We heard the Jubilee before we saw it. The sounds of lively fiddle music were mixed in with a crowd of voices that carried far beyond the fairgrounds. The Emerald Garden lived up to it’s name, a lovely park only a few miles from the castle. I recognized a lot of the flowers, immediately picturing the beautiful dyes they could make. But these flowers were not for picking, with a sign making that very clear.

[Discovered Emerald Garden Festival Grounds]

“Do you smell that?” Lithia exclaimed, taking in a big sniff. “That’s roasted turkey. I haven’t had a turkey leg in so long!”

I smiled. “Only the best of the best for the royal family I assume.” Personally, I was a bit too nervous to eat, but I had to admit the smells were appetizing. I had a feeling I’d at least grab a crepe before the day ended, I could never find a way to say no to a good crepe.

At the front entryway was a female dwarf behind a grand table, dressed in bright colors and a rather large floppy hat with an even larger feather poking out. “Greetings! Competitor or guests?”

“I’m a competitor,” I replied, moving closer to the table.

The dwarf smiled. “Excellent, excellent, you’ve gotten here in just in time, the royal family should be making their grand entrance soon.” She pointed to some stacks of brooches neatly stacked on her table. “These are color coated based on which category you are entering. Please go ahead and take one, helps keep folks organized.”

I nodded and picked up the one for outfitter, a light blue topaz like-piece, although I doubted the jewel was real since they were giving out so many.

[Obtained: Outfitter Competitor Brooch]

Lithia grabbed the guest one, made of a more simple ribbon material, and we entered. “Ready for this?” she asked.

I nodded, although I wasn’t sure if that was quite true. I took a good look around. There were vendor stands everywhere. Not only food stalls but people selling weapons, potions and even horses, adorned in lavish saddles featuring braided manes. Everyone had truly brought their best to display.

“Perhaps I should have purchased a stand,” I said, seeing how many competitors had done so.

Lithia shook her head. “I believe you can only do so if you entered in the past anyway, plus they are wicked expensive. I think they get a small XP boost, but not as much as the winners or anything. Don’t worry, you won’t need it.”

There were also artisans mixed in, not competing but using the large crowd as a good excuse to get coin. Painters were offering quick portraits, glassblowers selling decorative cookware, and woodworkers selling crafted instruments. Every stand had the coordinates of their shop on it with a [Save] button to mark it on your map for a future visit.

Similar to the food, it all looked intriguing, but I was focused, not to mention I didn’t have much gold to spare. Lithia was looking at a nice stein with some ornate design, but I dragged her away, promising she could look later. The greeter had mentioned the royal family would be arriving soon, and I wanted a good spot near for the announcement. She pouted slightly, but followed me.

The stage was made of a beautiful dark wood, clearly routinely polished and maintained. The backdrop was covered in decorative, sparkling leaves. In the center of everything were three gold chairs, the one in the middle the largest, with a plush red seat. The fiddle players we had heard earlier were dancing around the space, accompanied by a group of lute players. They too, were trying to make a quick coin, with a bowl for tips sitting near the stairs.

It seems I wasn’t the only prioritizing a good view, but we still managed to stand only a few rows from the front. I noticed some others sporting the same blue brooch as me, although there was certainly more of the other colors. I wondered how many competitors were in my category. My understanding was that Weapon-smiths usually had the most entrants, as it was an over saturated group in most towns and people needed any edge they could get.

After a couple more songs, the entertainers bowed and left the stage. In their place, an enthusiastic town crier, an elf like myself, greeted the crowd. “Welcome to all potential competitors and esteemed guests! We won’t make you wait any longer. Please put your hands together for His Majesty Felix Contarini, and his two children.”

The crowd erupted, everyone clapping and a few individuals even cheering in excitement.

Of course I was familiar with the royals, I knew all their names, but I had never seen them in person, so Lithia had brought me up to speed on the travel over.

The Contarinis were dryads, the rarest race in Oshiala. Just as she had described, the king was a commanding presence as walked on stage. He was tall with large antlers protruding from thick, golden hair. His crown was carefully balanced in between the two, sitting snugly with shimmering diamonds. The whole family had dark oak skin with the occasional small strand of leaves wrapped around a leg or an arm.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

His son, Aldis, certainly resembled him, but there was something softer about this features. He was a bit shorter, and had less lines of age, but it was more then that. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Elorel, as Lithia said, clearly valued style. Her hair, the more typical dryad green, flowed out around her dress and featured little flowers pinned throughout. Her dress was flowy too, a shimmering silver. Her crown was the smallest, but still elegant.

The queen was not present. She rarely showed up in public appearances. The rumors used to be that she was ill, but as the years went by, the story seemed less plausible without any evidence.

This generation of the family was fairly well-liked. As powerful as they were, the Contarinis had learned that they could still be outnumbered, and the people riot if unhappy. The king’s father had not cared about this, and it had hurt their reputation greatly. Whether his son was truly more of a nicer personality or just valued civility, he was able to nurture that reputation back to positive. My father had met him once, and told us he was more personable then you might expect. It had been one of his proudest moments.

After a couple minutes of clapping and bowing from the front row of the crowd, the prince and princess at down in their seats as the king remained standing. “It is wonderful to see so many of you present for this year’s competition. While we certainly value our previous partnerships,” he nodded towards last decade’s winners, standing in a dedicated section on the side, “We believe in the importance of maintaining quality and encouraging diversity in those we employ.”

He turned back to us. “And after all, who doesn’t like a little competition?”

The crowd clapped once again.

“As always, I am here to give the opening speech and invite you to sign up. But I am also here to announce a bit of a change to the format of the competition.”

I shot Lithia a look. She had told me they often added a new twist to keep things fresh, but this seemed bigger then that. She shrugged.

“In the past, the nature of the competition has been a race to reach the required XP. While exciting, this often make the quests and challenges quite rushed. We don’t often get to see the truly quality of your work.” The king paused. “So this year, we are breaking things into rounds.”

The crowd murmured, clearly curious.

“So this year, there shall be 3 rounds, each judged on quality and not speed. There will still be quests, but instead of just grinding to reach some arbitrary number, they will be more focused on creating a product we can judge your expertise on.” He motioned to his seats next to him. “My children will be the judges.” Elorel smiled slightly and waved. Aldis simply nodded.

“This is great for you,” Lithia whispered to me. “Like I said, Elorel loves fashion!”

“The final round,” the king continued, “for those that make it, will be creating a product designed specifically for the prince and princess, so they can truly help choose who will work with us for the nextfew years. Caterers, you will be cooking their favorite meal, Weapon makers creating an impressive piece of equipment, stable masters finding them the perfect horse, and outfitters, making a legendary piece of armor that fits their tastes.”

I mulled over the changes in my head. It was a bit more intimidating to be sure, to be directly judged against my peers instead of focusing on knocking out quests. The king's children had never been so directly involved before. But because of my low level, and lack of gold to hire adventurers to help me plow through the quests, it was probably my best chance at actually succeeding.

The responses from others seemed mixed. The previous winners in particular looked put-off, probably because their XP boost was now essentially worthless. I imagined the vendors felt the same.

Likely noticing their faces, the king spoke again. “I want to assure our previous partners that they will still receive advantage, as they will receive the quest scrolls before anyone else. Second in line will be those who purchased a spot today. Although this competition is no longer simply a race, it will certainly have time constraints. Each round will last 3 days, after which you will return to these grounds, where we will judge your entries and announce those who are moving forward.”

I hoped we wouldn’t have to go on stage in front of everyone, but that was seeming likely. Public speaking had never been my favorite, and my charisma had never been a focus when levelling up skills. I would just have to keep focused on the outfit and let it speak for itself, I supposed.

“Additional rules can be viewed in the agreement scroll that should appear shortly. As always, there is no cost to enter, as I know giving of your time is a financial sacrifice as vendors. If you have questions not answered in the scroll, you can ask us any of our pages.” He gestured towards a group, standing behind a table similar to the one a the entryway, stacked with books and what was likely additional documentation.

While I continued to mull over the change of events, the entry scroll popped up in front of me. I skimmed most if it , which was generic fine print about how the losers of the competition would still earn XP, but would not receive any sort of monetary reward. There was also a section on how anyone caught cheating, whether with outside help or some kind of illegal equipment, would be immediately kicked out and barred from entering the next competition. There had been a section about that in "The History of Windglen." One person had snuck in a unicorn for the horses competition!

Lithia clapped. “Oh this is so exciting! Go on, hit accept, do it!”

I didn’t know why, but I found myself pausing. My heartbeat seemed rather fast. I didn’t have to do this, potentially embarrass myself on a stage in front of hundreds. I could turn around and go home, focus on building up my customer base without some flashy contract supporting me. I hadn’t come to Windglen looking to mix with royals.

But then I saw my mother’s face, the relief she tried to hide that I had finally had found a subclass and profession after all. I saw my father’s look of pride when I told them I had gathered enough gold to buy my own place.

I couldn’t come home to them like Kaslan, empty handed and tales of a failed scuffle with some local satyrs. All of their years of support had to mean something. And hadn't I promised to sort of avenge him by taking down The Brass Forge?

I smiled, nodding at Lithia, and hit [Enter The Royal Charter Competition].