. For them, a down to earth crown prince was already a rare gem for them and they wanted to see how their new crown princess would be. They had heard a lot of praises of this only goddaughter of the great Esbertrazian clan.
Surprising everyone, Emmy directly sat on the stool and ate the cake from Alex's hands. Smiling at the old grandma who was serving tea, Emmy took a cup and drank it without any complaints. She also praised the food and decorations done by the citizens making the whole crowd cheer up. Their efforts didn't go in vain and they liked their new mistress a lot.
Meanwhile, at the gates, the sedan from the palace as well as the second prince's place arrived together. Alighting from it, the King and queen were both disgusted by the way Alex was behaving. When people noticed the new guests, they quickly presented the same to the guests.
The King Valeriander had to keep up with his good image amongst the commoners so he took a small piece and pretended to eat. He wanted to puke but maintained the smile on his face and swallowed it whereas the queen straightforwardly rejected their offer. The subjects of the Salian clan were used to the tantrums of their queen, so instead of being dejected, they backed off completely.
When Arona saw Alex and Emmy enjoying the food and enjoying themselves, she wanted to run there and pull off Emmy who was sitting beside Alex. She hated any woman who went close to her charming prince. In her mind, the battle princess had already killed Emmy for multiple times. She took her anger towards Emmy on the poor citizens who offered cakes and tea to the second prince and his wife. Both of them rejected the food rudely.
Alex saw his so-called parents arrive, so thanking the people for their mouth-watering delicacies, he held Emmy's hands guiding her through the crowd towards the gates. Watching the couple holding their hands and coming slowly, the king felt that Alex had changed his approach somehow. Instead of seeing mental anguish, in his eyes, the Salian king could see a new light. it was as if Alex was respectful towards him and genuinely wanted to apologise to him but how could it be possible. A boy who was mentally and physically tortured from his childhood, how could he suddenly be a dutiful son?
Valeriander stepped a few steps backwards and signalled his son, Victor to take handle Alex's vile comments. Just as Victor was going to greet the crown prince, Alex and Emmy bowed in front of the king.
" Paying respect to the highness!"
" Father, thank you for allowing our subject to arranging such a grand welcome. It was so refreshing to know that my family is waiting for me."
The queen stomped her feet and returned to the sedan while the king nodded his head and before returning back to his sedan, he announced to the whole crowd.
" The coronation of your crown prince shall be taking place in the two days before he goes back to complete his studies. "
The whole crowd cheered and shouted slogans in favour of the king while the Victor as well as Emmy were shocked with this unexpected news.
" You knew about this?"
Emmy asked Alex who was still standing without any emotions of being surprised by this news. He nodded his head and walked towards Victor who was standing with his clenched fists.
Seeing Alex, Victor faked a smile but Alex could read his expression clearly. He knew what Victor wished for and he turned around to Emmy boarding the sedan.
" Brother Victor, I won't take whatever is yours in the first place, if it was before I would have openly fought for the throne with you but then my world changed, my goals are different now. So, the throne of the Salian clan will be yours but one more thing, if you are adamant in getting what is in your eyes now, I will make sure you won't be ever sitting over that throne in your life."
Victor, who was watching Emmy board the sedan, suddenly looked at Alex. He also felt that Alex had changed his perspective. It looks like Alex had been bestowed with blessings from the gods. Victor sneered and nodded his head but for the sake of the crowd, he shouted cheers for his brother and hugged him.
"Congratulations brother, finally your day has come. I am so happy for you."
Victor then whispered his second sentence in Alex's ears, " What I wish for will be mine eventually, the kingdom and the woman. I will make sure to thrash you in front of her."
Alex smiled but this time, his eyes had the complete prowess of a lion. He held Victor by his shoulders and squeezed both sides hard. Then in a low tone, Alex warned, " No black world nor the core power can separate me from my woman."
This time Victor was stumped, the knowledge of him having connections with the black world was known to none, then how did this rat know about it? While Victor was burning inside with this question, Arona reached beside Alex and started to play her white flower image/
" Brother Alex, how are you?. I wanted to meet you alone, please can I make the arrangements of inviting you to the dinner tonight. It will be just you and me."
As her tone was not that low, the people surrounding the brothers and herself heard what the second prince's mistress had said to their crown prince. All of them felt disgusted and wanted to strangle this woman then and there. In their mind, only Emmy was suitable for the position of wife for their crown prince. They felt sorry for their prince for having such a brother and sister-in-law.
Alex sneered and replied, " You are now my brother's wife, stay and spark from your limits. Well, there is no need for us to talk and let me make it clear with you, I didn't like you from the very beginning. I kept silent for your misbehaviours just because your sister was my childhood friend. Now I won't be calm if you throw your tantrums to my people. Victor, ask your wife to behave properly. Also, if your wife is not satisfied with you, send men to her place to satisfy her instead of herself searching for any in the daylight."
Victor had his mind out already because of his biggest secret getting revealed so this insult from this wretched man blown up his last straw of patience, he directly slapped Arona in front of the whole crowd and she fell down in front of the upcoming Sedan.
The sedan abruptly stopped and from it alighted the Salian clan elders, they were fed up with the dramas staged by the second prince and his people across their clan. Watching this scene enclose, the elders angrily looked at the second prince and said to Alex.
" I hope that the king must have informed you about the coronation. Congratulations for saving the Salian clan from complete destruction. We have acknowledged you as the final heir who has the capability for taking this clan to extraordinary heights. "
Victor's blood was boiling already and on the top of that, these praises to Alex was direct insults to him. He just stood there staring at those elders venomously. Watching Victor's vicious gaze, Elder Floretren could not stop himself, " And you, the second prince ... what about the banishment for you two ?"