It seemed they had noticed our gaze.
The couple walking through the garden turned toward the window where we sat. For a moment, the man's eyes met mine. A warm smile appeared on his face at once, a smile far too kind for an ordinary merchant.
They began walking toward the side door of the restaurant that connected the garden to the VIP area.
Beside me, Veralyn immediately lowered her head. Not a formal bow, but the kind of lowering done by someone who wished they could vanish from their chair entirely. Her body went rigid, her fingers gripping the edge of her skirt beneath the table.
I could understand her reaction. The last time she had faced the royal family, their son had sentenced her to death. Meeting the parents of the man who had nearly killed you was not something one could handle with composure.
The side door opened, and the two of them stepped inside.
"Sir Ray," Eleanora said, a gentle smile gracing her face. "It has been a long time."
I rose from my chair and bowed politely. Beside me, Veralyn stood as well, though her head remained lowered, her eyes fixed on the floor.
Reinhart observed the two of us for a moment. His gaze lingered on Veralyn for several seconds before returning to me. Something had shifted in his eyes, the lightness from before now mixed with something heavier.
Eleanora had noticed as well. Her eyes swept over Veralyn's silver hair, then her lowered face, and I could see understanding forming instantly behind that soft violet gaze.
She knew who this woman was.
"May we join you?" Reinhart asked.
"Of course, Your Majes..."
"Just Reinhart," he cut in with a small smile. "We are not wearing our crowns today."
I nodded. The two of them sat in the chairs across from us. A server who noticed the additional guests immediately brought extra glasses and plates without being asked. Madame Lorna must have given instructions from afar.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then, without warning, Reinhart and Eleanora lowered their heads.
Not an ordinary nod. Not a polite gesture. But a deep and sincere bow, the kind that a king and queen would never offer to anyone other than a fellow monarch.
"We apologize for the behavior of our son," Reinhart said quietly.
"We are truly sorry," Eleanora added.
Time seemed to stop at that table.
If anyone in this restaurant knew that the couple bowing their heads at the corner table were the king and queen of the Kingdom of Grandcrest, and that they were apologizing to a commoner and their own son's former fiancee, it would have been a scandal that shook the entire kingdom.
But at this small table, far from anyone's ears, what was happening was simply two parents who were ashamed of what their child had done.
Veralyn flinched. Her head rose, her eyes widened, and for the first time today her expression was truly open. Not cold. Not flat. But surprised in the most honest way possible.
"No," she said quickly, her voice slightly higher than usual. "Please, do not bow your heads."
But Reinhart did not raise his face right away.
"We truly never imagined our son would do something so foolish," Eleanora said, her voice calm yet filled with regret. "Annulling an engagement publicly without clear reason, then issuing a sentence that made no sense whatsoever. That was not the decision of a prince. That was the decision of a child throwing a tantrum."
Reinhart finally raised his face. His warm blue eyes looked at Veralyn with a gaze that held not pity, but respect.
"I have already given our son a fitting punishment," he said. "As for Alicia..." he paused, letting out a quiet breath. "I am sorry. We cannot punish her by law. Although she should rightfully be punished for pursuing someone who was already engaged, without a formal complaint being filed, we have no legal grounds to act."
There was a heaviness in that final sentence. Not indifference, but the limitations of a king who must abide by the very laws he himself had created.
Veralyn clasped her hands in her lap. Her head dipped slightly, yet her voice came out steady.
"No... it was my own fault," she said softly. "I drove the prince to dislike me. And perhaps I did unintentionally hurt Alicia's feelings."
The words were spoken without tremor. Without excessive emotion. Like someone who had repeated those words in her head hundreds of times until they sounded like fact.
My chest felt a little heavy hearing that.
Even now, after everything that had happened to her, Veralyn was still blaming herself. Still trying to carry a burden that should never have been hers.
But before I could open my mouth, Reinhart spoke first.
"No," he said firmly. His voice was not loud, yet there was a weight to it that silenced everyone at the table. "A prince should never make a decision that reckless. Especially without hearing his own fiancee's side. That is truly unforgivable."
Veralyn raised her face slightly. Her pale eyes looked at the king with an expression I could not read. Perhaps surprise. Perhaps confusion. Perhaps, for the first time, someone with that much authority had told her that what happened was not her fault.
Eleanora turned to me.
"And Sir Ray," she said, her tone softer yet no less sincere, "we are deeply sorry that you had to spend such a sum of money because of our son's mistake. We would like to repay you double."
I raised my hand in a polite gesture of refusal.
"That will not be necessary, Reinhart, Lady Eleanora," I answered calmly. "Someone his age often acts without thinking of the consequences. Besides, what matters most now is that Veralyn no longer has to bear the sentence that prince imposed."
The words came out lighter than they should have. I had never been good at accepting money from others, let alone from a king who was technically the father of the prince who had tried to have the woman beside me killed.
But before Reinhart could respond, Veralyn cut in.
"But, Sir Raymond," she said, her eyes looking straight at me. "No matter how wealthy you are, spending that much money on someone like me is rather excessive."
Someone like me.
Those two words cut deeper than she probably realized.
Reinhart nodded.
"Veralyn is right," he said. "Perhaps for you, Sir Raymond, that amount is not significant. But we do not wish for you to bear expenses caused by our son's mistake." He paused, his eyes serious. "It would be an insult and a disgrace to the royal family."
I looked at Reinhart. Then Eleanora. Then Veralyn.
Three people asking me to accept money for three different reasons. Reinhart for the honor of the crown. Eleanora out of guilt. And Veralyn because she did not want to be a burden.
I let out a quiet sigh.
Fighting one stubborn person was difficult enough. Fighting three at once was a battle that not even a mysterious NPC could win.
"Very well," I said at last, raising both hands in surrender. "But there is no need for double. The original amount will suffice."
Reinhart looked at me for a moment, then gave a slight nod. There was a small smile at the corner of his lips, the kind that said he appreciated that I had not argued any further.
Eleanora also appeared somewhat relieved.
And Veralyn, though her face remained unchanged, slowly loosened the fingers that had been gripping her skirt.