The Aniceta family has had a rather, peculiar occupation for millennia.
Ever wonder who takes care of the occult's more mundane tasks? That is, care for the occult, and not get eaten?
Generation after generation of Aniceta women have been tasked wi...
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No. Despite his strange mannerisms, the King is not an occult. Though he cannot confirm nor deny that they exist, he has his suspicions. The previous king knew about them, but due to his successor's rather violent nature, Mother has kept him in the dark.
"What's with the face?", I asked my mother as I entered the house.
She seemed to have been waiting for my return.
"The King", she said monotonous, handing over a letter with the royal seal.
I rolled my eyes and went in to freshen up. I doubt this meeting is of any importance. This king has a strange habit of requesting my presence and staring at me in silence for hours.
My family is known as lesser nobility. Though we have a vast estate within the capital's borders, we are not related to the royal family or historical noble families of old, and we do not adhere to the system of a male head of estate; my grandmother, being the matriarch, handles those affairs. We don't have titles either. We're simply a long-standing land-owning family. The King likes to put pressure on us from time to time to establish a patriarch.
"I hope he's not trying to pass off his awful son to me again", I grumbled.
His eldest is as arrogant as one could be. The King once offered to marry him off to my family so that we could have a patriarch; even offered to strip him of his princely title and reinstate him as a duke for our family. No one liked that idea, especially the prince.
"It's probably just the church putting pressure on him after the witch hunt incident", Mother interrupted my thoughts.
I let out a sigh as I changed into a dress for nobility. I always hated these things with the corsets, but last time, I was badly reprimanded for not wearing it in the King's presence. Pretentious for a bastard who beds his courtiers on the regular.
Mother and I set off to the palace and presented our letter to the guard. We were taken to the throne room where the King, a brawny man, was sitting looking impatient. He's not an old king, about the same age as mother.
"You requested us, my liege?", Mother bowed.
He looked at us with a smirk.
"Come here my child", he gestured to me.
I casually stepped up to the throne. He reached out his hand to grab my chin.
"Why is it you are always causing trouble?", he stared down into my eyes, searching for something.
"Whatever you're referring to, I always do what is right and you cannot fault me for that", I responded dryly.
He dropped his hand and sat back in his throne to stare at me for a prolonged time. Suddenly, he cut his eyes at me and, in a rapid motion, grabbed hold of my arm. I had to resist the instinct to dodge and risk offending him. He pulled me into his lap and cradled me in his arms. Everyone in the room instantly had the look of shame.
