Mortis appointment to the count
The next morning, the carriage was ready for the trip to Aachen. The day before, Mortis and his wives had only watched as the work progressed. In the afternoon, Leonie had explained to Merlin what he had to watch out for and how to stack documents until he got back. Mortis had continued to spend the day with Kathrin, enjoying cuddly hours into the night.
Today it was time for Leonie to get to know each other better, as the wedding was coming up soon. Marina Lumina and Leonie accompanied Mortis on his journey, while the others stayed home to rest. Since they were concubines and it was not required to be there. Mortis said goodbye to his wives, who stayed home, and the girls got into the carriage to get ready for the nearly 24-hour journey to Aachen. The play was intended for special occasions like this, when everyone was expected to appear in a carriage as a matter of courtesy.
The journey was long, but carefree, as they rode from Bayreuth together with Leonie's father and some strong adventurers for protection. The carriages were so sophisticated that one could sleep comfortably in them. So they rode through the night, only the knights and adventurers suffered a little. But the high nobility arrived in Aachen the next morning safe and sound.
The city was already waiting enthusiastically for all the carriages of the nobility and their entourage. King Maik was also looking forward to today's event. He wanted to meet the new heroes and also the other nobles, for a king who is bored, such meetings come as called. Mortis and his wives were impressed by the city, except Lumina, because she knew the world. But Marina looked out the window with her mouth open, as did Mortis. This city was huge and had all kinds of things to offer. Count Lares wanted to stop them at first, as he was a bit ashamed, but since they were young, he let them and just smiled.
As Mortis got out of the carriage with his women in front of the castle, he realized that his own castle just seemed like a cottage or a stable in comparison. This castle had everything from golden ornaments to the smallest runes to protect this massive building. "Memo to self: My castle needs to be much bigger. I need to have it rebuilt," Mortis thought to himself. There were hundreds of servants and maids and other lackeys. Mortis helped his wives out of the carriage and with Leonie in his arms they walked together into the castle. They walked on a red carpet and came into a huge entrance hall, the main hall being so large that all of Gruenheim could fit inside. On a raised staircase sat a muscular older man with white hair and a long beard and dark, sharp eyes who seemed as if he were looking into one's soul. In front of him, at the bottom of the stairs, stood two other men, also very pompous and one looking more like a paladin. That was Duke Sven of the North and the other looked like a sorcerer, that was Duke Harald of the South.
A herald announced Mortis with his three wives. The room became silent and the new guests took their place, as they were the biggest event for today. Mortis' coronation as count and being honored as the hero of the Battle of Erfurt was the greatest thing for many of the other counts, barons and knights who were present. Duke Sven was especially proud because a hero had emerged from his realm.
He was the first to go ahead and shake hands with the young man, and his wives all found him delightful. Duke Harald was not so energetic, but he was still pleased to see the newcomer join their ranks. The king signaled to the herald and wanted to make his speech and put things behind it. He was more interested in what Mortis was like otherwise, and the king could find out during the celebration, since this was the time to talk together without everything having to be formal. The herald silenced everyone and announced the king's speech.
My dear subjects, today we have a special occasion, because we have a hero among us, who showed special bravery at the battle of the county of Erfurt as in the county of Bayreuth. Mortis fought not only for our county, but for all who seek freedom and justice.
That is why we have decided to honor Mortis for his service and make him a count. It is an honor for us to have such brave men as Mortis in our ranks.
I am sure that Mortis will fulfill his new role with dedication and passion. His courage and skills will help him continue to develop our county and make it an even better place.
Let us celebrate together and welcome our new Count. May he rule long and successfully and always lead us in good and bad times.
Long live Count Mortis! Long live our kingdom of Franconia! Long live freedom and justice!
The king strode down the stairs and took a sword of white-gold metal in his hand. He laid it lightly on Mortis' shoulders and said, "Arise, Count Mortis of Bamberg! Your bravery in the Battle of Erfurt has distinguished you and your people will be proud of you. May your leadership be an example to all and may you continue to succeed for the good of your people and other nations." Mortis bowed and rose again as the entire hall applauded. Especially his wives, who knelt behind him, rejoiced at his success. The king also had a gift for them, but when he caught sight of Lumina, he immediately recognized the goddess, as did several other guests. Her followers silenced her, and the old king gave Lumina a quick evil eye before continuing with the ceremony. First Leonie was inducted as the first woman, then Marina as the second, and finally Lumina as the fourth. In gratitude, they received a silver brooch and were greeted by the king.
The king tried to calm down and slowly went back to the throne where he ordered the herald to bring the guests to the hall for the ceremony where there would also be food and plenty to drink. Mortis took his wives and followed the 2 dukes who were happy to finally meet him and wanted to talk to him. Mortis was happy about the good treatment and followed the two with pleasure. They didn't talk about anything important but rather held it like an intervio to learn more about him or the new goddess who was pushing Osmirnis further and further away from this continent.
In the great hall there was an extra table for Mortis and his wives. At the neighboring tables the king, his wives, children and grandchildren were seated. But as soon as Mortis sat down, Count Werner and Countess Martina came to congratulate him and greet his wives. At this, Countess Martina noticed with surprise that Mortis' wives were all a feast for the eyes and had different characters.
She patted him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, "As it seems, only one thing matters with you. Looking at your women, one might think that each one is really different. But believe me, I've seen that like a barbarian, you only take women with wide pelvises so that they'll give birth. William was right: a warrior was lost to you."
Then the Countess returned to her seat with Werner and chuckled. Mortis smiled mischievously, for it was true: if he said he had no particular taste, he would be lying. But a wide pelvis with a good butt should be.
After everyone had eaten, the king came to the hero with his family and introduced everyone. Mortis did not care what each of them was called. He didn't care who would be the next king, the main thing was that they left him and his wives alone so that he could put his kingdom in order. But still he greeted everyone in a friendly way and shook every hand because he didn't want to be rude and if he had questions about the royal house or another noble he still had his wives who grew up as nobles and so knew everyone.
After that servants rushed into the hall and started to clear away tables and chairs to make room for the guests to talk and listen to the music. During this time, the king chatted with his wife and also with Mortis and Leonie to learn all about Mortis' exploits. They asked about his class, how he got the heroic potion and how he managed to unite adventurers to defeat the enemies as if they were just wooden puppets. Mortis couldn't answer many questions, but fortunately his system helped him come up with suitable lies.
A servant walked past Mortis with a tray full of drinks and thrust a glass of wine into his hand. But when Mortis went to sip it, Lumina came running and knocked the glass out of his hand. The king was horrified at first and asked aloud what that was all about. But when he saw Lumina giving him an evil look, he became meek. Lumina conjured up a green rope that wrapped itself around the servant who had brought the glass and pulled him back to Lumina and the king. Lumina said, "The wine was poisoned. I don't know who's that brave, but we're going to lock everything down, question everyone, and there will be deaths today." The king nodded and made a hand gesture so that no one could leave the hall.