Chapter 12 – The Baroness (King's POV)

----------------------------------------

I put the quill in the inkwell and looked over my shoulder; there Gabriel was standing by the window, like every other afternoon.

“Gabriel, sit for a moment, I want to discuss a certain matter with you and Raziel.”

Gabriel shivered a bit when I said Raziel but he immediately regained his composure and answered with a “Yes sire.”

He walked around my desk and sat in one of the chairs in front of me while I took the communication crystal that was connected to Raziel from a drawer.

As I felt that the link with Raziel’s crystal was formed I sent her a message.

(Come to my office.)

A few seconds later the figure of a person started forming from the shadow that my desk cast on the floor and in a moment a young woman in her late twenties was in front of me.

“Have you called for me, Your Majesty?” Said the woman while bowing a bit.

“Yes, sit. I wanted to talk about the hero with you and Gabriel.”

Raziel sat on the other chair in front of my desk and waited for me to talk.

“You know that there will be a war council a month from now, right?” I said to the two in front of me.

““Yes sire.”” They answered together.

“I want the hero to take part to it but for that she needs to be, at least, a noble.”

“Sire, couldn’t you just give her a title?” Said Gabriel.

“It isn’t so simple Gabriel, if I give her a title without her accomplishing anything some nobles might have something to say about it.”

“Who cares about those shitty nob–“

Raziel smacked him on the back of his head.

“Watch your tongue in front of the king! Sometimes I think you are the most disrespectful Gabriel that ever existed in the history of the Holy Kingdom!”

“Raziel, he is unconscious.”

“Oh…”

“Anyway, do you think we can trust the hero?” I said, trying to ignore the scene that occurred almost every time those two happened to be in the same room.

“I don’t think we can really trust her, she is certainly hiding a lot.”

“What do you mean?” I asked her, a bit baffled.

“She used a skill that is similar to a mixture of appraisal and eagle eye more than once, it also seems much more powerful than a normal appraisal.”

“What?! The truth stone didn’t reveal anything like that!”

“She might have a high deception skill like me. Until now she has only used it to look around the castle and to appraise Gabriel, Queen Zillya and herself.”

“Herself?”

“Yes, twice actually. In my opinion it was probably to check the hero title.”

“She hasn’t appraised you, has she?”

“No, for the moment at least.”

“Mhhh…anything else?”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Yes, actually…I’m not sure she is human, she feels like a much older being…almost like me.”

“What?! Are you saying she might actually be Leliah?” I said while cold sweet was starting to form on my forehead.

“No, she smells completely different from that bitch, ehm, I mean, from Leliah, also I can guarantee that Leliah died that day.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Good. Do you think she will really help us against the demons?”

“She will probably keep her promise to defend the kingdom but I don’t think she would take part in an invasion of the demon country.”

“Why?”

“Because she has already understood that the hate for demons is one of the things that keep this kingdom together.”

“I see…is that everything?”

“I also tried using my seduction skill on her but I’m not sure it worked.”

“How can you not be sure it worked?”

“Well, she tried hitting on me since the first day but even after we had sex many times she still hasn’t fallen in love.” She said with a bitter expression that was really rare for her.

Gabriel in the meantime was starting to wake up.

“That’s weird, what could be the cause?”

“The seduction skill doesn’t work on people that are already in love, on those who have a really high magic resistance, on oracles and other people blessed by gods or if the person using it is in love with the victim.”

“I already know that, which one of these do you think is the real cause?”

“It might be all of them for all I know. While the hero shouldn’t have any attachment to his old world she could still be in love with someone who is already dead, the fact that she might have a deception skill makes me unable to judge her real magic resistance and the hero title might be considered a blessing.”

“So three out of four.”

“Actually…four out of four.”

“Are you saying that you…”

“I’m not really sure of it myself, but it might be...”

I was shocked, and so was Gabriel who was looking at her with the mouth wide open.

“Ehi! Why are you reacting like this? Can’t a pure maiden fall in love?”

“Who is that pure maiden you’re talking about?” Said Gabriel before being smacked on the back of his head and falling unconscious again.

“Anyway, everything considered, should I give her a noble title?”

“I think you should, after all she hasn’t really shown any sign she won’t maintain her word.”

“Very well. Wake him up.” I said while pointing at Gabriel.

Raziel smacked him on the face twice and Gabriel regained his consciousness.

“I will have the hero fight against you and Lady Raphael in the arena as proof of her strength, then have her make a public oath. This way the nobles shouldn’t complain too much about it. Do you think she will be able to fight against you two on par?” I said to Gabriel.

“Well, she is already able to win most of the time against me one-on-one; sincerely it’s amazing how fast she learns. I don’t know if she will be able to fight against both of us but we could always stage her victory.”

“We only have to convince Raphael then; I find it a bit difficult though, considering how prideful she is.”

“Well, if it’s for the good of the kingdom she will probably agree, she is a Raphael after all.” Said Raziel.

“You may be right…very well, Raziel, bring Hero Fortuna here.”

She stood up, made a light bow and after saying “Yes sire.” She disappeared into the shadows again.

After about ten minutes I heard a knock on the door.

“Your Majesty, it’s me, Lucilla, I’ve brought Hero Fortuna with me.” Said Raziel on the other side of the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Fortuna entered, immediately followed by Raziel.

“Have you called for me, Your Majesty?” Said Fortuna with the usual smile she kept since the first day, a smile that made it seem like everything happening around her was just a game. She was indeed similar to Raziel on that side; the only difference was that Raziel at least made an effort to hide it when she was working.

“Yes. I decided that I’m going to bestow you with the rank of Baroness.”

“I gladly accept the title.” She said bowing a little but that smile she had on her face just made it seem like she was mocking me.

“Good, I was also planning on having you fight with Lord Gabriel and Lady Raphael in the arena to show the people of our kingdom how strong our hero is and then have you give a small speech before the ceremony, if you agree of course.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Very well, then, as the first one of your house, you also have the right to choose its name.”

I was looking at her, hoping she didn’t choose some weird name just to have fun, when suddenly her expression changed, the smile she always had on her face disappeared and her face became serious for a second before she started smiling again but this time it was not the usual grin that made me want to punch her face, instead it was a melancholy smile, a small almost imperceptible curve accompanied by eyes that were looking at something that wasn’t there.

I was shocked by the sudden change but I had to keep my composure so I did not react to the fact.

“Have you thought of a name?”

“Yes.”

I kept looking at her, but for some reason she didn’t give me the name she chose and kept staring at something distant.

“Please, say it.”

“Tullius.” She said.

A single tear fell from her right eye.

“…v-very well, I approve that name. We will agree on the dates of the match and the ceremony tomorrow…you are free to go.” I said, trying to get over with the matter as fast as I could as I didn’t really know how to react to this sudden change.

Luckily she bowed and went out of the room almost immediately after I said so.

“What was that?” I asked to the baffled Raziel.

“I-I don’t know, she never reacted like that…”

“Go after her and find out!”

“Yes sire.” She said before running out of the room.