Back in the dining hall...
"I want to return to my room immediately..."
That was the only thought circling Irene's mind in that suffocating moment.
With the strange heaviness of the atmosphere and all that silence, she stopped eating for a few seconds. Then she raised her eyes and looked at them again.
She slowly sighed, trying to break the ice, then offered a small, formal smile and said:
"Actually..."
Everyone's attention suddenly turned toward her.
Irene continued in a friendly tone.
"A few days before I left the south, I bought some gifts for everyone... I will have them sent to your rooms tomorrow, and I would be very grateful if you accepted them."
Violet smiled gently and replied:
"That is very kind of you, Irene... You really did not have to trouble yourself with such things. You should have simply enjoyed your time there."
Irene gently shook her head.
"On the contrary... It was actually quite enjoyable to think about and choose gifts that suited each of your tastes."
Then Irene turned toward Queen Elizabeth and said politely:
"I noticed how much Her Majesty the Queen likes wearing fur, so I made sure to carefully choose a collection of luxurious coats that I thought you would certainly like."
Elizabeth did not even look at her. She continued cutting her food with harsh, deliberate indifference before speaking in a dry voice.
"Hmm... Thank you, but I believe I no longer like wearing fur from this very moment. So you may give that gift to someone else, or simply get rid of it."
Irene's eyes widened in surprise and shock, as though she could not believe what she had just heard from the queen.
"Excuse me?"
Violet cried out in disbelief and agitation:
"Mother!! What are you saying?!"
King Richard looked at his wife in furious anger and reprimanded her.
"Elizabeth! How can you let such reckless words come out of your mouth like that?!"
But Anita replied from the other side of the table in a sharp, cold tone.
"Why are you all so surprised? Isn't it obvious? Mother does not want to receive anything from her at all."
Irene looked toward Anita with lost, bewildered eyes, unable to understand anything that was happening around her.
King Richard roared in furious anger, his voice shaking the table.
"Anita! Eat your food quietly and stay completely out of this matter!"
Anita lowered her head in irritation and annoyance, contenting herself with glaring angrily.
Irene could not believe the harsh way Elizabeth had spoken to her. A bitter question began circling through her mind.
"What is happening here?! Is she angry with me? What did I do?"
King Richard angrily threw his fork onto the luxurious table. Elizabeth looked at him with provocative calmness, as though she did not care about the consequences.
"What? Am I obliged to accept a gift I do not want?"
The king fixed Elizabeth with a fiery, stern gaze that made her lower her head helplessly. Then he spoke in a voice filled with frustration.
"What can I possibly say now, when grown adults are behaving with such childish immaturity? Was asking for one peaceful night with my family really that difficult?"
Irene finally spoke in a quiet voice, trying to gather the pieces of the embarrassment and put an end to the heated dispute as she looked at Elizabeth.
"It is alright... You do not have to accept it at all... I am truly sorry."
Violet turned toward Irene and spoke with affection.
"Irene, why are you apologizing? Mother has simply been tired these days and has not been sleeping properly because of the horse accident and everything that happened recently, so she is a little unsettled... You have absolutely nothing to apologize for."
Irene replied in a voice filled with self-blame.
"I understand her feelings perfectly... Since Lucas was injured in his hand because of me, she must be angry with me and filled with grief... I am truly sorry."
At that moment, Anita's patience finally snapped, and she spoke with biting agitation.
"Ah! Is that really all you managed to figure out?! Or are you pretending to be innocent and ignorant as you always do? Do you think we still know nothing about your hidden truth?!"
Irene raised her eyebrows in complete astonishment.
King Richard rose from his seat in a burst of fury and shouted in a voice that shook the entire hall.
"ANITA!!! Didn't I tell you to shut that mouth immediately?! Do I have to repeat myself more than once for you to understand?!"
Violet quickly rose, attempting to calm her enraged father, causing Irene to tremble where she sat. She had never seen King Richard this furious and enraged before, not in such a terrifying way.
She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and ask them all what was happening in that insane moment...
And suddenly...
The main doors of the hall burst open with tremendous force, slamming against the wall, and a guard rushed inside, panting in terror.
He shouted in a trembling voice:
"Your Majesty... there is an extremely urgent matter!"
Richard's shouts echoed furiously, piercing the heart of the overwhelming chaos that consumed the place:
"What is happening here?! Hurry and stop him at once!!"
The rest of the family arrived one after another, rushing in with steps driven by fear, before everyone froze dead in their tracks. They were paralyzed with shock and disbelief at the sight of their brother's frantic state as he hurled the guards left and right, striking them and roaring for them to unhand him, like a raging bull that had completely lost all self-control.
Anita clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, while Violet stood rooted to the spot, her eyes wide as if unable to process what she was witnessing her worst nightmare coming to life before her eyes. The moment Elizabeth arrived and saw him in that state, she collapsed onto the floor. Everything crumbled before her; she knew her son better than anyone else
Her mind flashed back to his bitterly harsh past... As a child, Lucas had received rigorous martial and military training a cold, austere upbringing capable of stripping any human being of their fundamental emotions, all to turn him into a loyal puppet for the Emperor. Though he had been a cheerful child, bursting with life, he transformed during his teenage years into a living shell devoid of warmth. He would occasionally rebel and escape the palace, fully aware of the severe punishment awaiting him, but his body had grown accustomed to such cruelty. Elizabeth had been helpless, able only to watch from afar with silent weeping as her bright, gentle boy who used to adore his two sisters and eagerly practice horseback riding and sword fighting was stripped of his humanity step by step as he grew, until he lost himself completely... And now, she was looking at the monster crafted because of them all.
Her words came out in a trembling, broken voice, tears streaming down her cheeks:
"My... my son, stop..."
Far behind that chaotic storm, Irene stood in a distant corner.
She was completely frozen, as though she weren't truly there, or as if she were watching a painful memory or a terrible nightmare unfolding before her. She couldn't understand what was happening, why it was happening, or what grave matter had driven Lucas into his worst state imaginable a state where he responded to no one, not even his father's stern commands.
Irene's eyes shifted slowly toward one of the maids who was coughing violently amidst a crowd of servants as they were being dragged away, while Lucas kept his fierce gaze locked onto her as if she were prey to be destroyed at all costs. Irene's eyes then moved toward another maid weeping bitterly, clutching her face as warm blood seeped through her fingers
Irene's mouth parted involuntarily, pure terror etched across her features. The moment the maid pulled her hands away from her blood-stained face, all sound suddenly cut off from Irene's ears.
To be continued...