“Guard Captain Raem, you are to be granted nobility. Have you chosen your name?” said Kamil. But something was different. This wasn’t happening in his study. Instead, this was a hall with numerous people present. Additionally, he was sitting on a throne. There were two thrones right next to him as well with Flora and Heiga on it. Flora was wearing an exquisite dress on this occasion while Heiga was wearing a modest dress. This was to reflect the difference in their status. Flora was the first wife, and Heiga was the second. Meanwhile, Raem was on his knee, and Lara was right behind him, kneeling down as well. The rectangular-shaped hall had a red carpet in the middle, reaching all the way to a slightly elevated throne with Kamil and his two wives on. There were people, lords and their wives, present alongside the crimson red carpet. Among them, there was Lillian Egra who succeeded the seat to Elsos. Next to her, there was Daniel Flissing. She wasn’t wearing a dress. Instead, she had a black tunic and dark gray pants. This was probably the first time in the history of the kingdom where a noblewoman, especially a head of a house, did not wear a dress on a formal occasion. The reason they were standing next to each other was that they remarried. Their remarriage was suggested by Cezary, and the deal concluded rather swiftly with little objections from both sides. Their marriage conditions were interesting, meanwhile. Any children born from Lillian would fall under the Egra family tree. Daniel was adamant that Esther’s children would inherit the Flissing, making it clear that the marriage was purely political in nature.
“I have,” Raem responded sincerely.
“Then speak your name.”
“My name shall be Raem Launce.”
“My name shall be Lara Launce,” said Lara, following her husband.
“Arise the Launce, you are the founder of this new house,” Kamil declared. Nestor was standing nearby the thrones just at the bottom of the elevation. Behind him, there was a page who was holding several rolled scrolls. He handed a rolled scroll over to Nestor who took it without turning around. Unsealing it, he read it aloud.
“Lord Launce, you are hereby granted the city of Fadin. This shall be your rightful fief granted by your liege, Kamil Fenchel.”
“We thank you,” said Raem formally and stood up slowly, and so did Lara. Then they walked backwards, eventually joining the crowd on the sideline as new nobles. Cezary walked up and kneeled down next.
“Sir Cezary Waszak, you are to be granted your holdings,” Kamil declared.
Cezary was already a noble due to him earning the title of a scholar. It was just a titular title, however. He was essentially an unlanded noble with being unable to pass his title to his children. Now that he was being granted land, his title would become inheritable. Nestor took another scroll from behind, opening it and reading aloud.
“Lord Waszak, you are hereby granted Altzell. This shall be your rightful fief granted by your liege, Kamil Fenchel.”
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Cezary replied.
Nestor continued, “Additionally, you are granted Rokk.”
Rokk was a small village held originally by Isaac Knell. With him formally surrendering, the village was freed. Since the village had a copper mine, it was decided that Cezary would make the best use of it. Besides, with over half of its population gone, the place was just not worth granting it to a noble as their primary residence.
“Arise, Lord Waszak.”
Cezary stood up accordingly.
“I congratulate you on your marriage to Lady Waszak. I hope that you will continue to serve me to the best of your abilities,” Kamil said.
“I was just a librarian when you hand-picked me. I was nobody. I shall not forget.”
His talents were somewhat known. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have earned the title of scholar, especially when he was from the Siwen. This was during a time period where the Siwen was still a force to be reckoned with. However, his erratic personality prevented him from gaining any notable position, and he was very blunt in advices. Finally, his blatant discard for human lives didn’t earn any favors from Edmund. He was eventually relegated to a library duty when Kamil, Ewald at that time, found him. They had certainly come a long way. Nestor was next, and Cezary swapped their places. Rose in a fine purple dress followed him and kneeled down right next to him. She was a noble by birthright. Therefore, she could stand next to her husband. Lara was a commoner, thus she had to stay behind Raem.
“Lord Vogel, you are to be granted your holding,” Kamil declared, and Cezary followed right after, unrolling a scroll.
“Lord Vogel, you are hereby granted the city of Keviel. This shall be your rightful fief granted by your liege, Kamil Fenchel.”
Kneeled down on one knee, Nestor and Rose responded in unison, “We thank you.”
Kamil spoke, “Arise, Lord Vogel. I thank you for your service. I hope that you will serve me well from even a distance.”
The couple stood up, and Nestor spoke, “Of course, my liege. I was nobody before you took me along. My loyalty will be forever with you.”
He was a fringe member of the Vogel and was told to “get out” and make his own living, which he did. Using his friendship with Daniel Flissing, he was eventually employed by Kamil and became a scholar and an advisor under him. With him being given Keviel, he was set to become the head of the Vogel family. His brothers would have no choice but to bow. It would be down to him how to handle his family affairs because there was every chance that it could get ugly. He may be forced to banish rebellious siblings for example. Either way, it would be his own personal affair. Rose had her own share of issues as well. There would be people from her family who’d want to get on the success train, but she wouldn’t be able to accept them all. Between Cezary and Nestor, the former had it very easy certainly because he was starting anew from nothing whereas the latter had some baggage to take care of. It turned out that this was exactly why Cezary preferred “burning” down Altzell and Keviel. Since both were prominent and ancient settlements, there would be an invisible hierarchy even after the cities changed hands. Merchants may have formed some form of resistance to stand against their local lord and whatnot. He aimed to wipe them out and start anew. Once Nestor and Rose were formally granted Keviel, he took over Cezary’s role once again while Rose joined the crowd on the sideline. Isaac Knell and Sylwia walked forth and kneeled down a distance away from Kamil. She stood out in her crimson dress with her red hair. Kamil could sell that she tried to dress modestly, but her features were outstanding regardless.
“Lord Knell, under normal circumstances, you would have been stripped of your titles and may have even been arrested. However, given your staller record of loyalty toward your former liege, we’ve decided to grant you a reprieve.”
“We thank you,” said Isaac with his one knee down and his eyes downcast. His wife was mimicking him.
“Rokk has been stripped away from you. However, I am granting you the right to start a new city along the river between Dido and Fadin. It will be hard initially, and that shall be your punishment.”
The Knell family would be living in a makeshift home for the foreseeable future, and there would be nothing around them for years. In a sense, it was akin to house arrest. Some lords nodded along in agreement on the sidelines. It was a punishment and a reward mixed in the same bag.
“You will take your people with you,” he added. Then Nestor took over, taking yet another scroll from the page behind him. Unrolling it, he declared aloud.
“Lord Knell, you are hereby granted what was formerly known as Lyatan. You are also ordered to construct a new village North of the plot, which shall be named Bronn. You have twenty years. You will have the right to rename Lyatan as you see fit. You are also taxed forty percent of your income for the next fifty years.”
“Forty…!” Some voices murmured. They would have no idea that Isaac pushed for seventy five during their discussion.
“We thank you for your consideration,” Isaac replied indifferently, and the couple stood up, joining the crowd. It was Edmund Fenchel and Loukia who came forth and kneeled down. She was wearing a simple beige dress, which was a stark contrast from her former self.
“Lord Edmund Fenchel,” Kamil said sincerely. “I thank you for your service. While you will receive no additional fief, I’ve prepared what you desire, Lord Vogel.”
Nodding affirmatively, Nestor unrolled a new scroll and read it aloud.
“Lord Edmund Fenchel, your house will now be formally known as the Lux Fenchel, and the inheritance as well as succession laws will differ from the Ceres Fenchel. Additionally, the taint on the Mesurii is now cleared. Lady Loukia Fenchel, you may now seek to rebuild your former family.”
Before Edmund could speak, Loukia did first.
“We thank you, your highness.” She sounded like she was choking in tears.
“A little gift for you, Lady Loukia,” Kamil said as he extended his hand from the throne. “Lord Ludwig, come forth.”
“.... What?” Almost everyone in the hall murmured in unison. He was killed; some men present saw him explode.
A single wind elemental appeared from his finger tip and flew slowly toward Loukia. When it was close enough, the wind elemental changed its shape, resembling Ludwig loosely, minus his walking cane. He looked half-transparent.
“.... What?!” This time, the voices were louder.
The image of Ludwig smiled and said, “Such a foolish girl, you are, Loukia.”
Her eyes went wide. She recognized the voice. It was, without any doubt, the voice of her deceased grandfather.” Covering her agape mouth, tears flew down through her cheeks.
“G, grandfather…”
“He was always around you, Lady Loukia,” Kamil said softly. It was a white lie. He had been watching him instead, but it was true that he did remember his granddaughter. In his memories, Loukia was a little girl instead of a mother. Therefore, he spoke only as if she was a little girl.
“Enjoy your life, girl,” he said to her merrily. “Live strong and always look after your family.”
Being unable to respond due to overwhelming emotions, all she could do was sob with her mouth covered. Edmund held her shoulders to comfort her. Ludwig’s image soon vanished and turned back into a wind elemental which flew back to Kamil and stayed there. Soon, a water elemental, an earth elemental, and a fire elemental appeared around him. The fire elemental was resting on his right forearm, curled up. The water elemental was around his neck. The earth elemental was standing right next to his throne, and finally the wind elemental was orbiting him.
“Our liege is the elemental king!” Nestor declared aloud on cue as if this was planned. He spread his arms out and exclaimed, “Bow before our king!”
This was all Cezary’s idea. Even if Kamil would fail to return after defeating the dragon, he was going to use the result as an ascendant to the heavens and instill fear in the vassals that he would always be there, watching them. Everyone in the hall got down to their knees at once. It may have sounded ridiculous, but there was indisputable evidence. After all, he had the command of the four elementals. This event acted as the formal coronation as well. A king was never a king until there was a sufficient number of vassals swearing oaths. By making them voluntarily kneel down, they were essentially accepting Kamil as their liege, thus a rightful king. Of course, they had no problem with this since it was given that he was going to be crowned as a king during this event. It was just how it was done that took them as a surprise. A royal party ensued shortly afterwards. Maids brought out carts with steaming roasted boars and wine.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“My king and queen!” Baptiste said with glee with open arms. Lena was right behind him, beaming a gentle smile at Kamil and Flora. Heiga was supposed to be with them but she was busy digging into a roasted boar.
“How goes the day?” Kamil asked with a subtle grin.
“Couldn’t be better!”
He received nothing physical from this conflict like Edmund. But he was probably the one who gained the most. His daughter became the queen of this new kingdom, becoming related to a royalty by marriage. The Flissing was set to become the most prestigious house within the kingdom. Daniel’s remarriage to Lillian may have poured some cold water, but terms of their remarriage were hugely favorable to them. And both Daniel and Lillian matured throughout the war. Especially the latter had matured significantly. They were positive that it would work out for them this time.
“Congratulations,” Lena said to Flora.
“Thank you, mother,” She replied, beaming a smile.
“Where is Daniel?” Kamil wondered. Looking around, it didn’t look like he was present.
Baptiste approached him and whispered, “The kid has gone out to see his mistress. I hope that you can forgive his absence.” Lena smiled in response.
Chuckling, he replied, “No problem, sir. Let boys be boys.”
“Precisely. He needs to get her pregnant.”
After some casual chit chat with the Flissing, it was Edmund and Loukia who approached him next.
“Life is really full of surprises, huh,” he told him, sounding exhausted. “I thought I was adopting a smart boy and look how it turned out.”
“I have a feeling that, without you, we wouldn’t have been able to have our boy,” Loukia added and then she looked down in sadness. “Our poor daughter…”
“Ichilia, wasn’t it?”
She looked right back up. “You… remember her name still?” She looked surprised. He had never met her and was told her name perhaps once at the best.
“Have you made a grave for her?”
Edmund and Loukia glanced at each other. “Yes,” he replied.
“Remember her fondly. That’s all you can do. What’s done is done.”
“Indeed…” The couple had their eyes downcast and moved away at a slow pace. Kamil had a feeling that they would never get over killing their own daughter. At the same time, what they had done was understandable from their position at that time. In other words, their deed wasn’t exactly evil or wrong.
“They look so sad…,” Flora commented, clinging to his arm.
“They are suffering from their own misdeeds. It may sound harsh, but they are getting what they deserve.”
At least, it is still a net positive ending for them. That’s why and how they can feel remorse in a way that they do. Their decision to kill their own daughter…, should it be counted as a sin? Will Gods even care? I wonder what kind of judgment Karsten received… Would doing what one felt was right even if it would be perceived as a wrong deed by people be counted as a sin? Who determines that a sin is actually a sin?
In his mind, no one had the right to make the judgment but the one doing the deed. This was the conclusion he had come to after being reincarnated and having come thus far. Still, looking at the couple disappearing into the crowd, he could only sigh because, in the end, the dead could not come back.
Not with their memories intact at least… Speaking of which, I do wonder what happened to Fionara now…
He could, again, only sigh. The higher his position became, the more baggage he was accumulating, he felt.
“You don’t seem like you're enjoying the day,” Flora remarked softly after observing her husband spacing out with a grim look on his face. It was true. He was not enjoying it. How could he?
“I have lots on my mind. People seem to be forgetting, but there is one more dragon to take care of.”
He wasn’t concerned about the dragon, but it wasn’t exactly a lie, either.
“Sir Waszak said you’d have no problem taking the dragon down.”
“I heard you mention him before. Have you two been talking?”
“Well, I take on some of your tasks now. I had to be briefed and updated on the political landscape.”
“I see…”
I can’t not keep her in the dark. I just can’t…
He did not want to tell her anything. He did not want to make her worry. However, the matter was just too grave just to let her bear it unprepared. It would be just too cruel.
“Flora, let’s go to the balcony. I have something to tell you.”
She grew a worried look all of a sudden. He told her what she needed to know. He excluded the fact that he was a betrayer of the wheel and that he was a reincarnated person with his past memories intact. What he did tell her was that his mortality was slipping away due to having formed too close bonds with elementals and that he would not be able to remain a human probably. He omitted him being a betrayer of the wheel because he did not want to overload her with too much information at once.
“To be honest, neither I nor the elementals know what will happen to me,” he added while she looked dumbfounded, trying to process what she was just told. “What we know for certain is that I won’t remain a mortal anymore. What that means exactly is unknown at this point.”
Tears started to fill her eyes slowly. She understood one thing clearly; Kamil would most likely not be the same. That much seemed to be clear.
“No, no, no…!”
Streaked with tears, Flora’s face fell into his chest. Sighing, he embraced her head gently.
“You cannot leave me… You just can’t…,” she sobbed in his chest.
“I have no intention to. But, Flora, it is not entirely my choice.”
“Then don’t go. Let’s just flee elsewhere, like the underground.”
“You can’t mean that. It’s for the sake of humanity…”
“Like I care!” She raised her voice. “Is it so wrong to keep happiness to oneself? I grew up without one and finally found one only to have it snatched away after only five years?”
She wasn’t inherently wrong. Everyone was entitled to their share of happiness in their lives. Without it, they just might as well commit suicide and be done with the whole ordeal.
“In the worst case, you will have our two children.”
“Without their father!” She retorted. “Cecilie won’t even remember your face!”
I know… I know, god damn it!
He felt deja vu. His lack of quality time with his two sons in his previous life bothered him from time to time, and the same was happening once more. Placing both of his hands on the side of her head, he dragged her back to see her face full of tears. She was really crying her eyes out.
“Don’t leave me…,” she pleaded weakly.
“I …. won’t.”
He couldn’t say no. He simply could not. Thus far, he had accepted his plausible fate. However, seeing her break down like this, there was a sense of renewal within his heart; the desire to fight the Gods if must.
“I will not leave you, Flora,” he told her softly. “But I must also perform the duty placed on me.”
He recalled Nele Blind’s words. She wanted her husband to be alive in some shape or form even if it meant he would surrender. She would have preferred the shame of being captured rather than death. Alas, her husband was killed by Lara in a battle.
“I swear that I won’t leave you, Flora. My lovely dear wife, I will not leave you.” He hugged her tightly, and she responded with sobbing. He didn’t know what to do at this point. All he could do was fight the fate that was about to befallen on him.
On the second day of the royal party, Nele Blind was the first one to come forth and kneeled down a short distance away from Kamil on his throne. Her rather extremely modest black dress was signaling her intention of staying low for the foreseeable future.
“Lady Blind, you shall keep your current fief,” he told her indifferently, and Nestor read out loud from a piece of paper being held by both of his hands.
“Lady Nele Blind, you will continue to rule Alrez, formerly held by Vincent Blind.”
“I thank you, your majesty,” she replied solemnly. Because her two children were still babies and they were both daughters, it was never guaranteed that she would automatically carry on her husband’s title. She would probably have breathed an exhausted sigh of relief discreetly upon being officially announced that she would carry on her deceased husband’s title.
“Arise and keep up the good work.”
She stood up slowly and walked away to join the crowd. Then came Elias Hunt who kneeled down where Nele was. He did look aged somewhat with gray hair appearing here and there but he still didn't look like someone in their 50s. Amy Wallen wasn’t present. There would be a variety of reasons why she wasn’t present. She could be ill or even pregnant. There were a lot of questions. However, this wasn’t the moment to ask.
“Lord Hunt, Reeva is rightfully yours,” Kamil told him. He earned it with decades of service under Edmund. He was indeed rightfully his.
“Lord Hunt shall retain Reeva!” Nestor declared. No one was surprised. The village wasn’t worth it to anyone either way. The population of Reeva was known to be between 200 to 500, and Elias wasn’t collecting taxes to boost growth at the moment.
“I thank you.”
Noah and Greta stepped forward and kneeled down next to each other. The latter was wearing a white dress with golden accessories, making her look like an angel with her golden hair. If they were outside under the sun, she would have shone like one surely.
“Lord Harga, you’ve done a good job on the recent military campaign. You shall be rewarded.”
And Nestor took over. “Lord Harga, you are hereby granted Vedo. This is your rightful fief granted by your liege, Kamil Fenchel.”
“We thank you,” said the couple in unison.
Noah and Greta were a knight and a scholar respectively under Edmund in Lux. Both were marginalized members of their families, and both were told to get married cheaply. Thanks to Kamil’s … intervention, they ended up together and had three children, two sons and a daughter. Noah broke away from his original house and founded a new one as well. His original last name was Harder.
Well, Greta looks quite beautiful. If she didn’t marry Noah, I may have tried my luck with her in spite of the age difference.
If he did try, it would have caused significant controversies since she was more than ten years older. Even ending up with Flora, who was four years older than him, was pushing the limit of their cultural acceptance. As the couple stood up and walked away, he laid his eyes on the crowd on the sidelines. Almost all of them had sworn their new oaths as his vassals. Only one person was left: Lillian Egra. When she finally came forth, she did so alone in spite of the fact that Daniel Flissing was her rightful husband. Wearing a tunic and a pair of pants, both in dark color, she kneeled down. Her hair was cut short as well, even shorter than Flora’s.
“Lady Egra, I gave Lord Karsten my words that you’d succeed his seat. I shall keep my words,” Kamil said.
“I thank you.”
Nestor declared, “Lady Lillian Egra, you are hereby granted Elsos. This is your rightful fief granted by your liege, Kamil Fenchel.”
She sure has come a long way…
Lillian was a spoiled princess. It looked like Karsten’s children were all pretty much spoiled because Leonhard appeared to be just as spoiled as her. The difference was that she was thrown into a harsh real world because she chose to stay with her father. He didn’t know what kind of ordeals she had to overcome under her father, but it was clear that she had matured significantly. Another piece of truth he wasn’t aware of was a fact that Karsten wanted to let her marry him to tie him down. Baptiste was faster and literally sent Flora to him with a box of 50 gold coins. If he did end up marrying Lillian, Ceres wouldn’t have existed, and the Kingdom of Egra may have not fallen. In retrospect, Baptiste denying Karsten was the key cause for the downfall of the kingdom.
“Your majesty, with your permission, I would like to change my last name,” she declared, and her statement surprised many. This was an unexpected turn of events, and Kamil glanced at Cezary who was among the crowd. He gave a subtle nod.
“You may,” he replied. “Have you chosen a new last name?”
Her intention to change her last name meant that she was willing to give up every achievement the Egra house had accumulated. This included both positive and negative ones. The house crumbled on a sour note, thus this wasn’t a foolish decision to start anew. It would take some guts to abandon everything, however.
“Tulles. My name shall be Lillian Tulles.”
“Very well, you are now Lillian Tulles. Arise Lady Tulles.”
She stood up slowly and joined the crowd. Everyone’s attention was fixed at Kamil now because they were waiting for one last announcement: The official name of their new kingdom. So far, the kingdom was loosely referred to as Ceres, but it was going to be given an official name. This was discussed internally between Cezary, Kamil, and Nestor although the final decision rested on Kamil. He decided to come up with a name after three women who were quite influential in his lives: Fionara, Flora, and Vilma. He stood up from his throne and walked two steps forward.
“Our new kingdom shall now be called the Kingdom of Filava,” he declared aloud, and everyone in the hall got down to their knees at once.
Filava was a mixture of three names. Fi was taken from Fionara. The L was taken from Flora, thus became Fil. All three names had at least an A, and the V was taken from Vilma. Eventually, Filava was the end result.
“Today marks the beginning of the Kingdom of Filava!” Nestor declared aloud.
“All hail king!” The nobles in the hall exclaimed in unison and repeated, “All hail king!”
At the moment, there was only one thing in Kamil’s mind as he looked down on the nobles in the hall.
Time to defeat the dragon… and come back alive… I must come back alive…, to Flora’s arms. I must … I failed Fionara previously. I dare not repeat history once more…
In order to do so, he felt that he needed to use as little magic as possible. How, he wasn’t sure, but it was time to fight tactically for once.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8089/7LtlaU.png]