Maya obediently followed the servant who had woken her up. He led her through a hallway which was decorated with various goods of luxuries that showed any passerby a little glimpse of wealth of the royalty. Maya stopped briefly when she saw her reflection on a big mirror on the wall. Her dress was ripped and dirty, her hair was messy, and her eyes were red. Admittedly, the last two things were from her just waking up a moment ago, but those things plus the poor condition her dress was in made her appearance looked like a homeless woman who hadn't bathed in days.
Maya sighed and gave her reflection one last pity look, then she went back to the servant who kept proceeding without her. They walked in silent, no words were exchanged between them, the echoes of their footsteps were the only thing that could be heard in the long hallway.
Maya absentmindedly stared at the servant's back, her mind was occupied by nothing in particular. Even though she should be worrying about how she would address the king with the right courtesy, even though she should be scheming to sell the king and the nobles who would present her lies about her crime, even though she should be questioning her sudden existence in an RPG game she had played, and even though she should be strategizing her inevitable fight with demons, dragons, elementals and ultimately the six enders... she didn't.
She had come to terms with her fate and couldn't care less about what was to come. Would she be executed for inappropriately addressing the king? Would she unintentionally exposing her own crime and got jailed for eternity? Would she ever had the chance to worry about fighting monsters and bosses of this game? Could she even win against multiple powerful mythical beings after crafting plans upon plans? She didn't know... and she didn't care to know.
She had decided to do the fuck-all approach and improvised on the spot. Her worry on failure and death had significantly decreased, because for all she knew, maybe those exact two things were the solutions to bring her back to earth, besides successfully clearing the game of course.
Before Maya realized, they had arrived at a large door. The servant turned around and looked at her, and she looked at him back. She didn't know what the servant tried to convey, so she just silently stared at him. The servant too, didn't make any further effort and turned back to the door.
He pushed the large door and opened it wide, then he glanced at her. This time, Maya knew he meant to ask her to enter, and so she did.
"Lady Maya of House Mereworth!" The servant announced as she stepped into the royal hall.
For a moment, she halted, puzzled by why there were only men in the hall, as it was supposed to be the princess birthday party. But then she decided she didn't care and resumed her steps.
Maya proceeded towards the opposite corner of the hall, to the high platform where the conspicuous ruby throne was at. She walk through the crowd full of important looking men who stared at her as she passed them. Some of them looked at her in disgust, some in a way that made her feel like a well-known troublemaker, few looked at her in pity, and the rest was looking at her indifferently.
Maya ignored them all and kept walking, she stopped once she arrived in front of a short stairs which let one to ascend to the stage.
Maya looked up at the man who sat on the red crystal throne at the high platform. He was a tall and leanly muscular man with bright red eyes and light skin. He seemed to be in his forty and had masculine features. He was wearing formal and sophisticated attire: dark red suit with patterns and black cape, obsidian crown with ruby stone inserted into it adorned his gray hair.
King Edgard Elbin Egragis, the seventh ruler of Antara, the wielder of Mystique Morning Mage class unlike any other of his predecessors, who preferred to wield Fabled Fire Forger class instead. Now that the game had become reality, he really looked nice in flesh. Maya thought to herself.
"This imprudent woman! How dare she to not kneel before His Majesty!" Someone from the crowd behind her shouted.
Maya was brought back from her thought and realized she had been staring at the king without doing anything. She had watched enough movies to know to at least kneel in the present of a king, but seeing a prominent character she knew well from the game had robed her of her focus.
Maya listened to the anonymous critic and went down on one knee. She glanced back to the crowd a few feet behind her, "What should I do next?" she asked shamelessly.
Now that someone has offered me guidance to do the right courtesy, I would happily take it. Maya thought to herself.
The crowd gasped in unison, all present nobles were surprised by not only her lack of etiquette, but also her audacity to ask them to teach her on spot.
Whispers that were too low to be heard but too loud to be inaudible filled the hall. No one wanted to butt in and offered her another guidance, even in the form of ridicule and mockery like the last one. The nobles knew too well the risk of being dragged into this mess was too high if they decided to lend her a hand.
"Next, you greet His Majesty." A familiar voice offered from within the crowd. Maya glanced to the source and found Marquis Vheintia was the one who spoke.
Maya obliged, she turned back and looked up to the king, "Umm, hello, your majesty."
Judging by the sound she heard, Maya could guess that the Marquis, and a lot of other nobles, just slapped their own forehead.
Eat that. Maya cursed him inwardly. She had some hatred for the Marquis because he was the who insisted to brought her case to the king.
"You call yourself in the most modest way first, then you greet His Majesty with the highest regard you could think of." The Marquis added, still not giving up to fix her courtesy.
In for a penny in for a pound, huh. Maya guessed the Marquis's train of thought. But still, what kind of regards should I greet the king? I don't know any of his epithet... wait, there is some in the class's description he wield.
Maya turned back to the king and looked at him in eyes, "Let this humble servant greet His Majesty, King Edgard Elbin Egragis, The Ruler of Antara, The Dawn's chosen, and The First Light that shine upon us all!"
Silence descended to the hall as the echo of Maya's greeting died down. She tilted her head and was puzzled, Is my greeting still wrong? Maya glanced at her back only to saw the crowd behind her looked at her with confusion.
"That was a nice one, girl. A weird one, but that will do. I do not wish to make this charade any longer than it already is." The king spoke.
Maya turned back to look at the sitting man she kneeled to. "As you wish, Your Majesty." She said without looking away.
Somehow amused, the king smiled, "You really know nothing about courtesy. So be it. Tell me, girl. Are you really the daughter of Michael Mereworth?"
"That's right, Your Majesty. I am his second daughter." Maya answered without a thought.
"Is that so. Maya... was it? Now. I'll have you know that Marquis Vheintia, the man that I am sure you already know, has claimed that he found you laid motionless inside the wreckage of the carriage that you and your family had ridden. He also claimed that he found the rest of your family laid lifeless around the wreckage. He led me to believe that your entire family has been assassinated, and only you are the survivor, is that true?"
Maya pondered for seconds, she contemplated carefully about how she should sell her lies, but then quickly decided to stick to the fuck-all approach. "I believe so, Your Majesty. I saw my father got skewered by a stone lance, then our carriage got toppled, and face-covered men attack us. One of them stabbed me repeatedly, and the last thing I saw was a golden knife that was covered with my own blood." She testified, mixing a subtle yet big misleading detail in it.
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"Hmm..." The King hummed, elegantly stroking his grey beard.
#######
Edgard sized up the girl who kneeled before him as she answered his next set of questions. Her appearance was a complete mess. Edgard glanced at Marquis Vheintia who had informed him about her predicament. He intentionally left her in that state. He wanted to present his only piece of evidence in its initial condition as much as possible. He even didn't heal her wounds completely so they were still possible for us to see. Well, considering his political position as the leader of the neutral faction, he definitely wanted to make it clear that he was just a passerby who happened to find her.
Edgard sighed and moved his gaze to a particular man who stood within the crowd. The man was Count Yornold, he was the one who ennobled the girl's father for his service to his late father. He was a prominent figure in the noble faction, some even said he was the left hand of Earl Greyward, the leader of the said faction. If there is someone who has a close tie with this assassination, it would be him. After all, he is well-known for taking back what was once his. Maybe Michael Mereworth had stepped into his toe somehow so he decided to remove him. But still, he should have known the consequences for spilling trouble on royal special day. So maybe it is not him at all.
Edgard was a bit annoyed when Marquis Vheintia informed him about this case. Just when he thought he could spent this day to relax with his wife and daughter, someone dare to make a scene. Fortunately for him, the Marquis had a little bit of tact and only spoke about this when the party was over, and all the ladies had left the hall to have an after party at royal garden.
He was still curious, however. Who was in their right mind would broke the unwritten rule that he had made and painstakingly uphold by severely punishing the perpetrator... nobles and street thugs alike. I just want to get away from politics on the days that were special to my family, why can't they understand that? Edgard sighed. Should the nobles bicker and kill each other on any other day, the king himself wouldn't butt in nor would he bat an eye. There are only two kind of people who are bent to broke this taboo, a master strategist who has planned something bigger than what it is seemed, and an idiot who doesn't know or care about the taboo in the first place.
Edgard submerged deeper into his thoughts, tracing details that he might have missed. After a while, he decided to do the usual approach. Whatever. I just have to let the royal investigators loose. It should be enough to deal with the perpetrators and whoever involved in this. Edgar amused by the thought that he could use this case to annoy the nobles, especially the ones who were on the noble faction. They will not like my dogs sniffing around their business, and It will be a good move to remind them who is in charge.
Having decided his move, Edgard gazed back to the girl as she was about to finish answering his questions. Then he formulated his next words so the conversation went to the way he wanted.
"That is enough of your testimony." He spoke as Maya finished answering his questions. "Your side of story match up with what Marquis Vheintia told me. Let us move on to the next question." He said as she turned to look at the Marquis. "Marquis Vheintia, where is the crime scene exactly?"
The Marquis stepped forward as to make himself a little bit in front of the crowd, "I found the Baron and his family corpses at side of the main road that connects Windburg and Crolfast, Your Majesty. I ordered my men to bury them on the site and told one of my knight to plunge his sword on top of their grave which will also serve as the landmark." He answered while casting his gaze to the floor.
"Windburg and Drolfast... So the Baron was ambushed at the border between Count Flara and Count Dary territory." Edgard stoked his beard elegantly, The two are nobles from royal faction, I will have to hurt my own power a little, huh. That is a clever move from the perpetrators if they were indeed from the noble faction. Whatever, I don't mind, I will use this opportunity to remind the nobles in my faction that the royal family can stand on our own feet, so they will not think too big of themselves. Edgard turned to the two Count that were mentioned, "Count Flara, Count Dary, I believe I don't have to tell you what the two of you should do."
The two men that Edgard were spoken to detached themselves from the crowd and walked forward, "We will work in tandem to catch the perpetrator and any other criminals who were potentially hiding within our territory, Your Majesty." They answered in unison, their gaze were on the floor.
And just like that, the hunt has began. As the two Count will purge thugs, thieves, and robbers in their territory, the normal folks will know that some fools has ruined royal special day, and they will be reminded to be a good kid on those days.
Edgard nodded, satisfied. "Then we will move on. Count Yornold, out of all the nobles here, you are the closest with the Baron. You know him since your childhood, and you are the one who ennobled him, giving him land and title. He answered to you both as an ex-knight who had served your family and as your vassal. Will you enlighten us? Maybe you have an idea who might have done all of this? Or what possibly they wanted to gain from doing this?" Edgar stared down at the Count who stood within the crowd, subtly threw a shade on him.
The crowd turned to look at the Count who was standing among them. The man was visibly irritated by this. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before he stepped forward. "That is true, Your Majesty. However, I do not know nor have slightest idea of who was possibly the one who did this treachery. If you are so kind to allow me to give you my word, Your Majesty: I'll shred them to pieces myself if I find them. Also, I also can not imagine what are they after, Your Majesty." The Count answered while lowering his gaze, putting a bit of a show to express himself as a loyal vassal to the king and subtly stating his involvement on this case was nonexistent.
"Is that so..." Edgard spoke. Other nobles from the same faction as the Count put up a grim face, knowing fully that the king would make use of this case to chip away their influence and power. "If I can make a guess, Count Yornold, maybe they are after the Baron's land and title, if it seems really there is nothing else they could gain from killing him." Edgard suggested.
Count Yornold paused for a second, reading between the king's line, "That is possible, Your Majesty. Then let make sure they will not get what they possibly wanted" He straightened himself so he stood upright, then he turned to kneeling girl who had been silently glancing around at people who Edgard had spoken to. "Lady Maya, if you please." The Count called out to her.
The girl in question just stared in return, confusion was visible on her face.
"Stand up, girl. Walk to the Count and kneel before him." Edgard ended up giving her instruction as the girl was seemed to lost of what to do, and she did as she was told.
Now that I think about it. There is something about her that bothers me. Her lack of etiquette was actually quite reasonable, no nobles with the lowest rank possible would want to invest much on their second daughter. Maybe if her father was a viscount or higher, she might will received a little bit of education, but a baron? Putting her poor etiquette aside, how could she not cower in this kind of situation? Her family are dead, she herself is almost killed, yet she isn't seemed to be traumatized or saddened. She present herself in front of me and all nobles in this kingdom, yet she has been carrying herself out without any worry. Is she just beyond stupid as to not recognize the predicament she is in? Edgard pondered as she watched the girl knelt before Count Yornold.
"Lady Maya, I name you the Baroness of Mereworth, a small land of my family in which three villages resides within. Govern it well, and serve faithfully as our vassal. Raise, Baroness Mereworth." Count Yornold swiftly ennobled the girl to succeed her father title.
"Um, thank you?" The girl said without a thought. Her words irked the Count.
This girl amuses me. Edgard grinned inwardly. Everyone in the hall knew that she was supposed to give her oath of loyalty to the Count instead of thanking him plainly. Well, now that she is a baroness, I should call her with appropriate title. Now that I think about it, she never realize I have been belittling her by not calling her a lady, but just a 'girl' ".
"If you are done, Baroness, you can turn to me again." Edgard called. The girl in question looking around the crowd instead. "Baroness." He called her for the second time, and the girl tiptoed so her line of gaze on the crowd was a little bit higher. "Girl!" Edgard finally shouted, and the girl turned.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" She innocently answered.
"Why did you ignore me?" He asked, annoyed.
"I did?" She tilted her head.
"I've called you, twice." He stared her down.
The girl confused, "Didn't you call for the Baroness, Your Majesty?"
"Are you not THE Baroness?"
The girl paused, "... I am?"
For the second time today, all nobles within the hall slapped their own forehead, Edgard himself joined them on this.
I know I am the one who pushed Count Yornold to ennoble the girl so I could lay waste on his possible plan to get back of what he had given. But now, I am starting to regret my decision. If the girl is really this stupid, maybe it will be wiser to wait and see what the Count Yornold would do to the land and title. Edgard pondered.
Visibly catching up on what just happened, the girl's eyes were wide opened, "My apologies, Your Majesty. I just have been given the title, I am still not used to be called by that."
"You have to get used to it, Baroness." Edgard commanded.
"I'll try, Your Majesty." The girl pinched up the skirt of her dress a little and slightly bowed.
Edgard waved his hand dismissively, "Moving on, Count Yornold, Count Flara, and Count Dary, I'll send royal investigators to you to assist you to handle this case." He declared, his tone was final.
All the nobles within the hall shared the same grim face when his words were spoken. The king had let his dogs loose, and now they have to watch their feet and hands as to not get bitten.
"Baroness Mereworth." Edgard called her with her last name as to not get ignored by her again, "Our business here is done. Go greet my daughter and join her after party."
"But Your Majesty!---" The girl protested but was immediately escorted by the swift moving servant. They led her out of the hall and to the royal garden.
"Now that the last woman has left, let us begin our own after party! Bring out the food and drinks!" He commanded, then the butlers entered.