Chapter 65 - Princess (2/2)
In a certain sense, Eldridge had also gone down a wrong path. With his talents and abilities, he united the entire country and raised the collective aristocrats of Royas into a starving wolf, if their conquest of Interkam had been hindered in any way, this wolf would have turned its fang on him instead.
Fortunately, Interkam couldn’t even mount a reasonable resistance and had already allowed Royas to take over half of their territory, otherwise Eldridge would have also suffered heavy losses.
In truth, if not for Negary choosing to trust Granny Sea’le’s prophecy and helping Interkam by delaying some of Royas’ hidden forces in their country, Interkam’s fall would have been a lot more swift.
“Gentlemen, ladies, I have invited everyone here today to celebrate the return of the Tagula family” with a smile on his face, Seth the First gestured to Isabella among the crowd with a glass of red wine and continued: “The internal turmoil a number of years ago had caused Duchess Isabella to leave our nation, now that there are so few members of the royal family left, her return is truly something to celebrate”
What? Who else but Seth the First had caused the turmoil back then? The scarcity of remaining royal family members is a result of nothing but his fear of others threatening his throne. Moreover, what’s wrong with there being few royal family members left, Interkam itself is about to fall.
Of course, none of the aristocrats here openly declared such things, because that would be ripping off the thin veil of dignity. Aristocrats had rules for their aristocratic games, and breaking those rules meant that you want out from this particular ‘game’. Not only did leaving the ‘game’ at this point have no benefits, but it would also mean that you wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the power of the rules anymore, resulting in your untimely death the following day.
The numerous nobles nodded to greet Isabella, to which she responded with the proper noble etiquette. She appeared a little nervous as she had been living as a peasant woman for over 10 years. In the 7 years after her return to Interkam, this was the first time she had to participate in such an aristocratic banquet.
“The return of the Tagula family into the royal family records is gratifying. Furthermore, since Nala Tagula has awakened the royal Dragon’s bloodline, according to the heritage of the royal family, she is now Princess Nala Tagula” Seth smiled: “I will send Nala in my place to lead my army to the frontline of Colomier and fight for the Interkam Kingdom!”
Seth raised his glass of red wine and was about to point towards Nala when he saw Nala wearing a black dress, standing in front of the buffet table and quickly devouring dish after dish as if she held some sort of irreconcilable vendetta against food.
When she heard her name, while her fork was still stabbed into a large slab of meat, she slightly turned her head towards Seth who was standing in the center of the crowd. In that instant, Seth was a bit doubtful whether or not placing his hope onto this little girl was a good idea.
When she saw her mother’s tired expression, Nala quickly devoured the slab of meat with her knife and fork, then placed them down in the most graceful aristocratic etiquette she could muster.
“The awakening of the Dragon’s bloodline would certainly increase one’s appetite. Was the Founder of our Interkam Kingdom, George the First not also known for his gluttonous appetite?” Seth kept up his smile and glossed over Nala’s discourteous behavior.
Regardless, this banquet had done its job. Nala who had awakened the Dragon’s bloodline was confirmed to be the prophesized ‘Saintress of Salvation’ and ‘Dragon’s daughter’. Under the influence of the Church, the various forces within Interkam were pooled together and reorganized under the army in her name.
Having donned a male standard armor, Nala rode a tall white horse with a knight’s helmet, the helmet’s visor concealed her immature features while the flag of Interkam fluttered at her back, leading her army to reinforce the frontline of Colomier.
During their march, some people would occasionally choose to join this army, quite a few among them were aristocrats whose territories were taken over, but there were also a few young men who had their own personal ideals.
Such as Baron Rhys Laval.