Chapter 99 (1/2)
Chapter 99. The Threads of Bonds Coming Together
The letter was written in characters he had never seen before, but the words soon wiggled around and transformed into Korean. There were times when Synchronization took a second or two to happen, so Seol Jihu didn't find it too surprising.
—I heard from the temple that you came back. You didn't pick up when I called you, so I'm leaving you this message. You remember our promise, right? Come to my place tonight for dinner….
A look of surprise and joy flashed in Seol Jihu's face. The tone of the letter was light, almost like someone inviting their neighbor to catch up over dinner.
The problem was that the sender was Teresa Hussey. In other words, he would need to go to the royal palace and potentially meet the king. The Haramark Royal Family was famous for abandoning formalities after their conflict with Earthlings, but the word 'royal palace' carried weight in Seol Jihu's head.
Even though the letter said to come comfortably, there was an invisible pressure weighing down on him as an average person going to a palace. However, for Teresa's sake, he couldn't skip out, and to be honest, he kind of wanted to go as well.
Seol Jihu read the letter until the end. When he read the final two lines, 'P.S. Don't go back after dinner! Come hit up a special dessert with me so we can digest what we ate ♥', a chuckle escaped his mouth.
'Good thing I brought something nice to wear.'
It was an invitation from the royal palace. Not wanting to embarra.s.s himself by acting like a fool, Seol Jihu headed to the library to study basic decorum.
After finis.h.i.+ng up his afternoon training early, Seol Jihu washed himself clean. Since he didn't know what would happen at the palace, he filled his belly up a tiny bit too. At the very least, he wanted to avoid eating mindlessly like that time he ate with Yun Seora.
He changed into the clothes he picked out beforehand. As soon as he looked at himself in the mirror and thought, 'Good, perfect', something unexpected happened. He was about to head out, but a giant man was standing in front of the door.
Of course, it wasn't all that surprising for Carpe Diem's office to have visitors, but….
“Are you the Earthling known as Seol?”
His well-toned muscles were protruding out from his 2-meter tall figure, and a long scar from a blade stretched across his nose. Just looking at his appearance, he didn't seem like he would lose fighting an orc one on one.
“I'm Jan Sanctus. I've come to escort you under Princess Teresa's orders.”
He had a tough voice befitting his intimidating appearance. Hearing that the Princess sent him, Seol Jihu put down the spear he subconsciously raised up.
“Will you come?”
He asked rather bluntly. Seol Jihu regained his composure and answered.
“Of course.”
“Follow me. I will guide you.”
Just like that, Seol Jihu followed Yan Sanctus and entered the premises of the Haramark Royal Palace.
'Everyone's so busy.'
It was dinner time, yet the palace seemed very busy. He could often see people running about in a haste and others who were urgently shouting at a communication crystal.
The atmosphere was completely different compared to the city. By walking through the palace gate, he felt like he entered a whole new world.
'Who would have thought so much is going on behind the wall?'
Haramark was well known for having a strong local color even with the presence of a royal family. But as expected of the home of a king, it had all the right appearances befitting a palace.
Seol Jihu asked quietly while walking through a long corridor.
“Is there anything I need to watch out for in the palace?”
Although he already looked up Paradise's decorum in the library, he still asked just to be sure.
“No.”
Jan Sanctus returned a brusque answer. Rather than hostile, he seemed to be cold naturally.
“You just have to not point your weapons at them or curse them out.”
“…Doesn't that go without saying?”
“All I'm saying is that you only have to keep basic manners.”
Jan Sanctus looked back at the youth.
“Earthlings aren't like us. My Lord acknowledged and accepted the difference in culture between Earth and Paradise. As long as you keep basic manners that anyone would know, there won't be any problems.”
They arrived at the entrance after a brief conversation.
Apparently, when the Haramark Palace was being constructed, an emphasis was placed on aspects of communal life rather than functionalities, war, or solitary living.
Jan Sanctus left once he guided Seol Jihu to the grand hall. Once Seol Jihu went inside, he was able to see a young woman wearing a pink dress, as well as a middle-aged man sitting on a throne being attended by two maids.
Teresa gave a beaming smile when she saw the youth, but his attention was somewhere else.
'So that's….'
He met the middle-aged man's calm eyes that also seemed to carry a spark of fire. Unlike Teresa, he had blonde hair and beard, which was groomed neatly.
Prihi Hussey, the king of Haramark, one of the seven kingdoms that survived the foreign races' invasion.
“Are you the Earthling named Seol?”
A clear voice resounded. His willowy appearance made him look more like a scholar than a warrior.
“There's no need.”
When Seol Jihu tried to get on his knees, the king immediately stopped him.
“On Earth, I heard that people are the owners of a nation, while the king exists to serve the people. I respect their culture.”
Seol Jihu was surprised by his humble manner of speech. He obediently got up.
“It is my honor, Your Majesty.”
When he spoke with a slight bow, Prihi chuckled.
“Your honor, huh. I understand what you mean by that, but it's fine. Think of me as a village head… or if even that is not enough to make you comfortable, think of me as whatever you'd like.”
The word 'whatever' was quite a tricky one. He felt like he was just told, 'put however much salt you want' in cooking.
Prihi Hussey calmly stared at the youth before opening his mouth.
“First, I would like to express my grat.i.tude for your deeds. I've heard what you have done for this world.”
“You're too kind.”
From the way he talked, it seemed he was aware of his position as a king. Seol Jihu was quite glad to learn this as he was somewhat worried the king might act like a backstreet hoodlum like his daughter.
“I would also like to thank you for responding to our summons. You see, my daughter kept pestering me about wanting to meet you.”
He made it sound like Teresa forced him. Prihi used both hands to slowly push himself off of his throne.
“Then, let us go.”
“Pardon?”
“We invited you under the pretext of a dinner. How could we let our guest starve while talking about boring things?”
He talked somewhat jokingly as he waved his hand around. When Seol Jihu gazed at him dazedly, Teresa skipped over to him.
“Heh, aren't you too tense?”
'Am I?' Seol Jihu rubbed his face. His facial muscles indeed felt a little tighter than usual.
“You don't need to be so formal. Just relax. We're just going to chitchat while we eat.”
For some reason, Teresa's eyes seemed to be sparkling with antic.i.p.ation. She carefully grabbed his arm as if to link arms.
“Let's go.”
He wouldn't describe the food as delicacies, but all sorts of appetizing dishes were placed on top of a long table with a white tablecloth.
Prihi asked a few questions that had nothing to do with the state of affairs, but because Seol Jihu was too busy paying attention to the way he talked, he had no clue what food he was stuffing into his mouth.
Of course, he thought he was doing a pretty good job, but Teresa only smiled wryly. As someone who once ruled the high society filled with shameless scheming and secret strife, she was immediately able to tell that the young man in front of her was paying too much attention to being courteous. There was no need to even mention Prihi.
“Looks like our hero doesn't find the food to his liking.”
“No, they're excellent.”
Seol Jihu immediately refuted, but Prihi continued without batting an eye.
“It looks like I'll have to do something about it. As the one who invited you, I have the duty to help you relax. Let's see…. Ah, why don't we talk about something?”
Prihi spoke as if he just remembered something.
“Have you heard of the past conflict between Earthlings and the Haramark Royal Family?”
Prihi said he would help the young man relax, but the topic he brought up made him tense up more. Seol Jihu opened his mouth.
“If you are talking about the revolt, I have indeed heard about it.”
“Right, let's skip the details and talk about the outcome. Sinyoung helped create a room for negotiation between the two groups. You see, since it was meant to be a place of reconciliation, I thought they would at least keep the minimal decorum.”
“Did something happen?”
“Yes, I've never experienced such disrespect before. Rather than sending the ringleader of the revolt, they sent some b.a.s.t.a.r.d I've never seen. Still, I revealed my ident.i.ty out of courtesy first. And when I asked for his name, this is what he said: 'Nice to meet you, Haramark's King.'”
Seeing Seol Jihu confused look, Prihi cleared his throat before continuing.
“'My name is Prihi's Belly King-Sized Belly.'”
“Pft.”
Cough. When Seol Jihu coughed and looked up, he saw Prihi calmly slicing his steak. He didn't seem to be joking.
“…Did that really happen?”
“I'm not talented enough to make up such stories. The people who know this story are too many to count. Ah, there's a live witness right here.”
When Prirhi looked at Teresa, she immediately nodded her head.
“He's right. It was so shocking that I still remember it clearly.”
“I can't believe….”
“That's not all. The b.i.t.c.h sitting next to that b.a.s.t.a.r.d went a step further and said this with a smirk, 'Nice to meet you. My name is Teresa Pink.'”
“Princess.”
Seol Jihu quickly cut her off. However, Teresa wasn't fazed in the slightest.
“Just listen, the pink part doesn't matter all that much. So after saying that, she….”