Chapter 79: Chapter Seventy-Two – Meeting with the King

The morning after Ellione and I had a sleepover in her room, she sent a maid to inform her father that a demigoddess had come to visit her. The maid returned covered in sweat after sprinting the entire length of the castle to inform us that the king had summoned us both to have an audience with him immediately. 

Since this had been our plan all along, neither of us were very stressed by the summons, but the maids around us were frantic. The idea of allowing me to visit the King in the same clothing I’d wore the day before was absolutely appalling to them, resulting in me being clothed in one of Ellione’s dresses. Which I was okay with. 

After all stealing clothing from your mom is something of a daughter’s right of passage. Need a cardigan for the perfect movie outing but don’t have the money to buy one? Steal your mom’s. I’d ruined a few of Mommy Laura’s favorite sweaters that way. 

Once the maids deemed us presentable we were guided out of the room where a pair of tired looking knights were waiting to lead us to the king.

“Father is probably livid that he wasn’t informed of your arrival yesterday,” Ellione grinned. “Not that he’ll say anything about it. Wouldn’t want an important guest to see him in a bad light.” 

“So even the king is concerned with making a good impression sometimes?” 

“When it comes to a literal first of her kind demigoddess, yes, I’m certain he is.” 

“Any tips for making my first conversation with the king as pleasant as possible?” 

“Keep your back straight and project power. He won’t use [analyze] on you for fear of pissing you off, which will play into your favor. Radiate power like a dragon.” 

“You know I have an Elder Dragon back at Otrea’s manor who’s oath bound to me, wish I’d thought to bring her.” 

“You’d give father a heart attack, and I’m not ready to be Queen.” 

“Speaking of being Queen…”

“Ah? Were you set to be crowned before coming here?” 

“What?! No! It’s just that, everybody wants me to be Queen.” 

“Ah, so they haven’t found you yet then,” Ellione smiled knowingly. “The true heir is marked with a magic item that will seek them out and refuse to accept any substitutes. The moment you came to your world from Earth, the ring should’ve ceased to glow on your present King’s hand, as it wants you, the true heir. That is, unless your adoptive mothers changed your body so much that you’ve completely broken from the royal line.” 

“So… I don’t have a choice?” 

“It could take decades for the attendants of the ring to find you, centuries if you leave the kingdom, but they will search endlessly. Once they know who you are, they’ll hound you for the rest of your life to assume the throne.” 

“Ugh, you’re giving me a headache.” 

“Don’t worry Bernice, you have time. Now then, we’re almost there, back straight, and smile like a murderer.” 

Like a murderer? 

The guards guiding Ellione and me stopped before a pair of dark wooden doors with ornate brass handles that ran their length. Pulling on the handles the two opened the doors with practiced motions, in a silent process that refused to allow even the slight hissing of a hinge. 

Once the doors had opened as wide as they could go, four maids walked out of the room and beckoned us inside. Inside the room were nearly a half dozen other maids, a pair of butlers, and a buffet table that remained half empty, though a pair of frantic maids running out of a servant’s entrance were attempting to fix that. 

Seated on a plush purple couch with a braided red beard and a crown molded to look like an ornate helm was the King, my maternal grandfather. “It is an honor to meet with the first demigoddess to be born to the primordial pantheon,” the King stood and lowered his head to me, causing all the servants, and even Ellione to do the same. 

“The honor is mine,” I replied as my heart began to pound frantically. “You’ll have to forgive me, divine power doesn’t come with extensive knowledge of etiquette. I hope that we can have a discussion without standing on ceremony.” 

“As you wish,” The King righted himself with a smile before beckoning me to sit down opposite him. “It has come to my attention that you spent the night with my daughter. Has she perhaps stolen your heart?” 

She’s my mother! Eww! 

“Forgive me father,” Ellione spoke up as she sat down beside me. “The relationship between Bernice and I is something we’d rather you not pry into. You can rest assured that we’ve done nothing scandalous.” 

“Is that so?” The King gazed contemplatively at Ellione before turning his attention back to me. “My curiosity in the matters of your relationship has caused me to forget myself. I am King Christophe Ciriczar, might I know what form of address you’d prefer?” 

“You can call me Bernice when we’re speaking casually like this, as I said, I’m not one to stand on ceremony.” 

“Of course. I must say, it is truly an honor to meet you Bernice. To see that you bear the amethyst eyes of the royal line is intriguing, if I were a man prone to fantasies I would take it as proof our family is related to the divine.” 

“As I am not all-knowing I wouldn’t be able to refute such a statement, as fanciful as it may sound.” 

“You give me too much leeway,” King Christophe chuckled as a trio of maids sat cups of what appeared to be a green tea in front of us. 

“This beverage?” I gazed in wonder at it, as I’d yet to encounter tea in this world. 

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“Peppermint leaves soaked in hot water,” Ellione smiled. 

Ah. Though I hadn’t given it any thought, it was only natural that herbal teas existed in some form. Though they lacked the camellia sinensis leaves required to make a true tea, they were quite popular. Looking back I had more regular customers ordering peppermint tea and chamomile than any of the true teas we offered. 

“I instructed them to put a bit of sugar in it,” King Christophe noted. “I like things better when they’re sweet.” 

“A bit of sugar never hurt anyone,” I giggled taking a sip from my cup. It took a herculean effort not to gag, the peppermint tea had been sweetened to the point it was lethal. 

How the hell is this king not dead? Drinking tea like this daily would kill a normal human after only a few weeks!

I cast an accusatory glare at Ellione who’d avoided her own tea so far. With a smile that almost made it seem as if she were struggling not to laugh at me, Ellione shrugged. 

“You’ll have to forgive my daughter,” King Christophe chuckled, seeing my glare. “She’s not much of a fan of sugar herself.” 

“That’s fine. Actually if you don’t mind, I had a request for you, and I’d like to ask it now before I forget.” 

“Go ahead.” 

“I would like to make myself known to the people. Do you think you could assist me in announcing my presence to your subjects?” 

“Of course!” King Christophe smiled. “It would be my pleasure to announce you to all of Ciriczar. Give me a week to prepare and I will host a grand festival in your honor. We will ensure that there isn’t a creature in the kingdom anywhere who has not heard the name Bernice!” 

“Thank you, King Christophe.” 

King Christophe smiled before motioning to the buffet table. “Please eat with me, let us enjoy each other’s company. I have many questions, if you do not mind humoring me.” 

“My parents raised me in a way that is unorthodox for the divine, so I may be lacking the information you want, but I’ll do my best.” 

After what felt like a three hour long job interview, I finally escaped the company of King Christophe. Collapsing onto Ellione’s bed I buried my head in a pillow and sighed. “Talking to my own grandfather as if I’m above him feels all kind of wrong.” 

“You did well,” Ellione giggled, sitting down on her bed and gently petting my ears. “You spoke like a seasoned politician, I was quite impressed. I almost got the impression that statesmanship just flows naturally in the royal bloodline.” 

“More like excessive bullshitting flows in our bloodline. How did you hide it, the fact that you have memories from Earth?” 

“It was quite easy, because I died young I think. This is the oldest I’ve ever been, as far as I can remember. Everything that happens now is new and novel.” 

“Like experiencing your first love?” 

“I haven’t had that yet.” 

“My Otrea still loves you, you know. If you wanted to come back with me. With Rysa and Mommy Laura on our side, I’m sure they could protect your soul from unraveling.” 

“Then my Otrea would be lonely wouldn’t she? I’d like to visit someday, but I think I’ll stay here. You already have two mothers, you don’t need a third.”

“You could always consider yourself my older sister, if that makes it easier.” 

“I guess that would allow me to dote on you, without feeling awkward about it.” 

“Yes,” I grinned. “And in my world I’ve just completed my first cafe. We’ll probably have our grand opening as soon as I return, you’ll have to stop by when you visit. I promise to give you all the cookies and coffee you can possibly consume.” 

“I might poach your employees so that I can open something similar here.” 

“You can’t have my employees, but if you stay long enough, I’ll train you to be a perfect barista.” 

“You’d force a princess to work?” 

“Of course, I’m forcing an Elder Dragon to serve as a supervisor, princess isn’t a title that grants you any protection in my cafe.” 

“You’re a devil.” 

“Maybe just a little bit, one of my mothers is the goddess of trickery after all.” 

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