Chapter 222: Blushed? More Like Flushed!

"Do I seriously have to wear this?"

"Yes, of course, my lord!" The maids looked at me with the eyes of high esteem. 

Why the hell are you guys looking at me like that?

"Alright. I'll get changed. So do you guys mind moving out of the room?"

"But my lord! You are injured and on top of that, you do not have an arm. How could we not assist? Even the slightest of inconvenience to my lord would mean our greatest despair and failure!" one of the maids said. The others nodded vigorously.

What the hell is wrong with these guys?

They were looking at me like I was some sort of deity. Granted I was the duke, but that didn't mean they had to do all this.

"Sorry, but it'd be more uncomfortable for me if you guys helped. Please get out of the room." I said it politely with a smile. However, the maids didn't seem all that happy. They were frowning and some were even sniffing. How the hell could nobility cope with this kind of thing every day?

But I wasn't backing down. The last thing I needed was to make the mistake of letting beautiful young maids run their fingers all over me. I knew they wouldn't be doing anything stupid but I couldn't help but stop them. You could never be too careful. 

They left the room with puffed-up faces, pouting all the way. I guess this was their job.

I tried putting on the pants first. The maid was kind of right. It was hard to dress up with just one hand. But I managed to dress on my own anyway. It was the new norm for me after all. I still missed my arm though.

I even have to wear a bow-tie? Are they planning on making me a waiter or something? 

Black and white were pretty much what described the dress. It wasn't exactly like a waiter's dress though. The coat was white and the shirt was black. And the fabric was soft and kind of fur-like.  I didn't dislike it all that much.

Knock! Knock! 

"Daarc you ready?"                                                                             

"Yes, princess. I am."

I walked out of the room and a girl in a beautiful purple ball dress greeted me. Her glare was rather cold though. "Don't forget I'm your betrothed. The least you can do is call me by my name." She frowned. I couldn't help but admire her pouting face. She looked good. "You can at least look at me."

Is she telling me to compliment her dress? 

"You look good."

"Not too bad yourself." She didn't look at my eyes and her voice had a hint of embarrassment. She ran her fingers around my neck. It took me a good second to realize that she was just correcting my tie. "Let's go."

"Hey! Don't run away!" I smirked and walked on. 

We were on the fourth floor and the banquet hall was on the second. From the third to the second floor, a spiral staircase floated down. With every step, the two of us climbed down. The uncanny similarities in design with Alfeime palace gave me all sorts of unwanted flashbacks. At least the walls and floors weren't made up of crystals here.

"Hold my hand." She spread her arms towards me.

"If you say so." I held her hand. It was warm. 

Why the hell am I getting excited over holding hands!?

The crowd was large and they all stood from their seats. I already had my fill of banquets back in Alfeime, so I didn't want any more of this stuff. 

When the two of us finally reached the floor, there was pen drop silence everywhere. The bards had stopped singing and the people just watched us. "Address them," Lianne whispered.

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"Hey, no one told me anything about this!"

"You don't have to be a genius to give a speech. Just welcome them and-"

"Fine."

I raised my voice. "Welcome everyone!" I might have been a bit too loud. Droplets of sweat formed on my forehead. They were really annoying. My face began to heat up. I could hear faint whispers from the crowd. That only worsened the situation. My chest tightened and it was hard to breathe. 

What do I do now?

Lianne squeezed my hand, gently. "It's okay. Take it at your pace."

When I looked at her eyes, for a second I forgot all about my throbbing heart. A smile crept up on my face.

"Welcome everyone. I am Daarc Green. I have come to this land to vanquish evil and save the people. I already defeated the grand monster and have entered a pact with him. In accordance with the pact, he won't harm you. But you are not permitted to enter the mountains either. If we don't harm them they won't harm us. You have my word."

"That's not what I meant when I said speech." Lianne let out a faint sigh and mumbled. 

Claps followed and cheers erupted soon afterward. I swiped off the beads of sweat and took deep breaths. 

"Well at least you have charisma," Lianne whispered. She addressed the crowd next. "Everyone. I believe you are already aware that my future husband is on a mission to travel all across the world and save the people in need. However, he cannot achieve that if he should stay locked here. Hence, he will continue his journey while I maintain order. I, by the authority vested in me by the royal empire, declare Daarc green to be the new duke of Helsing. Does anyone here, object!?" She was stern, she was precise, and she was beautiful. 

And I didn't expect her to cram all that in just one short speech. Moreover, she made me the duke in short order too. Boy was she good with politics.

The crowd was quiet. Then someone among them yelled something rather ominous. It sent shivers down my spine. "We want lord Daarc!" The way he said it made me feel more than just uneasy. It was none other than Jori himself. He even winked at me. 

I'm definitely going to you beat you up. 

The crowd repeated his words and Lianne silenced them slowly. 

"Bow," she whispered. 

I bowed on one knee. 

She's going to bat my shoulders with a sword right?

I didn't know why that came to my mind first thing.

"Lift your head." I lifted my head with the full resolve of meeting a sword in her hand but- what I saw marveled me.

I saw two pink luscious lips coming towards me. And before I could react, they landed on mine and I froze. There was no tongue action, it was all lips.

My whole body trembled with excitement. Last time I was this excited when I had accidentally discovered an 18+ website on my computer. Actually, this was definitely more exciting than that. Our breaths connected and it was hot as if someone turned on a steam engine inside of me.

A second later she moved away and looked at me with a smile so bright: I thought I'd go blind. I took a deep breath. For some reason, I was going out of breath a lot today. I stood up. 

Something else stood up too. Thank the nonexistent heavens, that I was wearing some good stuff down there. 

"Let the banquet begin!" Lianne looked at me and a glow of pink surfaced on her cheeks. 

The crowd erupted in another cheer and the banquet began.

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