The reception is coming up soon

Bondrewd stood on the veranda looking round the city, already illuminated by the rising sun. The evening council had been very long, and Bondrewd, as a meticulous man, was literally pecking out information from the trio - all of it, even the most unimportant. Who-knows-when it might come in handy.

The Lord of Dawn had not long ago dismissed his companions to sleep, because he needed much less sleep than the average person. And his companions were already falling off their feet by the end.

The country was mired in intrigue, theft, and conflict, and necromancers with their literally endless cannon fodder were not Sylia's biggest problem.

Lord of Dawn himself did not fully understand how a country torn by so many contradictions had not yet descended into an endless abyss of mutual slaughter.

He had set himself a very ambitious task, the kingdom of Sylia must reject petty squabbles and revive like a phoenix....

To fulfil his plans, of course, but Bondrewd didn't give a damn about the life and well-being of the local natives. Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"What do you think you're going to do?" The system's voice sounded intriguing, as if it wanted to know how.

"To unite the country, and to do that all these bastards who are so desperately fighting for power must be given something that will make them work together."

"What's that?"

"Purpose, for example, common grief brings people together, today it was the necromancers, tomorrow it'll be the warrior of madness and his hordes. And I'll have to take the lead in this process personally, I hope for the discretion of the local elites, in the worst case I can always kill them all and bring new, more cooperative leaders to the top."

"You think the people won't stand up for their rulers?" Bondrewd only smirked slightly and replied.

"As far as I know, the people don't like their rulers very much, and if you haven't realised, I'm the hero who saved this city, who do you think they'll follow if I decide to solve this 'problem' by force."

"So why don't you do it now?" The man leaned his hands on the railing and glanced at the horizon. 'Why indeed?' It flashed through his mind in an instant.

"If the local rulers have disadvantages, then there are advantages that come from them."

"Explain?"

"The biggest disadvantage of the Royal Family, the guilds, the nobility is that they've been in this power system for too long, and everyone has long-standing conflicts, grudges, and grievances against each other. The past prevents them from thinking straight and choosing the most effective options for solving arising problems. At the same time, being in the system has given everyone an opportunity to find their role in it, and to fulfil it poorly, so that others would not be tempted to take their place. It'll be a lot easier for the locals to reach out to the community. Which I'm going to take advantage of."

"I think I'm beginning to realise that it's you who will eliminate the disadvantage of this system by taking full advantage of its advantages. Don't you think it's a bit presumptuous, you're not the only clever one who wanted to take over the government."

"And I'm not going to, let them rule and lead the country in the direction I want, I'll just stand beside them, the main thing is to direct them in the right direction."

"I wonder how you'll do it?" The question was asked with a direct sneer, but the Lord of Dawn did not even pretend, or did not realise that the question was not serious.

"We'll see, but the first part of my plan should start today - at the reception." The man turned round to the front door and walked briskly to the room so kindly provided by his host.

'Shall I take a nap before the reception?' thought Bondrewd, and shut the door behind him.

...

The palace was abuzz, with countless servants, workers, and guardsmen floating through the vast corridor, elbowing each other in a sea of people. The royal family was preparing for a gala reception in honour of the victory in the battle for the capital. But one thing was clear to everyone - all this make-up was literally for one man, a mysterious lord in dark armour.

The queen stood in the centre of the ballroom, giving orders to her many subordinates, her husband King Avitus was sleeping soundly, if she had a choice she would certainly like to stay by his side, but business required her constant supervision. The royal family could not fall foul of this, everything had to be top notch, for the well being of the kingdom.

"Your Majesty, Princess Lina has arrived on your orders." The valet finished his introduction and a small silhouette of a fragile but very beautiful young girl entered the hall, her golden curls hung on the shoulders of her light dress emphasising her beauty. Her slim waist and large blue eyes could not leave anyone indifferent, completing her angelic image.

The girl, accompanied by two guardsmen, walked to the centre of the hall, catching the admiring glances of the male part of the workers and servants. Lina made a slight bow and approached her mother.

"It's good to see you, thanks for coming, I suggest we take a little walk."

"Yes Mum." The ladies escorted out of the hall and into the garden, making meaningless small talk. A majestic and incredibly beautiful garden, the Queen was an avid lover of flowers and had spent a lot of money on improving the once small greenhouse. The girls strolled along the central path and made small talk.

"How is my father's health?" Lina behaved with restraint, as she had been taught from childhood, especially in her mother's campaign, she had to keep herself in check and follow protocol without fail.

"He's fine, his condition will be much better by the evening, so I think he'll make us happy with his visit to the reception."

"I'm glad to hear it," the girl was worried, she loved her father, he liked to spoil his only daughter, and sometimes allowed her quite a lot of liberties.

"Dear mother, please tell me about this mysterious knight, Lord Bondrewd, I have already heard many rumours about his unrivalled martial prowess and incredible strength." With a slight wave of her hand, the Queen withdrew her guards, and with a subtle movement touched one of the rings on her finger.

The stone in it vibrated slightly and a couple of seconds later it emitted a translucent barrier. It expanded rather quickly and soon covered an area of about five metres.

"Mum?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about," the queen's face was confused, and she didn't know how to approach her daughter in such an unpleasant matter.

"Judging by the barrier, it's something important." The princess was wary, her mother did not often use this artefact, she was not an idiot and guessed what she was going to talk about, but she waited patiently until the queen deigned to continue.

"Lord Bondrewd will be attending the event as the chief guest, and I wanted you to make a good impression on him." The queen spoke in a half voice, even to a casual observer it would have been clear that every word was very difficult for her.

"Mum, I don't know what you're talking about." The queen gathered all her will into a fist and said.

"Father wants to marry you to this Lord, and he wants to do it at the reception." Lily said it in one breath and exhaled, looking at her daughter half-eyed, and there on her face was a mixture of more surprise and less fear.

"Mum, how so, I thought the process of matchmaking should take at least half a year, and in general, why report about it in public." The princess fanned herself with a handkerchief, theatrically clutched her heart and slowly sat down on the bench.

"Unfortunately, we have no choice, the treasury is at zero and the trade guild will not give us a new loan for nothing, the military power of the kingdom is undermined, and the position of the mages' guild has always been difficult to predict..." the woman looked at her daughter with a pitiful glint in her eyes and continued.

"That's why we need this alliance, Lord Bondrewd became a folk hero and the saviour of the whole city in one day, if he takes our side none of our detractors will even dare to make a peep in our direction." With each word, Lilia's face darkened more and more, but she was used to difficult decisions and immoral actions and tried not to show it.

"Mum, what kind of person is he, and what does he look like?" She knew that her carefree existence was about to end, but she could not imagine that it would.

The queen was silent, she might have wanted to answer, but she didn't know much about Lord Bondrewd.

"Why are you silent? Say something." The princess became hysterical, but to her sadness, perhaps it would have worked on her father, but Lina's mother, despite her appearance of fragility and attractiveness, was a little tyrant, and did not give her a way out. Suddenly the queen grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and looking her straight in the eyes, yelled at the top of her voice.

"You want to live, you want me and your father to live, and do you want our kingdom to remain on the maps or disappear into the sands of time." A mixture of rage and powerlessness literally flowed from her lips, and in her eyes she read real animal fury. Lina was literally dripping from her mother's hands, the seriousness of the current situation was only now beginning to dawn on the little fool.

The queen let go of her daughter, and turned round and put her hand to her aching head, she didn't want to do that, but alas there was no other way to get the information quickly and effectively.

"Have you even informed him of your intentions?"

The queen sighed tiredly and answered in an almost dead voice. "No. That's why I'm asking you to please him."