"That is ridiculous!" Lord Richard exclaimed. "How could we even do that? King Griffin wouldn’t hesitate to attack us. And most of the other kings will back him up because they respect the law." He pinched the skin between his brows as he paced nervously in the room. "Think Richard, think." He was now hitting his head in frustration. In the end, he gave up and sat beside the other court officials.

"There is nothing else we can do apart from that," Alexander said once Lord Richard was settled.

"If we attack King Griffin before he makes it to Crescia, the other kingdoms will suspect it is us," a court official said.

"Do you have any better plan?" Alexander asked. The court official stiffened at the question before he cowered back in his seat.

Queen Victoria was listening to the whole discussion silently as she weighed the opinions of everyone in her mind. It was indeed a good plan to attack and kill Griffin on his way back to Crescia. But the plan still had its disadvantages. That would not guarantee peace to Valoria. In fact, that was adding gasoline to the already blazing inferno. The Crescians would have more reasons to attack than ever. And in terms of army and power, Valoria could not hold a candle against them, not putting the fact of Crescian allies into consideration.

If they didn’t give in to Crescia’s demands, then that meant war. And war was not the solution here. As a queen, she had to come up with a way that would not bring destruction to Valoria’s citizens. That was why she didn’t make a rash decision on this matter. And everything that Alexander and the court officials were suggesting all aimed at one thing; war. And war was what she was avoiding.

"What’s your say on this matter your Majesty?" A court official who had noticed the queen lost deep in thought asked. Victoria shook her head as if coming out of a reverie before she faced the members with the queenly aura she had.

"Everything that everyone has suggested is aiming for war. We don’t want to bring a solution by solving another problem here, and war is not always the solution. Can you imagine living in a place where you kiss your family goodbye in the morning without the certainty of whether you’ll come back in the evening?" She asked, letting her words sink deeper into their minds. Lord Richard felt proud of her and thought of a wicked way to congratulate her later.

"We understand that you are still grieving over your loss Your Majesty. But do you suggest that we give up a third of our lands to Crescia?" Another court official asked.

"No. I don’t want that either. I want you to come up with a plan that will benefit both sides positively. War will not be an option, so leave that out." She said.

The court official went back to discussing while Alexander eyed the woman who he believed to be his mother. Her features were sharp, as expected of a queen, and when she spoke, wisdom poured from her sweet mouth. He wondered if his father was the same.

"Your Majesty?" A court official called. "I think it’s better we talk about the coronation first. We still have a week to go before we make a decision about this."

"Okay," Queen Victoria nodded. She didn’t want to make a rash decision also. "So, what about it?" She asked.

"His Highness here will be sworn king. But we have one little problem that is not taken care of," the court official said.

"And which is?" Queen Victoria asked despite knowing the answer.

"His Highness, crown prince Alexander has not taken a wife yet. According to our customary laws, no one is to be crowned king unless they are married." He replied calmly before he threw a furtive glance at Alexander but frowned when he saw the calm look on his face. He had to blink twice to confirm that he was indeed looking at crown prince Alexander.

Was this not the same Alexander who had turned the throne hall into a fridge when this same topic was discussed? How comes he was now keeping a straight face? The court officials had even pitied their fellow members who brought up that topic. But seems they were all mistaken. What had gotten into Alexander?

Alexander noticed the confused looks on their faces and he couldn’t understand why they were looking at him like that. Did it have to do with his appearance? That, he didn’t know. But he knew his appearance would stir some trouble. But had he not stayed here over the last few hours and no one dared question him about it, not even Lord Richard or his mother? Or maybe they were so engrossed with the burning topic that they forgot about it. Whatever the reason was, he had no time to explain.

But the topic was about marriage. So he had not married yet. He had thought he had married. But why then did he feel like he had married, or rather, fell in love with someone? A blurry figure of a woman in maiden clothes sitting on a swing crossed his mind. She was playing the flute, working her fingers delicately on it, while her raven black hair was being blown by the wind. He searched for her face but saw nothing. And his head began to throb again in pain. But why? Who was that woman? Was she the owner of that flute? How had it come into his room then? A train of unanswered questions lined up in his mind.

"Alexander? Are you alright?" Lord Richard asked when he noticed a change on Alexander’s face like he was in pain.

"Yes," said he regaining his composure. "I am alright," he added a smile driving the worry out of Lord Richard and everyone else. "So, when am I supposed to take in a wife?" He asked surprising everyone present in the room.