The atmosphere in the mansion's living room had slowly begun to thaw as the tension of the interrogation between Kazien and his fiancés eased. However, that tranquility lasted only a moment.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The sound of a firm and authoritative knock echoed from the front door. Alvin, being the calmest among them, stood up to answer it.
As the door swung open, Alvin froze in his tracks. His breath hitched for a second as his eyes caught the figure of a middle-aged man radiating an incredibly powerful aura of leadership, standing beside a handsome yet cute-faced young man who was all too familiar to him.
"Your Majesty? Prince Felix? Please, come in!" Alvin greeted, his voice trembling slightly from the shock.
He immediately stepped aside to allow King Nalvon and Felix to enter their residence.
"Thank you, Prince Alvin." King Nalvon answered calmly.
The King and the Prince entered the mansion without excessive royal protocol, yet their presence still filled the room with a different kind of pressure. They walked straight toward the living room, approaching Kazien, who was still seated there.
Kazien's eyes widened. He had not expected that the warning he gave Felix in the garden earlier would lead the King himself to pay him a visit.
Kazien stood up. "Your Majesty, please, have a seat."
"Thank you very much, Kazien." King Nalvon replied in a deep voice that was warm yet commanding.
King Nalvon and Felix sat across from Kazien. For a few moments, there was only silence between the three of them. They looked at each other, trying to read one another's thoughts through their eyes.
Meanwhile, Allen, Arken, and Erica, overcome by intense curiosity, could not help but sit down next to Kazien. Alvin, on the other hand, hurried to the kitchen to prepare the finest tea and snacks for their guests.
"Your Majesty, why have you come here so suddenly? Is there something important you wish to tell me?" Kazien asked, opening the conversation in a tone that remained calm but guarded.
"Yes, there is something important I must tell you." King Nalvon answered casually but firmly. "Are you involved in trouble with Marcos Eldebrans?"
Kazien leaned back, appearing unsurprised by the mention of the name. "It seems so, Your Majesty. Did Felix tell you?"
"Correct! He told me about the cunning plan Marcos is plotting against you!"
Hearing the confirmation, Kazien shifted his gaze from the King to Felix. His eyes turned sharp and piercing, as if capable of peering through the Prince's mind.
Felix, usually cheerful and bold enough to tease, suddenly felt his courage shrink. He looked down deeply, not daring to meet the direct gaze of Kazien's blue eyes, which now felt incredibly intimidating.
"Why are you hanging your head like that?" Kazien said. His voice sounded soft, yet every word carried heavy pressure. "I'm not going to be angry with you! I'm looking at you sharply for another reason! I want you to explain to my fiancés that there is nothing between the two of us!"
Felix hesitated for a moment. He felt the atmosphere in the room was very strange. Slowly, he braced himself to look back at Kazien. "But why? What happened between the four of you?"
"Because of your antics in the cafeteria earlier, the three of them interrogated me immediately! They think I have a special relationship with you!" Kazien answered with an exasperated tone.
King Nalvon turned, joining in on looking at his son with a furrowed brow. Felix was now truly cornered under the gaze of the two figures he respected most.
"What did you do, Felix?" King Nalvon asked in a tone demanding an explanation.
"I didn't do anything, Father!" Felix defended himself in a low voice.
The room fell silent again. Kazien let out a long sigh before speaking to Felix once more. "Alvin asked you about your feelings for me. But you just laughed and didn't answer his question! Because of your actions, I was immediately interrogated by the three of them!"
Hearing this, Felix lowered his head slightly again. However, seeing his son's reaction, only able to look down in silence, King Nalvon drew a completely different conclusion. In his mind, the King began to panic.
Good heavens, why does my son, who is supposed to replace me as King, like a man? Has he gone mad? King Nalvon screamed in his heart. What will be the fate of this kingdom if he has no heirs? I truly cannot understand him!
The King's distress peaked until he didn't realize his face was showing profound anxiety.
"Why are you looking down like that, Felix?" Kazien asked, puzzled by the Prince's change in demeanor. "Do you actually have feelings for me?"
"I'm looking down not because I like you!" Felix answered suddenly in a firm tone, staring at Kazien and trying to clear up the widening misunderstanding. "But I feel guilty for causing a misunderstanding among you! I apologize!"
Upon hearing that firm answer, King Nalvon exhaled a very long sigh of relief. However, he felt a bit guilty for having misjudged his own son's orientation.
The same went for Allen and Arken. The curiosity that had weighed on their chests since the cafeteria concerning the relationship between the two instantly evaporated. They looked at each other and smiled faintly, feeling relieved that Felix apparently had no intention of becoming another one of Kazien's fiancés after Arken.
Allen looked at his fiancé's face with a sense of guilt. "My Love, I'm sorry for having such unfair suspicions about the two of you."
Kazien looked at Allen with a calm gaze. "Forget it, don't think about it anymore! What matters is that this misunderstanding is settled!"
Allen nodded firmly, then gave Kazien a sweet smile, making the purple-haired youth's cuteness radiate even more clearly on his face. His cuteness had captivated Kazien. If King Nalvon and Felix hadn't been sitting in front of him, Kazien would have immediately caressed Allen's cute face.
After the romantic drama concluded, the atmosphere returned to a more serious track. Kazien looked back at King Nalvon.
"Your Majesty, if I may ask, what exactly is Marcos planning?" Kazien asked in a serious tone.
King Nalvon's expression hardened once more. "Felix said that Marcos plans to expel you from the academy. He won't use physical force directly, but it seems he intends to threaten the students at the academy so that they agree to sign a petition to have you expelled."
Hearing the plan, Kazien showed no fear at all. Instead, a thin smirk appeared at the corner of his lips. That smirk was so full of mystery, coldness, and lethality that it made King Nalvon and Felix instinctively shiver.
What is he planning this time? Felix thought in horror. He remembered how calm Kazien had been when dealing with the Delfilian family previously. I'm certain Marcos will be rendered helpless by his actions. Or perhaps, he and his family will truly be finished.