The Royal Audience
"Oh my, Princess Adelia?"
Yeon-hwa blinked in surprise at Adelia's sudden appearance.
"A-Atsbal! Get up! W-We have a guest!"
Pamela stopped her work and shook Atsbal, who was still asleep on the bed.
"Mmm… What is it? I was just about to unleash my brilliant ultimate annihilation technique in my dream…"
"W-What on earth were you doing in your dream?! M-More importantly, we have a guest!"
"A guest?"
Still half-asleep, Atsbal's eyes trembled as he looked toward the entrance where Adelia stood.
"You… Adelia Laden? Why is the second princess of Laden Kingdom here?"
He tilted his head, clearly puzzled by her presence.
"You know her, Atsbal?"
"Hmph, I am also a noble of Tunk Tree! Of course I know about the royalty of other nations!"
Tunk Tree was a nation modeled after steampunk aesthetics.
Turning his gaze back to Adelia, he asked,
"What business does the second princess of Laden Kingdom have with our group?"
At my question, Adelia answered calmly.
"The water sacred beast, Praton. That alone should give you some idea why I'm here."
Her composed voice was pleasant to my ears.
'Right, this was the feeling Adelia gave off at the very beginning.'
In the early stages of the main story, Adelia had been detached and businesslike, showing no particular interest in getting close to the protagonist. Only as the story progressed did she begin treating him like a close friend, smiling more often. Those scenes had been heartwarming for players to watch.
Of course, some players had complained loudly, demanding the return of the original stoic Adelia, which sparked the usual community flame wars.
"The report about encountering the water sacred beast was submitted along with photographic evidence to Guildmaster Dorant in Valendia. If you wish to verify it, I recommend going there."
"No need. I already met with Guildmaster Dorant and confirmed the photos. The investigation of Praton's remains is currently being handled by Laden Kingdom's investigation team."
"Then why are you here?"
While talking, I had already guessed why Adelia had come to our group. Still, it would be more entertaining to hear it from her own mouth.
"My father… His Majesty the King wishes to meet you personally and hear about what happened that day. I came to deliver that message."
"Oh my, to think we'd be granted an audience with the King of Laden."
"A-A-An audience?! I-I don't even have a dress to wear…!"
Pamela held the preconception that one had to wear a dress when entering a castle.
"Hmph, rest assured, Pamela! There's no need to wear a dress just because we're entering the royal palace!"
"R-Really?"
"If you're still worried, just wear the academy uniform they provide!"
"T-That's a relief. You really know about these things, Atsbal."
"I am a noble after all! Hahahaha!"
"I see. So when should we go?"
"Tomorrow morning at ten. I'll come back here then, so please be ready to accompany me."
"Understood."
"That is all His Majesty commanded me to convey. Now… I have other matters to attend to."
Adelia crossed her arms and stared at me. The way her arms pushed up her chest made the side profile even more striking.
"You're Lee Si-han, correct?"
"That's right."
"Good. Lee Si-han. I've heard some rather curious rumors lately."
"Curious rumors?"
"Things like the sacred beast's gender finally being discovered… or that the water sacred beast's hide will soon appear at auction. Or that high-end restaurants are fiercely competing over the freshest cuts of its meat… rumors like that."
"I see. And?"
"As far as I know, the only ones who possess parts of Praton's severed body are the Portis Group. Lee Si-han… what exactly did you do?"
Adelia's tone was accusatory. From her perspective, treating the sacred beast her kingdom revered so casually—selling its remains like mere goods—must have been deeply unsettling.
But in moments like this, the best approach was to remain confident. That was the only way to proceed smoothly and get what I wanted.
Adelia Laden was a character who tried to suppress her emotions as much as possible in order to become more perfect and stronger. However, players loved seeing such characters flustered, surprised, or embarrassed.
"I simply sold the loot I obtained."
Penetration has pierced through Embarrassment Resistance.
"S-Sold…?! You actually sold it?!"
With her arms still crossed, Adelia's eyes and mouth flew wide open as she froze in place.
Ah, that expression. It was one that couldn't be fully captured by the game's facial animations—one that could only be seen in this vivid reality.
Feeling satisfied at having witnessed the face I'd wanted to see, I carefully stored it away in the album of my mind.
"A-Are you being serious right now? You really sold the remains of the water sacred beast… the one Laden Kingdom reveres as sacred?"
"That's correct."
"That's correct?! Ugh…"
Adelia uncrossed her arms and pressed her fingers against her temples, lowering her head slightly.
Having enjoyed her flustered reaction enough, I decided to move the conversation forward.
"Is there some major problem? Selling loot is our right. Besides, we already provided the necessary parts for the investigation."
"Yes, you did. And we're grateful for that. But… it's the water sacred beast. Selling the remains of something that's practically a symbol of Laden…"
"The water sacred beast already regenerated its severed parts and disappeared from us. So the remaining pieces should be put to good use, and we have every right to do so."
"Ohohohoho! He's absolutely right!"
Yeon-hwa jumped in to support me.
"It's not like we killed the water sacred beast either, right? If anything, it attacked us while emitting suspicious energy, and the loot was simply what we obtained in the process. You're not going to claim we committed a crime by keeping it, are you?"
"…No, I have no intention of saying that. It's just… Haah, I asked because it personally bothered me."
Adelia didn't press the issue further just because it bothered her personally.
"Adelia Laden."
"Yes. What is it?"
"I understand that the water sacred beast holds special meaning for you as a member of Laden's royal family. Selling its remains must have been distressing. For that, I apologize."
"…"
Adelia gave me a puzzled look. Just moments ago I'd been acting completely unapologetic, and now I was suddenly apologizing—it must have been confusing.
"No, there's no need to apologize. His Majesty won't criticize your actions either. It's just… I was the one who brought it up because it bothered me. I'm the one who should apologize for my immaturity."
Adelia shook her head and instead apologized to us. This was exactly why she was popular—not just for her performance, but for her character. She was polite, acknowledged her mistakes without denial, and apologized sincerely.
"Then I'll return tomorrow."
With those words, Adelia left the room.
"Hmm, she's gone. Zzzzz…"
The moment Adelia departed, Atsbal immediately fell back asleep.
Pamela quietly returned to her cauldron and resumed making air fresheners.
"Si-han."
"What?"
"You didn't really need to apologize, did you? We didn't do anything wrong."
Yeon-hwa asked with a puzzled expression, though I could tell she wasn't genuinely questioning me—she was playfully testing me.
"You're right about that. But there's no need to deliberately make enemies either."
"Hehe, that's true. But… you've already made enemies with the Flame Dragon Society, haven't you?"
"That couldn't be helped. They were the ones who picked a fight first. Besides, I didn't like the way they were eyeing you as a group member."
"Oh my. Oh my my. Does that mean you didn't want to hand me over to the Flame Dragon Society?"
"Of course not. I invited you to the group because I wanted you in the first place. Now that you're one of us… I won't hand you over to anyone."
"Uuuuugh~!"
Yeon-hwa squeezed her eyes shut and waved her arms excitedly.
"That straightforward desire to have me! I love it! Ohohohoho!"
Another day, another successful round of praising Yeon-hwa.
The next day.
As planned, Adelia arrived at ten o'clock to escort us.
Following her, we used the warp stone to travel to Laden's capital, Radenia, and entered the royal castle.
"Th-This is… the royal castle of Laden…"
Though she'd originally planned to wear her academy uniform, Pamela—now dressed in her usual attire after Yeon-hwa stopped her—looked around nervously.
"The architecture really is different from Luong. It's refreshing."
"Quite an impressive building!"
"…"
Everyone gazed around in admiration at the castle's design.
Even I, who had always been forced to warp straight to the audience chamber in the game and couldn't explore the rest of the structure, took the time to appreciate the royal castle properly.
"The audience chamber is just ahead."
Once we'd had enough time to look around, we arrived at the doors of the audience chamber.
"Open it."
"Yes, Princess Adelia!"
The soldier standing guard opened the massive doors at Adelia's command.
With a heavy creak, the enormous doors swung open.
Following Adelia as she walked through, the rest of us stepped forward as well.
And then—
"Your Majesty, I have brought the members of the Portis Group."
"Well done, Adelia."
I came face to face with the King of Laden Kingdom—a sturdy man with a blue beard, sitting with a dignified posture.
Forten Laden.
"So you are the ones who encountered the water sacred beast, Praton."
With this meeting—
"Now then… tell me the details of what happened that day."
The true main quest was about to begin.