Chapter 262 A Father

"Good morning, kids," the king said as he walked in with Xemon, who smiled when he saw Adora, and the others arrived at the same time.

"Good morning," they said as they stepped inside, and the mage smiled.

"Well, part of the crew is here, nice," the mage said and Kyris smiled at him.

"It's good to see you too bro," Kyris said and his brother grinned, then went to Adora and she looked at him.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," she replied.

"What do you want for your birthday?" he asked, and she smirked.

"Nothing," she answered.

"Sad, there is someone who would like to speak with you; he came in today, despite the fact that he is supposed to be on vacation," he said as he moved away from in front of her.

"Good morning, kids," the queen said as she walked in.

"Good morning," they replied.

"You may enter," the mage said, and everyone looked as a middle-aged man in his late thirties with a muscular body, fair skin, and dark hair that reached his neckline and was tied in a pony entered the castle, dressed neatly, and Adora looked at him before he smiled.

"Your highness," he said.

"Who is he?" Sarah asked.

"This is former royal army general Nion Cromrin, a man of honor, one of the best generals of all time," the mage responded, and they bowed their heads in respect.

"I am also an enemy of yours, father, Vellon," Nion added, as the others exchanged glances and Adora sighed.

"Don't be like that, Nion," the king said with a smile, and Nion smiled as Adora approached him.

"Princess, I apologize for everything," he said as he was about to kneel, but Adora grabbed his arm and he looked at her.

"Please don't, you don't have to lower yourself here, not now or ever, I don't want to have to repeat this ever again so listen carefully, you don't have to apologize for things that are not your fault, you did nothing wrong," she smiled, and he stood up properly and smiled.

"You're being overly generous; I have to take some responsibility," he replied, and Adora sighed.

"No, you don't; what Vellon is doing has nothing to do with you; it's his choice; you didn't tell him to do it, so don't think that way; you're a great person general; and, by the way, why aren't you general anymore? You wanted to retire?" He lowered his head in response to her question.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The parliament forced him to retire," the king responded.

"What exactly do you mean?" Adora inquired.

"They wanted him to take responsibility as well, saying that a guy whose son is the enemy of all of us is not fit to be a general, and perhaps he is a traitor as well," the king responded, and Adora scoffed.

"It would seem that they need to be reminded of their exact position; I will take care of that after tomorrow, but do you want to be general again?" Adora inquired.

"I've served enough time, I'd like to relax," he replied with a smile.

"All right, if that's what you want, you can rest easy, but I still want the council gone; do you still disagree with me on this, father?" she asked.

"No, I don't; I was considering doing it myself, but..." he responded.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it; they are in no position to order anyone around, the last thing they want to do right now is aggravate me," she said, her eyes glowing and the king smiled.

"Do whatever you want with them, they crossed their boundaries a long time ago, I can't even stand seeing some of them," he replied, and Adora smiled.

"If they were causing you so many problems, you should have told me ages ago, even I have my duties to this kingdom," she said, and the king sighed.

"There is a matter I would like you to look into as soon as possible, but after your birthday tomorrow and after we deal with the parliament members," he replied, and her team members sighed as they realized the maids were decorating.

"It's your birthday tomorrow?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, her birthday is tomorrow," Kyris responded and they looked at each other and then smiled.

"You are all invited to the ball I will be hosting tomorrow night for her birthday, there won't be many strangers either just a few, most are whom you have seen before, be sure to come," the king said.

"Yes, help her enjoy it more; it is, after all, her birthday," the queen added.

"Thank you for inviting us; we will be there," Alix replied.

"Yes, and we'll make sure she has a good time," Ayden said, and the others smiled along with Adora.

"If there hadn't been a ball, I don't think we would have known it was her birthday, well, without someone telling us," Alix said, and Adora glanced at him then he smirked.

"There are reasons why she doesn't do well on her birthday," Kyris replied quietly, as Alix looked at her.

"Don't tell me, it's the night her mother..." he said and Kyris smiled.

"Yes, just after midnight on the very beginning of her birthday, her mother was attacked and died in her arms, the king told us, she never mentioned anything about it," Kyris replied.

"That's too harsh, I guess we should make sure she enjoys her birthday, we don't know if we will get another chance to celebrate it, things are not looking so good with what's going on," Alix added, and Kyris smiled while nodding his head.

"We better, though she isn't as down this year as she was last year, which is a good sign, and I think it's because we're all here, I hope this year will be different, a lot has changed so I think it might at the very least," Kyris responded.

"General, please make sure you attend the ball tomorrow night," the queen said and he looked at her smiling nervously and the king grinned.