CHAPTER 3

Astrid Ermengard von Wehrmann was present in the meeting, but for once in her life, it was not because she held any official post as a royal representative of the Land of Diutiscus. No—for once, the von Wehrmann in her name was meaningless. Nothing grand or royal about her presence this time. Instead, she was there at the insistence of her younger brother of fourteen, three years her junior, who really wanted her presence for some reason. She made sure that he understood the implications.

“Listen well, Brother, because I will not say this again,” she sternly said as the Vindex Regis escorted them through the hallways of the Lenamontis Royal Court. “I am not royalty anymore. I am your sister, and I will always be your family until I die, but the von Wehrmann in my name no longer means anything. Do you understand what this entails?”

“Of course, Sister,” her brother beamed at her, his bright blonde hair seemingly encapsulating his face in an innocent halo. Astrid groaned and covered her face—her brother definitely didn’t get it.

“Do you? Really?” she swept her bangs—that blonde, wavy hair was one of the many traits she shared with her brother, which made her wish he at least inherited her awareness as well. “I will not be standing by your side this meeting, you know. The King of Lenamontis had to convince the rest of the Alliance leaders to allow me to even be in the room. I will be with Suzuki for this entire meeting. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sister!”

Astrid sighed, but she realized that she really couldn’t be that strict with her own brother. Not after everything they’d gone through. Not after everything he had gone through. He would make for the perfect puppet leader. She could only fear for his life.

The Vindex Regis stopped their steps in front of a gargantuan wooden door, laden with gold and adorned with jewelry—Astrid had seen this door before, back when she was still the First Princess of Diutiscus. Well, Only Princess would’ve been a much descriptive title, but that was not the title she was christened with. She had passed by this area once, escorting her father to an Alliance meeting not unlike this one.

She remembered being nervous even though she was not going to the meeting: the door really put into perspective how big of a meeting an Alliance leaders’ meeting really was. However, next to her, her brother was being very giddy, as if he could jump in excitement any given second now. Truly, what sort of King did her kingdom end up with?

That said, she wasn’t really complaining. Maybe his innocence could be the fresh start Diutiscus so desperately needed. Who knows?

“After you, Your Highness,” she politely signaled to her brother. The young man, understanding her signal, stepped forward with his hands outstretched, allowing the Vindex Regis to push the heavy door open for him and Astrid.

Oh, so at least he understood that I’m not his guest, making him outrank me. Good.

And the large door swung in.

The meeting room was nearly free of distractions—it had only one simple round table, symbolizing the fact that no king holds true sway over the others as a leader, that everyone present was meant to be equal in their role as representatives. There was nothing on the table; the only other objects were the seats surrounding it, upon which sat the other kings who had arrived.

In terms of decoration, only two paintings hung on the large walls, one on the right and another right across, each one painting all the races raising their weapons against an unseen enemy outside of the frames. Both paintings were very detailed: Astrid heard that both pieces were commissioned to replace the previous one just a few decades ago, worked on by as many as twenty different painters, each one delving into the cultures of the people they were painting.

The result was nothing short of the best representation of what it should have looked like when all the races united in their defense against the demons.

Of course, now that the Demon King was defeated and that Suzuki managed to subjugate the rest of the demons—such that even Scarlet, previously one of the Demon King’s infamous Archdemons, could stay in his Mansion smack-dab in the Capitol of Lenamontis without really causing any worry—the paintings should probably be updated. Again. Which was frankly an odd notion, if Astrid were to be honest, because even during the Alliance’s wartime activities, no battlefield really looked like those paintings, anyway. The kingdoms of the Alliance all functioned on their own, only requesting help when things got dire, and otherwise even caused nuisance to the others every once in a while.

This meeting better not be such a nuisance, because this time, they should all stand behind exactly the same line. After all, should things go wrong today, all the kingdoms could face total annihilation.

All due to her very beloved—the Hero, Suzuki Tanaka.

Astrid took a deep breath, clearing her mind. Today, she was there to help Suzuki represent himself, because apparently Charlotte would be by the side of Rex Lenamontis as his Manus Dextra. She remembered hearing Charlotte grumble about it for a good while, the poor girl. Astrid was nowhere as versed in politics as Charlotte was—no, that girl was brilliant for her age, probably thanks to her upbringing in the very frontier between mankind and the Darklands, where the war was always the most intense—but Astrid was not without her own share of experiences still. Astrid couldn’t think of a single enjoyable day in her life as royalty, so if nothing else, she hoped her limited experience could at least help her and Suzuki today.

Oh, speaking of which, Charlotte was already in there, idly twirling her curled auburn hair, sitting next to Rex Lenamontis, who seemed to be chatting with the Chancellor from the Republic of Heliodorus. Charlotte gave Astrid a small acknowledging nod, which unfortunately Astrid couldn’t return—not before she performed her rites to enter the chamber.

First, while her brother nodded to each of the other representatives there before taking his seat, she had to wait by the doorframe. Then, after his brother was seated—with all the associated procedures as well, such as having to also wait for his advisors, and then his attendants, and making sure that she gave a few seconds of buffer time to not make it seem rude—she would deeply bow, wait for two to five seconds (because no king there really had the power to represent the other kings in telling her when to raise her head), and only then would she make her way to her seat.

Oh, that’s also assuming no king suddenly raised his objection about her presence or dissatisfaction about her conduct, in which case she would basically be dead.

Goddess be merciful; manners could be nothing short of hellish sometimes.

Thankfully, the atmosphere among the kings seemed to be particularly amicable today—which had never happened before. Not when she accompanied her late father, and most certainly not when her father returned from every other Alliance meeting afterwards. Otherwise, he would have no reason to go to and return from Lenamontis with such a scowl every time, no? At the very least, Astrid couldn’t think of any other reason.

Astrid took her seat next to the one designated for Suzuki, her heart thumping so hard she was almost sure her seat would tremble with it. Suzuki was by no means late, but she had had to depart from the Mansion early to make sure that her brother had done nothing foolish since his arrival—especially since this would be his first real Alliance meeting as the King of Diutiscus. Meetings with different audiences, such as messengers, representatives, only one guest King, and many kings as equals, all require different forms of poise and acuity, and she wasn’t sure whether her brother had mastered them all just yet.

Suzuki, Dear, please come quickly.

Like virtually everyone else in the Mansion, Astrid was someone Suzuki had rescued. In fact, she was rescued from Diutiscus, much like Little Miss Karin. The difference was that she was never really a slave like Karin used to be, and the fact that she chose to join the Mansion meant she truly left behind any and all ties to her former life as Diutiscus royalty. The other girls had told her that it shouldn’t matter, but unlike most of the others, she was not saved from a demonic attack or the like—she was saved from her own family, from a whole trafficking operation that she had no real idea was going on behind the doors of her own Castle, from her own military who had so looked forward to using her as a puppet for their wants as soon as she was to ascend.

Diutiscus was sickening to her, and it did not take her long to realize that she never really loved her homeland, no matter how long she spent there, no matter how much she looked after her people or fought for its survival.

Between the past shackling her in Diutiscus and a future of freedom with Suzuki, her conscience was clear.

But speak of the Hero, and he shall appear.

Astrid had known that Suzuki’s steps were light thanks to his training with Miss Hojo, but she was used to his presence—she knew when he was coming, almost instinctively. She liked chalking it up to love. It felt more romantic that way.

However, the other kings were definitely lacking that love, because his arrival took them by surprise.

The little chatter between the kings stopped immediately.

Astrid could see Charlotte silently drawing a deep breath.

Carefully, Suzuki entered the meeting room. All the kings simultaneously stood up, as if to greet someone of higher station; their attendants all did the same. Astrid did the same. However, Suzuki just awkwardly waved his hand while softly scratching his head.

“No, no, truly, no need for such courtesy, Your Highnesses,” he said while chuckling. “I’m but a Plebeian here, right?”

“And our Hero,” Rex Lenamontis replied. Out of habit, Astrid’s eyes darted to the rest of the representatives—their expressions hardened. Rex Lenamontis probably called that fact out again not to praise Suzuki, but to remind the other kings of what they’ll be facing today.

The Hero. The only existence powerful enough to kill the Demon King, who could singlehandedly level an entire kingdom if he so desired.

Astrid nervously bit her lip.

“No need to be so formal about it,” Suzuki answered, and the rest of the kings took that as their signal to sit back down. Their attendants (and Astrid) sat right after, and Suzuki finally took his seat next to Astrid, flashing her a small smile. Despite the palpable tension in the room, she couldn’t help but blush a little.

Rex Lenamontis raised his voice a little, signaling that the meeting had begun. “I would like to raise today a proposal I find most reasonable from one of my advisors,” he announced. Astrid noticed the knowing look on Charlotte’s face—oh, she’s the ‘advisor’. “While we have promised Sir Tanaka to reward him with any one wish before he departed on his journey to conquer the Darklands and its leader, my advisor had so kindly reminded me—and Sir Tanaka as well—that there could so easily be extenuating circumstances behind such wishes. Under the worst of circumstances, we may not be able to make good of our word to guarantee Sir Tanaka any one wish as we have originally promised. Therefore, my advisor proposed that, instead of one wish of any form for all in the Alliance to fulfill, we shall have Sir Tanaka negotiate for his desires, so that we could make clear for everyone what we would all have to do in order to fulfill these wishes, should they number more than one. We would also have the opportunity to explain to Sir Tanaka the difficulties we may find in fulfilling his wishes in advance, so that all is fair for everyone involved. Does the Alliance find this agreeable?”

Oh, clever move, Charlotte. She managed to allay the King’s anxiety regarding Suzuki’s wish while also giving Suzuki the chance to possibly gain more than one wish granted, should negotiations succeed. Now, just to see how the kings react….

“As are all wishes,” the Heliodorus Chancellor spoke, “as long as it is within reason, the Republic of Heliodorus sees no reason to decline. We favor the motion.”

Astrid’s brother nodded confidently. “The Land of Diutiscus favors the motion.”

The only woman on the lineup of kings, clothed in beautiful dark robes that glinted under the light and clad in white veil, smiled mysteriously under her covered eyes—she was none other than the High Priestess, the only human alive apart from Suzuki who could hear the Goddess Herself. “The Holy Empire is sympathetic to Hero Tanaka’s situation. We are in favor of the motion.”

One of the kings with more tan and brightly-colored jewelry, adorned mainly with pearls, made a quick expression that almost seemed like he smelled something rotten right under his nose—but that expression quickly passed. His kingdom did not really get along with Suzuki, after all. “The Kingdom of Admari complies in favor.”

The last human king on the table, adorned in what seemed to be kimono, the traditional dress Miss Mimori showed off one time when the girls were dressing her up, gave a solemn nod. “The Land of Yamatai is in favor.”

Then came the turns of the nonhumans in the Alliance, starting with the prettiest man in the entire kingly roster—the Head Councilor of the Conciliation Faculties, an elf adorned with straight, long golden hair that shone even brighter than Astrid’s. “The Elven Societies favor the motion.”

“The Dwarven Federation is in favor,” said a gruff-looking man standing at approximately half the Head Councilor’s height, dressed in full metal armor as if he was going to war if not for the ornate decorations on the armor’s lining.

Then came the turn of the beastman. Oh, that old catman with very fierce eyes was Lady Cathubodua’s father. “The Ferae Union is in favor.”

And, finally, the man with scaled armor and unbelievably beautiful chains of seaweed stalks—Yatzil’s father. She mentioned that she was to be coronated soon, but maybe that was still some ways away? He wouldn’t have to represent if Yatzil was already crowned, after all. Astrid wasn’t really sure. “The Merfolk Kingdom is in favor.”

And with that, the decision was unanimous.

Suzuki nodded. “Thank you very much, Your Highnesses.”

“Now that we have all agreed,” said Rex Lenamontis, “state your wish, o Hero.”

Charlotte gave a very gentle nod from his side—so gentle that nobody would’ve noticed if they did not observe her from the start, like Astrid and Suzuki did. That was the cue.

Suzuki took a deep breath.

“My wish, Your Highnesses,” he slowly stated, “is to abolish slavery.”

The human kings immediately flew into an uproar.

*