Political situation in Eugenia Kingdom

However, people like William existed among them. That thought alone made Kyle

reconsider his unconditional hatred towards the upper class.

"It wasn't your fault," Kyle said as he looked down, holding back his emotions.

"But still..." William trailed off, unable to express himself. Like Kyle had said, it

wasn't William's fault that Kyle had been treated badly. But as someone on the

same side as the kingdom that was responsible for what had happened to him,

he couldn't help but feel guilty about Kyle's unjust treatment.

"More importantly... what's going to happen to me from here?" Kyle asked.

"You'll have an audience with His Majesty tomorrow, but I don't know what

will happen after that. You saved Princess Eira — Her Highness, the Second

Princess — so as her savior, I doubt anything bad will happen..."

"I have to meet the king?"

"Yes. His Majesty wants to thank you officially for what happened."

Kyle's brow furrowed slightly at William's explanation. Frankly speaking, Kyle

wanted to put the castle behind him already. An audience with the king was the

last thing he wanted to do. But since he was already here in the castle, and the

other party was the ruler of the kingdom... There was no way he could refuse.

Understanding and accepting his fate in that moment, Kyle sighed heavily.

"I didn't really do anything impressive..."

"That's not true. Princess Eira asked a lot of you, didn't she? I'm sure you will

be rewarded for it. I understand it might feel like a burden, but it'd be better to

accept whatever you're offered. Don't you agree, Aria?"

William prompted a response from the silent Aria behind him.

"...Yes, that is correct. Your sentiment is to be expected, but it would be

difficult to cast a refusal in this situation. Considering the predicament you are

in, you should approach this as optimistically as possible," she stated flatly.

"I see. That might be true." Kyle gave a small smile in resignation.

William and Aria widened their eyes at his mature smile; it didn't match his

apparent age.

"Sorry to have to ask this, but could you teach me the etiquette of a royal

audience? Like... the proper actions to do and speech to use. I should probably

avoid meeting the king with no knowledge at all," Kyle requested, bowing his

head.

"Yes, of course."

"Your wish is my command."William and Aria readily agreed with Kyle's request

Meanwhile in Erugenia castle throne room...

His Majesty, King Victor Erugenia — also known as Victor II — sat on his throne

before a gathering of nobles. They were all influential figures involved with the

kingdom's affairs; those present were split into three factions, each grouped

together on their own side of the room. In front of the throne and to the right

was Duke Turner's faction, the largest faction of the three. To the left was Duke

Anderson's faction, the second biggest, and lastly, Duke Arbor's faction, the

smallest of the three.

First, the king of Erugenia was a young and newly crowned king still in his late

twenties. Unfortunately, this had allowed Duke Turner to use his authority and

make calculated maneuvers to benefit himself when the previous king passed

away from an illness. He had trusted Duke Turner, conferring upon him the right

to appoint knights into the Royal Guard. However, once the king was on his

deathbed, Duke Turner abused this right and sold favors to powerful nobles with

sons that were not in line to inherit a position into the knighthood. As a result,

Duke Turner attained an enormous amount of influence over the king's court

from his position as commander of the Royal Guard. In contrast, Duke

Anderson and Duke Arbor had gained their ranks around the same time that

Philip III assumed the throne, putting them one step behind and constantly

suffering the consequences for it. With his influential power over both the

military and the court's administration, Duke Turner was a thorn in the side of

not only Victor II, but the factions of Duke Anderson and Duke Arbor as well.

As time passed, Duke Turner's elevated status made his arrogance grow into

near insolence — though that may have been his true self coming to light —

which caused his rise in power to be viewed as problematic in recent years.

This was the political climate at the time of Eira's kidnapping case.

It was the duty of the Royal Guard to protect the royal family, and they had

allowed the Second Princess to be abducted. As the commander of the Royal

Guard, and because the man in charge of security at the time was Barham — his

son — Duke Turner could not overlook such catastrophic failure. Ultimately, the

responsibility fell on Duke Turner as his supervisor.

In other words, it was the perfect opportunity to pin the blame on Duke

Turner.

"Perhaps this incident is a sign that the quality of the Royal Guard has

decayed," Duke Anderson suggested coldly. In agreement with him was

Marquess Rodaan, a member of his faction.

"Exactly. I can only imagine how lenient they must have been to allow such

lowlifes to get through."

"The security... was flawless," Duke Turner tried to justify with a wince, but

there was nothing to be said that could excuse such a failure.

"Flawless security is meaningless without the desired results. Fortunately,

Princess Eira was unharmed this time, but how do you intend on taking

responsibility for this situation?" Anderson continued pressing with a cool

expression.

"...Neither the mastermind behind the kidnapping nor their headquarters

have been discovered yet. I believe responsibility can be discussed after that

happens," Duke Turner answered through gritted teeth. But Duke Anderson

pounced on him like the cat that ate the canary, clearly in his element. "What

are you saying? Why not discuss it here and now instead?" Duke Anderson

objected.

"I agree," concurred Marquess Rodaan. "The investigation can be done without

the Royal Guard, especially when the current Royal Guard allowed the

kidnapping to occur in the first place." Duke Turner watched the two nobles,who were nearly half his age, with a weary grimace on his face.

These youngsters... He cursed in his mind.