A/N: Out with the old, in with the new; may you be happy the whole year through. Happy New Year, guys! :)

~ Chapter 18 The Light ~

Tap, tap, tap…

Putting on a poker face, the butler was pacing to and fro in the Great Hall with his arms crossed, tapping his finger against his chin in deep thoughts. There was a sinister aura emanating from him and it was impossible not to have a sense of foreboding.

The royal couple of the century had snuck out in the early morning right under his very nose! Clearly, they were blinded by their love despite the multiple warnings that he had given to them. He had spent an entire day hunting for them everywhere in discreet. No words regarding the disappearance of the king and queen should be spread to the public lest chaos would ensue.

However, later in that evening, the Sun King finally returned to the castle. Before Neil could launch into his lecture that would take 345678 days to finish, he was greatly baffled that Livi was alone. And his face — it was extremely cold and lacking of any emotions.

It was almost like going back to the days after he ascended to the throne.

The first thing that the Sun King did was to round up the elite soldiers, saying that they were going to rescue Nike, whom had been abducted. Neil decided then that he would postpone his lecture until later, when the rain princess has been rescued by the hands of the soon-to-be-dead abductors.

And when he finally found the couple at the bottom of the hill fooling around, he exhaled in relief upon seeing that Nike was safe and sound. But his relief was short lived and it took every ounce of energy in him to restrain himself from exploding and reprimanding them on 101 reasons why they shouldn't leave the castle without guards. He escorted them back to the castle, leaving the elite soldiers behind with the responsibility of capturing the abductors. Once they were safely back, it was almost three in the morning and Neil put the couple back to their bedchambers to rest. Neither of them protested and heeded to his words.

In the morning, they all gathered in the Great Hall. Livi and Nike were absolutely not ready to face the punishment for the mess they were in.

"Erm, Neil." Nike broke the silence, her face filled with great remorse and her heart thudded nervously. "We're truly sorry for the trouble that we've caused," she apologised quietly.

He stopped pacing, and the couple trembled involuntarily. Even Livi was afraid of challenging Neil at this moment.

"Stupid, bitter old man…" Livi muttered under his breath. "Did he forget that I'm the king he is currently serving?" Nike elbowed him in the ribs, shushing him up. She swore she caught a glimpse of Neil hiding a knife in the inside of his coat and shuddered at the thought of the possible ways that he might used it for.

Never upset an angry butler unless you were courting death.

Neil gazed at the pair with an unfathomable look in his eyes. He adjusted his glasses, a trademark action that he would do whenever he gets serious, before narrowing his eyes at them.

"The both of you-" he started, "-are grounded from leaving the castle grounds for a month. And Nike-sama, I'm doubling the number of lessons you have. As for your Majesty, you're not allowed to sleep in Nike's bedchambers for a week."

"What? Are you kidding?" Livi burst out immediately. "How am I supposed to sleep without Nike? I don't want to go back to taking sleeping pills again, like you said, it's taking a toll on my body."

Frowning, Neil thought hard for a moment. "What would you propose then?"

"I'll grant you a long break. How does that sound?" Livi suggested. If there was anything that Neil wanted, it was probably getting a break. This would also be a great chance to escape from the eyes of his butler to spend some time alone with his wife. Definitely killing two birds with a stone.

The reply came instantly. "Deal," Neil accepted. The image of himself visiting the ocean, walking barefooted on the soft, glistening sand with a fruit cocktail in his hand was too irresistible.

Nike glanced between them repeatedly, clearly speechless at the outrageous arrangement. "That's unfair," she protested. "Why does Livi gets away from this so easily?" He was obviously abusing his power as a king.

"It was a fair proposal." Neil nodded his head in approval. "Does Nike-sama have anything to propose?"

"Of course I do, I offer my body!" she offered. The words came out of her mouth quicker than her mind could process, and she realized how terrible wrong they sounded.

Livi's head swing in her direction with his eyes bulging out of their sockets. He stared at her, appalled at her words. "That option is definitely out, your body belongs to me only!" he exclaimed.

Growing red-faced in embarrassment, she hurriedly correct herself before Livi exploded in rage. "W-wait! I mean I'm willing do manual labour jobs, because I don't really have any brain juices to offer you. It's definitely not what you're thinking about."

"Proposal rejected," Neil answered without blinking an eye. How mean of him, he barely considered her offer! She opened her mouth to argue but he cut her off. "Or would you rather I forbid you guys from seeing each other? Which is it?" That did it — she shut up instantly, obviously choosing the better option.

The day when she would be officially crowned queen, it would be her payback time.

Just then, a knock on the doors caught their attention. "Enter," Livi ordered loudly.

The doors opened and a soldier came running in. Head bowed slightly, he kneeled before them. "Your Majesty," he said. "We have apprehended and brought back the criminals." As expected of the elite soldiers that were highly trained and had participated during the conquer of the other nations, two mere villains were simply no match for them.

Livi straightened in his seat, his face cleared of any emotion. "Bring them in."

The doors opened once again. Held by soldiers on both sides, Leo and Cathy walked into the Great Hall with their wrists bound tightly by ropes. Their clothes were ruffled and few bruises could be spotted on their faces. They stopped in front of the Sun King, their eyes trained on the man sitting on the throne before them with hostility. The soldiers around them forced them to their knees and they kneeled grudgingly.

"Leo Strauss and Cathy Strauss, as members of the Strauss family, you have committed treason in the assassination attempt of the Crown Princess. You have disgraced your family's honor," Livi stated.

"I'm well aware about your reasons behind her abduction - your actual target was me. I've heard your side of the story from Nike-" His eyes flitted to hers briefly, and he noted the concern look on her face. She gave him a small smile, one that said that she was fine.

He continued on, "I do hope that you will listen to my side of the story - not like you get to object anyways - on the coup d'etat that was carried out years ago. Whether you believe my words or not, it's your choice."

At this point of time, Leo and Cathy just stared at Livi, both wearing identical scowls on their faces.

"That guy - the Commander of the Royal Arms - he used to work under Duke Feliz Gonzalez, a noble that was in charge of the north army. Along with many others, they conspired against me and gathered supporters. In order to raise an army and obtain advanced weapons, they required financial resource. That was when they hunted for undiscovered mines. They rounded up slaves to do their dirty job behind my back."

"Apart from getting a loan at the national merchant bank, it seemed like your father also loaned money from Duke Feliz himself directly. He was, unfortunately, caught up in the scheme. The duke was unhappy that he couldn't get his money back, hence, turning you guys into his slaves was his only option to get back at your father."

"When I finally discovered his treacherous scheme, I had my armies arrested the rebels, shut down the mines and retrieved the slaves. I did try to restore those lives that were ruined, but I'm sorry that I couldn't save your father." For the first time, surprise flickered in Leo's eyes. He was finding it incredulous that Livi had apologised to him twice for the death of his family member.

"Of course, there were rumours circulating around then that everything was my doing and shutting down the mines appeared like I was covering my dirty deeds," Livi added.

Leo finally spoke then, but his tone was dubious. "So, you are saying that he lied to me that you were behind everything, just to make you get on my bad side?"

Livi shrugged. "It seems like that was his intention. It's a pretty common tactic used around here."

Cathy growled beside Leo. "For countless times, we have been lied to," she snapped. "What makes you think that we should believe your words?"

A wry smile tipped the edge of Livi's mouth. "I'm not forcing you to believe me," he said dryly. "And you know, I don't really care much about what happened to you guys and whether you believe me or not. Because you attempted to kill someone that I love. You don't know how hard I'm restraining myself here before I go about killing both of you." He shot them a death glare.

Unafraid, Cathy threw him back a challenging look too.

Rolling his eyes, he leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands together. "But it is my responsibility to amend the mistakes that my ex-subordinate committed. And my dear wife hates violence." He nodded his head in Nike's direction. She turned slightly abashed when the siblings turned their attention to her.

Livi offered, "I've something for you both, and perhaps thereafter, I hope you may find peace in your heart." Lifting a finger, he signaled to the guards standing near the ornate doors. Whatever his intention was, they understood immediately.

They opened the doors, revealing the person standing behind. It was a woman, possibly in her mid forties, dressed in a fairly beautiful dress.

She entered the Great Hall slowly. Her eyes travelled to the throne, where Livi and Nike was sitting. She curtsied to them gracefully and greeted, "Your Majesty". Livi nodded and gestured with his hand for her to rise.

Once she finished her greetings, her eyes wandered and they eventually landed on the siblings kneeling on the ground. She locked gazes with them for a second before a blooming smile slowly appeared on her face.

However, the siblings froze with their eyes wide and mouths agape. The sight of the woman thunderstruck them.

"M-mother?" they gasped in unison.