Preparations For The Royal Audience

After quickly checking the schedule, it seemed the royal audience would take place tomorrow morning. We would wake up at six in the morning to begin preparations, and the audience itself would start around ten.

“As you can see from the schedule, you will begin moving early tomorrow morning. Therefore, rooms have been prepared for you in the royal palace tonight, so please stay there. The length of the audience depends on His Majesty, but it usually lasts about ten to twenty minutes.”

Staying overnight in the royal palace… I felt like I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I wanted to escape to the Divine Domain, but it would feel wrong to go there alone and leave Rebecca behind. And it would definitely be inappropriate to enter the room assigned to Rebecca.

“Um, could you tell us what the meeting written after the audience refers to?”

Rebecca tilted her head curiously as she asked, and the man replied as if it were nothing unusual.

“That is a scheduled discussion regarding a nomination request. In fact, the two of you have already received a nomination request from the royal family, and if you accept it, the discussion will take place after the audience.”

A nomination request… already? And from the royal family. Saying “if you accept” sounded polite, but there was no way we could refuse a request from the royal family.

“May I ask what kind of request it is?”

“Of course. It is an escort request for the princess, who is scheduled to marry into the Empire in several weeks. The request was made personally by the princess after hearing of your accomplishments. We would be grateful if you accepted it.”

“An escort for the princess… we’ve never done escort work before. Would that really be alright?”

“That will not be a problem. The Imperial Guard will handle the basic escort duties, so your main role will likely be dealing with monsters. Even after entering the Empire, their knights will take the lead in escorting her, so there is no need to worry.”

In that case… maybe it would work out somehow. Still, I was worried about what would happen after entering the Empire. I had never heard good rumors about that place. It was said to be a completely merit-based nation where the weak being eliminated was considered normal.

Because of that philosophy, slavery still existed there, even though it was basically banned in other countries, and people could apparently become slaves simply for being incompetent.

Before becoming Lady Seremees’s servant, I had often thought how lucky I was not to have been born in the Empire, so the details stuck clearly in my mind.

“…Why is the princess going to the Empire?”

The question slipped out of my mouth without thinking. It was hard to imagine a bright future for someone going to a country like that. The man’s face twisted slightly before he answered in a heavy tone.

“…It was decided by His Majesty. It will strengthen cooperative relations with the Empire.”

—In other words, the princess was being married off to a harsh place by the king’s unilateral decision.

The princess must have it rough too. At the very least, I hoped the person she was marrying would be kind.

“Well then, since we do not have much time, I will begin explaining the etiquette for the royal audience. Please look at this paper.”

After that, the man changed the subject and thoroughly explained the etiquette. Once that was finished, attendants selected suitable formal attire for us from the palace’s wardrobe, and by the time all preparations were completed, night had completely fallen.

“Please get some rest early in preparation for tomorrow. If you require anything, please ring that bell.”

After everything was prepared and I had finished dinner, a servant—someone responsible for attending to guests—guided me to my room. Exhausted, I quickly lay down on the bed.

“Ugh… my body isn’t tired, but I’m mentally exhausted.”

The etiquette for the audience involved more things to remember than I had expected.

First, I had to kneel and lower my head in front of the audience chamber. Once the doors were fully opened, the Prime Minister would signal for me to stand, and then I would walk straight forward for a while.

While walking, I must not look directly at His Majesty, instead vaguely watching my feet. I should not swing my arms too much and must take small steps. When I reached the marked spot, I would kneel again, and when His Majesty spoke to me, I should raise my head but avoid looking directly at him, focusing instead around his mouth.

I should not respond to His Majesty’s words unless asked for my opinion, and even then only speak briefly. The Prime Minister would introduce us, so self-introductions were unnecessary. I must maintain the kneeling posture the entire time without breaking it.

When the audience ended, His Majesty would leave first, and only after the signal could I stand up. When leaving the audience chamber afterward, His Majesty would no longer be there, so walking normally was fine.

“I don’t feel like I’ll be able to do this properly… maybe I should review it again.”

Even after that, I repeatedly went over the points in my mind, simulated the audience in my head, grew worried and checked everything again from the beginning… repeating that cycle over and over until at some point I fell asleep.