Entrance

I was led by my mother into the banquet. Apparently, the palace had multiple halls for these kinds of things, but for my introduction she had opened the main hall to take in as many guests as possible. She was really making a big deal of this whole thing.

There were hundreds of round tables spread orderly throughout the massive room, with each table able to host up to eight people. Even with all this space, the room still looked jam-packed with people. Many of the people were already sitting, likely waiting for us to arrive, while many more were chatting with others.

The variety of people was quite outstanding. Many were beastkin, but there were also some humans, elves and other races scattered throughout the hall. The ages of the guests were just as varied. Some of the people looked so old they might already be dead, while I saw many younger children and teenagers mixing in as well.

The sight of all these people was already enough to make me nervous, but it got worse when the guard announced our entry.

All eyes turned towards us. The loud chatter fell almost silent, a few low murmurs and whispers keeping some noise in the hall.

I tried to listen as best as I could. My hearing was quite good now, having cat ears instead of human ones. But it was difficult to listen and walk steadily at the same time. Still, I could hear a few snippets of the conversations in the hall.

"Wow, it's really the empress…I've never seen her before."

"Why does Princess Adriel look like she wants to murder someone?"

"Who's that cute girl holding the empress' hand?"

"Wait, is Princess Adriel the scary-looking one or the adorable blushing one? All I know is that she has pink hair."

This was the second time I was entering a banquet, but it was much worse this time around than when I was with the Demon Lord of Lust. At least all the guests then had been staring at Lilith, ignoring me for a mere maid.

Now everyone was staring at me.

It was one thing to have a few people stare at you, another to have hundreds of eyes examining you. Not only that, but I could also not mess up here or I would embarrass the royal family. I was a princess now after all.

I felt the empress' hand tighten around my own, and I felt myself calm down with her presence. The feeling was a little unnatural. Was it some skill or trait?

But it did help quite a bit. Although I was still a little nervous, my body was no longer shaking like a leaf.

I heard the guard announce the next name behind me. Elaina, an honoured guest of the Revilon Empire. She had followed behind us, the royal family, as she was not obviously not a member.

It made me happy that the empress was treating her so well. Honestly, I was a little worried that they might throw her out in the beginning, especially once she started saying something. She might look cute and innocent, but she could be quite exasperating sometimes. Fortunately for her, I was a very tolerant lover.

I did hope she was doing okay walking in by herself. At least I had the strongest person in the entire banquet holding my hand, she had no one by her side.

Then again, she was the hero of courage. And a massive pervert. She was probably too occupied trying to take secret glances at my butt to notice everyone else.

The princesses left to sit at the front, at a table with a beautiful red and gold tablecloth and eight ornate wooden chairs. I noticed Elaina also took a seat with them.

Instead of going with them, the empress led me to the stage at the front. Although I would rather not face all these people, I had known beforehand that I would have to. Fortunately, I did not have to talk.

We stood at the centre of the stage. I swallowed anxiously, now able to see the entire room. Every person, without exception, now had their eyes set on us. And everyone here was someone noteworthy, a noble, merchant or just someone who had risen really far in ranks.

Now that I was on stage, I could easily get a good look at everyone. Many of the people were beastkin. I noticed most of the people were either foxes, wolves, rabbit, bears or bird. The bird-people kind of looked like harpies, with all sorts of different colour feathers. I wasn't quite sure if they were considered beastkin or not though.

There were some other beastkin types too though. I noticed some other canine and feline species, including some catkin like me. Some other species were also present like mice, deer and monkey. I also noticed some turtle-people who literally had a shell on their back.

With the beastkin, there were also some humans and elves. Although they were a minority, it was still a large minority. It seemed Revilon was quite a diverse empire.

I wasn't a person who longed to be in the spotlight like this. The immense pressure was nerve-wracking. It was one of the reasons I didn't want my identity as a hero being announced publicly. That, and I really wanted to avoid fighting in a war that had nothing to do with me.

Well, barely anything to do with me. I wasn't intent on getting revenge for anything, although knocking Lilith down a peg would be nice. But I knew I wasn't someone really capable in fights. Maybe I could change, but with only a year to do so, I would rather not risk it.

The empress looked towards the crowd and gave everyone a warm smile. While she still looked imposing, her stance felt much more welcoming.

"Welcome, everyone, to the royal palace. I am glad you could all make it here on short notice." Although her words and expression were warm, her voice was still quite imposing.

"This banquet was organized for one purpose. To introduce my youngest daughter to the world." She looked down at me and gave me a motherly smile. "While my precious son was lost to the demons, to which I will have my revenge, I am grateful that I was now given the opportunity to bring my precious daughter back to the capitol. Today, I would like to formally present the ninth princess of the Revilon Empire to the world, Princess Adrianna."

The crowd broke out into applause at my name, and I gave everyone my best smile.

"With everything needed said, we can start eating. Only the best dishes were prepared for tonight, as this is a banquet for my darling daughter. Enjoy the food." She said the last statement like it was an order.

I was left confused and bewildered as she half-dragged me off the stage. Was that all she was going to say? She didn't even make an excuse for where I came from…

I shrugged off my concerns. The empress knew how to handle stuff like this better than I did. Probably.