Emilia and 26 entered the dressing room so they could get ready to meet their master.
Emilia said that 26 should look his very best so at the moment there were a few maids and butlers holding expensive, nice-looking clothing.
When the maids saw "26" body they gasped, one of them had teary eyes. The butlers looked at him with pitiful expressions on their faces.
'This situation feels uncomfortable, but I'm glad they were concerned for me' 26 thought while scratching his face
Emilia and 26 walked towards them so they could put on the clothing they'd prepared for him.
The clothing was a black children's suit. The jacket and vest were black while the inner shirt was white. The pants were black and the shoes, along with the socks were black as well. There was also a red bowtie to go with the suit.
26 started putting them on while a couple of maids started pushing his hair back, styling it.
After a few minutes had passed, they all stood in front of him and they looked quite...shocked.
A few had their mouths that had an 'O' shaped, while a couple of maids blushed. Even Emilia was quite surprised, but instead of blushing her ears were red.
'Is there something wrong with me?' 26 thought while raising his eyebrow.
He didn't know why he's getting these reactions, so he looked to his right and saw a mirror in the corner and started walking toward it.
He looked into the mirror and was surprised.
There was his small body wearing the clothing that I'd just put on, and his face was quite...pretty. He practically looked like a girl wearing boy's clothing.
He took a step back in shock.
'Why am I this pretty? I would rather look handsome than beautiful. Especially with my frail body, I look like a delicate, beautiful girl' 26 thought.
He sighed and thought that if he grew a bit of muscle, he'd look more manly.
He kept staring at the mirror and felt a warm hand on his shoulder. 26 looked at the person in the mirror and it was Emilia
She warmly smiled and said "You look very dashing and charming, Young Master. I'm sure my master would be pleased"
'Pleased?' He thought.
From the gist of things, He considered that he wasn't staying here as a slave, from the clothing he wore to the attitudes of Emilia and the servants.
'I wonder why this person went out of their way to purchase me and made these servants treat me this nicely' 26 thought.
There are only two reasons he could think of and that's either because of his looks, or this person might know that he's been reincarnated. What important figure would go out of their way to choose a random slave for no reason?
'Whatever it is, I should put up my guard, I don't know anything and I'm quite weak to do anything if they were up to something' He thought with a concerned expression.
He did feel bad because the way Emilia has been treating him, seems genuine. He feels comfortable around her, so if this person seems friendly, he'd at least give it a chance. He has a hard time trusting people because everyone he's met is either fake, evil, or both.
He looked at Emilia, smiled and said "...Thank you, Emilia. You look very beautiful as well"
He thought that he wasn't good at complimenting people, but was sure you are supposed to compliment someone if they said something nice about you.
"Eh?" Emilia said as she turned her face, her ears were quite red.
'W-What's this feeling?' Emilia thought to herself.
"Emilia?" 26 called her name, hoping everything was alright.
He was worried he had said something wrong or inappropriate.
Emilia shook her head, looked at him, and said "Young Master, we will now be teaching you proper etiquette. This is rather important, so I need you to focus, alright?"
Emilia glanced toward one of the butlers, and he started to walk to Emilia and 26.
The butler then said "Alright, Young Master. I need you to copy everything I do, okay?"
"Yes, I'll try my best" He nodded while clenching my fist. This seems really important and he doesn't want to screw it up.
After 10 minutes, Emilia and 26 left the room after finishing his practice. They could see the general standing straight, guarding the bathroom.
The general looked in their direction and saluted
"Head Ma-" she stuttered
26 looked at the general that was wearing full metal armor while wearing a helmet. 26 couldn't see her face, but he was confused on why she didn't finish her greeting.
It was because, like Emilia and the butlers, she was blushing but fortunately for her, she was wearing the helmet.
Although 26 looked like a kid, his beauty made it hard for people to see him like that. There was also something about him that attracted people.
26 found it odd about the way people started acting towards him right after dressing up, but he then thought it was just his looks. He then looked at Emilia and saw her sigh
"Sigh...Let's get going" Emilia said, snapping the general out of her gaze.
"Y-Yes!" the general said.
Emilia turned left and 26 and the general started following her. They've passed new decorations that 26 haven't seen before as Emilia and the general were already familiar with the castle.
They passed through multiple paintings until 26 saw one that caught his attention.
It was a painting of a veiled woman, while the frame had black and gold engravings. On the bottom of the frame, there was the same insignia that he once saw again.
Emilia and the general noticed that 26 had stopped moving.
"Young Master? What's wrong?" Emilia asked, she started walking toward him and she shifted her gaze to where he was looking and noticed the same painting of a veiled woman.
She smiled and patiently waited
"What do you think?" Emilia asked 26 with a curious expression.
Emilia knew that, just like this painting, there were other paintings that gave off the same attraction, but people had different viewpoints seeing them. She wondered how 26 interpreted the painting.
Still looking at the painting "...Amazing...I noticed this painting and I can't stop staring at it. It's interesting..." 26 replied
"...What makes it interesting?" Emilia asked while continuing to smile
"I'm not sure, although it's a rather simple painting, however, I could feel...what's the word...safe or warm I guess" 26 replied to her question.
"I see" Emilia said while smiling widely. She paused for a moment, then continued "Let us keep moving, Young Master"
"R-Right" 26 answered.
"..." The general looked at the painting silently, then as Emilia and 26 passed by, she continued to follow behind them.
After half an hour, we arrived in front of these two massive doors. There were two guards at each door handle ready to open it.
However, Emilia stopped all of a sudden, raised her hand, and waited silently. The guards nodded at her.
Emilia then glanced at 26.
"Young Master, the person we are about to meet behind these doors is someone you should treat with the utmost respect. Remember the etiquette we practiced in the dressing room? Following that proper etiquette, only speak when spoken to. Do you understand?" She looked at 26 with a serious expression.
26 gulped and replied "Y-Yes" while nodding his head.
With a satisfied expression, Emilia nodded toward the guards. The guards then opened the door and what he saw was hard to describe in words.
This throne room was huge! 26 knew this room was going to be magnificent, but this is just beyond that.
The room was filled with blinking lights that glowed different colors. like fireflies. 26 looked down and saw a beautiful red carpet with designs of gray lines entangling each other. To the left, there was a long, highly detailed marbled table with numerous chairs. On his right are knights in single-column formations.
They started walking forwards and saw the guards suddenly saluting, which startled him.
26 kept walking and saw the general drop to the floor, in a kneeling position. She had her right hand on her chestplate, while her left hand was in a fist leaning on the floor. Emilia looked at 26 and nodded.
26 then did the same, kneeling a few meters away from her.
Emilia then had a small, satisfied expression while walking toward the right and said
"Greetings, Master"
After a few seconds of silence
26 and the general both yelled in unison
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
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Thanks for reading!
Let me know what you think in the comments. I'll answer any questions that I can.
In the upcoming chapters, it's going to get a bit interesting, so I hope you're excited for that.
If you like this novel, check out my other one -
"Raven Online: Unique Class 'Cultivator/Dual-Cultivator'" - Ongoing
Chapter 4: "Greetings, Your Majesty!"