Turning to the maid who was standing in front of the door, I said, "I am ready."
She had been wearing a faint smile this entire time and I could not sense even a hint of tiredness from her. Her black hair was tied up in a bun and she wore the classic black dress and white apron, which looked like they were fresh off of the shelves of a store. Royal maids are the real deal.
"That is lovely to hear, Lord hero. I will relay the message to lady Iris instantly and she will be here to check on you in no time."
"Ye- Yeah. Thanks."
Within a few minutes, Iris arrived. She looked as amazing as ever-
"I hope you feel a little better now, my hero."
"Yes, I am feeling a little better now. Thank you for your concern."
"Huhu. Let's go meet the king and queen then, shall we?"
We exited the room, and it was a straight walk down the corridor of the palace. One consistent thing I observed about this place was that the ceiling was always so high up due to which the palace had a perpetually hollow feel to it. The walls were all gold plated, same as in the room where I was sleeping. Several paintings were hanging on the wall and sensing my curiosity, Iris spoke.
"These paintings here portray the great rulers of the past who helped make Liberia into what it is today. I can tell you more about our history tomorrow and also show you around the palace, only if you would like it, of course."
A date?!? Hell yeah.
"I shall take you up on that offer then, Iris."
She suddenly stopped walking for some reason, and I could see her cheeks turning red. Right before I could burn it into my memory, she replied "No problem, my hero." and started walking at a faster pace.
Why the strong reaction? Because I didn't use any honorifics and called her simply using her name? I'm blessed.
Now we could now see a large door ahead of us and as we moved closer to it, the door opened up.
"We are here, my hero. Please go on ahead of me. I will be right behind you."
"O- Okay."
My heart was starting to beat faster, and beads of sweat started dripping down my forehead. I really hope Iris doesn't see my nervousness. Will she dislike me? No, I have bigger things to worry about right now! I take a deep breath and walk in.
The king's court was as royal as it could get. In the ceiling was a massive chandelier, unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was big enough to light up the entire hall and this hall was massive. The room I was in cannot even begin to compare to it. It had an even more extravagant feel about it, as if that bedroom didn't seem rich enough. At the very end of the room, directly opposite to the door through which I walked in, stood two chairs atop an elevated platform. I could see a faint outline of a man and a woman, who I think can really only be the King and Queen, sitting on those chairs. There was something about them that immediately made you feel that they were important. There was a straight path from the door to the king and between the king's place and the door were a host of seats on either side of the walking space. They probably held events of some sort where a lot of people were involved. A red carpet was laid out from the door to the seats.
As we got closer, I could see the king and queen along with a few other people that were standing near them, below the elevation. I really expected to find a horde of people here because this palace is just so massive, however this is a welcome surprise. I feel a little less nervous now.
The king wore a serious face and seemed like he was deep in thought when we arrived. He looked old, like a man in his 50s but had a very strong build which was evident from the broadness of his shoulders. He had a brown complexion with thick silver eyebrows. He wore a silk robe that was white in color, and it meshed very well with silver hair which was long enough to reach his shoulders. His short and well-kept beard enhanced his already sharp jawline and made it look even better.
Suddenly the king leapt up from his seat and expressed his joy.
"FINALLY! There you are, O' hero of Liberia. I hope that you are feeling better now."
"Ye- Yes, your majesty. I feel better now thanks to your kindness. Lady Iris helped me settle down."
"That is wonderful! I would like to take this moment to thank you for all of your help, dear Iris."
With a slight bow of the head, Iris replied, "I don't deserve such praise, your highness."
As if remembering something very important, he said "Oh my! How impolite of me! I forgot to introduce myself as I was so happy to see you. You must be really confused! Well then!"
The King swiftly cleared his throat and put his hand behind his back.
"I am Augustus Holstien. The king of Liberia. I am pleased to have you on our side, Lord hero."
Right after that, the queen started talking.
"And I am Marilyn Holstein. The first of my name and the Queen of Liberia. It pleases me to no end to finally lay eyes on you, Lord Hero."
Unlike the king, she had a more relaxed and self-assured look on her face when we first arrived. Her luscious black hair complemented her beautiful face and added more weight to her soothing voice. She looked relatively young as there were no visible wrinkles on her face. Her delicate hands were filled with jewelry of all kinds which made her pale skin stand out even more. The shape of her body was slightly visible through the creases in her green gown which only added to her appeal.
I felt like I had to introduce myself as well, so I hurriedly tried to introduce myself without wasting any time, but I felt very nervous.
"I am Ar-Arwin Glazar. It is an h- honour to meet you."
The stammering proved costly because I felt like the people who were present beside the king twisted their faces. It made me feel like they were disappointed with the way I spoke, but it might just have been my imagination. From here on I had to be more careful in the way I spoke.
"Lord Arwin! Yes. It does have a nice ring to it indeed! We know you must have a lot of questions, so we shall try our best to clear them all one by one. Before we go on, I would like to talk about why exactly you were summoned, if that's acceptable to Lord Arwin?"
"Yes, please. I would have asked that question anyways."
"Hahahaha. Very well. Then let me begin. Ahem."
This is it.
"First of all, let me tell you about where you are right now and what the situation of the world currently is. You are presently in the Royal Palace of the Free land of Liberia. We pride ourselves on our inclusivity and freedom of our citizens to live how they please. As a matter of fact, we are the only country to not practice slavery because we truly disdain such practices."
Slavery exists in this world huh.
"That is really noble of you. So, there are other countries besides Liberia?"
"Yes, indeed. There are many countries, so naming them all right now would be a daunting task. However, I can tell you about the various races that exist and where they predominantly reside. Us humans primarily reside here in Liberia and in the country of Ceartus. Elves reside in the thickly forested region called Katharos and you can rarely find them outside of their land. The beings that hail from the demon race reside in the hellish lands of Eredyk. Then the dragonfolk reside in the Land of the Mountains, Raizan. The Seafolk can be found all throughout the vast ocean, but their most prominent colonies are located to the east of Liberia."
"There are dragons in this world!? Along with demons, seafolk and elves too?!? I want to meet them!"
"Yes, Lord hero. I hope you get to meet the mystical dragons and the elves one day. We have quite the tight bond with the seafolk, so I imagine that you will be meeting them soon enough. They are wonderful beings. However, I am not so sure about meeting the demons."
"So they are the enemies."
The king's face turned dark.
"That is correct, lord hero. The demons of Eredyk have recently joined forces with those brutes of Ceartus and are waging a war against us. This is the very reason we have summoned you. With you on our side, we stand a chance at defeating those goons in battle."
Huh…? Let's dial it back juuuuust a bit! Did I hear that right?
"I have to fight... in a war..?"