Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 163: Are you okay 2

"You have my permission, Duke Kenai; you can leave first," Queen Darana said, causing Duke Kenai’s eyes to widen in disbelief.

"You...You want me to leave?" Duke Kenai stammered in confusion.

"Didn’t you want to leave? You’re one of my trusted ministers and even though I’m your queen, I’ll never force you to do something you are not willing to do. Since you want my permission to leave, I have given it to you," Queen Darana said in a weak voice full of authority.

She was tired of Duke Kenai always throwing his weight around and not giving her the necessary respect just because he was her late husband’s brother.

Queen Darana admits that she had always treated Duke Kenai as family because of her late husband and that might have made him think he could throw his weight around.

But the truth was that even though her health was failing her, she was still his queen and she wouldn’t be disrespected in her own palace.

Duke Kenai stared at the queen tongue-tied and tried to look amiable so that his inner thoughts would be seen on his face.

"Indeed, I asked for permission to leave your presence... Then I shall leave first," He smiled with an understanding look on his face and retreated from the study.

Seeing that Duke Kenai had finally left, Queen Darana turned to look at Duke Tardrain.

"Duke Tardrain, I’ll leave this matter in your capable hands. Find me some of our best physicians to return to Gloryland with Amirion. The princess’ health is paramount and we must not delay," she said.

Duke Tardrain, cupped his hands and gave a slight bow.

"Thanks for your trust, my queen, I’ll go and summon all the physicians in Zubrekadesh right away and pick a suitable candidate amongst them."

"Good. But try to be discreet as much as possible, we don’t want the palace master of the water dragon clan to get wind of it and try to sabotage our plans," Queen Darana cautioned.

"I’ll be careful my queen," Duke Tardrain said respectfully and excused himself from the Queen’s study.

Seeing that it was only Amirion left in the study with her, Queen Darana’s overbearing aura dissipated, leaving only a motherly aura and a warm smile on her aged face.

"Come closer, my son, let me take a look at you. It’s been hard on you," she said.

Amirion walked closer to the queen but still maintained a respectable distance between them.

"I’m sorry for my tardiness and not keeping the princess safe. Please punish me for my negligence, Your Majesty. I deserve to die," Amirion said and kneeled heavily on the floor.

"What are you doing? If it wasn’t for you, would I even know I have a descendant apart from my daughter? Since I took you in as a child, you’ve been more than a son to me, and you have always shown your filial piety to me; what more can I ask? Get up on your feet. You are going to make your mother sad," Queen Darana said and Amirion obeyed.

"Thanks for always taking care of me, mother," Amirion said and queen Darana smiled at his form of address.

"Come, come and pour some tea for me and tell me more about my granddaughter. I think I should learn more about her before we forcefully bring her over," Queen Darana said, her face full of smiles.

"Okay, Mother," Amirion said and raised the jug to pour out the tea.

"Princess Luciana is very kind-hearted and takes after you in that regard," Amirion began, and Queen Darana began to listen attentively.

~~~

In the courtyard of Duke Kenai’s residence, a woman in a yellow dress looked as beautiful as goodness, with a slender figure, and beautiful eyes that curved like crescent moons when she smiled, lunged lazily on a chair as her handmaidens fed her some fruits and fussed over her.

"Father, you’re back already?" Jasmine asked her father when he saw him return a few minutes after he had left for the palace.

"Yes, I’ve returned from the palace. Come with me, there’s something I need to tell you," Duke Kenai said and made his way to the hall.

Jasmine saw her father’s gloomy face and immediately got up from the chair and followed after him.

Duke Kenai went inside his study room and instructed Jasmine to close the door when she entered.

"You’ve been by the Queen’s side ever since you were a kid. Tell me why you’ve not made any improvement about the task I gave you?" He asked, going straight to the point.

"Father, you know how much the queen values the missing princess. I’ve tried everything to be accommodating to her wishes so that she would adopt me or give me an official title as a princess at least but she always seems to think differently and act dumb even when I give her a hint," Jasmine complained. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"I have told her how I wished she were my mother so that I can always stay by her side and take care of her but she always says I’m already like a daughter to her and that we didn’t need official names or titles to make our bond strong. I don’t want to keep talking about it lest she thinks I’ve other intentions so I had to take a step back," Jasmine added, pouting her lips to show her displeasure.

"So are you telling me that all our efforts all these years have been in vain? Are we going to allow a princess who knows nothing about our kingdom, our laws, and our culture to rule over us just because she carries royal blood?"

"Father, what are you talking about? You are worried over nothing. The queen is becoming weaker with each passing day, and she will soon have to adopt me and make me her heir. The princess has been missing all these years without being found. I’m sure she’s already dead by now," Jasmine sneered.

"I think you shouldn’t celebrate too soon. Amirion has found Princess Alina’s daughter and the queen is making preparations to bring her back to Zubrekadech as we speak..." Duke Kenai dropped the bomb and Jasmine gasped.

"What?!"