The girl that had been occupying Emery's mind suddenly appeared in front of him, startling the hell out of him. Not only that, she also seemed to have been waiting for news about him for the past few days.
The situation instantly became awkward and confusing, adding to the fact that the convoy from the Logress Kingdom was still present at the moment.
Emery could clearly see that she was trying very hard to keep her composure, but the nearly perceptible fidgets of her hands and feet could not escape his watchful eye. Inwardly, he didn't know whether to sigh or smile at her reactions when she saw him once again.
The two looked directly at each other's eyes, but neither of them said anything. This situation kept going on until a voice interrupted them, breaking the silence completely.
"Princess Gwenneth! What a pleasant surprise that you are here!" Arthur said as he got off from his horse. Immediately after, he approached Gwen, whose attention was still somewhere else.
At the moment, Arthur still hadn't noticed Gwen's notion. Hence, he continued his advance.
"Princess, I heard about the attack, and wow! I am truly glad to see you are alright!"
While Arthur was speaking what he thought ceaselessly, Luna was kind of confused with the current situation. She just stared at Emery, her gaze asking him for an explanation. Alas, Emery only kept his silence, his mind still accessing the predicament he had, somehow, landed on.
What was Gwen doing here? Why was she still here? What was she thinking? What did she want?
Those questions swirled in his mind, as Emery was dying to ask them, but he knew he couldn't do that. Otherwise, he would immediately be exposed. Luckily, there was Arthur, who asked Gwen those questions for him.
"Princess, I'm truly delighted to meet you, but I find it very odd to see you here. I just sent the news to the Lioness Kingdom a day ago, and I can't believe that you are here already. Therefore, if my guess is right, this means that you are not here because of me"
At his own deduction, Arthur looked at Gwen with a strange gaze, "Then, why are you here?"
Gwen, whose gaze did not leave Emery for even a second, was startled by Arthur's question and accurate conjecture. Even so, she quickly regained her calm composure befitting of a princess and replied, "What do you mean that I am not here for you, my prince? You did ask me to see a wizard named Merlin, didn't you?"
Emery noticed that Gwen took a glance at him again as she said those words. Meanwhile, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as his hypothesis was proven wrong by the other party.
"Ah, yes... Yes, I see. Let me introduce him to you, princess." Arthur said as he politely beckoned Emery to come over, to which the latter responded in kind, "This here is Merlin. We just came together from Camelot."
Arthur's words of introduction about Emery certainly added more confusion to Gwen and Luna because they thought he was still being treated in the Forbidden forest. After all, the last time they saw him, he was standing on the fine line between life and death.
On the other hand, Emery inwardly frowned at Arthur's action. Now that the latter had introduced him to her, things became much more complicated. He sighed deeply at the thought of resolving this dilemma.
Throwing the thoughts to the back of his mind, Emery swiftly returned his attention back to the current situation, or rather, to Gwen's reaction to Arthur's words. He wanted to see how she would react.
What will she say? Will she tell him that Merlin is, in fact, her childhood friend? Or will she decide to confront him about all his lies?
Their eyes met once again, but still, neither of them said anything.
Arthur finally noticed the tension between Emery and Gwen, making a expression. A few seconds of silence later, seeing as the situation remained the same, he resolutely decided to break it.
"You two know each other already?" Arthur asked as his eyes moved back and forth between Emery and Gwen.
After a few more seconds of silence, Gwen turned to Arthur and said, "No... I don't know this man." She shifted her eye to Emery, staring straight at him, and added, "I really don't know him."
Even though Arthur noticed that something wasn't right, he decided not to pursue it further on the account of Gwen, the Lioness Kingdom's princess, and more importantly, Emery who literally had the Logress Kingdom in his clutch for some time now.
Afterwards, Arthur introduced more about Emery, more precisely, he introduced Merlin to her. He told her Emery was entitled to be the new wizard of the Divine Order, and that at the moment, he was helping the latter for a quest.
Seeing that the topic of conversation gradually became much deeper, Luna quickly invited all of them to her Quintin's estate. After all, it was already late and dozens of important figures standing around in front of her estate might bring questions or gossip that she didnt need.
Currently, Luna found the situation amusing. All of a sudden, the Quintins were hosting two important figures, a prince and princess of the 7 kingdoms. However, what still amused her the most was the confused expression on Merlin's face. She was still anxious to hear Merlin's explanation about the situation.
The knights convoy swiftly put all their horses to the stables, where they would be led to their prepared quarters by the Quintins' servants. As for the two golden knights, Sir Yvain and Gawain, they still followed Luna because they had the obligation to protect their respective prince and princess.
In a matter of seconds, the playful Luna swiftly became a good host to impress the unexpected yet important guest of hers.
The small group was brought to a room by Luna. There, a table full of extravagant and exquisite cuisines had already been prepared. Emery was a little surprised, as he saw the reception Luna had managed to arrange in such a short time. Soon, they were all seated at the dining table.
"Thank you, Lady Quintin, for the hospitality." Arthur said with a smile.
Reciprocating the gesture with her own smile, Luna replied, "Please prince, you can call me Luna."
Afterwards, she shifted her gaze to everyone and said, "Please everyone, enjoy the small gesture of him as today's host."
Knowing exactly what Luna meant, Arthur nodded his head and began to fill his plate with the various foods on the table. Following him was Gwen who also started taking small pieces from every cuisine. Seeing the two esteemed guests already started, the others swiftly followed suit.
As they feasted, Luna as the host asked Arthur the question about his intention in coming here.
Arthur knew the Quintins' reputation and the fact that they were recommended by Merlin. Moreover, Gwen was the ruler of the land. Therefore, he explained some details as much as he could share.
"We are here to make contact with the Feys."
Arthur's words immediately shocked a few on the table, especially Gwen. She was so shocked that she forgot to put the food in her mouth.
Arthur then told them about their objective, which was to foster a good relationship with the Feys. In addition, he hoped that the Quintins could be of assistance, knowing their territory was close to the Forbidden Forest. He starts telling a bit of the history between the order and the fey. Emery realized the prince was quite the storyteller.
Throughout the meal, Emery was extremely quiet. In fact, he almost didn't say a word, except when he was being questioned.
Morgana, who sat next to Emery, whispered to the latter, "It's her, isn't it? She's the princess in your story."
Emery glanced at the red-haired girl and only nodded his head as a confirmation.
"She's beautiful... I bet you like her very much."
The moment the dinner was over, Luna immediately brought Arthur away with the reason of showing him accommodation. She knew about Emery's complicated situation with the Lioness Princess as the latter was bringing Emery's dying body and accompanying him for 7 straight days until he recovered. Therefore she thought they would need some private time to sort out their problems.
The ones still who still in the room were the people who somehow knew there was something between the princess and the wizard.
Gwen stood up and gestured to Emery to follow her. She led him outside, away from everyone.
When they were already quite a distance away from the estate, Gwen stopped in her tracks. She turned around, and Emery could clearly see anger on her beautiful face. Then, she proceeded to throw her hand at him.
Slap!