Having been watching the crowd Matthew was a bit sore from being all tense by the time many of the guests had left for their own living quarters.

  He wondered how he was going to overcome anymore future gatherings or meetings…

  Confusion was still there, so Matilda had to tell everyone again upon why they were here and the story of the Golden Bridge. There was frustration upon why they had to come all this way when they had a haven to look after, even some Golden heirs thought this way.

  The biggest event of the evening was of an emperor finding out that his ‘son’ was not his son!

  If his ‘son’ had been his real son, then he wouldn’t be here in Golden Haven!

  The Dusk Emperor demanded to know what had happened and who the father was! He was really quite upset to just now finding out something that was so important!

  Nate watched over the meeting, taking advantage of what Matilda had told him earlier! If he couldn’t kill anyone, neither could they so…He didn’t care if the Dusk Emperor found out that he was indeed the father of the Golden heir…

  It wasn’t like he could take back his actions now, considering this type of ‘prank’ would not do him any favours right now in becoming the Golden Emperor but if they were going to bring his children out into surface, he could only try to use that as an advantage…Well, try…He wasn’t too sure how he was going to make his past look great and meaningful, but he was going to try!

  Anyway, if Nate had made any kind of good impression upon the Dusk Haven Emperor before now, it was now the opposite!

  One step forward…Two steps back…

  Before shit hit the fan, Matilda could only state that they will have to leave their ‘other’ worries until they return back to their respective homes. After all, it was a bit of a humiliation to suddenly find out that the leader of a Haven had an heir that wasn’t even of their blood…So, keeping quiet on that subject, at least for now, wasn’t actually that hard. After she had stated this, looking at the Dusk Emperor in particur, the reply still wasn’t very nice, considering the Dusk Emperor disowned his own heir to the throne right in front of everyone! He had also thought about doing something to ‘that woman’, but at least he didn’t state that out loud as well…

  Granted, the Dusk Haven Emperor left it at that…But it still felt like they were ages away from just getting along, yet alone picking a golden emperor…

  What a disaster!

  Nate let out a chuckle and could hardly have a drink to hide it. Even Madeline thought it was funny, even though she didn’t quite understand the full story! Although…Madeline having an alcoholic drink on this night would practically make anything funny to her…She was a cheap shout!

  Nonetheless, the time had finally come for everyone to finally leave and be grateful that they had their own type of quarters. If the Dusk Haven Emperor had the same quarters as the ex-Dusk Haven next in line crowned Prince…Well, who’d know what would have happened!

  “Goodnight Tilda.” Katherine said, being led away by An, who just waved.

  “Nig…” Madeline burped, while standing up, “Night!” Then she ughed as she started to walk away.

  “The manners on that child while she is drinking is quite appalling.” Lavender stated.

  “It doesn’t help with this one here doing whatever she wants all the time!” Christian stated, pointing directly at Matilda.

  “What did I do!?” Matilda stated, blinking innocently at Christian…

  What the hell!

  Matthew tightened his hold on Matilda, having been able to put her on his p when at least half of the people had gone.

  “You teach bad things!” Christian said.

  “Like what!?” Matilda asked the old man…Who had also had a drink…Or two…

  “Like…Like how you leave and come back again…You stopped building the buildings! You don’t teleport me back when I finished getting the food!” With that he put a hand to the table to emphasize what he had just stated.

  Matilda copied him and put a hand down herself, “You disappear too! And…And you stopped building too! So nerr!”

  “…You’re such a child! I’m older than you you know! I am…An elder! You need to respect me!” Christian said back, clearly not angry, it was almost like he was just talking to talk…

  “Yeah, you’re an old…Old man! So old!” Matilda stated back, continuing to py with him…But she too had also had a drink…Or two…

  “I’m not old old! I’m just your elder! There’s a difference!” Christian muttered.

  “Na uh!” Matilda just said back.

  “Yea…ah!” Christian said, looking sternly at her, “I’m an elder!”

  “Elders are old, you idiot…Accept it! You’re old!” Matilda said, once again putting her hand on the table to emphasize her point.

  The area went quiet, as people just sat there, and Matilda sighed. She felt so tired!

  “Not old…” Came a mumble…

  A distance away from the small grumblings of a father and daughter in w, Madeline was heading towards a particur area…Or was she…

  She felt she was like a little fairy on tippy toes! There must be only a small piece of area to walk on, otherwise why was it so hard!

  “I can do this…It’s just walking! I…I knew how to walk since I was little!” She muttered as she slowly took another step on the ‘only’ visible small space that she could walk on.

  “Are you ok? You seem to be walking…To the middle of nowhere…”

  “I’m walking!” Madeline stated easily…Hell, she wasn’t wrong! Walking was her thing at the current moment!

  “…I see that…But there’s nothing ahead of you my dear.”

  Madeline stopped and took a moment to move her head, as the world didn’t seem to stop moving.

  “I…I sleep there!” Madeline pointed, turning to her left, seeing no one, so she turned to the right. “I…Oh wait! We moved!”

  Smiling at her visitor, Madeline nodded and turned around, “We used to sleep there, but we moved. Father didn’t trust anyone, and he told me to be careful of strangers!”

  Looking back down, nearly losing her footing, Madeline held her breath as she stayed still.

  “I can help you.”

  Madeline shook her head, “It’s ok, I can walk! I have been walking since I was small!”

  “Oh, ok, but what if you fall over? Because…”

  Madeline shook her head, “Nope! I’m a…I’m very good, I…Should go to bed! How can I go to bed if I fall over!? Do you think that I would crawl to my bed!? You’re not making any sense!”

  Looking at the person who had their hands out almost like a net, Madeline was taken aback, “Whataya doin…”

  Holding her head still, in what looked like a very awkward spot to the other, she felt the world stop for a moment, “I told you…I am fine!”

  Putting her hands out, she smiled again…She felt pretty good right now! Everything was good!

  Closing her eyes, she put her hands up and said, “It’s so nice! So nice!”

  With a little noise let out, to her sudden loss of bance, she found herself in someone’s arms…

  “Lucky I was here to catch you, my dear.”

  …A moment ter…After catching her breath and looking at the man from the tops of her eyes, “…Did I fall from the sky? When I closed my eyes, I felt like the world was going to eat me and then, and then spat me out!” Madeline then put her lower lip in between her teeth.

  Was it just her or was her feeling of flirting real?

  She had to learn how to flirt because nothing else worked on An!

  Who wants to think of that guy!?

  The person let out a chuckle and Madeline found herself moving…

  “I feel like I’m still walking! See, I told you I could do it!” Madeline moved and found a pce more comfortable, “I…I’m tired…”

  She told herself that she wasn’t going to think about ‘him’! Actually, it was getting easier, well it was…Simply because she wasn’t around him so much but now…While she had returned back to golden haven…It was just a little harder…Just a little…

  “Your Majesty, would you like me to take her.” Another voice cut in.

  “No no, it’s fine.” With that another chuckle was heard as Madeline started to doze off.

  With an awkward exchange, a little woman finally found her bed, and a father was not pleased…

  “You can go now.” Christian stated to the man who had carried her back.

  The man stared back at him…Was this a test? A game? That was rude…

  Both of them continued to stare but didn’t say anything for a while.

  “She was te because I found her heading to where you apparently used to be.”

  Why am I expining myself?

  Christian just nodded at him with an expectant look…

  When is he going to leave!?

  “Then I didn’t actually know where you were, and I didn’t understand why…You are here…” Christian frowned at the man looking at his little establishment…

  What’s wrong with where we live!?

  “She kept mumbling to look for the fruit bushes…That’s all I had…To…”

  Again, they both went quiet.

  Finally, Christian nodded, “She liked the fruit…She’s quite…Picky…”

  “You are her father?”

  Christian looked at him but didn’t answer him.

  “Mmm. Then I bid you farewell, good sir.”

  It was a minute ter that the following minister asked, “Your Majesty?”

  “What?”

  The minister kept following and blinked, almost like he felt like that small little interlude really meant nothing…But…

  When they had not been able to find where she was staying, having to wake up the woman only to get mumbles, the minister felt like he would be cutting the atmosphere if he had interrupted.

  Had he imagined his king being entertained and taken to the young dy?

  Wasn’t that little woman a child of a golden heir? Didn’t that mean that she was a golden heir herself?

  Perhaps she was trying to gain my king’s praises so that she could become the next golden emperor! Was she going to basically sell herself like this?

  “Do not read too much into this, I am pretty sure that she is only here because her father is and…I believe neither of them are here to become the next golden emperor…”

  The minister bowed to his king, who had stopped and looked at him.

  Did he also imagine, just now, his king’s obvious defense to the girl…Was that even a threat?

  ***