ALL NOVEL chapter 28
28 – Greetings
Armed soldiers were lined up on both sides of the main gate of the palace, and in the middle, the princes were waiting for us.
“The one at the front is Christopher, His Highness Richard’s eldest son, and the one behind him is William, his second son.”
There are two more behind them, but I’m not sure who is the third son, Bruce, or the fourth son, Michael.
Led by Duke Hayden, our group walked towards the palace.
“Duke Hayden! Welcome to the palace.”
“Your Highness Christopher, have you been well?”
Grandfather approached Christopher cordially and shook hands with him.
“You seem even more courteous than before, it seems.”
“hahahaha… It’s pleasing to hear that from you. Is this the grandson of the Duke, Edric Earl?”
“Yes. This is Edric, the eldest son and heir of His Highness Christopher. Please greet him.”
“I greet His Excellency Christopher.”
I bowed slightly, lowering my head and waist, and greeted Christopher.
Why not bow and greet him, unlike when meeting the Duke? Well, they are not my lord, are they?
The feudal contract of this world has a somewhat sharp aspect, which means that even if they are a noble of a higher rank, there is no need to bow and scrape if they are not my lord. You just have to avoid being too impudent.
“Theoretically” I don’t even need to kneel before the King. Because my lord is not the King of Romania but the Duke of Lorraine. That’s how the system works.
Therefore, if the Duke of Lorraine gives me an order that does not significantly violate the feudal contract, I must unconditionally obey it, but His Majesty the King has no right to give me orders. If he wants to give me an order, he must do it through the Duke of Lorraine. That’s why the order to come to the palace did not come directly to me, but through my grandfather.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I can behave rudely in front of the King, like I did with the prince. It’s not a very wise thing to do to behave disrespectfully to my lord’s lord.
And honestly, except for His Excellency Christopher, aren’t most princes at the same or lower level of nobility compared to me? Because he is the King’s son, I cannot be impudent to him.
In the old days, when all the children fought for the throne of the country, anyone could be a duke, even a commoner. But now, in a world where the primogeniture system has been established, only the King’s eldest son can receive a ducal title.
For now, His Excellency Christopher is the Duke of Crown River, William is the Viscount of Winterbell, Bruce is the Viscount of Hammer Rock, and His Majesty’s youngest son, Michael, has no title yet. He may receive it as a birthday present when he turns 18.
“I welcome you to the palace, Edric.”
“Thank you.”
His Excellency Christopher approached me with a smile and shook my hand.
I also shook his hand, but his face was strange.
No, rather than bad, what should I say… Isn’t it normal to show a light smile business-wise when greeting each other?
But why is he smiling so happily on meeting me? Is it like seeing a person I really wanted to meet? It doesn’t feel like business at all.
This level of smile can only be seen from my grandmother during holidays.
In addition to His Excellency Christopher, three other princes greeted me with a similar happy smile. Was I such a welcomed person? Was my class really at this level?
Even His Excellency Christopher greeted Satricia, a mere commoner who fought against the barbarians with me.
“Oh! Are you that lady who fought against the barbarians with Count Edric!”
“I greet you, Your Highness. I am Satricia, leading the Red Rose Mercenaries.”
“I know your name well! How can I not know the heroes of Silverwood!”
It was a shocking welcome at a level beyond radical. Although this world is not a period of strict monarchy, and society is not as rigid between nobles and commoners as one might think, there is still a hierarchy, and it is unbelievable for a prince to treat a commoner like this.
The actions of His Excellency Christopher shocked not only me and Satricia but also Nerzcera and even the Duke.
I looked around to see that knights and servants were expressing discomfort, but the other princes were still smiling happily.
“Why are they like this? Did they have anything to eat that didn’t agree with them…”
I was thinking that inwardly but His Excellency Christopher suggested that we go inside the castle.
“Well, Count, and Count Edric. It’s chilly outside, so let’s go inside the castle.”
“Yes, as you command.”
“hahahahaha, you
‘Swish ‘
‘..!’
Christopher now draped one arm around my shoulder, symbolizing our brotherhood.
I accepted his gesture with a smile, but inside, my heart was in turmoil.
The others in our group seemed just as conflicted as me.
And so, we entered the Urmannian palace, following the guidance of the princes.
**
Before I could greet King Richard, my grandfather quietly approached me in front of the reception room and whispered.
“Edric, don’t you feel that something is strange?”
“Yes? Oh, I did feel like the treatment I’m receiving is a bit excessive.”
“Yeah, it’s strange that all four princes were waiting at the gate to greet you. Even when a foreign king visits, not all of the princes come out to welcome the guest. They wouldn’t even show up to meet a duke like you originally.”
“What should I do?”
“For now, let’s just assess the situation.”
After his last words, he stepped back a couple of paces.
At that moment, the royal chamberlain approached us.
“Your Grace, and Baron. His Highness is ready to receive you.”
“..! Understood.”
My group and I straightened our clothes and stood up straight as the chamberlain shouted and opened the doors to the reception room.
“His Highness, the loyal servant of King Richard, Duke Hayden of Lorraine, along with his grandson, Baron Edric Silverwood, the hero who protected Silverwood from the treacherous Westburn and their villainous henchman Kamu.”
‘Why are they praising us so much..? These guys are unbearable.’
I walked alongside the Duke and approached King Richard and two queens, as well as a young girl.
‘King Richard looks imposing. Is that girl Celeonor?’
The woman sitting next to the girl presumed to be Princess Celeonor is probably her mother, Melissa. The lady opposite her is likely Queen Emma, the mothers of the princes.
My grandfather and I both kneeled and bowed simultaneously.
“Duke Hayden of Lorraine presents himself to his Highness.”
“My greatest loyal servant, you have arrived. Thanks to you, we were able to easily deal with the traitors in Westburn.”
“Baron Edric of Silverwood presents himself to his Highness.”
“You are indeed Edric!”
His Majesty suddenly stood up from his seat and came towards me…
“Stand up! I’ve been longing to see your face, but you’re bowing so low, is that okay?”
‘..!’
He personally lifted me up with both hands!
“I was aware that my story had become somewhat famous, but even the princes and His Majesty the king treat me so well? What on earth did I do for the royal family…”
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, right. I’m so happy to see you that I forgot to introduce my family. My sons have already met at the castle gate, so let’s move on. These are my wives.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Emma.”
“I’m Melissa.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesties.”
The two queens welcomed me with gentle smiles.
When I greeted the queens, His Majesty approached me, gently embraced me with one arm, and introduced someone.
“This is my precious youngest daughter, Celenor.”
“Nice to meet you, Princess.”
“I’m also glad to meet you, Sir Knight!”
‘Sir Knight?’
Why did they call me “Sir Knight” when it would be fine to just say “Adrik” or “Count”?
Seeing my slight confusion, His Majesty smiled as if slightly embarrassed and spoke.
“Lately, my daughter has been fascinated by your tales of chivalry and imagines you as a knight from a fairy tale…”
“Oh, Papa!”
Princess Celenor seemed to get angry at her father, who revealed the truth on her whim, and she crossed her arms with a frown.
‘How adorable.’
Did she say she was only one year younger than me? She seemed quite cute at this age.
By the way, Nisera was right. She said she liked knights on white horses from fairy tales when she was about this age.
I’m glad I prepared with Nisera for such a situation.
As a side note, I decided to give her a little treat.
Approaching Celenor, I knelt down on one knee and asked politely.
“Would you grant me the honor of kissing your hand, young lady?”
“What…what…”
Celenor felt extremely embarrassed by my actions, her face suddenly turning beet red, and she covered her face with both hands, leaving only her eyes peering out.
By the way, kissing on the back of the hand among nobles is like a form of greeting, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, even men do it between themselves. I intentionally don’t think about those memories that I don’t want to recall.
After hesitating for a moment, Celenor cautiously extended her right hand to me.
“…I permit it, Sir Knight.”
“Thank you.”
I lightly kissed Celenor’s hand and stood up again.
Celenor seemed pleased or amused that I, who she thought of as an ideal knight, kissed her hand. She made a sound like ‘hehehehe…’.
When I turned my head slightly, I noticed that His Majesty had an expression of ‘Look at this guy.’ Other people were the same. Only Nircera looked at me as if acknowledging my actions.
Feeling somewhat restless, I stood next to the Duke, when suddenly I heard loud footsteps approaching.
“This is like advertising ‘I’m going over there.'”
Unless done intentionally to exert force from one’s feet, such loud footsteps couldn’t be made. The owner of the footsteps confidently walked into the reception room.
“She seems to have a very unpleasant personality.”
It seemed like my thoughts were correct, as the atmosphere in the reception room which was previously lively abruptly quieted down. I glanced at the faces of the princes and Celenor, and noticed their cautiousness towards that lady. Some even glared at her.
That lady seemed to be an unexpected guest even for His Majesty, who spoke with a flustered voice.
“Oh, Godmilla. What brings you here?”
“I wanted to meet the renowned Count of Silverwood in person, so I came to visit.”
“Even without saying that, I would have introduced you properly… Ah, Count. This is Godmilla, the court educator teaching my children.”
“Nice to meet you, madam. I am Count Edric of Silverwood.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Godmilla.”
Godmilla and I faced each other and exchanged greetings.
“Why does her expression look so hostile?”
Though it was just a moment, Godmilla’s expression as she looked at me seemed quite unpleasant.
However, I decided to let it go and not say anything to the court educator of the Yurmania royal family.
Even after Godmilla and I exchanged greetings, the atmosphere in the reception room still felt strange. To change the mood quickly, His Majesty spoke to everyone.
“Well, we can’t make Count Edric stand for so long now that he’s here. I have already instructed the chefs to prepare the finest dishes from the kingdom. Let’s all move to the banquet hall together.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
As I followed His Majesty to the banquet hall, I pondered to myself.
“Godmilla… She’s a woman who seems to bother me a lot.”
It felt like something would happen because of this woman.