yemalu

And by that, I mean the day where I was supposed to meet the King and Queen as the child of the Nilm Family.

I looked down at the dress I was wearing which was a combination of crimson red and pure white in colour, similar to what I would usually wear. The skirt stretched all the way to my ankles and was voluminous enough that I could just barely squeeze through the doorways without too much trouble.

I was also given a pair of red heels which was different from the boots I would usually wear but I got used to them easily enough. On my hands were a pair of elbow length, satin white gloves that were so soft that it almost felt like I wasn\'t wearing anything on my hands.

"Ahhhh~ My child is so beautiful!" Mother squealed as she saw me step out into the entrance hall of our home.

Mother was wearing an azure blue dress which kind of complemented mine.

"Thank you for the dress, Mommy."

"Ufufufu~ I should be thanking my little one for agreeing to put it on~"

Well… There\'s nothing wrong with the dress and it looks and feels nice to wear so there wasn\'t any reason for me to refuse it.

She then put on her [Mask Of Impossible Identity] before putting on mine for me as well, helping me make sure that it was secure on my face.

Mother reached out her hand to me and I took it, allowing her to escort me out of the house and into the carriage waiting outside.

The carriage was different from the one that I\'ve ridden in before seeing that these had windows at the sides which meant that this was not soundproofed like the other one.

Katsuki was there to open the door for us and gave me a hand to enter the carriage. Mother let me board first before joining me inside it, our skirts practically taking up most of the space in the carriage.

Mary was our coachwoman while Katsuki sat beside her as a guard. Riding along with us on their own horses was Sebastian alongside several of our maids.

I also realised that the maids coming along were wearing a different kind of maid uniform than their normal ones.

On top of the normal maid dress were armoured greaves, boots and some of them even had half plates on their chests. Strapped to their waists and backs were swords, rapiers, bows and in some cases, polearms as well.

I knew that all of that was purely for show since the normal maid uniforms they wore were enchanted with various defensive enchantments, so those armour they were wearing were just extra weight. I guess since we were going to the palace in an official capacity, we needed to do some showboating.

Our group started our journey towards the palace, making it quite a spectacle with how our escorts were dressed.

You\'ve seen escorts wearing full plate armour, but have you seen a whole convoy of escorts that were armoured butlers and maids riding on top of horses?

Yeah, even I thought it was pretty cool seeing them riding alongside our carriage.

Mother giggled at the sight of me peering out the window to watch our escorts outside, "Ufufufu~ It seems like my little one is enjoying yourself?"

I felt my face flush, "Erm… This is my first time seeing something like this…"

"Ara, ara~ If my dearest child would like to, this can be arranged to happen everytime you want to head outside~"

I quickly shook my head, "Ah! No… No need, Mommy. I don\'t want to stand out like that!"

"Ufufu~ I was joking my little one~ Just let Mama know if you want to experience something like this again~ It wouldn\'t be a bother for Mama to arrange for something like this for my dearest little one~"

"I\'ll… I\'ll keep that in mind, Mommy…"

I didn\'t need to ask to know that she was being serious.

At that moment, our carriage moved past the front gates of our estate and I heard loud cheers coming from the outside.

I looked out the window again to see a whole crowd of people had gathered along the road and were waving and cheering at our carriage.

"Mo… Mommy? Why… Why are they cheering for us like that?" I asked, feeling quite confused.

I mean… I would understand if it was the Royal Family since they were, after all, the Royal Family. But we\'re just another noble family within the capital right? There shouldn\'t be any reason why we are being received like this just for going to the palace.

Mother giggled, "Ara, ara? Did my little one forget why you are meeting little Justi and Levia in the first place?"

"Because… Eh? They can\'t be celebrating me just because I saved the Princess, are they?"

"Ufufufu~ My dearest child~ In saving the Princess, you not only saved their child, but you also saved this city and maybe even the whole Kingdom from being invaded by demons~ Is that not worthy enough that the people would see my little one as a hero?"

Ah… I suppose that was true…

Honestly, my only thought during that time was that I needed to save Tiara from the demons so I didn\'t really think about it that much. But had we failed, demons might have invaded our World and possibly slaughtered everyone in the kingdom.

"I\'m surprised that they even know about it though. It\'s not like we told the entire city about the threat, right? We even hid it from them so that there wouldn\'t be a panic."

"Ara, ara? Does my little one think that Mama would ever let any merit that my child gains go unnoticed?" Mother laughed.

Ah… She… Went to spread the news around?

"Our Hero!"

"Saviour of the Kingdom!"

"Marry meeee!"

Mother smiled at me, "Maybe my little one wants to give your fans a little wave?"

I pouted at Mother before I turned towards the window and waved at the people outside like she suggested.

That only made them cheer even louder with even more shouts coming from them calling me their hero.

This is so embarrassing…

I tried to peek at how long the crowd stretched on for and realised they had gathered all the way to the gates of the palace.

"Does the entire city know?" I asked, still keeping up my waving at the crowd as we passed by.

"Ufufufu~ Of course, my little one~"

"But I\'m not the only one who saved the Princess though… Are the others also getting the same recognition?"

"Ara, ara~ Does my little one want them to be recognised as well? I asked them before but none of them wanted to be known or rewarded for it and simply said to let my dearest child have all the credit~"

"Eh? But why? I understand why Katsuki wouldn\'t want to be recognised but Odeta?"

"Ufufufu~ She just said that she would prefer to gain recognition by getting stronger on her own so she rejected it~"

Ah, I see. That\'s definitely something Odeta would say.

Oh well… I don\'t really care that much anyway since no one will know it\'s me since I\'m wearing this mask anyway.

Wait a minute… Is this the start of my superhero arc?!

No, definitely not, I have no interest in that. Sorry.

I continued to wave at the crowd until the carriage reached the gates of the palace where it seemed like an even bigger crowd had gathered.

The guards at the gates did not stop us as we went by, our escorts riding past them without a glance while the crowd either cheered at our carriage or admired our escorts.

The noise finally died down when we reached the palace itself.

In front of the main doors was a squad of Royal Knights and an elderly man dressed like a butler that were evidently waiting for us.

Katsuki leapt off the coachman\'s seat as soon as our carriage came to a stop and opened the door for us, letting me alight first before Mother followed behind me.

The old man bowed to us, "Welcome Madam Nilm, Young Lady Nilm. I shall be your guide for the event today. The ceremony will be starting soon so if Young Lady Nilm would just follow me to the waiting room where I shall brief you on the proceedings?"

I was already told that I would be separated from Mother since I had to present myself to the Royal Family on my own, which was why I was not surprised by the old man\'s request.

I nodded at him and gave Mother a wave before I followed behind the old man, Katsuki also accompanying me just a step behind as my guard.

In just a few moments, I would be meeting with the Royal Family in front of all the other nobles of the country to receive my commendation for saving their princess and the country.

To say that I was nervous was an understatement.

Alright, there\'s no way I can back out now so here\'s hoping that I don\'t embarrass myself in front of everyone…