Raised From The Wild-Chapter 302: Hatred

Prince Ibarra stiffened. Did his mother call him Ibrahim? He thought that he might have misheard and so he looked at Queen Lucinda gently.

"Ibrahim, it is good for you to come home and celebrate your birthday with us. It has been so long." Queen Lucinda hugged her son as she greeted him.

Prince Ibarra’s face turned pale. He did not mishear. His mother really called him Ibrahim. Has his mother’s illness relapsed? But even when she suffered depression in the past, she never mistook him for Ibrahim.

Queen Lucinda’s voice was soft but clear. The nobles who were sitting in the front and at the left wing of the hall beside the stage heard her.

Princess Consort Nelida and Princess Amaya also heard Queen Lucinda’s voice. The Princess Consort frowned.

’Did the Queen turn senile? Why would she call Ibarra as Ibrahim?’ Nelida was resentful.

Amaya felt that there was something wrong with her Grandmother. Amaya subconsciously turned her gaze to King Ralden and Queen Zanzara. They were focused on the left side of the stage smiling as if they were watching a good show.

Queen Lucinda grabbed ’Ibrahim’s’ hand and wanted to drag him up the stage. She was full of excitement. The last time that they celebrated Ibrahim’s birthday was when he turned eighteen and then after that, he was sent away.

Crown Prince Ibarra was reluctant to bring his mother up the stage. He has a hunch that something bad will happen. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Princess Amaya walked with big strides to catch up with her grandmother and Daddy Ibarra.

"Dad, let me take care of Grandma. You can go up the stage." Princess Amaya held the wrinkled hands that were holding onto Ibrarra’s wrist.

"But I want to go up the stage and let them know that my son, Ibrahim is celebrating his birthday today." Queen Lucinda was agitated and spoke a little louder.

"Grandma, there is a program that we need to follow. After Daddy Ibrahim’s speech, we can go up and greet them."

Amaya spoke softly so only she, Queen Lucinda, and Prince Ibarra heard her voice.

When Queen Lucinda heard that Amaya called the Crown Prince her ’Daddy Ibrahim’ she relaxed and let go of her son. Then she let Amaya hold her.

The Queen’s servant approached them. Amaya whispered something to her and she nodded then left hurriedly.

Amaya leaned closely to the queen and she walked slowly as she led her back to her seat. As they walked, she started humming the lullaby that Queen Lucinda used to sing to her when she was a baby. It was a famous Lireyan lullaby.

Queen Lucinda’s eyes seemed to brighten. Amaya held both of her Grandmother’s hands and tried to inflict a tolerable pain. She had guessed that her grandmother might have encountered something or someone that caused her memory to be distorted. Just like her, when she was with King Ralden in the hallway beside the museum.

On the stage, the master of ceremonies was a person with good judgment. When he noticed that there was something wrong with Queen Lucinda, he did not hesitate but call the selected children from an orphanage on the stage. There were twelve children, each representing the twelve districts of Lireya. Each child wore a costume representing a district and sang two lines of a local song in a solo. Then, the child came forward and offered a long-stemmed single blue rose to the Crown Prince.

By the time half of the children had finished their part, the Queen’s servant came back and passed a wooden box with exquisite carvings of a wolf, a tiger, and a monkey. Amaya placed the wooden box in Queen Lucinda’s lap. She opened the lid a little bit and an aromatic fragrance was emitted from the box.

"Ah, what a wonderful smell." Queen Lucinda seemed lucid and Amaya heaved a sigh of relief. She cast a furtive glance at King Ralden and her cousin Zanzara and they looked unhappy.

’Did they attend the banquet just to sabotage Daddy Ibarra’s birthday?’ Amaya pondered.

For a crown prince, the forty-fifth birthday was an important milestone. He would wield more power as the incumbent king would delegate to him some of his powers. For this reason, the dignitaries and the nobles of Lireya were attending the party.

The children finished their song and King Duncan started his speech officially stripping some of his powers and bestowing them on Prince Ibarra.

Part of the ritual would be for the Queen to hand over the royal crown to the King and then the King would put it on Prince Ibarra’s head.

Amaya accompanied her grandmother on the stage. She checked her grandma from time to time and noted that she was no longer in a trance.

The moment Queen Lucinda approached the center stage, Ibarra felt his heart thumped. Will his mother call him Prince Ibrahim again?

Queen Lucinda took the microphone. She scanned her son from head to toe.

"It seemed as if it was only yesterday that you were so small and would always follow me around like a shadow. You cried whenever I left you. Now you have grown up to be a worthy Crown Prince of Lireya." Queen Lucinda paused and took the Royal Crown from its golden encasement.

Prince Ibarra trembled. He was very nervous.

"Happy birthday, my dearest Ibarra. Long Live the Crown Prince of Lireya!" Queen Lucinda then passed the crown to King Duncan.

Princess Amaya heaved a sigh of relief.

Prince Ibarra looked at Amaya gratefully. He had never appreciated the presence of Amaya like he had at that moment. He took note to check with her, what happened to his mother earlier.

King Duncan placed the Royal Crown on Ibarra’s head who was seated on the rightmost throne. There were three thrones on the stage. The middle throne was for the king, while the one on the left was for the queen.

After the crown was securely placed on Ibarra’s head, the crowd rose and chanted in unison.

"Long Live Crown Prince Ibarra!"

Safiro who was standing beside his daughter, Queen Zanzara was smiling, but it did not reach his eyes. He reluctantly cheered with the crowd. He was full of resentment. He was the firstborn of King Duncan and by birthright, he should be the crown prince, but he was not! Was it his fault that he was borne by a concubine?

He hated Ibarra. He hated his mother for being weak and not becoming a queen. He hated his father for being biased!