Chapter 116: Her Henchman

"A wounded pigeon fell in front of me. I was about to heal the small wound on its wing when this woman suddenly harassed me and accused me of intentionally catching the pigeon. But why would I do that? It wasn’t even carrying a missive," explained Julian when Lauren asked what happened. He was still on his knees and tied.

"My pigeon was heading to the castle. One can easily assume that it carried a missive for the royal court so I thought he was an intruder snooping around the castle. If Your Majesty can attest to this man’s innocence, I shall bid my apologies," said Edith. Her hand left Julian’s shoulder.

"He is one of my henchmen," Lauren said and raised two fingers in the air, gesturing for Julian to stand.

Julian raised a brow at Edith cockily. Accepting her mistake, Edith didn’t leave any remark and untied the man with a stern expression on her face.

"One of your henchmen?" Alec squinted his eyes darkly. He knew that Lauren must have her own people helping her outside the castle but he didn’t expect her henchman to be this young and vigorous.

"Your Majesty," Julian bowed to Alec with a polite tone.

"Yes, he is Julian," Lauren answered Alec briefly before turning to her subordinate. "Follow me."

Alec watched Lauren walk out of the hall with the young man following her and it didn’t escape his eye how Julian’s eyes twinkled in adoration while looking at Lauren. Alec couldn’t help but put malice in it.

However, what he didn’t know, Julian always acted like a pet giddy for his master’s attention whenever he was around Lauren. Although Julian was actually a year older than Lauren, when Darius started training him, it was Lauren who made it easier for him to improve himself. She became like a big sister figure to him.

Lauren led Julian to the tearoom. After they were served tea, she told the maids to leave them.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty," Julian said with a big smile. He didn’t know what exactly Lauren had gone through in the castle but he knew she had a hard time surviving the claws of the royal family. And now that Lauren had achieved her plans, he couldn’t be any happier for her.

"You have a cut on your eyebrow. I think your training wasn’t enough seeing that you were knocked down easily by a female," Lauren shook her head as if she was disappointed.

"Hah! Had I fought back, there was no way this would happen. I only cut her off some slack because she’s a woman and I recognized the military pin she wore. Besides, I know you will come to my aid." Julian gulped the tea like water, forgetting it was hot. He almost spit the tea in his mouth but remembering the person across from him was his master, he forced the hot liquid to his throat.

"You are still so clumsy, Julian," Lauren sounded like she was reprimanding her little brother.

"Pardon me. I don’t drink tea that much." Julian chuckled.

Meanwhile, outside the tearoom, just in time Alec stopped in front of the door, he heard the man’s chuckle. He looked at the door darkly and remembered how Lauren acted around the males she was close to. She was friendly and warmhearted to the people she liked and thinking that she was treating her henchman the same, it crawled under Alec’s skin.

Lauren was about to ask Julian what he came for when the door opened and Alec stepped into the room with a grim face. She brought her gaze to him.

"What is it?" She asked.

Julian glanced at Alec while sipping tea and he immediately looked away when he saw the King’s dark glare at him. Seemed like he just found Darius’ long lost brother, Julian thought, thinking that the two men had the same intimidating air and a look that could kill.

"I thought you might want to know the agenda of today’s court meeting. I have transferred to the King’s office. You can come after your discussion with your servant," Alec spat the word ’servant’ with disdain. "Aren’t you done yet?"

"Give us a minute. You go ahead. I will be there in a while," Lauren replied and sipped tea, oblivious to the death glare screaming in Alec’s face. She had grown accustomed to her husband’s mood swings so she didn’t pay attention to his grumpiness.

When Alec left the room, Julian released a sigh of relief. Even though he wasn’t looking at the King earlier, he felt the tension in the air and how intense his stare at him was.

"King Alec is a scary man, Your Majesty. I had goosebumps when our eyes met," Julian shook his shoulders as if shaking off the eerie feeling he felt because of Alec’s presence. Leaning towards the table he asked in a low voice, "Are you sure he is not mistreating you?"

Lauren put her teacup down. A small smile tugged on her lips when she remembered how Alec massaged her aching feet last night. One could quickly assume that Alec wouldn’t hesitate to inflict violence on anyone including his wife, but in truth, he may be a cold-hearted man but he doesn’t do unreasonable violence. He had a twisted mind but he wasn’t someone who would push you off the cliff without a reason.

"I told you, he is not mistreating me, otherwise I would have done something to get rid of him."

With Lauren’s assurance, Julian was relieved.

"That is good to hear. But I just feel a little uneasy around him. Didn’t you notice how he was glaring at me earlier? Perhaps... he’s jealous?"

"Jealous of what?" Lauren’s brows knitted in confusion.

"Jealous of me of course!"

"Why would he? You are my trusted manservant. He even had a female subordinate himself. It shouldn’t be a big deal." Besides, she wasn’t doing anything with Julian that would be deemed malicious.

"Maybe because he doesn’t want you around a handsome gentleman?"

Hearing Julian’s prideful claim of him being a handsome gentleman made Lauren think that he must have been influenced by Ethan’s arrogance.

Disregarding their topic, Lauren asked.

"So, what news do you have about the task I have given you?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read