Chapter 10: Distant emotions

The afternoon of the next day was different from the others, I had no training in the parade ground and my sister, bored, started reading novels with Sora in the library. They loved to watch romances and stories of knights saving maidens.

Alda always said she would live her own love story, although I was not very excited about my future romances. I would probably end up in a sad marriage of convenience. Anyway; I would have liked to go with Alda and Sora, but my court duties had to be attended to first.

And it was certainly an awkward affair, for that reason I asked Sora to keep my poor sister company. I'll join them later.

“Are you ready, son?“ Mom called out to me from the main hallway leading to the throne room. She wore an elegant red dress that highlighted the silver jewelry hanging around her neck, she also carried a golden scepter to give instructions and whose presence accredited her rank as regent.

“Yes, let's go. “ We entered the throne room before the eyes of knights, courtiers and the remaining members of the council. They opened a corridor for us until we reached the enormous golden chair that was located right in the center of the room.

I sat down on the throne with mother's help, as my legs still could not reach the huge metal chair by themselves. Afterwards, my mother stood to my right and nodded to the rest of those present, beginning the formalities.

“We welcome the great Sir Marte Hogan.” Mother's solemn words filled the other courtiers with joy. Immediately, the giant knight entered the throne room with his immaculate armor and without any dent. Did he change his attire to come here?

Or did the criminals really not touch him?

The answer made me very curious.

Sir Marte walked to the stairs leading to the dais, knelt before us and then raised his countenance without getting up from the floor.

“I have murdered the leader of the Grey Fist" my mentor said. “Here is the proof.”

A squire of about 14 years of age came running up with a wooden box in his hands. He greeted us with a silent bow and then handed his package to the knight. Heck, I already had an idea of what was inside, so I prepared my countenance so as not to be surprised.

The Royal Guard opened the box with a single movement and there we observed a well-preserved head: it had an unkempt brown beard, as well as pale skin due to decomposition, and his hair had also been cut until it was bald. A few drops of blood were still dripping from the severed neck, but nothing the maids couldn't clean up.

Okay, thanks to my preparation I didn't throw up.

But this wasn't exactly a pretty sight.

“That's him, all right.” Mom clapped her hands twice, unfazed by the decapitated head just inches away. You have done well, noble knight.

Was no one disgusted by having a guillotined head in sight?

Very well, I suppose I shall have to adapt to such violence sooner or later.

“We killed everyone we saw inside the base, also the gangsters operating near the walls and in the slum. Their heads are now nailed to communal pikes right at the entrance to the city, so the smugglers will know that corruption is no longer tolerated here. “

Huh?

Did the entrance to my capital city used to be littered with impaled heads?

UGH.

What a horrifying, but necessary, sight.

I felt no empathy for the extortionist rats or violent criminals. Their deaths were just and necessary, still, the mere thought of a bunch of crows devouring eyeballs left and right definitely turned my stomach. UGH, gross.

“Excellent work, Sir Marte.” I congratulated him too, after all it was common sense to compliment a good job.

“What should I do with my head, do you want to keep it?”

“No," I replied. “Throw the head into the slums and let the commoners have their fun with it. Let it be their revenge for all the pain it caused them.”

“Well, I'll send the Home Guard to deliver the head to the people.”

The Royal Guard took the head with him and without more to say walked to the door of the hall, gave a final bow and left the place with his squire behind. The other courtiers were stunned, their clean robes and extravagant perfumes still looked very uncomfortable to me.

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Even so, I raised my right hand to end the meeting.

Gradually the guests left the place, leaving only Mom and me together on the dais, even the honor guards left the room and resumed their posts just at the entrance of the room. Thus giving us some privacy.

Was my reaction too extravagant?

I couldn't tell, but the surprise on their faces gave a lot to talk about.

“God, you will be an excellent king, you have already surpassed me in terms of administration. “Mom patted me on the head and then smiled. “You are a genius.”

“I'm still green, mom, I still have a long way to go to become like you. I still don't know important laws and I also need to know my vassals; there is a long way to go and for that I am grateful for your work. When I turn 16 you will be able to retire in peace.”

“Intelligence, humility, empathy and affection for the commoners, you have the potential to become the most important king in our young history. To tell you the truth I didn't do anything about it before because I was unaware of the old treasurer's corruption, there were many flaws in front of me and I couldn't solve them alone.“

“Don't worry, I don't really like criminals. I did this more as an act of personal revenge, isn't it normal for knights to attack like this, right?”

“That's right, the ones in charge of defeating criminal networks are usually local guards and militiamen. The knights rarely try to defeat them; on this occasion it was a direct order from the king, that's why they acted so quickly and efficiently. “

“I see, I'll keep that in mind. “ I stood up from the throne with a jump, then stretched my joints to unwind. This room looked bigger empty than full, curiously there was no chair to sit on.

According to tradition, only the king may be seated in this place, the rest must remain standing until further notice. I did not like the custom, but I had to respect it like the rest of the nobles.

“Son, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Of course, Mom, you don't have to ask my permission to talk to me.”

“You've put a lot of effort into your studies and martial training. You don't know how proud I am of your performance... “Mom sat down on one of the steps of the platform, I did the same to be next to her so I could see her face to face. No titles or formalities, just a mother/son chat.

“Thank you, I have had good mentors and your support. “In this I was not being modest, Gonzalo and Sir Marte were high level teachers, besides, mom's support and Alda's energy gave me a mental health so great that it even surpassed my past life, where I had to fend for myself since I entered high school far from home.

I had lived alone for so long that I no longer remembered how nice it was to live with family, surrounded by love and warm smiles every day.

“You deserve only the best..." Girasol paused suddenly and stroked my cheeks softly, she seemed worried about something. “Would you hate me if I failed you?”

“I would never hate you, Mom. Is something wrong?”

“Yes, something happened last night. I don't know if I should tell you now that you've done a great deed, it would sully the memories of your first triumph as king....”

“I'll have to find out sooner or later, so you tell me. “I smiled to minimize the impact, to tell the truth I felt nervous about the news; mother was not exactly someone easy to make uncomfortable, her serene face before a decapitated head and the strength she showed when we saw the corpse in the village were fervent proof of her mettle as a person.

For this reason, seeing her with her eyes shining and on the verge of tears worried me a lot.

“I received a letter from the King of Apollo, he has told us that he has your fiancée ready for betrothal. He plans to marry you to the natural daughter of his younger brother. We cannot refuse his commands and if we do, he will attack our people again..." Mom sounded very upset by everything that happened, she frowned and then sighed to calm down. “The court doesn't know about this yet, when they find out they will burst with rage; marrying our king to an illegitimate daughter is an insult of great magnitude. He is giving us to understand that we are worth very little to him.”

“But I'm 8 years old, I'll only be 9 in a few months.”

“Many marriages are decided by betrothal since childhood. They will be engaged for years and when they come of age they can consummate the pact.”

“You mean 16 years old, right?”

“That's right," Mom replied, very embarrassed at having to reveal this news to me.

“Y-Yet," I whispered. “This girl is my age, isn't she?”

“Indeed, son, you and the king's niece are the same age. “

UGH.

The thought of getting engaged to an 8-year-old girl was repulsive to me.

Mentally I was a grown man and therefore, it would be impossible for me to be attracted to little girls. The very idea seemed horrendous, disgusting and in very poor taste.

“Can I wait until I'm 18 to get married?” My question was out of place, Mom raised her left eyebrow and looked at me with some confusion.

This was a whim of mine, nothing more, nothing less.

In Mexico, all citizens 18 years of age and older were considered adults in the eyes of the law. Different from the Kingdom of Etrica, where the legal age was reached at 16.

“Why wait 2 years?”

“Because at 16 I will be crowned and I suppose there will be a formal ceremony. It is bad luck to celebrate two events at the same time and the kingdom's finances will need to rest after a very big holiday. I want both festivities to be memorable and thus show the kingdom how good our administration is. “This was a very bad excuse, actually it was just a whim of mine so I wouldn't feel guilty for marrying an underage girl.

“It's true, well, betrothal is for life so there is no strict law that forces to formalize a marriage. We'll see about that in due course.”

“I understand it's my duty, Mom, don't worry, I won't blame you for anything that happens. That's the way I've had to live. “Romantic love was never given to me anyway.

In my past life I closed the doors of romance to focus on my career and personal goals, now it will be my turn to do the same for the sake of the kingdom.

To be honest, I felt a little bad for not being able to live a romantic story of my own, but that's what soap operas and gossip were for. If I've already survived a life without falling in love, I'll be able to do it again for the good of the people.

“I'm glad you understand, it will be hard, but you will always have your family to support you. Whatever happens, Alda and I will be with you. “After one last pat on the head, Mom finally sat back down. I'll make the announcement next week.

“I'll be watching. “After telling me the news, my mother left the room with her eyes downcast.

I sighed resignedly and finally left the place heading for the library, as I wanted to spend some time with Sora and Alda.