Friend…
What a fake term that was.
In short, what the fourth prince did just now was threaten me.
After all, he had said 'I would very much like to have you as a friend'. But if one put it in different words, it would be 'I would rather have you as a friend than an enemy'.
When he put it in such clear words, it was impossible for me to refuse him anymore.
But even if I did become friends with the fourth prince, as long as he lost interest in me, then that would be that. So I would try to keep myself as lowkey as possible so that he wouldn't want to include me in any of his plans.
Not to mention, that was my intention in the first place.
After this trip to the capital, I would just hide myself in my town.
To my surprise though, the fourth prince didn't go any further than this.
After he said that it was an honour for him to be my friend, he suddenly stood up and said, "I have some other matters to take care of, so I'll be leaving first. If there is another chance, I hope that we will be able to talk again."
I said with a nod, "It's been an honour meeting you, your highness. I hope that there will be another chance as well."
But in truth…what I was really thinking was, "Get lost you monster! I hope that I never see you again!"
Of course, I would never say that out loud.
The fourth prince gave a nod to Sebastien as he walked out which immediately tipped me off.
I had already found it strange that Sebastien would let him in in the first place, but this confirmed it. It seemed that Sebastien had already fallen under the fourth prince and was supporting him.
This was an important piece of information, especially with what Scar had told me about Sebastien.
But I didn't remember this from the game…
No, there was a member of the fourth prince's group whose identity had never been exposed.
It was the man of shadows, the one that controlled his espionage group…
Even in the game, that person never revealed themself and only hid in the shadows. By the end of the quest line, I heard that this person disappeared, so there was no further mention of this.
If this person was Sebastien, was he truly working for the fourth prince or…was he still working for the king?
It seemed that I needed to pay more attention to this butler known as Sebastien…
But for now, that wasn't what was important.
The more urgent matter was to adjust myself to meet the king.
Right after the fourth prince left, there was someone that knocked on the door again. However, this time, the knock was very particular, so it was clear that they had a reason for being here.
When Sebastien heard this, he didn't even wait to ask who it was before opening the door. He just opened the door directly before saying, "It's time, his majesty is ready for you."
When we heard this, we didn't waste any time in standing up and following him out.
After all, there was nothing to gain from keeping his majesty waiting.
The king could keep us waiting, but we couldn't keep the king waiting, that was just how it was.
After walking for a bit, we were brought to the throne room.
As for how we knew it was the throne room, the door was more than enough to give it away.
What other room would have this kind of luxurious door?
It could only be the throne room.
Before entering, Sebastien had us wait outside as he went in to introduce us.
After the introduction, the other butler that had come to pick us up waved his hand for us to go in.
The moment that we entered, I could feel the pressure that came from inside.
This was the pressure that came from the weight of having to take care of an entire nation, so it wasn't a weak pressure.
As for the one that it came from, it was naturally the king of this nation.
This was the man sitting on the throne in front of us.
Without any hesitation, we stopped and fell to one knee as we lowered our heads.
In unison, we said, "We greet your majesty."
Scar had already instructed me on what to do, so I didn't miss a beat as I mimicked the other two as they went to kneel.
We didn't look up, so we couldn't see him, but I did hear a soft sound of acknowledgement before he said, "Rise."
With that, the three of us stood up again and I was able to see the king.
The appearance of this king was not a disappointing one.
This was an appearance fitting of the one that ruled this nation.
He wasn't young, but he wasn't that old either. He was a middle aged man, but his eyes were much sharper than a man his age should have. It was like he could see through one's soul just with a single glance.
This was the look that a man known as the wise king should have.
As for the rest of the king's appearance, he was a middle aged man that exuded dignity.
After we stood up, the king said, "I think you all know why we're here, so let's hear your report."
Scar and Shaka both looked at me, so I took a step forward and began telling him the story.
During this, the king just silently listened to me.
There wasn't even a single reaction on his face that made me feel a bit nervous, but I still continued my story.
When I finished, the king just gave a single nod before stroking his chin as if he was deep in thought.
Since he didn't say a single word, no one else here said a single word and the room fell to silence.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢