The castle was well-guarded, even if the device the guard had used at the gate was broken and ineffective, in terms of sheer guard number, the place wasn't nearly as bad and each of these guards were powerful and they weren't even the royal guards, the chaotic times of the revolution had let some talents shine.
The guards had searched him for anything dangerous but had found nothing and he was now currently waiting to be let in the throne room, the castle had changed a fair bit since the last time he had come here, the previous owner seemed fond of making decorative changes on a high scale.
The total lack of any pressure or nervousness on his face or the way he stood made the guard that was accompanying him uncomfortable and start to get nervous himself.
"If I may ask, what brings you here exactly?" asked the guard, he knew the king wanted to see him but not much than that and talking would perhaps help him stop stressing out.
"Well, it isn't quite defined but from what I heard, it sort of relates to the guillotine, one of my inventions, maybe his majesty wants to get more innovative ways to slaughter and torture people? Wouldn't that be great to have personalised executions depending on the type of crime?" responded Ithelisemou with a pensive smile on his face.
The guard just turned his head away from him and pretended he hadn't asked anything, this guy thoroughly gave him the creeps.
Stopping before a door guarded by two heavily armored, tall guards that acted as another layer for the doors themselves, the guard told them something and they stepped out of the way while one entered the room for a few moments before coming back out.
"You can go in" he said from behind his great helm.
Inside the throne room, there were two other guards, Theli felt like the security was still a bit lax but it was still the start of this new monarchy after all.
The young king was sitting on his throne, his nickname was quite on point, not just because he was objectively still a young man but because in the shoes of a king, he appeared as nothing more than a kid, Ithelisemou, who was but a single year older than him appeared much more mature and masculine.
Theli did an impressive bow, one only achievable by being quite flexible, this demonstration of etiquette of the higher class almost made him not appear as a backstreet shanker for a second.
"You must be Ithelisemou, From what Jeanne had told me, I was expecting something much worse" said the king in an amused tone.
The audience itself was quite uneventful, Theli wasn't willing to do the same thing he had done with that lich, not to an actual king or the one of his country at least.
Ithelisemou had always been willing to help out his own country so he didn't have any problem with doing it a bit more officially and from what he saw of the new king, Theli felt like he should work to make sure he can rule for a long while and not get stabbed in the back or poisoned, Pepin The Third was a true patriot.
The king gave him an interesting item to communicate before sending him on his way.
"By the way, I was wondering, how did you get here so fast and before Jeanne?" asked the king before he completely left.
"I used the trees your majesty" he quickly answered before leaving like a snake.
"The trees?" wondered the king out loud.
"Is this some druid stuff?" he continued, looking at the two guards with him in the rooms, seeing them shaking their heads, the king sighed before asking another question.
"What did you think of him?" he questioned the two experienced knights, he himself wasn't quite suited to decipher things such as strength or magical capabilities, he was fairly oblivious to what wasn't obvious in that regard.
"Your majesty, I am uncertain, he appeared quite built for a man of knowlege" said one of them, having noticed the musculature hidden behind the ample and beaten up clothes.
"Your majesty, I noticed an extensive pool of mana" responded the other one, the two of them looked at each other slightly confused, feeling like the other one had spouted nonsense.
One hadn't noticed the mana at all and the other was certain that he had been feeble.
"What a mysterious man indeed, do not torture yourselves over this, he must be attached to his secrets" spoke the king as he sat back on his throne.
"Castille? Would you stop hiding behind that door and tell me what you think?" he spoke loudly and from a door on the side of the room, the experienced advisor came out.
"You didn't have to hide like a thief you know?" he added on before letting Castille speak, he could already expect what he would say.
"Your majesty, this man is highly suspicious, you shouldn't trust in him and he should be investigated!" he said, cautioning the young king to be wary.
"Castille, he is a friend of Jeanne, I know, you already told me that appointing her wasn't a good idea but she has been doing great! I want to establish a relation of trust with people of importance in my population and for that I need to have some trust" responded the king.
"No investigation, I don't need to know what he does in his spare time, I only need to have a reliable ally and friend, he won't always be around anyways" the king swatted away his cautious advisor's worries.
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The king of Mawlique wasn't a decrepit old man but he was certainly getting old by now, the signs were clear, he seemed to grow more and more paranoid of everyone around him, the need to reinforce his position after the humiliation he had suffered was getting stronger each day.
His worries were clear to see and knowing it he put excessive pressure on all close to him, in a vain attempt to demonstrate that he was still in control, he was a lauching stock, he could feel it, the nobles, his people, his own family, they mocked him for being so careless as to let that damned woman enter the royal palace and push him around into declaring peace.
He had to go back to war immediately, he needed to score a big victory to regain his former glory but who to fight? Heilig? Gloire? The Confederation Of Lacam? Heilig was too powerful for him to mess with, Gloire wasn't a place he wanted to attack again, were he to lose again it would truly be his end, The Confederation Of Lacam wasn't something he could attack at all, all other nations were much further and would necessitate to cross one of those three countries.
"Damnit!" he cried out as he struck the closest thing down, sending papers flying all around his room.
He stared at his crown that was resting down on the very same table, suddenly taken by nostalgia.
This humiliation would never have happened to his past self, he wouldn't have been sitting in his palace while his army waged war, he would have stood with them, he wouldn't have been met with her in the comfort of his residence but on the muddy and bloody soil of the battlefield.
"How far have I fallen?" he muttered, seemingly coming to a great realisation, this was the first step to redemption.
"Low" answered a sweet voice from behind him.
He spun around, unsheating his sword immediately, only to be met by someone that strangely felt as unthreatening as could be possible, anyone intruding in his room should be considered extremely dangerous but he couldn't help but bring his blade down, as if he just realised that it was nothing more than small lamb that stood there.
It was no lamb however but a beautiful woman with bluish hair that where slicked back in her head, her skin seemed unnaturally perfect, her skin was of a magnificent paleness, she was wearing dark ample clothes that had a desertic feeling to them, her eyes were covered with a blindfold.
Staring in awe for a few moments, the king of Mawlique managed to raise his sword again, about to yell for his guards but the moment she smiled, a soft, contented smile, he lost all strength to do anything.
What was there to do? This woman couldn't possibly be of any danger, there simply was no way, the king could only see innocence personified.
"Do not worry, I will make things right in your stead" she muttered, her voice sounding like honey to the kings ears.
She grabbed his chin and brought his face to stare at her own, removing the blindfold for a few moments, causing the king's eyes to turn obsidian black for a few seconds before coming back to normal, she hastly put the blindfold back on and the king went on about as if nothing had happened, seemingly oblivious to her presence at all.
The woman rubbed her temples as if she suffered from a headache but her contented smile was still here, she sat down on the king's chair as if it was her own and waited for things to happen, time and fate would dictate how fast things would go from now on.