Claudius scratched his head as he laughed a little sheepishly. "Of course not, Queen. I just thought that it wasn't quite the right time for me to show up and introduce myself to you at that time." His smile widened. "After all, you needed to meet with Queen Beatrice first, right? How could I jump the queue?"
"And you think that this is now the right time for you to finally show up?"
"Yes, since I saw you looking quite a bit troubled. May I know what's causing you to be so vexed, Young Queen?" Claudius asked in a calm and unhurried manner.
Suddenly, Evie looked at Claudius like she had found the answer to her dilemma. She looked around and her expression became serious. "I have something very important to tell you. I believe King Belial needs to know about this as well, as soon as possible." She lowered her voice and spoke to Claudius gravely, her face and tone immediately alerting Claudius to the fact that Evie was not joking and was extremely serious about this matter.
