Chapter 223: And So, I Became The Duke!

For the first few minutes, no one approached me. I could see a lot of people eyeballing me. They had rather frivolous clothes. 

Nobles.                         

The atmosphere was rather friendly though. There were normal people and fancy people. Never thought I'd see those two variants at once. It was almost ironic. 

The music soothed my ears while the perfume charmed my nose. I still preferred the smell of leaves and flowers though.

"Sir, wou-would-"A guy approached me. His suit was patched up here and there with different kinds of cloths.

"What is it? Oh, and I haven't caught your name."

It was the same guard who I kept running into last night. He was the first one to approach me in this place. So I figured the least I could do was try to talk.

"I-I'm Vane-dict Brice- Sir!"

"You don't have to be so nervous. You weren't this nervous two nights ago." 

He was acting a bit weird.

"Si-Sir! Would you do the honor! No would you honor! I mean-" He wasn't making much sense either. And he was already out of breath too.

I sighed. "Just spit it out already."

"Please meet my son!" He bowed fiercely.

Much better.

Oh, he has a son!

"Sure! Why don't you bring him here?" It's not like I had anything better to do.

"Right away sir!" He smiled. I was pretty tensed up myself. So talking with him eased me up a little.

He left and then another pair walked my way. "Greetings, Lord Daarc."

"And who might you be?"

"Count Misten at your service." He bowed his head, briefly. I already knew he was a noble but something about him was different from those typical worthless aristocrat pigs. If I were to say in one word, I'd say elegance. His dress, his conduct, and even his behavior only showed off elegance.

And he was awfully calm and collected too. 

"This is my daughter, Anne Freya."

"Pleasure to meet you." His daughter bowed tilting the hem of her dress. Her black hair and black eyes were in stark contrast with her silky white skin and magenta ball gown. She was definitely a noble. She was quite beautiful too. Not as beautiful as Lianne though.

I made the gesture of nodding. This was getting awkward. I had no idea what to say. But the count might have suspected as much. He continued. "I must say. I watched your battle with the dragons. You were valiant. I also heard how you negotiated with the dragons. I'm impressed." 

Singing praises first. Then the next would be you asking for something. 

I knew how these things worked. I hadn't played games, read books, and watched movies for nothing. For the first time, I thought my youth might not have been wasted. 

I smiled. "I believe the soldiers and people played a vital role as well. If the evacuation didn't go according to plan then the destruction could have been even more devastating." I tried to speak calmly. I still didn't know how to properly present myself in front of the nobility, but I tried my best. 

"Please don't be so modest! We already know if it weren't for you, this country wouldn't be!" The girl with the count, his daughter, held her hands as if she was in a prayer. Her eyelashes moved elegantly and left a deep impression on the image processor of my brain.

Talking with nobles was so draining. It was like I was back to being an introvert again.

"You give me too much credit. If I was alone then none of this-"

"You're right! There he is!" a high-pitched voice yelled from behind me. It must have been a child. I turned around and saw a boy and his father. It was the guard Brice. His face was rather pale though. 

That's when I realized the cold glares coming from behind me. 

Well, they are nobles.

"Let's just say I wasn't alone," I said, returning my gaze to the count.

They didn't know how to react to that. But the count was no easy target either. "You really are humble and wise."

This guy was hell-bent on buttering me up for some reason. 

"Now then. It was nice meeting you count. But I have other reservations." I flashed a smile and turned around.

"Surely you don't mean the commoner?" He chuckled. 

I could tell he was joking but I felt offended. 

It kind of pissed me off. "Unfortunately, to my eyes, everyone is the same, commoner or not."

"Please tell me you're not one of those idealistic morons." He raised his voice just a little. 

"Father!" the count's daughter rebuked.

"Hmm," I touched my chin and wondered. "What I meant by it is that I'll erase anything that represents itself as my enemy or gets in my way." I glared at him. Obviously, I didn't feel that way, but threatening was the only way to deal with this kind of person. "I don't discriminate." I smiled. 

His face twitched. The people who had gotten closer to me froze in place. They couldn't believe what they heard. I might have said a bit too much. I didn't regret it though. 

Okay, maybe a little. 

"Are you sure about that?" Lianne was behind me. When the hell did she get here?

"Shouldn't you help me?"

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She flashed a grin and returned to her job, mingling with the crowd. I guess it was a no.

I'd gotten myself into this, I had to do something about this. 

I sighed and went towards the boy. The boy looked at me with excitement but his father had a rather terrified look on his face. 

Don't tell me I've doomed their fate. 

Showing favor to commoners would have meant the wrath of nobles. Since they wouldn't be able to do anything to me, they'd do harm to these guys. 

I sighed again. I might have dug my own grave: or rather theirs.

The count's daughter took her father elsewhere, and for the time being people just maintained distance.

"Sorry, I might have ruined your future as a guard."

"No-no sir." He looked away. He might have lost all his respect for me.

"Sorry little fella. But it was really nice to meet ya." I ruffled the kid's hair.

"Yay! I finally get to meet you! Thank you for saving Uncle Royce!" He was a rather feisty one. I liked him. I liked kids like that. Reminded me of my little brothers, when they were little and innocent. 

Now they all hated me though.

Memories really were a fickle thing.

"Uncle Royce?" I didn't really remember.

"You had kicked him out of harm's way."

"Oh right, that one." I chuckled. 

When the dragons were attacking me, a man came in front of me and froze. I kicked him out of harm's way like the boy said. Now that I actually thought about it, I might have been a bad guy, after all.

"You're welcome." I smiled but died inside. I looked at Brice. "I'll try to at least straighten things out."

He didn't look that convinced. I might have ruined his entire future. 

"Now, now there's no need to apologize. Just make him your bodyguard or something. That way no one would be able to touch him. He's pretty skilled too," Jori whispered, wrapping his arms around me.

When the hell did you get here?

I sighed and walked away. It was actually a pretty good idea, coming from Jori.

The bards were still singing. It was a festive atmosphere but I didn't feel good at all. In fact, I hadn't had anything to eat either.

And this was supposed to be my party?

Lianne came with some people sometime later and introductions started. I heard a lot of names and social standings but didn't really learn all that much. How the hell was I supposed to remember all that stuff anyway? Did people really have that much of a good memory?

Actually, my words had caught the ears of a lot more people than I thought. And since this party had not only nobles but also commoners, I received mixed reactions. Shaking hands with normal people was the best part of the party. While the nobles, the worst.

I almost felt like a celebrity.

Most of the nobles were basically looking at me with salty eyes. Not everyone was bad or condescending though. But I guess they didn't like me or my attitude towards the common folk.

But sadly, I was a commoner too.

I steered clear of the drinks, even the juices. I didn't want another Alfeime situation to occur again. 

Eventually, the party ended and I talked things out with Lianne. The guard would be my bodyguard in name only. I'd have to apologize to the count too, for misbehaving. Being a noble was really tough. 

But even I wasn't dumb enough to stir up another revolt by upsetting the nobles.

***

The next day, my first session took place in the royal court. Sitting on the throne was actually a lot of fun. No matter who they were, everyone had to bow before me. It also felt a little weird though. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this kind of thing. I still liked it though. 

A lot of nobles were here. Apparently, they'd run the country in my absence. That count was here as well. 

I sighed and decided what I'd do.

"I'll be blunt with you. Sorry. I might have said too much in the heat of the moment." The first thing I addressed was the main issue. 

The count was dumbfounded. Actually, even moments ago he looked at me with bitter eyes but now he was just standing there with his jaws hanging.  Talk about an exaggerated reaction. The other nobles had a shocked look as well.

Someone cleared his throat. The count composed himself. "I am glad to see that my lord isn't one of those muscle brains. No apology necessary sir." He smiled. "You're actually sharper than I thought. You even made that man your bodyguard. I must say, you must be the wisest man yet to sit on that throne. And I too was rude. Please forgive me." He bowed.

Muscle brain? 

Now I was dumbfounded. Was he praising me or dissing me in sarcasm?

Anyway, I went on with the court and listened to everything the nobles had to say. Some wanted to expand our territory: some wanted to strengthen the military while others wanted to spend more effort in rebuilding the town first. I liked the third idea most. But since I'd be leaving tomorrow, I didn't really have much of a say in anything, anyway. 

But I made sure that they understood the situation between men and elves. I really wanted to send envoys to both countries and straighten things out so another war didn't break out. But I guess that had to wait.

After talking with the nobles I understood a lot of things. First, not everyone was a selfish prick, second, a lot of them were actually doing good jobs and third, there were always black sheep among the white. 

But as much as I hated the system, I couldn't really do much, as I was still pretty new. 

Things ended before noon, and I finally had some free time to roam around. I most certainly wasn't going to let it go to waste. I didn't have the luxury of going out before, but now, now that I was free, I wanted to venture to the streets again and dive into the skewered meat paradise.

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