Chapter 34: Meeting

Several days later, Alicia and her father were invited to the palace, along with Eli and the count. The count kept fussing about the etiquette, which went in one ear and out the other for Alicia.

“Father. I haven’t even been trained in palace etiquette. Let’s stop being so harsh on her, alright?” Eli, who couldn’t stand watching her father keep berating Alicia along the way, spoke up. They were in the palace’s waiting room.

“Yes, you are right. As long as you are polite, the king should understand.” The count relented. He knew he was being improper himself by berating others in the waiting room.

“The king expects you, Alicia.” After several hours of waiting, a maid came in, allowing them to go into the throne room.

“Yes.” Alicia curtsied and followed her to an ornate oak door. A symbol of a dragon was engraved on it.

They were brought into the throne room. Light shone through the tinted glass, casting colorful shadows like a rainbow. There, on the throne, the king sat. Following the others, Alicia kneeled on one knee as silence permeated the room. Alicia couldn’t help but look around, waiting for someone to break the heavy silence.

“Alicia. I heard you are capable of predicting the future. Is that true?” The king finally broke the silence. His question astounded her. He didn’t ask to recruit her or inquire about her magic ability. He asked her to be his prophet.

“Huh?” Alicia blinked, confused as to how she should reply.

“Is it true that you predicted yourself to be a mage?”

“Yes, Milord — I mean, Your Majesty.” Alicia could feel Count Shadowstep facepalm beside her. “The goddess Sistielle had spoken to me.”

“What did she say?”

“She said I was to be a mage and stay by Lady Elidranthia’s side to develop Shadowstep and the Althemer Empire as a whole.”

Alicia lied, of course. Technically speaking, she didn’t lie, but the way she said it—injecting her own ideology atop the goddess’ words—was biased. She wondered whether the prophets back on Earth had lied in this way as well.

She couldn’t say the goddess told her to kill Eli. That would be weird and treacherous. Why would a goddess go out of her way to give a revelation to someone just to assassinate a noble girl in the suburbs? Alicia would be seen as a rebel against nobility and be hanged regardless of her status as a mage if she were honest about what Sistielle demanded of her..

“Did she say anything about the war? What do you think will happen? Will we win the war on the Western Front?”

“Your Majesty! Basing our decisions on some weird dream of a village girl is unwise! How could we be sure that the Shadowstep residents didn’t make things up?” A minister who stood beside the king spoke up.

“Of course, but a wise king shall seek counsel—even from commoners. So, pray tell, what has the goddess said to you?” The king smirked.

Alicia, being a guy from modern Earth with zero political knowledge, tilted her head at the king’s remark.

The truth was that the king did not believe in prophecies at all. However, a rumor had reached his ears through Duke Bron. Thus, he sought to disprove the theory. He believed Alicia would say something ambiguous like, The stars will soon align toward the goddess’ will, or, if she came from Duke Bron’s territory, something patriotic like, Althemer will win without a doubt.

Never in his wildest dreams did the king expect Alicia to have a straightforward answer to his question.

“Ah! Claire and Prince Heracles will unite Althemer and the western country. There is no need to think about the war. Well, at the very least, that’s what’s supposed to happen,” Alicia said, speaking totally in a hateful spoiler way. Somewhere in the distant horizon, a god is clutching their head at Alicia’s statement.

“And who is this Claire?” the king asked. Alicia blinked in surprise. This was the moment when the king realized Alicia might be a real prophet. A real prophet was supposed to know something only she knew.

Alicia had thought about this answer for a moment. She thought this answer was safe. She thought everyone knew about Claire. After all, Claire was Heracles’ fiancée. The king should know about them, right?

Little did she know that this event was also one of the few things that was different from the webnovel she had read.

“Isn’t Claire Heracles’ fiancée? Um… You didn’t know? Heracles exists here, right? Along with Ludwin, the second prince, and Charlotte, the princess?”

“Who is Charlotte?” Eli whispered to her father, only to be nudged to remain silent.

“I see. Are you saying Heracles the exile is going to usurp the throne with some random nobody from the western barbarians?”

“Eh? He is an exile?” Alicia was flabbergasted.

“Your Highness… That information was confidential…” one of the ministers whispered. Eli widened her eyes in surprise.

“Nobody should have known Heracles was in the western country. Count Shadowstep, did you leak this information?”

“I did no such thing. I told no one about Heracles in my county, Your Majesty.”

“If this Claire really existed, then the claim that Alicia has prophetic ability will be confirmed. I would love to hire you. But unfortunately, the goddess said you must be with the count’s daughter. Even a king such as me has his betters, and the goddess is among them. I shall relent. I will simply ask you to serve me through that little daughter of yours, Count. You serve the crown, yes?”

“Of course, Your Highness. I, Count Shadowstep, shall do my best to serve you.”

“...I see. Thank you?” Alicia tilted her head. She was confused as to whether those words meant she would be let go to do as she pleased or had to serve the crown through Elidranthia. Thus the question mark.

“However, I must ask. Does the goddess have any ill will toward the Althemer Empire?”

“Your Highness, that statement is scandalous. There is no way Goddess Sistielle has any malice.”

“I believe the goddess is fair to all. But what if Goddess Repeara had a scheme that forced the goddess to choose whether to side with us or with others?”

“Ah, there is nothing to worry about. Claire is pretty chill, although the prince was quite annoying,” Alicia said confidently. From the webnovel, she knew the demonic invasion would only destroy the western countries, and Claire was a hero in her book.

She also agreed with the commenters that both princes of Althemer were rather lacking. Heracles was basically Claire’s lapdog, while Ludwin was arrogant to a fault, even after he had his redemption arc.

“Watch your language! You kneel before the king of Althemer!” one minister scolded Alicia.

“Ah! My apologies, Your Highness.” Alicia bowed, offering her apology. Count Shadowstep beside her inhaled and sighed. She could feel him shaking his head in disbelief. She turned to him, only to find that Count Shadowstep remained stoic. One must not speak to the king or act disrespectfully unless addressed. His face was unchanging, but his glare told Alicia otherwise.

“Pfft. Annoying, I see.” The king chuckled. “Very well. This meeting proved to be more fruitful than I thought. You may leave and return to your territory. I shall await you and your mistress’ enrollment at the Royal Academy in two years.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Count Shadowstep bowed again. He then stood. Elidranthia, Alicia, and John followed suit.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Alicia and Elidranthia curtsied.

“Count Shadowstep, I will not pursue this matter further, as I understand that court etiquette is not often taught to noble girls in rural areas. But please teach them etiquette from now on. I expect them to visit the castle often.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I sincerely apologize for my subject’s misconduct.” Count Shadowstep kneeled, his head bowed in reverence before leaving.

As soon as the group left the throne room, the count breathed a sigh of relief.

“Phew, that was nerve-wracking— Ouch!”

“I swear, this little twerp! I thought my head would roll back there! How did you know about Heracles, huh? I should cut your tongue so you don’t say anything unnecessary!” The count ground her head with his fist.

“Ouch! I just said what I read from the book in my dream! I didn’t know Heracles was an exile. I thought he was merely sent to some faraway country on a study trip. Why was he exiled anyway?” Alicia caressed her aching head. Another bonk came swiftly.

“Don’t ask! You stupid twerp!” the count said.

“Milord, is everything well?” Rodrique asked when the group reached the carriage outside the palace.

“Where the hell am I supposed to find a court etiquette instructor in Shadowstep? Court etiquette changes every five or ten years!” The count whined to Rodrique.

“Should we include the three basic bowing techniques?”

“But she is a commoner! She’s a special case. Eli could get away with the three basic bowing techniques, but Alicia has to learn them all—all seven of them!”

“That is certainly problematic…”

“Father, what are the three basic bowing techniques? I should learn them as well, right?”

“Rodrique, explain.” The count sighed as he looked outside, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.

“There are six ranks of nobility. You know this, right, Milady?”

“Of course. They are baron, viscount, count, marquis, duke, and king.”

“Court etiquette dictates that one must show a different degree of respect to their betters. A simple bow to everyone will not do. So, a commoner like Alicia has to show different respect to a baron, viscount, count, marquis, duke, king, and the goddess.”

“I see. So she needs to learn seven different types of etiquette? Why three basic bowing techniques then? I still need to learn four, right? We have marquis, duke, king and goddess.”

“It is rare for the full order of nobility to gather in one place, so most people only need to learn three degrees of bowing. Those are head bowing, full-body bowing, and kneeling.”

“What about the goddess?”

“You needed to kneel and press your head on the floor. But since it was only done in a chapel or church, it is a special case.”

“We were lucky only the king talked to us. Hence, the kneeling was enough. I bet you couldn’t even tell the ranks of those ministers beside him.”

“I don’t know who they are. The book never gave their names nor even their descriptions either now or before. I already forgotten their faces. They must be so unimportant the book never even mentioned them, right? — Ouch!”

“I shall have Laura teach you the three bowing techniques. Please pray to your goddess to spare you from meeting over three ranks of nobility at once,” the count whispered.

“Should we rest inside the inn, or should we return back to our territory, Milord?”

“Let’s go back. I’ve had enough of this place. Now that I think about it, we haven’t received any news from Jadenbale, have we?”

“Yes, Milord. We told them the operation must be in complete secrecy, thus they were forbidden to use radio transmitters. We must return to Shadowstep to ask them.”

“They didn’t even send me messengers. What the heck were they thinking?” the count scoffed.

“The journey might take longer than expected, Milord. We barely left Shadowstep Crossing a week ago.”

“I see.”

“I want to see Pioyi. I wonder if she is okay. Elena feeds her, right?”

“Pioyi? Your chicken? Yes. I have assigned a maid to take care of it.” Elidranthia tilted her head.

“She is not a chicken! She is a Swiftclaw! One day, she will be stronger and faster than a dragon!”

“Yes, yes.”

And so, the group returned to Shadowstep Crossing, where Jadenbale and the other knights awaited.