However, people like William existed among them. That thought alone made Kyle
reconsider his unconditional hatred towards the upper class.
"It wasn't your fault," Kyle said as he looked down, holding back his emotions.
"But still..." William trailed off, unable to express himself. Like Kyle had said, it
wasn't William's fault that Kyle had been treated badly. But as someone on the
same side as the kingdom that was responsible for what had happened to him,
he couldn't help but feel guilty about Kyle's unjust treatment.
"More importantly... what's going to happen to me from here?" Kyle asked.
"You'll have an audience with His Majesty tomorrow, but I don't know what
will happen after that. You saved Princess Eira — Her Highness, the Second
Princess — so as her savior, I doubt anything bad will happen..."
"I have to meet the king?"
"Yes. His Majesty wants to thank you officially for what happened."
Kyle's brow furrowed slightly at William's explanation. Frankly speaking, Kyle
wanted to put the castle behind him already. An audience with the king was the
last thing he wanted to do. But since he was already here in the castle, and the
other party was the ruler of the kingdom... There was no way he could refuse.
Understanding and accepting his fate in that moment, Kyle sighed heavily.
"I didn't really do anything impressive..."
"That's not true. Princess Eira asked a lot of you, didn't she? I'm sure you will
be rewarded for it. I understand it might feel like a burden, but it'd be better to
accept whatever you're offered. Don't you agree, Aria?"
William prompted a response from the silent Aria behind him.
"...Yes, that is correct. Your sentiment is to be expected, but it would be
difficult to cast a refusal in this situation. Considering the predicament you are
in, you should approach this as optimistically as possible," she stated flatly.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"I see. That might be true." Kyle gave a small smile in resignation.
William and Aria widened their eyes at his mature smile; it didn't match his
apparent age.
"Sorry to have to ask this, but could you teach me the etiquette of a royal
audience? Like... the proper actions to do and speech to use. I should probably
avoid meeting the king with no knowledge at all," Kyle requested, bowing his
head.
"Yes, of course."
"Your wish is my command."William and Aria readily agreed with Kyle's request
Meanwhile in Erugenia castle throne room...
His Majesty, King Victor Erugenia — also known as Victor II — sat on his throne
before a gathering of nobles. They were all influential figures involved with the
kingdom's affairs; those present were split into three factions, each grouped
together on their own side of the room. In front of the throne and to the right
was Duke Turner's faction, the largest faction of the three. To the left was Duke
Anderson's faction, the second biggest, and lastly, Duke Arbor's faction, the
smallest of the three.
First, the king of Erugenia was a young and newly crowned king still in his late
twenties. Unfortunately, this had allowed Duke Turner to use his authority and
make calculated maneuvers to benefit himself when the previous king passed
away from an illness. He had trusted Duke Turner, conferring upon him the right
to appoint knights into the Royal Guard. However, once the king was on his
deathbed, Duke Turner abused this right and sold favors to powerful nobles with
sons that were not in line to inherit a position into the knighthood. As a result,
Duke Turner attained an enormous amount of influence over the king's court
from his position as commander of the Royal Guard. In contrast, Duke
Anderson and Duke Arbor had gained their ranks around the same time that
Philip III assumed the throne, putting them one step behind and constantly
suffering the consequences for it. With his influential power over both the
military and the court's administration, Duke Turner was a thorn in the side of
not only Victor II, but the factions of Duke Anderson and Duke Arbor as well.
As time passed, Duke Turner's elevated status made his arrogance grow into
near insolence — though that may have been his true self coming to light —
which caused his rise in power to be viewed as problematic in recent years.
This was the political climate at the time of Eira's kidnapping case.
It was the duty of the Royal Guard to protect the royal family, and they had
allowed the Second Princess to be abducted. As the commander of the Royal
Guard, and because the man in charge of security at the time was Barham — his
son — Duke Turner could not overlook such catastrophic failure. Ultimately, the
responsibility fell on Duke Turner as his supervisor.
In other words, it was the perfect opportunity to pin the blame on Duke
Turner.
"Perhaps this incident is a sign that the quality of the Royal Guard has
decayed," Duke Anderson suggested coldly. In agreement with him was
Marquess Rodaan, a member of his faction.
"Exactly. I can only imagine how lenient they must have been to allow such
lowlifes to get through."
"The security... was flawless," Duke Turner tried to justify with a wince, but
there was nothing to be said that could excuse such a failure.
"Flawless security is meaningless without the desired results. Fortunately,
Princess Eira was unharmed this time, but how do you intend on taking
responsibility for this situation?" Anderson continued pressing with a cool
expression.
"...Neither the mastermind behind the kidnapping nor their headquarters
have been discovered yet. I believe responsibility can be discussed after that
happens," Duke Turner answered through gritted teeth. But Duke Anderson
pounced on him like the cat that ate the canary, clearly in his element. "What
are you saying? Why not discuss it here and now instead?" Duke Anderson
objected.
"I agree," concurred Marquess Rodaan. "The investigation can be done without
the Royal Guard, especially when the current Royal Guard allowed the
kidnapping to occur in the first place." Duke Turner watched the two nobles,who were nearly half his age, with a weary grimace on his face.
These youngsters... He cursed in his mind.