I did my very best for this chapter…I am sorry again for the nth time for updating late, next chapter is being on progressed. So I hope you all continue to enjoy reading this and please don't hesitate or be shy to leave a comment/review. May it be bad or good. Thank you~
Morning came and Tea squeezed her eyes feeling the ray of sunlight inside their room, her hand slowly moved towards the opposite of the bed reaching for something. When she felt the space beside her is empty, Tea slowly opened her eyes and sat up. "So he already left without waking me up?" she asked feeling somewhat sad, last night Atem ignored her and went directly to sleep while she was left to think if she had done something wrong to him for hours until she fell asleep. Having left in that ackward situation, Tea's mind focused only on Atem's strange behaviour. A knock was heard and Tea answered with a smile, "You may come in."
As soon as she gave her permission, Isis went inside the room and bowed before Tea. "Good morning our queen," Isis greeted with a smile and Tea responded back with a smile of her own.
"Here is your schedule for the day," Isis said and showed a list of things to Tea. The girl nodded and signed the papyrus, she then remained sitting on the bed while Isis studied her.
"I hope I am not intruding, but is something the matter our queen?" Isis asked with a concerned look.
Tea was taken aback and looked at Isis while shooking her head, "I am fine. What made you say that Isis?"
The millennium necklace owner simply answered with a very serious expression, "your smile seemed different than the usual one you show plus your aura gives a melancholic feeling our queen."
"Eh? You can sense that?" Tea asked surprisingly which made Isis looked at her even more concerned, the young girl noticed that and forced a smile. "Don't worry about me Isis. I am truly fine, maybe I am still weak from my wounds."
"Are you sure it is not connected with our pharaoh?" Isis asked seemingly to confirm something.
Tea sweatdropped, Isis sure has a sharp eye. Tea replied, "Of course not Isis…we are both fine. If you don't have anything more to ask I shall take a shower now."
"Very well our queen, please take your time. After you finish, I shall instruct a guard to accompany you to the dining room" Isis said and Tea replied, "it's ok Isis I can manage. Thank you and please do continue the preparation to Atem's birthday secretly ok?"
Isis nodded and bowed for the last time before leaving the room. Tea on the other hand waited until the millennium necklace owner left and sighed with relief, she went inside the bathroom and slowly took off her clothes as she began showering herself with water. The feeling of cold water splashing unto her whole body made Tea a little bit calm, she took her time as she pondered if she did something yesterday that might have made Atem act that way. I guess me and Atem have to talk this one out, Tea thought. After she finished showering, she used the clothes that was prepared to her already. She looked at herself in the mirror, I really look different now that I'm using clothes worn only by royalties…somehow, I miss just being the normal me. Tea thought and sighed. Her clothes today was a white tube dress that fits snugly up to her hips then flows freely down her feet, it has an opening in the front which reveals her long slender legs each time she walk. Her waist was enclosed by a golden belt, and both the sides of her arms has a golden winglike design to which her red cape was attached. Her shoes were white closed shoes with intricate designs made of gold and she wore a golden serpent like bracelet on each of her wrist. Upon going to the dining room, each servant bowed to her and most of the girls looked at her with awe. Isis upon seeing her smiled and bowed down as well, Tea returned the gesture and sat at the table. The foods that were prepared were all in big plates and smelled nice, seeing that it was only her at the table she wondered if her friends were just late or if they had already finished eating.
"Isis, are my friends already awake?" Tea asked, Isis replied "If I remember correctly they are already done our queen and they are at the garden now."
"Oh…then how about Atem?" she asked and the millennium necklace owner replied, "I haven't seen him or Shimon our queen so maybe our pharaoh hasn't eaten yet."
"I see…then I shall wait for him to arrive" Tea said. She waited almost 30 minutes but there was no sign of Atem at all arriving, Isis was worried that Tea might be hungry already.
"Excuse me our queen, it has been almost 30 minutes…would you like me to call our pharaoh or you can already start eating" Isis suggested but Tea shook her head, "I am still not hungry Isis…I will wait on A-" her sentence was cut off when her stomach suddenly made a noise. Tea immediately blushed and both she and Isis looked at each other.
"I shall go find the pharaoh and notify him that you are waiting our queen," Isis said and bowed down before leaving. "Thank you as always Isis" Tea replied and waited. Where are you Atem? Did I do something wrong? Tea thought as she held her growling stomach.
Isis was walking towards the royal library when she saw the pharaoh eating together with Mana on a balcony, the two were laughing together as they watched Yugi and the others playing while Mahad only looked at the gang with a serious look as he sat in front of them. Isis was about to walk towards the pharaoh when she heard his conversation with Mana. "It is really fun eating with you Mana…I haven't had this much fun ever since I was married," Atem said.
Mana laughed and replied, "Are you saying you miss me prince? Also don't say that you are not having fun right now just because you are married, if ever the queen hears that she will be sad."
"Well…being married has its own disadvantage, plus this marriage is only political" Atem said covering the real reason that it was only a contract marriage between him and Tea, although using the excuse of political marriage isn't exactly wrong since he was really just forced to marry someone for the sake of retaining the throne.
Mana continued to laugh even more, "What are you saying now prince. I thought you really married the queen because you love her, you look really happy during the wedding ceremony."
"Of course a couple needs to smile after getting married right? Anyway I thought it will be much more easier when I am already married but it's much worse…I have to protect not only myself but also my wife and I am always worried about not doing my part as a husband, sometimes I wish that…you are the one I married" Atem explained looking at a distance.
Upon hearing his words, Mana looked at Atem with a surprised expression. "Now where did that came from? Are you getting sad because you can't always see your wife or are you worried that someone might take her away from you?" Mana teased and Atem laughed.
"Stop saying that…or you'll get this!"Atem said as he tickled Mana on her sides, the girl laughed so hard that both stumbled down.
"Stop it prince or Master would get angry at me!" Mana replied.
Atem stopped tickling her, "Why would Mahad get angry at you? I am only playing around and we always do this before."
Mana sat up and made a bit of distance from Atem while both of them sat on the floor, "Well that was before you were married."
"Can't I play around with you and Mahad anymore? I should have just married you then" Atem said nonchalantly while Mana slapped his back softly.
"Stop joking around prince, you know royalties can't marry a mere commoner…I can still play with you as long as the queen is fine with it" Mana replied with a playful laugh but deep down inside she somehow felt happy.
"Alright, let us finish eating then go to Mahad he looks like his eyes are about to pop out of him any second now" Atem joked and both of them looked at Mahad who was still sitting seriously without moving an inch in his place, surely after seeing him both Atem and Mana laughed some more.
Upon hearing the whole conversation, Isis felt uneasy and slowly went to where Tea was. I must keep what I heard to myself only or else the queen would be hurt, Isis thought and held her millennium necklace tightly. When she arrived back at the dining room she saw Tea indeed didn't touch her plate and was sitting patiently at the chair, Isis felt sad and decided to give her best smile towards the queen. "I thought you had already eaten our queen, I would like to inform you that I saw our pharaoh at the balcony just in front of the garden eating already…please do eat already" Isis said with a smile.
"Really? Then I shall go there and -" Tea's words were cut when Isis interrupted her.
"It would be best if you eat first our queen, we don't want the pharaoh to see you faint right in front of him" Isis replied fast hiding her concerned face.
Tea was surprised by the sudden interruption of Isis, it is not like her at all. Tea suddenly felt an uneasy feeling in her heart, she feels that Isis is trying to hide something but she doesn't want to hurt Isis feelings too so she smiled towards the millennium necklace owner and proceeded to eat a bit of the foods prepared. It was not long enough when Tea decided to leave the dining room, Isis had already left as she was being called for help in preparing the pharaoh's birthday. Tea was walking towards the balcony when she heard Atem and Mana leaving and heading towards the garden, she instinctively hid herself behind a wall just near the balcony and slowly took a peak at them. She decided not to interrupt their time as they had been friends for the longest time and probably had small time to meet each other due to marriage and duties.
"That was a very delicious breakfast right prince?" Mana asked with a smile.
Atem nodded and smiled as well, "Yes…well shall we go to the garden together?"
Mana shook her head, "Sorry prince I forgot that Master instructed me to practice my magic on my own today…he will see if I have already progressed on my training in the afternoon so I have to do well or else he will scold me."
"Oh…really? Well ok, I guess I shall see you around Mana. Goodbye and goodluck on your training, I know you can do it" Atem said with a smile.
"Thank you prince, I definitely will practice hard. If ever you have any problems that you can't share with others, you can always rely on me. Master and I will always be here for you ok, prince?" Mana said and Atem nodded.
Mana smiled sweetly and suddenly kissed Atem on his right cheek, surprising the pharaoh for a bit. The two then laughed at each other and waved goodbye while they parted ways in opposite directions. Tea was surprised the most by the gesture. Seeing both Atem and Mana happy with each other with Atem looking more relaxed than what she usually see, made her realize the great role Mana had and still has with Atem that she(Tea) can't replace. Upon realizing that, Tea felt an unbearable pain at her heart making her breath hard. She felt tears forming in her eyes and before Atem could see her, she ran fast as she could heading towards their room.
Meanwhile back to Bakura's place…
Bakura who saw everything that is happening to Atem and Tea had a mischievous smile on his face, he then gestured a servant to hear his command. The nearby servant immediately went and kneeled in front of Bakura.
"What may I do for you Master?" the servant asked bowing.
"Call those four right now, I have a work for them to do" Bakura ordered and the servant nodded.
Within just a few minutes, Frau and the others arrived. They kneeled and bowed in front of Bakura. "What do you want us to do for you, Master?" Frau asked.
Bakura grinned, "just an easy one. I want the four of you to prepare since the plan will proceed."
"Master, I am not questioning your command but how about the other preparation we are planning?" Frau asked in his serious voice.
"Oh don't worry Frau, it will happen…but for now the focus shall be our plan to attack during Atem's birthday. It would be the best present I can give him but don't hurt him or Tea, afterall this is merely a threat for him. Of course…his wife Tea is doing her best for this celebration, I don't want to break more her fragile heart as she is receiving from her husband" Bakura explained giving a sarcastic tone at his last sentence.
Frau looked at his master and saw that Bakura is enjoying what is happening right now, he remembered Tea who was their prisoner for a bit of time and how her personality towards him were full of kindness. Even though they treated her badly, she still showed concern for him and his comrades. After she was released from her capture, Frau felt somewhat relieved and secretly observe the girl's condition. He hope that she will not be hurt but if his Master will have to order him to kill or hurt her, he has no choice but to do so since it is his only way to show gratitude for what Bakura has done to him and the others. "As you wish Master," Frau replied and looked at Mikhail, Chocolate and Tira who nodded as well.
Bakura smiled mischievously, "Very well…let us begin my birthday present for Atem."
Back to Atem's palace…
Atem was heading towards the garden when he bumped into someone, the mysterious person fell towards the ground and reacted in pain. Atem was surprised and looked at the person he bumped into, the person is wearing a plain white clothing that falls just above her knee while the sleeves completely covered her arms. Her hair was white and her deep blue eyes looked at him with calmness. Atem couldn't help but feel a familiar aura towards her, he was cut in thoughts when he realized the girl was still on the ground. "Oh I am very sorry about that, I didn't saw you…here let me help you" Atem said and offered his hand.
The girl hesitated at first but accepted the offer and stood wiping the dust off of her clothes. "Thank you sir and it is okay, I wasn't looking also" the girl replied looking down at the floor.
"Sorry if I am intruding but…are you a servant here? It is my first time seeing you here" Atem asked curiously.
"Oh about that I am a friend of Seto and I am-" she was cut off when a voice interrupted her.
"You should show respect towards the person you are speaking!" the voice said and both Atem and the girl looked towards the direction the voice was coming from.
Upon seeing the owner of the voice, the girl smiled and waved. Atem looked at the stranger in front of him with surprise. Upon arriving towards Atem, the owner of the voice immediately bowed. "I would like to ask for forgiveness for this person. She is very rude and doesn't know who she is talking."
"Oh…it's ok Seto, since she is your friend. Plus is she from a different country? She looks…different" Atem said.
"I am born from this country Sir oh and my name is-" she was cut off again.
Seto interrupted her before the mess gets bigger, "Kisara…I told you to behave whenever you are in this place right? Have you forgotten already? And for the information of you being a friend, I didn't recall being one. I just brought you here for observation."
Kisara pouted upon hearing it. Seto continued to explain as he looked at Atem, "the truth is I brought Kisara here for observation…but I am asking permission from you our pharaoh if it is alright? If it is, in return she will help in the palace."
Seto then looked at Kisara and proceeded to scold her, "and you miss should know your place. The person you are talking to is the pharaoh who rules this country. You should show respect for him and the other councils here. Understood?"
Kisara pouted again but nodded, Atem tried his best not to laugh as he saw Seto who is somewhat relaxed whenever he is around Kisara. He smiled at the scene but couldn't help feeling somewhat curious what Seto is observing.
"I am really sorry for not knowing you are the pharaoh Sir…please forgive me" Kisara suddenly said and bowed towards Atem. The latter was surprised but smiled and replied, "It's alright. It is your first time here in the palace I presume? I hope you will enjoy your stay here and if you need help don't hesitate to ask me or the councils ok?"
Kisara nodded while Seto only looked at her with a serious expression, though deep down inside he felt somewhat relieved that Kisara was approved to stay in the palace. "So starting today, you should learn the different duties you need to do and don't make trouble" Seto said looking at Kisara with a stern look while the latter only smiled. Not known from the three, Aknadin who saw everything was looking at Kisara with an angry expression. His hands were formed into a fist as he gritted his teeth, "I cannot allow that girl to be around Seto…I don't ever want someone as dirty as her to taint him. She is not worthy of him…I need to…kill her before she taints him."
To be continued…
Next chap will be about Atem's birthday! More surprises and revelations for the proceeding chaps.