THE DEMON KING'S EMPRESS
200 Years (Early Banquet of Destruction)

"Yes. I'm..."

"What's this?"

The arrival of the king with his personal bodyguards, suddenly startled them. Lili tried to stand up, but her body felt weak so she was helped by the empress. Both saluted the king at the same time.

"Greet Your Majesty."

"Ehm. Awake up!"

"Thank you Your Majesty."

"What's going on?" the king asked as he turned his gaze towards his wife who was standing next to Lili.

"There's nothing."

"really? Then, why is this girl laughing faint here?"

"That's because he's treating me."

"Cure you? Really it?"

"Of course."

"Silly! What could he do? She's still a smelly girl. How could he possibly treat you? Even the greatest royal physician in this country alone cannot treat your illness! You must be kidding me!"

"When I joke, Your Majesty. My body feels a little better after being treated by her."

"Sorry Your Majesty if I'm presumptuous. I wasn't feeling well on my way here. So my body was weak and I fainted while treating Her Majesty the empress."

" So that's it. Lili, didn't you lie to me?!"

"I dare not Your Majesty."

"I hope so. So, do you know what kind of illness the empress is suffering from?"

"Yes." Yeah."

"Goodoo. In the future, I want you to treat the empress. And this empress' disease, you've kept it a secret from others. Do you understand?!"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I-i understand.

"good. All right, let's go to the banquet."

"banquet?"

"Ah, I mean the king because we have a guest, so we must welcome him well as the host."

"Ah. I'm sorry Your Majesty the empress. I'm just an ordinary person. So..."

"You're an ordinary person or not, you're still our guest. Come on, follow me!"

"Your Majesty."

The four people left the red pavilion for the banquet hall. After a while, they arrived at a very large place with several dining tables, chairs, and various kinds of dishes served on the table. Lili had thought, that the royal family banquet is identical in a spacious room, magnificent, luxurious and very glamorous. But what he saw was not like that. This banquet was outside the room with a green view around it. Seen in the corner of the dining table looks the figure of a handsome young man. His body was tall with white skin, long black hair in the back. He wore red clothes in line with the color of the clothes worn by the king. He was the crown prince, prince Feng. The clothes he was wearing looked elegant. Unlike the king who looks very luxurious and elegant, with a red robe decorated with gold on the side. Even the dress worn by the empress was also in line with the king's clothes. Really a very nice couple. Suddenly a male spirit figure appeared in his mind, which he met in the forest of death. Lili felt sorry for him. He could not imagine how he felt. Lili wanted to ask him, how does she feel about the empress after not meeting for so long? Honey, Lili doesn't have that much courage. For him, maybe it was a secret everyone did not need to know. But the spirit of the man had disappeared. In a way, Lili felt no need to ask about how she felt? On the other hand, Lili felt pity for him. So he did not have the courage to ask the spirit of the man. He prefers to be quiet. If the spirit tells about his feelings, he will prefer to be a loyal listener rather than a commentator. Because it's the best way to care about someone. Maybe he's calm down there. And that was a good thing for him as well as the spirit of the man himself.

The king began to take his seat. He first sat in his chair and allowed everyone to sit in his chair including Lili. Lili just nodded in doubt, but she never took her seat.

"Why are you silent? Sit down!" the king's order to Lili who was still standing like a statue while pointing at the seat next to crown prince Feng.

"Sorry, Your Majesty the king, empress. Not that I wanted to reject it, but I felt that as a commoner it was not appropriate to sit together with the palace family."

"Hahaha.forget that. Didn't I say you were my guest? So it is appropriate as the host, I entertain my guests with special treatment. Come sit!" the king ordered him to sit down next to the crown prince.

Lili nodded slowly and started walking towards the chair next to crown prince Feng. While pulling the chair and about to sit on it, suddenly the figure of a man appeared and immediately sat occupying the chair pulled by Lili. Lili was surprised to see her chair sat by a man. The man immediately turned his head towards Lili with a smile.

"Hi, we meet again. Thank you, yeah."

Lili was silent. He knew who the owner of the face was.

"Ehem, Sirzechs!"

Hearing her name being called by the empress, her own birth mother, Prince Sirzechs immediately stepped out of her seat and invited Lili to sit in her seat. Seeing the manner of the prince Sirzechs, Lili still hesitated to accept it.

"What are you waiting for, sit down!" shouted empress.

Because the empress asked him to sit back in her chair, Lili nodded and sat down in the chair she was supposed to sit in from the beginning. Lili sat down, followed by Prince Sirzechs who also sat next to her. The formation sits in a circle where the king is next to the empress, his wife and is followed by crown prince Feng, Lili and the last prince Sirzechs. Just with the applause of a king, two servants came with two bottles of red wine. One servant carried two bottles of red wine on his tray, and the other servant poured a bottle of wine into the glass of the king, the empress and three others. When it was Lili's glass to be poured with a bottle of red wine, Lili signaled to the waiter not to pour wine into the glass. The servant stopped pouring while glancing at the king. The king who saw the incident, immediately spoke up.

"Lili, don't you like this royal wine?"

"Sorry Your Majesty, I'm not used to drinking wine."

"So so. I thought you rejected it."

"Sorry Your Majesty."

"It's okay. I was wrong. I should have asked you what you like and what you don't like."

"It's okay, Your Majesty. Sorry if my actions offended Your Majesty."

"Hahaha, there's no need for you to apologize. Waiter, give him another drink."

"No need to bother Your Majesty. I'll just drink this glass of water."

"Where can it be like that!" snapped the king while hitting the dining table.

Everyone who saw that, immediately fell silent. Lili felt, something was wrong with her words. The atmosphere became quiet and awkward. Suddenly Lili heard a soft voice from the man sitting next to her.

"Sorry Father, not that I'm being presumptuous. We are here to entertain our guests warmly. So, if the banquet we serve, does not suit the taste of our guests, then we must appreciate it."

"Huff, okay. What you said is true. Sorry to startle you. Does this banquet not suit your taste, Lili?"

"No. The dishes that the king serves are very delicious and appetizing. Not that it doesn't suit me."

"Then, why do you only want a glass of water as your drink?"

"I'm sorry if my wish offends Your Majesty. But, I'm not used to drinking Your Majesty's alcoholic beverages."

"Not used to it because you don't get used to it. If you get used to it, you'll get used to it." crown prince Feng said.

"Over time it becomes a habit. That's also a bad thing." added prince Sirzechs.

The two men stared at each other with faces full of anger. Lili who was in the middle of them, sensed that there was a kind of piercing cold atmosphere between them. Lili sighed and started talking.

"What you say is true."

"Sure." answer both simultaneously.

"Already. Let's enjoy this dish. Lili, I hope this dish suits you just like you said."

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty."

Enjoy the dishes at the table. Seeing the king, the empress and the two princes taking a variety of dishes they chose, Lili was reminded by her family who were now at home. Seeing Lili's plate empty, the king rebuked her.

"Now what else is Lili? Don't reason anymore."

"No, Your Majesty. Sorry, I was daydreaming. Sorry Your Majesty."

"It's okay."

Lili also took and stabbed the chicken steak in front of her using her fork. However, who would have thought if, Prince Sirzechs also wanted it. The two eyes met in one glance. Lili glanced at the chicken steak and pulled the fork. But who would have thought if the chicken steak that the prince wanted Sirzechs was given to him. Lili turned to look at Prince Sirzechs.

"Eat. You need to eat a lot, because you're still in the growth stage." taunted the prince Sirzechs as he put the chicken steak on his plate.

Hearing the prank of the prince Sirzechs, everyone who was there smiled no exception to the king. Lili also began to blush.

"Empress, I didn't think our son could make a joke."

"You're right, baby."

"Humph, it's normal. What to be proud of from that joke!"

"And what is there to be proud of getting a title from the mercy of others!"

"You!"

Brak!!!!

The sound of the king hitting the table was very loud, making all the people who witnessed it instantly bowed and silent for a moment. This is the second time the king hits the table. Lili put the cutlery she held on her plate. The king stared intently at crown prince Feng and prince Sirzechs. Lili who glanced at him at a glance could tell that the king was very angry and upset with the actions of the two of them.

"Sorry to make you feel uncomfortable with this incident Lili."

"It's okay, Your Majesty the king."

"I think I should start now. After all, we all eat this dish, right? So I'm going straight to the subject."

The king waved his hand as if beckoning all the servants who were still here to leave. All the servants saluted the king and withdrew. Now in this place there are only five people, including the king.

"Lili, do you know why I invited you here?"

Lili shook her head.

"I want to ask, why did you get in and out of that forest of death?"

"It is only good luck, Your Majesty."

"Luck? Lili. You think I'm who you can easily lie to. You know who I am?!"

"I knew. You are king. And I'm an ordinary man. I've said what I have to say."

"You're sure you've told me the truth."

"Yes." Yeah."

"Aren't you afraid your family will be dragged along if you're caught lying to the king?!"

"Is the king threatening me now?!"

"Buuaahahahaha! Do I look that sadistic."

"Little."

"You're very honest. I like you more."

Hearing the king say "I like you more" made Lili shudder even more. Not only Lili, even the empress, the crown prince and the prince of Sirzechs were shocked to hear it as well.

"Darling..."

Not finished continuing her words, the empress was held by the king with her hand gesture. The empress was silent.

"Lili, how old are you now?"

"Seventeen years, Your Majesty."

"Oh, seventeen years. It's time for you to get married."

"Eh?"

"Yahanda!" shouted crown prince Feng and prince Sirzechs simultaneously.

"Enough! Lili, there's something I want to tell you. It doesn't matter if you don't want to tell me how you got in and out of the dead forest. I'm not gonna force you."

"Little story, what does Your Majesty want from me?"

"simple. At this ripe age of yours, I will marry you to one of my children, how? Are you ready?"

Hearing this, both prince Sirzechs and crown prince Feng were shocked instead of playing. As a king, he openly expressed his desire to marry one of his children to a young girl.

"This is. I'm sorry, Your Majesty. It's too fast for me."

"Too fast?"

"Honey, give Lili time to think about this. After all, this was very sudden for him. You were young once too, weren't you?"

"alright. According to your wishes. You heard it was Lili, I gave you time to think about this. Remember, it's time for you to get married, have a partner."

"Thank you Your Majesty for your concern."

"I hope I get a satisfactory answer from you"

"In that case, I express my resignation, Your Majesty. Thanks for the banquet. I'm sorry if I did anything less than pleasing, that offended you."

"Yes. I'm sorry, I can't take you ahead."

"It's okay, Your Majesty. I want to resign first, Your Majesty the king, empress."

The king and empress nodded simultaneously. Lili saluted, then walked away. Seeing that Lili was gone, the prince of Sirzechs began to ask his father.

"Ayahanda, what did you just do? Don't you think about how she feels?"

"Sirzechs, since when did you start being sentimental? don't tell me that you're in love with her?"