novelSusiti Chapter 42 I was given a chance, but you didn't use it.
Chapter 42 I was given a chance, but you didn't use it.
Time seemed to stand still in the hall.
Immediately, Reinald burst into loud laughter, turned to the assembled nobles, and proclaimed, "Did you all hear that? The little prince himself said he would appoint me as the Grand Marshal of the Kingdom's army!"
These words stirred up ripples among the nobles. The initial slight displeasure was quickly replaced by political calculations—if this was a message the king was conveying through a child, did it mean that the king had decided to give more power to the pro-war faction and was preparing to fight Saladin?
Raymond sipped his wine slowly, his gaze lingering meaningfully on Lyon. Roger, standing beside him, initially seemed puzzled, but after exchanging a knowing glance with his old friend, he fell silent. Only young Hughes frowned in confusion: his father had always been at odds with Raymond; if the young prince were to truly ascend the throne and appoint this fanatical duke to a high position, wouldn't his father lose power?
At the other end of the hall, Guy watched Reinald gesticulating wildly from afar, gritting his teeth: "This madman was actually bought off by a child's joke?"
Gerald's face darkened. "He's always valued fighting the infidels above all else. We've never truly been bound to him." He paused, his voice growing colder. "And I've heard that Reinald has been trying to find a marriage for his stepson, Humphry. Of all the kingdoms, Princess Isabella, the Queen Mother's daughter, is undoubtedly the best choice."
Amidst the varied gazes of the crowd, Reynald leaned down and pinched Leon's cheek, grinning, "Alright! Then I'll wait for you to appoint me Grand Marshal!" He suddenly moved closer, the hideous scars on his face throbbing, "Kids, you better keep your word!"
"Duke!"
Mary's voice was clearly displeased. She placed her hand on her son's shoulder, as if asserting her dominance.
Reinald straightened up and bowed respectfully to the Queen Mother, but his gaze drifted to Isabella, who was holding onto her mother's clothes.
"Your Majesty, I wish to discuss a marriage with you." He beckoned behind him, and a shy young man who had been talking with Princess Sibylla and young Baldwin approached hesitantly. Reinald embraced him. "Allow me to introduce you to my son, Humphry, now Lord Toren."
His gaze fell directly on Isabella: "Our family has always had a close relationship with the Komnenos family. If Humphry could marry Princess Isabella, this friendship would surely deepen even further..."
Isabella looked timidly at the unfamiliar boy, clutching her mother's sleeve helplessly, and hid behind her mother.
Maria observed her daughter's reaction. She whispered a few words of comfort to Isabella before turning to Reinald, her tone calm: "Why is Your Grace in such a hurry? The two children are still strangers; discussing marriage is premature. Why not wait until the banquet begins and let them sit together and get to know each other?"
Reinald didn't seem surprised by the answer. He nodded readily, then pulled Humphry aside for a quiet conversation.
Leon seemed thoughtful. So, was the marriage between Isabella and Humphry ultimately inevitable? However, it wasn't that Leon looked down on Humphry; it was just that as Reinald's stepson, it was hard to say how good his personality could be—he might even have sadistic tendencies…
Baldwin, who had been standing quietly beside the head of the table, had witnessed everything. Seeing that the nobles had finally calmed down from the commotion caused by Reynald, he raised his hand, which was tightly wrapped in white cloth, to signal everyone to be quiet.
All eyes immediately focused on the king.
"Welcome to tonight's banquet," Baldwin raised his voice, though it still carried a sickly hoarseness. "I'm sure you've all noticed some new changes in the kingdom, and many questions await answers. Now, please take your seats and share in the kingdom's bounty. I believe we will eventually reach a consensus on the kingdom's affairs."
Following King Baldwin's gesture, the nobles slowly entered and took their seats according to a strict hierarchical order. At the long, horseshoe-shaped dining table, the central position closest to the king naturally belonged to a member of the royal family—Baldwin sat at the head of the table, though his ailing condition required him to lean slightly against the back of his chair. To his left were, in order, Princess Sibylla, young Baldwin, and Bishop William of Tyre; to his right sat Queen Mary, flanked by Lyon and Isabella.
Reinald almost immediately seated Humphry in the empty seat next to Isabella. Mary, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, frowned almost imperceptibly, but ultimately did not object. Humphry sat down awkwardly, his ears slightly red, not daring to look directly at the princess beside him.
The banquet began in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. Servants served roasted antelope, poultry drizzled with almond milk, and plenty of bread. Baldwin, in a tired but still dignified voice, offered a few words of blessing on the harvest and unity, to which the nobles responded politely, before falling into hushed conversation centered around their plates.
Lyon was indeed hungry. This era was too unfriendly to children. If they didn't eat more and grow stronger, even a simple cold could kill them. He focused on cutting the steak, but his eyes remained on the movements around him.
Humphry was clearly prepared. He took a deep breath, turned to Isabella, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “Your Highness, please allow me to be presumptuous… Your radiance today eclipses even the brightest stars of Jerusalem’s night.”
Lyon nearly spat out the steak in his mouth; this confession was so damn... direct.
Isabella, who was sipping water, paused slightly at the words. Out of courtesy, she put down her cup and gave a forced, very brief smile: "You flatter me, Sir Humphry."
This polite remark seemed to give Humphrey immense encouragement. He leaned forward and began to recite with great effort those clichéd hymns he had somehow learned: "You are the beginning, you are the end, outside the heart, inside the heart. When I drink that cup of love, I drift beyond time, in that moment, alone with you, without beginning, without end..."
Isabella felt suffocated. Her slender fingers unconsciously tightened around her skirt under the table, but she had to respond with "thank you" or a stiff nod, as if she were entangled in an invisible and sticky net, unable to escape.
Lyon couldn't stand it anymore. "I gave you a chance, but you still couldn't do it. What kind of dry, lifeless recitation of poetry is this?"
He swallowed the food in his mouth, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and suddenly turned to Isabella, his clear voice interrupting Humphry's monologue:
"Sister, do you remember I told you before about my friend Alexius from Mercia?"
Isabella, feeling as if she had been granted a pardon, immediately turned to Lyon, her eyes filled with gratitude: "Is it that Roman prince? You only said you studied together, but you didn't have time to tell the specific story."
“Yes,” Lyon began to recount the story vividly, deliberately ignoring Humphry’s momentary freeze. “Once, we sneaked off to the woods outside the manor to practice archery, but his archery skills were so terrible that he not only missed the target but also hit Uncle Jacob’s butt, who was watching the show!”
He began to recount those childhood memories filled with joy and sunshine: the tongue-twisting pronunciation of Greek, the peculiar seashells they found on the beach, and how they tried to sneak out of the guards to the market…
Isabella listened intently, occasionally letting out soft laughter; this was the first time she had truly relaxed that evening. She even asked questions, and the natural interaction between the siblings created an invisible barrier, completely isolating Humphry from the conversation.
Humphry opened his mouth several times, but found himself completely unable to get a word in edgewise. Looking at Isabella's genuine smile towards Leon, and comparing it to her earlier dismissive attitude towards him, a surge of embarrassment, shame, and jealousy welled up inside him. He gripped his knife tightly, lowered his head, and channeled all his embarrassment into a silent resentment towards Leon.