That was awesome. It was an even better speech than I expected.
Queen Eve managed to get the people's sympathy and showed her leadership. Some nobles looked like they began reconsidering their decision to support Queen Eve or the Princes. Both options were actually the same, as the Queen was about to hand the throne to one of them.
'But if Queen Eve managed to take the throne, she would certainly rule for a few years, probably even to the point where Prince Thomas and Prince Edison have kids.'
I doubted the Nobles would be willing to wait that long.
The Queen had laid her foundation already. The rest was up to me.
"It's nice to meet you, citizens of the Virtue Kingdom. This might be my first formal public appearance. As Queen Eve introduced earlier, I am Castitas Church's Paladin, Arthur Vainglory."
As soon as I spoke, people who murmured with each other stopped. Some young Nobles standing at a clearing with their servants looked up at me with admiration.
"I am here to relay something to all people in the Kingdom about the incident a few days ago."
Everyone was listening quietly without saying anything.
"It was quite unfortunate, and I failed to stop it. However, I promise to find where those Vampires are hiding and will give a fitting punishment. Fear not, as the Castitas Church will protect your livelihood. Fear not, for I will deal with grave dangers."
I spread my arms, looking over the Nobles whose eyes shone. I didn't forget to remember people's faces who looked at me with hostility. Unexpectedly, they were only a minority. Only three people looked at me without changing their expression or openly expressing hostility under their gaze.
Using <Appraisal> on them, I found out their names.
'Count Scrilaggo, Viscount Limus, and… Count Dixon? Isn't that Emilia's father? Why did he look at me with hostility in his eyes?'
I could only think of one reason, and that was the fact I made his daughter feel for me.
Looking at Emilia's strict personality, I thought it was because Count Dixon nurtured her to be responsible for her duty. But now I doubted it. Maybe the Count only wanted his daughter to look scary and keep men away from her. Nobles loved elegant and graceful women, after all.
'Hahaha… So he's just the type of man who wouldn't give his daughter to anyone and love her too much. How will he react if I tell her that his daughter is actually a big pervert who begs for my dick every night? I want to see his reaction, but I don't want to worsen my relationship with my father-in-law.'
After noting their faces and names, I continued my speech. It was full of Goddess Teri's teaching that I learned from Sana earlier. It was about how the Goddess would forgive any Race as long as their Virtues were higher than their Sins. Not everyone from a certain Race was bad and evil.
This teaching would be useful when Queen Eve implemented her condition when she ascended to the throne.
And when I spoke about this, a Paladin whom the Goddess loved, we hoped it would lower the discrimination to other Races and make those who were hiding reveal themselves in the future.
The response I got from the Nobles was nice. They were nodding their heads, seemingly to agree with the Goddess' teaching. I couldn't see the response from the merchants and commoners, but I hoped they would have the same response.
As my preaching came to an end, I lowered my arms, which began to turn numb from raising them for a long time. Then, I ended my speech with a declaration.
"As such, I declare my support for Queen Eve."
After leaving such a word, I turned around and left with Queen Eve.
Commotion immediately formed from behind us. My declaration was pretty surprising and tilted the scale of the political war that wasn't started yet.
With me and the church backing her, Queen Eve's win was already decided. Sana, who stood at the entrance of the balcony and listened closely, clapped her hands and smiled at us.
"That was a wonderful speech, Your Majesty, Sir Arthur."
"Thank you, Archbishop Sana." Queen Eve replied. She heaved a tired sigh, and sweat began to form on her forehead. However, she still smiled as if nothing had happened and put up a strong front. "I am glad it went pretty well."
Then she turned to me and took out a pair of [Earring of Communication], handing me one.
"I must offer my most sincere gratitude to you, Your Holiness. If there is anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to contact me. This is a pair of [Earring of Communication] that I will always wear from today on."
I took it from her hand and wore it in my left ear, where the earring connected to Border City was once located.
Seeing me putting on the earring immediately, Queen Eve's face beamed with happiness, and she put hers on the right ear. The silver earring with blue gem suited her image and the silver tiara quite nicely.
"Thank you, Queen Eve. I hope we have a pleasant cooperation from now on." I extended my hand toward her with a smile.
Queen Eve took my hand and shook it. "Me too, Your Holiness. I hope for a pleasant cooperation."
"Sir Arthur," Sana called out to me from the side in a low voice and whispered. "It's time for us to return to Academy City. Your public speech will begin in a few minutes."
I nodded at the cute Archbishop. In her hand were two [Teleportation Gems] that would teleport us back to the church in Academy City.
Meeting with Beatrice in this situation was impossible.
Thankfully, I had already told the primordial Succubus that I might only be able to give her the reward at night, and I allowed her to orgasm freely for today.
That was why I didn't see her all day even though her dot was inside one of the towers in the Royal Castle. I bet she was masturbating after being freed from her command.
The Queen noticed I took the [Teleportation Gem] from Sana's hand.
She hid her mouth behind her gloved hand and giggled, "Fufufu, my apologies for stalling your time, Your Holiness. I hope to see you again to talk about Prince Thomas and Prince Edison's schedule in the future."
"Yes. I will soon make contact so we can talk about it." I answered and held the [Teleportation Gem] Sana handed to me tightly. "Well then, please excuse us. Have a nice day, Queen Eve."
"Please excuse us, Your Majesty." Sana bowed her head deeply at the Queen.
"Yes. Have a nice day, Your Holiness."
After my vision was distorted slightly from the teleportation, the sight of the Capital City disappeared and was replaced by a familiar office I had visited many times. In this familiar office, Sana stood beside me, tumbling slightly.
I caught her body before she fell and intentionally squeezed her breasts.
"Hya! T-Thank you." The cute Archbishop yelped and quickly stood up by herself.
At that moment…
"Welcome back, Your Holiness."
Near the door, Ertha was bowing deeply and greeted us. She raised her head and smiled. That smile looked a little forced.
"The stage has been prepared, and headmistress Alesia has installed a magic item to make your voice louder earlier."
"…" I looked at her, speechless. The headmistress sure worked fast.
"Can I have a little rest first?"
"You can't, Your Holiness. People have gathered to hear your first speech."
"Sigh…"
Well, this was my responsibility as a Paladin.
"I guess I will just finish this fast."
Then I would enjoy the primordial Succubus' embrace. I was looking forward to her <Transformation> skill. What kind of thing could she do for me later?
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