"Do you think king Leonard will accept Albion's proposal?"
"He'd be a fool not to. Saital kingdom's grain stores are full and they couldn't get enough money to hire such a large military force even if they sold it all. If the kingdom of Glacialis invades the Galli kingdom they will be forced to deal with it before continuing to invade the kingdom of Saital."
"Aren't you making light of the king's pride? Things are still in the balance."
"Oh, you worry too much. You act like an old man."
"Going by human standards both of us are way too old to still be alive. Also, please don't say I have the behavior of an old man just because I'm being cautious."
"So uptight! Now, I assume you'll be leaving for Nix to talk to prince Albion?"
"I did contact him pretending I had come to visit. There was no easier way to give him the suggestion of asking Saital kingdom for food in return for military aid."
"That's good and all but while you're there you can go ahead and establish a branch fit the grey merchant guild. If you tell Albion about your plans I'm sure he'll assist you as much as he can. Here are 100'000 gold coins to make all the necessary purchases. Contact me once you are done so we can set up a gate."
"I'll be sure to do so."
It was already evening and I had agreed to eat dinner with prince Albion. I bent space to my will and arrived in the room I was staying in without further delay.
Well, to be more accurate this was the room an illusion of mine had been staying in. I had used the illusion to contact prince Albion and gone to "rest" in this room that prince Albion had gladly provided.
I went to the door and softly pressed down the handle to exit. Outside a butler was waiting for me while repeatedly dabbing away the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. Seeing me exit the room he looked to be incredibly relieved.
"Good evening, honored guest. The evening meal is about to begin. Please follow me to the main hall."
As he turned around to lead the way he glanced at my get-up in a disapproving manner. I was wearing casual adventurers clothes meant for adventuring and not a meal with a member of the royal family.
Retrieving some more formal clothes I quickly changed while following the butler. By the time he next turned around to hold a door open for me, he looked somewhat stunned. I was wearing a purple and black nobleman's attire with turquoise patterns adorning the sleeves snaking up to my shoulders.
This wasn't my first formal meeting and sadly it wouldn't be the last. Inside the main hall, a large table had been decked and there were already some people sitting there, including Albion. Upon my arrival, all gazes in the room focused on me and I was looked up and down like an oddity in a zoo. The butler behind me kindly announced my presence to give the people present an idea of who I was.
"This is... an honored guest of prince Albion!"
I'd never really told Albion my name so naturally, the butler also didn't know of it. He felt a little embarrassed but soldiered through it pretending that this was what he had planned to say from the beginning.
I sketched a half-bow while placing my right hand above my heart.
"I apologize for making everyone wait.
The gesture of respect and distance was generally well-received and only got me a few hostile glares.
Nobles... I hadn't known that the dinner invitation I'd received was to be a noble's banquet. I fought down the urge to sneer at the nobles who were sending me hostile gazes and proceeded forward.
At the head of the table sat a middle-aged looking man wearing a crown, likely the king of the kingdom of Glacialis. Prince Albion sat on his right and what I presumed to be the queen sat on his left. After hearing the announcement, prince Albion shot up from his seat and came over to me.
"Glad you could make it. Please come sit beside me!"
Since I was already there I thought that I might as well get it over with. I gave him a professional and probably dashing smile that I had practiced for hours in front of a mirror. The female nobles at the table began to blush and whisper among themselves. I was curious why they reacted so strongly and looked into their minds. Bad idea! After all the time I've spent you'd think I'd known better.
I vowed to myself to keep a minimum distance from prince Albion at all times. I really didn't want to know what kind of fantasies would develop in their minds if given additional stimulation.
Since I sat next to prince Albion I was located very close to the head of the table. Many of the hostile gazes immediately turned subdued fearing the royal family's wrath for disrespecting their guest.
"You must be the mage that specializes in space magic that was part of the auction in Saitala. Forgive me, I seem to have missed your name."
The queen spoke with a warm, kind voice. Her mention of me using space magic made the most of the subdued hostility vanish completely. Space mages had a high standing wherever they went. And yet, the queen wasn't as kind and oblivious as she pretended to be. The way she had phrased her question for my name made it very hard for me not to tell her. Good thing I wasn't going to hide it.
"There is nothing to forgive your Majesty. My name is Abel Eisir of the grey empire, currently a member of the grey merchant guild."
"Abel, what a lovely name! I'm Eleanor Glacialis but please just call me Eleanor."
"I fear that would be inappropriate, your majesty."
"But I absolutely insist, you are my son's friend and have done a great deal for him so I won't be accepting you calling me anything but that!"
"Very well, nice to meet you, Eleanor."
She gave me a beaming smile that seemed to light up the entire room. Surely she had practiced this in front of the mirror too, right? Right?
Yeah, no. She was just naturally good at smiling.