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In the eyes of the envoys, the nobles of the Leonberg Kingdom were indeed insignificant.

Their country was said to be awesome, but the nobles’ clothes were outdated, unfamiliar, of a cut that had become obsolete in continental fashion a long time ago. The knights and great lords deserved to look better, but they too were far from sophisticated.

Their expressions were so hard that they didn’t seem to enjoy a banquet, even if it was held to celebrate a victory.

Some of the nobles were even frowning.

This was the first banquet in nearly a hundred years in which envoys from other countries were participating. In the eyes of the envoys, the behavior of the Leonberg nobles seemed as if they feared being faulted by the nobility of other countries.

Although they had won a surprising victory over the Empire, they had yet to abandon the face of a weak country.

The envoys thought so, but their belief was an illusion.

The nobles of the kingdom weren’t nervous about being seen as flawed by envoys from other countries.

“Maybe nothing else happens today.”

“Yes? It’s a meaningful banquet to commemorate our victory, but something will happen.”

Leonberg’s nobles were rather anxious about what was going on here today.

“That’s it, woo! Now, even hearing that a banquet is to be hosted by the royal family hurts my heart.”

These were nobles who remembered that all of the banquets hosted by the royal family in recent years had not turned out so good, so they were sincerely concerned that this event would be like that.

Of course, not every banquet hosted by the Leonbergers had always turned out to be a bad end.

“No matter how irreverent his Highness the Crown Prince is, there is no way that he will act up again in the presence of nobles from other countries.”

“Don’t forget: even in the presence of the Empire’s ambassador, his Highness did not hesitate.”

The problem was the prince. Incidents and accidents had broken out at all the banquets the Crown Prince had attended.

When the Marquis of Montpellier had still been an ambassador a few years ago, the Crown Prince had ranted in his face. It also wasn’t so long ago that he had led the northern lords and threw the head of an orc in front of the king. And quite recently, the nobles of Leonberg were killed for their sins. All of that happened right here.

Given the circumstances, it would be rather strange if the nobles weren’t feeling nervous.

“Please, I hope today goes by without anything happening.”

In fact, the nobles longed for it.

“May today’s banquet end with a feast to commemorate the kingdom’s victory, as it was intended to do. Furthermore, I hope it will be remembered as the meaningful day when the Crown Princess is accepted into our halls.”

The second prince Maximilian had attended the banquet from early on in order to assuage the nobles’ anxiety, as if he knew what their inner feelings were. “So don’t worry. Enjoy the banquet.”

“Really, today, there is nothing planned by the royal family, or the Crown Prince, without us nobles knowing?” Count Brandenburg asked Maximilian. He was the master of the Iron Hawk Archers and hoped to rely on his friendship with the second prince after they had fought together on the central front against the orcs.

“The royal family has no purpose for today’s banquet other than the commemoration of the victory and the marriage of the Crown Prince. So, you nobles can do away with your worries and just enjoy the banquet.”

Hearing this, the count turned away, relieved by Maximilian’s answer.

Maximilian sighed as he looked back. In fact, he was also not very sure. Of course, he hadn’t told a lie. It was certainly true that the royal family attached no meaning to this banquet other than a victory and betrothal celebration. The problem was the marriage of the Crown Prince.

Maximilian’s brother had told him straight up that he wanted nothing to do with marriage. The second prince had been told that the king had laid out everything well, but he was still worried.

“Fwoo. It’s a good day. Don’t think about anything else.”

Maximilian shook off his anxiety and started greeting those envoys from other kingdoms who came to say hello to him. Their mouths moved as they greeted him politely, all the while paying homage to the kingdom’s victory. It seemed as if they were frantic to understand the details of Leonberg if even only a little more. Maximilian had become tired of appeasing Leonberg’s nobles, but the envoys were worse; they were looking at him with crafty glances in their eyes.

The three-day banquet had just begun, and already Maximilian’s neck felt stiff. But even while suffering, Maximilian treated the envoys very seriously – those who have looked down upon the kingdom in the past and those who did not visit the kingdom because they feared catching the Empire’s notice. Such people have unhesitatingly traveled a long way to visit Leonberg to build friendships with the kingdom.

Maximilian couldn’t chase away future allies due to his irritation. While Maximilian entertained the envoys on behalf of the deceased queen, whose role it traditionally was, the banquet began in earnest.

“The legitimate blood descendant of his Majesty King Lionel Leonberger, who is the modest ruler of the Leonberg kingdom and more precious than anyone else! Eldest son of the Leonberg royal family! Savior of the North! The Northern Lion! The kingdom’s strongest knight! His Highness Adrian Leonberger is entering!”

Maximilian’s brother, who could be said to be the event’s main personage, finally appeared in the banqueting hall.

“Hail his Highness Adrian Leonberger!”

The musicians who had filled the banquet hall just a little while ago stopped playing, and the nobles knelt and shouted. It was as if they were greeting a king, and Maximilian’s brother looked around the hall with a respectful gaze. After he had looked at the nobles’ side, his brother suddenly stopped and stared at where the envoys had gathered. He stared at them with transparent eyes, as if seeing their insides.

The envoys who met his eyes froze as they were.

By custom, they had to bow their heads and greet the prince, but they seemed to have forgotten.

At the moment when Maximilian was about to step up and tell the envoys what to do, “A lot of people have gathered,” his brother spoke sulkily.

At that moment, the envoys woke up and bowed their heads to pay homage.

Maximilian admired the effect. These envoys had looked at him as if they had oiled their tongues, and with searching gazes; they couldn’t even dare to raise their heads in the presence of his brother. They looked like rabbits standing in front of a lion.

‘duk, duk, duk’

While Maximilian was staring at the sincerely respectful envoys, he heard footsteps. Suddenly, his brother stood right in front of his nose. Maximilian looked at him with sparkling eyes.

His older brother, who wore only dull armor on every other day, was today dressed in a pure-white gown. So dazzling did his brother look that Maximilian forgot his comportment as a prince and near-shouted, “Look! You can dress well too, brother. The young lion from the north dedicates himself even to his appearance.”

“Why are you saying that again?”

“Just because your appearance is so dazzling, brother.”

“It’s so bad,” his brother said with a laugh and headed to the dais. Maximilian followed his brother as he also ascended the platform.

“Everyone can stand up,” the eldest brother said quietly as he sat himself next to the throne.

The nobles rose from their kneeling positions, looked up to the dais, and waited for the prince to open his mouth.

“This is a traditional banquet, so enjoy it to your heart’s content.”

The Marquis of Bielefeld put his hand on his face as the Crown Prince spoke, as it was not much of a congratulatory speech. Siorin Kirgayen sighed. In the eyes of Maximilian, Adrian’s oratory had been manly.

“I don’t care,” Maximilian’s brother said, then buried himself deep in his chair – with a terribly sulking face.

‘Pwap’ someone clapped their hands for the musicians to resume their performance.

Music flowed back into the quieted banqueting hall.

“When will it end?” Maximilian’s brother complained as if already bored.

* * *

In fact, the Kingdom of Leonberg was not very well known.

Geographically, it was located on the continent’s northernmost tip, making transportation to and from its lands difficult. In addition, it had no special trade goods to offer the world, and there was no reason for merchants to risk the inconvenience of making the long trek.

The tremendous tariffs and tolls imposed by the Empire were one of the reasons people stopped visiting the kingdom.

However, know that some foreign scholars at least had a decent knowledge of history. They knew that the origin of Leonberg was as a country founded by those persecuted by the Empire and that the kingdom’s history was marked with wars against the Empire.

For others, the Kingdom of Leonberg was only seen as an underdeveloped country located in the north. Had it not been for the remarkable victory they claimed in the war against the Empire, no one would have come to the kingdom. Now, people wanted to confirm Leonberg’s potential and further establish a bond with them. In the past, they wouldn’t even have thought of it, fearing to gain the Empire’s notice. The status of the Empire after being defeated in wars against Leonberg and Dotrin was no longer the same, however. For the first time, people began to doubt the power of the Empire.

Still, many theorized that the giant Empire and its appearance of being a waning force on the continent might have been a big bluff. And, of course, it would be too dangerous to build up a friendship with the enemy of the Empire if such doubt existed.

The current Empire could not afford to care about foreign affairs, however.

In its southern lands, Hwaryong rampaged, and in the central region, the third and fifth principes were in the midst of waging a civil war for succession to the throne.

For those who planned to move against the Empire, now was the right time. Before they moved, the countries had to confirm the strength of the Leonberg Kingdom, which had won their war against the imperial machine.

If the power of the kingdom is less than expected, it would be a confirmation that the decline of the Empire was so great that even a lesser kingdom had won out against it. If Leonberg’s might met expectations, then it meant that a new power had been born on the continent.

Either way, they had nothing to lose.

The problem was the lack of information available to the envoys.

Since arriving on northern soil, Leonberg’s troops and knights had taken full control of their delegations. They had to follow military orders until they reached the capital, and as a result, there had been no opportunity for them to search out the faults of the kingdom.

It was only after they arrived at the royal palace that the envoys could begin to judge the spirit of Leonberg.

“The level of their palace knights is higher than expected. Their energy also seems to be sharpened after they had gained practical experience from a few battles. Their average soldiers also have high morale, and there is no shortage of evidence that says that their military is strict.”

“This… If the palace knights of a single country have been forced to go through a war, then can one use them as a measure on which to judge whether a country is a mess, or truly as strong as it seems?”

The envoys had barely grasped elements of Leonberg’s power, and already they were confused.

After worrying over and over again, they finally came to a conclusion.

“I will judge them after seeing the eldest son of the Leonberger royal family.”

Thus, they waited for the banquet to begin and waited for the moment when the Northern Lion appeared before them.

And finally, they came to face the lion from the north – and his gaze, as if seeing through their souls, and his tremendous presence that overwhelmed the audience.

The envoys couldn’t even breathe properly from the moment when the firstborn son of the Leonberger family appeared.

Far from being able to search out his faults or strengths, they couldn’t even look straight ahead.

The Crown Prince was sitting on a chair upon the dais all the time, with a bored face, but there was no doubt that he was dominating the banqueting hall. The envoys could barely watch the swordsman who had defeated countless imperial paladins.

But they knew: The rumors were true. The Northern Lion that had made the Imperial Army tremble was not a fictional entity.

The moment the envoys realized this, their investigation was over.

Now, it was time to move to build friendships with the kingdom, not search for its faults.

While the envoys were so wrapped up in their own schemes, the monarch of the Leonberg Kingdom appeared in the banqueting hall. And he loudly proclaimed, “If there is someone who wins the heart of the prince, that woman will become the Crown Princess.”

During the banquet, the king said that the heart of the Crown Prince was at stake. He went on to say that it mattered not what titles the woman who earned the prince’s love had or what her country of origin was.

It was an unprecedented, bizarre proclamation, and its effect was extremely frantic.

To the envoys, it sounded as if a political union or alliance that often went hand in hand with royal marriages was up for grabs, not a regrettable prospect at all. It wasn’t true; the king had only declared that he thought that it was sensible for his eldest son, who had no interest in marriage, to marry.

The envoys’ hearts and minds became urgently pressed.

“The plan has changed! Go and tell the princess to get ready!”

“Yeah? The princess will attend the banquet from tomorrow on.”

“Did you say the plan has changed?”

Heralds left the banqueting hall, and the envoys trembled in anticipation.

In the meantime, Leonberg’s nobles were the first to stand before the dais and express their courtesy to the king – each with a beautifully dressed daughter or niece.

At this moment, the princess selection banquet began in earnest.