Though we were greeted by Sebastien, we weren't brought into the throne room right away.
Instead, we were brought to a waiting room where we were told to rest for a bit before the royal audience.
This did make sense since it wasn't as if someone as important as the king would be waiting for us to arrive for the audience. It should be us who should wait until the king is free to give us this audience.
So we sat down, but relaxing was the last thing that was on our mind.
We were fully tense and focused, as if we were about to head to a battlefield.
Though in a sense, this royal audience was somewhat like heading to the battlefield.
As we were adjusting, there was a sudden knock on the door that caught us off guard.
Sebastien was still in the room with us, though he didn't do anything to serve us. It was almost as if he was just standing here watching over us to make sure that we didn't run.
But when he heard that knock, he went over to the door to open it to see who it was.
When he saw who it was, he couldn't help being surprised.
We didn't see who it was since Sebastien was standing in front of the door, but we did hear how he addressed the other side.
"Your highness, what are you doing here?" Sebastien said in a calm voice, but there was a hint of caution in his voice as well.
A voice from outside said, "It's just a simple visit. I'm sure that my royal father won't mind. I'm just here to give some advice to the ones that he's about to meet."
There was a moment of silence that followed this, but in the end, Sebastien said with a sigh, "Just a moment, you can't stay for long since the royal audience will be happening soon."
With a creak, the door opened and the person outside was allowed in.
When we saw who the person coming in was, we all revealed different expressions.
Scar and Shaka revealed surprised looks, but nothing further.
But I deeply knitted my brows when I saw this person.
After all, this was a person that had played a big part in the noble quest line. This was the person that could be considered the most dangerous person in the capital and now I was meeting him…
This wasn't a good thing.
This person came over and sat down in front of us before looking at me to say, "It's an honour to meet you. I've long heard of your fame, but it really has been hard to arrange a meeting. So I had no choice but to sneak here to get a bit of your time."
The way that he said this made him seem like a very friendly person, but I could tell that he was anything but friendly…
After all, I knew that this man was the final boss of the noble quest line.
He was the person who had gathered more power than both the first and second princes.
While the first and second princes had gathered supporters among the ministers and generals, the number of people that backed them was less than half of all the ministers and generals. The king naturally knew what kind of tricks these princes were playing, so he had moved to suppress them.
There were many ministers and generals that were still loyal to the king and would follow his will if he ever chooses a successor.
Or at least that was what it seemed on the surface.
There was also a neutral faction of nobles that didn't take any sides in this power struggle.
But in truth, most of those that were loyal to the king and those that were in the neutral faction were actually under the fourth prince.
The fourth prince was very sly and had used many secret ways to grab the handles of these people. There were some that he blackmailed, some that he swayed to his side, and some that he even threatened to fall under him.
So even if the fourth prince seemed like a friendly person, he was actually a very cruel, sly, and vindictive person.
He was definitely not someone that I wanted to get entangled with.
But since the fourth prince came all the way to see me, it wasn't as if I could just ignore him.
So I cupped my hands and gave a bow before saying, "Your highness is overpraising me. I am not worthy of such praise."
The fourth prince revealed a gentle smile as he said, "No, no, you're underestimating yourself too much. You are someone that I would very much like to befriend."
While others might see a friendly smile, what I saw was the demon hidden within the fourth prince.
I knew his true personality, so I knew that this was just one of my faces that the fourth prince could show.
But being his friend…that was the last thing I wanted. After all, there was nothing to gain from being attached to the fourth prince.
So I cupped my hands and gave another bow before saying, "Your highness, I am not worthy of such an honour. I am just a lowly servant of the crown, not someone that can become your highness' friend."
The fourth prince narrowed his eyes when he heard this, but he didn't show any signs of being offended.
Instead, he revealed an even wider smile as he said, "Sir Zwein is underestimating himself too much. You are someone much more important than you think, which is why I would very much like to have you as a friend."
I trembled when I heard this, but I forced myself to stay calm.
With an internal sigh, I said, "It would be an honour to be your friend, your highness."
The fourth prince gave a nod before saying with a smile, "It's an honour to be your friend from now on."
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