Layla pressed a handkerchief to Faisal’s eyes.
“Chloe, yesterday, you also…” Mr. Julius started as he glanced at me.
“I apologize for inconveniencing you so much yesterday,” I immediately apologized. “I’ll be careful about ingesting alcohol in the future…”
If Mr. Julius hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve been as drunk as Faisal, and I might’ve been dancing buck naked in front of a crowd of nobles. I never did get a good description of how the 2000-year-old alcohol tasted, but I was glad that I didn’t drink any.
“Come now, King Faisal,” Layla said to the drunken king. She spoke as if she was pacifying a baby. “Why don’t we take a quick break? Yes, let’s go. You’re a good boy now, aren’t you?”
She grabbed his hand and led him out of the hall and into the depths of the Holy Palace. Mr. Julius looked exasperated, unsure if Faisal was fit to be king.
“King Faisal is very earnest, and he rarely cracks any jokes,” Lambda laughed. “When we see him act so spoiled, we feel as though we must protect him as well.”
After we enjoyed the luxurious dishes at the banquet, Mr. Julius and I made our way to the balcony, fleeing from the barrage of questions that were aimed at us by the Rasheedan nobles.
The sun was starting to set, and the orange sky was slowly changing to a darker shade of purple. Under the first star of the evening, Helios and Lumine were leisurely soaring through the skies together, their close relationship apparent. I looked up at Mr. Julius and smiled.
“Today was fun, wasn’t it?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied.
“So many things have happened, but we were able to meet Lumine and become friends with everyone here. I’m glad we came to Rasheed.”
I had my fair share of grief and suffering here, but now, we were all laughing and enjoying ourselves. That fact made me indescribably happy. Mr. Julius widened his eyes, forcibly tugged me close to him, and tightly embraced me with his strong arms.