A Story From Zinnia

Section 25: Royal Gossip

The days are running as usual at Cassania Palace. King Arthur is back to settle affairs at the border, Prince Xavier who is now busy taking care of diplomatic affairs with neighboring countries, Vanhattan and Oliver who began to adapt to his duties.

As Xavier said, the palace will hold a welcoming ceremony or arguably a party welcoming Oliver as a member of the royal family. The invitation has been spread to the royal family, other nobles as well as some officials. It was one week before the ceremony.

Oliver strolls amid the hustle and bustle of servants working to tidy up the main hall of the palace that will later be used for the party. His hands were itching to help them, but Elijah forbade him from doing any work. Elijah thought how could he let a princess do her homework.

'Hufhhh... I really want to help them.' Oliver said to himself.

Oliver looked at Elijah walking beside him, "There's no work I can do, Elijah?"

"Your royal duties today are done, Your Majesty." Reply Elijah.

"Not... I mean I can help the waiters."

"YOUR HIGHNESS-I can be scolded by Uncle Elthon if I let you work even more so the crown prince will also scold me...!"

"Ah... Is that so... Okay...." Oliver now has a sullen face.

They were now standing looking at some servants who were changing the main curtain.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty" Elthon approached the two.

"Oh! Uncle Elthon! What's up?"

"I'm permission to ask for time to borrow Elijah for a moment."

"Eh? Me?" Said Elijah.

"Yes, just for a second. I want to talk about the princess's schedule for the next 2 weeks."

Oliver smiled, "Please."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Elthon.

Oliver nodded, "Follow me, Elijah."

Oliver is now left alone. Actually he had no schedule, so he asked Elijah to take him for a walk in search of the wind. Oliver doesn't like being in his room all day.

"You heard it..." Oliver overheard the servants whispering not far from his distance standing.

"His brother the king will be present at the ceremony later."

"You mean Prince Dominick?" Say the other one.

"Not... If that's definitely coming. You don't know yet? The other one."

"I'm still a new waitress here don't know much. Which one is it."

"Come here, come closer." Oliver subconsciously focused his hearing on trying to hear.

"The forgotten Prince, Prince Nathan. His brother is the king."

"Ah.... Yes, I've heard his name, but I've never seen his face."

"That's because there was never a single picture of him installed in the palace."

"Why?"

"That's because..-"

"DARE TO GOSSIP WHILE WORKING!!!" Said the loud voice of someone from behind the two servants who made the two shocked half to death. Apparently Lord Elthon had returned and was certainly with Elijah beside him.

"Master Elthon!!" The two servants said together

"DID YOU FORGET THE RULES OF THE PALACE AND YOUR OATH?!"

"We remember it, sir, forgive us."

"REPRONOUNCE!"

"Holyen the heart, clear the mind. Be sincere and work with all your heart. Watch your deeds and be careful in speech, your tongue can be a weapon sharper than a sword."

"GOOD." Elthon accidentally saw Oliver who had been watching them from a distance.

"You can gossip when Princess Oliver is here."

The two maids were only aware of Oliver's presence, "Pardon us Lord Elthon, forgive us Your Majesty."

Oliver clapped and smiled awkwardly.

"Here, back to work!"

"Okay sir!" Said the two servants.

Lord Elthon felt ashamed to face Oliver, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I am less educated and pay attention to my subordinates."

"It's okay uncle, just relax."

"Then I'll get back to work." Elthon leaves Oliver with Elijah.

'Ah though I was hearing their conversation, what a pity.' Inner Oliver.

"Let's go back to your room, Your Majesty."

.

.

.

.

"Xavier hasn't come back yet?"

"The prince is hunting, it will take a long time." Obviously Elijah

"Boring..."

"It's late in the afternoon, do I need to prepare warm water for you to take a bath, Your Majesty?"

Oliver nodded, better he just soak than bored no activity.

After feeling enough, Oliver stopped his soaking activities. Elijah, who was waiting outside his bathroom, had his clothes ready.

"Let me help you leave your hair, Your Majesty." Fresh Elijah.

Oliver sits on a bench without a backrest and Elijah stands behind him, helping to curl up and dry Oliver's hair.

"Russia..." Call Oliver.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"How long have you been working here?"

"About 2 years, this is my second year. Why Your Majesty?"

"There's something I want to ask.'

"Please, Your Majesty. I'll answer if I know the answer."

"Do you know much about the royal family and their rumors?"

"Hm.... Not much, but I heard a lot from the other servants."

"Is so... Then tell me about the genealogy of this royal family."

Elijah flinched, his hands stopping to spit out Oliver's hair. "Isn't His Majesty supposed to have learned a lesson in royal genealogy?"

"Have been... But I don't know about the rumors circulating among the palace staff. Come onl.... I won't tell anyone you're the source." Oliver pleaded with a big smile until his gums were visible.

"Ah.-" Elijah thought for a moment. 'Is it okay..?' his inner.

"...alright."

"Good! Sit here." Oliver said as he patted the spot next to him.

"We started from the beginning..." Said Elijah.

Oliver nodded with sparkling eyes to hear Elijah start his story.

"The late King James Athelstan Rayton the Great or better known 16th King of Zinnia, father of King Arthur and grandfather of Prince Xavier. He married the late Queen Elicia Liem at a young age, at the age of 20."

"That's young... Why is it that the royal family is so happy to marry their son at such a young age as me?"

"...to pass on the line of heirs, perhaps?" Elijah shrugged both of his shoulders not knowing.

"The two were only given children after 4 years of marriage. And His Majesty knows... The couple is referred to as pure blood nobles, because both the king and queen are direct heirs of the two kingdoms. The king, who was the crown prince of Zinnia and the queen who was the future queen of the Kingdom of Vanhattan, is why until now Vanhattan is still a loyal ally of Zinnia. The Queen willing to take off her throne as a future queen in order to marry King James."

"That means... Their children are also pure blood nobles?"

"Fuck you, they're a royal family of pure blood."

"That's... It's crazy, isn't it?" Elijah also nodded.

...William Rayton Vamor...

"They had 3 children, all of whom were men. Of course this was welcomed by other family members, this made King James more powerful in his seat of power. His first child was His Majesty King William Vamor Rayton, or King Arthur. Your Majesty knows that a king cannot be called by his birth name as long as he is king?"

"Of course I know, only his official name can be mentioned as long as he becomes king. Unless they're dead or still princes."

...Dominick Miller Rayton's...

"Rubber. King Arthur is married to the late Queen Issabela and has 2 sons. Prince Dominick Miller Rayton was born 2 years after King Arthur was born. Prince Dominick was married to a woman of class I royalty and had one son, Prince Aiden Abigail Rayton, 1 year older than Prince Xavier. Prince Xavier's only cousin. Now working at the state Intelligence Agency, he is known for his sword and shooting skills. Reportedly he was not at all ambitious and interested in power, but until now he still carried out his royal duties well. I think His Majesty must have seen it, he accompanied Prince Xavier to walk on the wedding altar."

Oliver nodded, "You say his only cousin? Is the king's other brother childless?"

"There's actually one more... But first let's go to his other brother. But this topic is rather sensitively discussed in the palace, Your Majesty."

"Eh??? Why?"

"Look..." Said Elijah approaching.

"The last one is, Mr. Nathan Hendery Rayton. He doesn't have the title of prince."

"DDID??"

"People call him, the forgotten prince. Everything was fine until Mr. Nathan decided to marry a commoner.

Oliver scrunched his forehead, "What's the difference with me?"

"Certainly different, His Majesty came from among the lower class nobles, but not among the commoners and the king's majesty approve of your marriage. Unlike Mr. Nathan, his marriage was not sanctioned by both parents because the wife came from a family of farmers from the countryside. Of course the big family is angry. And Your Majesty knows what's crazier?"

"What???"

...Nathan Hendery Rayton's...

"Mr Nathan was not reluctant to give up his status as a prince and all his honorary titles. Just for the sake of marrying that woman. Rumor is they married behind closed doors and only the family knows. No one ever knew where they were getting married."

"And your Majesty knows? The worst rumor at the time?"

Oliver shakes. Elijah glanced left and right before continuing his story. Then he approached Oliver, continuing his story slightly whispering in a very soft voice, "The news is that the wife was pregnant first before they were married."

"EEEHHHH???!" Oliver widened his eyes in disbelief and quickly covered his mouth with both hands.

"Is that the real reason they got married?"

Elijah was clearly shocked when he learned of this news.

"Automatically, King James kicked him out of the palace and did not attend the wedding of his youngest son. The news spread quickly throughout the country, and at that time King James would be very angry if there were still people who still call him the prince. As a result, after that event King James was more often sickly. Shortly after he died and after 3 years, Queen Elicia followed him. Mr. Nathan showed up at their funeral after years of no news."

"Have it?"

"Hm, that's as bad as it is."

"Then you said Xavier had another cousin?"

"Ah that, it does exist but he is not recognized as a member of the royal family. He was the son of Mr Nathan and his wife, Lucas van Meyer. He is 2 years younger than Prince Xavier. He is the only descendant of the Rayton family who does not use the name Rayton on his last name. I heard it was because Mr. Nathan did not want his son to be connected to the royal family and also because he was married to a commoner, he wanted his son to live like an ordinary person."

"Then, does Xavier know about this cousin of his?"

"of course. When Queen Issabela died, Mr. Nathan dared to show his face in public after a long time by attending the funeral with his son and it was the first time Mr. Nathan introduced his 2-year-old son. King Arthur called him self-knowing. Maybe that's why Mr. Nathan doesn't want the boy to use his surname, rather than get hurt."

"How did Xavier get to know him?"

"The names are children, they have no sin. Didn't they? They were both very small, Prince Nathaniel invited Prince Xavier to meet Lucas and play together while keeping him at that time. I heard they went to the same institution as Prince Xavier and Lucas was always the class champion. He is famous for being diligent and intelligent. If it's not wrong now he's the Head of the Zinnia Research and Development Institute."

"....a unique destiny. I think the saying that nothing can beat family ties is true."

Elijah nodded, "In the end these two princes met again, and Lucas managed to occupy a high position in the governing body at a young age because of his cleverness."

"Is that the reason why there isn't a single photo of Mr Nathan at the palace?"

"Yes that's how it is..."

"HHH WAIT, YOUR MAJESTY KNOWS WHERE?"

"From the waiter who was gossiping earlier, hehe."

"WAH... So Your Majesty just kept quiet because he was listening to them?"

"Indeed."

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... IT'S GREAT."

"Ah yes, I heard also said Mr. Nathan will come to the ceremony later."

"WHAT?! IS THAT REALLY TRUE??!"

Oliver shrugged both of his shoulders a sign of not knowing, "I heard so..."

Elijah sighed, "The King does not hate him, nor does Prince Dominick. But his arrival can be a conversation of everyone present and of course the media crew will certainly write news everywhere about his return. It's over...."

Oliver also took a breath. He did not expect the royal family to have relationships and problems as complicated as this. He thought being a member of the royal family meant that one could live comfortably and happily.

Elijah raised both of Oliver's hands and put them together in front of his chest, "Your Majesty, if Mr. Nathan really comes, you should mentally prepare for the feud of the members of the extended family at the ceremony later."

Oliver nodded doubtfully, "Ha-ha-ha let's just look at it later..."

.......

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...Characters Upgrade...

...Abigail Rayton...

...Name of the Day: Aiden...

...Age: 23 years...

...Lucas van Meyer's...

...Family Name: Lucas...

...Age: 20 years...

TBC~

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