yemalu

Oh, whoops, that was my cue to enter. I got a little distracted there since they were giving some long speech about how the city was saved, how dangerous the demons were and how greatful the King and Queen were.

The doors were then opened by a pair of guards, allowing me to step into the audience hall where the other nobles of the Lehcarouc Kingdom and the Royal Family were waiting for me.

The moment I entered, all eyes were turned to me.

I used every bit of my Noble Etiquette skill to remain calm and step into the audience hall with my back straight and my hands clasped in front of my waist.

I wasn\'t sure if it was appropriate or not, but I also used a little bit of my Authority Projection skill as well.

The nobles closest to me started murmuring amongst themselves and I caught a few of their whispers as I walked past.

"So it\'s true… I thought she couldn\'t have children?"

"That\'s what she claims… I don\'t even want to know which lucky motherfucker got to sleep with that woman…"

"Do we know how old she is? Do you think I have a chance to marry her or do I need to send my daughter?"

"Give up lad… You\'re not even good enough to become their servant…"

"Drat… So they have more than one of those masks… I wanted to see what she looks like…"

"Hey, they say that the Matriarch wears that mask because she\'s unbelievably ugly and would not let anyone see her face… Maybe the child is the same?"

"Nah… I heard it\'s the opposite. She was so beautiful that anyone who saw them gave up everything they owned and pledged to serve her for life. Which is how they have such loyal servants."

"Both of you better shut up before someone else hears you, dumbass…"

I decided that pretending not to hear anything would be the best choice so that\'s exactly what I did. Instead, I focused my gaze on the Royal Family who were seated on the thrones at the very end of the hall.

The King and Queen were there, but I don\'t see any of the other princes or princesses aside from Tiara. Either they were unable to attend or they were deliberately absent for some reason.

I stopped at the predetermined location in front of the King and curtsied, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

The King raised a hand, "Please raise your head, for the hero that has saved this city, nay… This entire country, from being destroyed by demons, we owe you our gratitude."

"Not at all, Your Majesty. I was merely doing something that was expected of me as one of the nobles of this Kingdom."

"I think it is safe to say that you have gone above and beyond what is expected of you Lady Nilm. For ensuring the safety of the third princess and also thwarting the demons\' plans of wreaking havoc in our World, what reward do you desire?"

I did another curtsy, "I do not require a reward but if it is Your Majesty\'s wish to grant me one, I am content with anything that your Majesty feels is suitable for me."

Just so you know, this entire exchange was scripted. I was already told what I needed to say in advance and was even told of how the King would respond in turn. The only thing I wasn\'t told was the actual reward prepared for me.

Obviously this was all for the sake of putting on a show to the other nobles where news of this would eventually leak to the rest of the country.

From what I heard, there were quite a number of nobles who were not happy that I \'came out of nowhere\' and they were even suspecting that I wasn\'t actually Mother\'s child. Some even guessed that I was one of the princes or princesses that was vying for the throne that the King favoured and she set this elaborate scheme up in order to give me more support for the throne when I reveal my real identity.

Those nobles really have very creative imaginations.

The King pretended to think for a moment before speaking again, "In that case, I shall grant Lady Nilm the tile of \'Hero of Lehcarouc\' and formally announce the engagement of Princess Tiara as your fiancee!"

…

Not gonna lie… I actually thought that they might do something like this…

The crowd behind me became noisy, breaking decorum entirely as some people outright protested against such a decision.

One of the nobles stepped out from the ranks of people to appeal to the King, "Your Majesty! Please reconsider! Would this not be unfair to the princess herself?!"

Oh boy… Here comes the politics…

Naturally his argument was complete bullshit, this guy was just afraid that by marrying the princess, my future children would also be able to fight for the throne as well which meant that the Nilm family could rise up to be the actual rulers of the Kingdom.

And the reason why this guy doesn\'t want this has nothing to do with worrying that we would not be competent rulers for this country, but more because he\'s afraid that there would be more competition for him as more factions are created because of this.

Well… I was already expecting political shenanigans to appear when I walked into the audience chamber so I wasn\'t really that surprised to hear this guy say this.

What I was surprised about was the fact that he actually came out to say it in front of the King. There\'s a reason why we had an actual script that we were following despite the fact that I was just here to receive a reward from the King you know?

I had said that I would let the King decide my reward so making the princess become my fiancee was not my idea but the King\'s idea. To come out and protest like that basically meant that you were disagreeing with the King under the best circumstances or implying the King was incompetent under the worst.

The King narrowed her eyes at the noble who stepped out, "Count Ulio, do you disagree with what I have decided?"

The Count seemed to have realised his mistake and quickly bowed his head, "That\'s… That\'s not what I meant, Your Majesty! I… I simply think that it might put too much stress on both parties if they were to accept this so suddenly!"

Oh my god… Dude, you\'re just digging a deeper hole for yourself right now…

The Queen gave the Count a look, "Oh my… Are you also implying that my little Tiara is also incapable of shouldering such a responsibility? I didn\'t know you had such low opinions of the Princess, Count Ulio."

"Ahh… Ahh… I… I did not mean it that way, Your Majesty! I… I just think that it would be better for them to get to know each other better first!"

It took all I had not to facepalm right there… How did this guy even survive in noble society if he was this dumb? He\'s literally playing himself right now…

King Justinia smiled, "You make a good point, Count Ulio."

The Count looked surprised, "I… I did? Err… I mean… Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Yes, they should know each other better. In that case, how do you feel about moving into the Nilm Family\'s manor and living there, Tiara?"

The princess inclined her head, "I am fine with that, Father."

The idiot Count just gaped at the princess, belatedly realising that he inadvertently pushed the Princess even closer to me.

King Justinia turned to me, "I suppose we shall put the matter of Princess Tiara\'s engagement on hold for now until the both of you have properly acquainted yourselves with each other. In the meantime, we shall prepare another reward for you, Lady Nilm. Hmm… Ah, we shall grant you an item of your choice from the Royal Armoury itself. How about it?"

Oh? Does that mean I can pick a weapon or even an armour from there? Surely the Royal Armoury has some really powerful weapons right? I\'m actually interested in what kind of weapons there are so of course I want that!

I curtsied, "I thank you for Your Majesty\'s generosity."

"It is only natural, you are now the Hero of Lehcarouc so of course you shall need something to go along with your new station. Now is there anyone who would object to this?"

At this point, only the truly stupid ones would even think about objecting, especially when this Count had ruined it for everyone already. I don\'t doubt that he had made a ton of enemies from what he did today.

"Since no one has any objections, then this audience is adjourned. Lady Nilm, your guide will show you the way to the Royal Armoury. As for everyone else, the banquet celebrating our victory over the demons and the initiation of our newest Hero shall begin in the grand hall soon."

The King rose from the throne and the male nobles knelt while the others curtsied, maintaining our position until she had left the audience hall with the Queen and Princess Tiara.

Alright, now show me the way to the Armoury! I want my legendary weapons!!