"How disheartening," Sara sighed helping Sol into his Arkadian attire. "How can one man be so... untempted, am I not attractive?" She looked at Sol with a pout. "Little lord, are you perhaps impotent?" She asked while her fellow maids were getting dressed right in front of Sol.
"Impotent!?" Sol almost broke into laughter. "Of course not, I'm simply not interested in you," he answered causing all three of them to stare at him shocked.
"A-are you into men?" She seemed embarrassed now.
"No, listen you're pretty, but I have no interest in any of you," He took the buckles of his pants from her and did it himself while she went behind and placed a small towel over his head and started drying him.
"Have you seen Ikaris?" Sol asked, and Sara paused and thought about the hero who claimed Sol as her own.
"She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," Sara sighed, understanding what he meant now, and the other two maids sighed along with her, they had not seen Ikaris, but rumours of her beauty had already spread throughout the castle among the staff and servants.
"I told her to wear those clothes because she has a tempting body, and it would be a hassle to constantly fend off other men, if I were to compare her to anything it would be the goddess of lust and temptation, she is incomparably attractive," Sol admitted something he had always thought even on the first day he had met the goddess.
"I believed only she held you in high praise, but I see the feeling is mutual," Sara responded sheepishly. "I am sorry for the way I behaved earlier,"
"It's fine," Sol nodded while the other twoaids helped him with his shoes.
On the other side of the castle, Ikaris had an extremely pleased expression while she was walking next to Eris, who was by far the least annoying person among the heroes.
"Is something wrong?" Eris asked when Ikaris suddenly started snickering with herself after eavesdropping on Sol's conversation with her clairvoyance.
"Hehehe he called me attractive beyond compare!" Ikaris snickered to herself while they entered a massive dining hall with a large table filled from one side to the next with the finest food any of them had ever seen.
"Holy..." Eris stared in disbelief watching as not only the Queen, but several other important-looking people stood there waiting for them.
"Are we late?" She asked, and the general behind them grunted.
"Of course not, Grim answered. "The heroes can never be late, you are the hope of this world," He declared, gesturing toward the Queen with his head lowered.
"Musicians," Queen Vermon waved her hand, and the musicians staged on a high balcony began playing soft music to kick off the entire event.
"Welcome heroes, I presume you have been taken care of..." She stopped when her eyes fell on Ikaris who was wearing the same attire she arrived in. "Had I not instructed that the heroes be fitted for the occasion?"
"The only person I will obey is Master, and the only reason we are not gone is because he has shown no interest in leaving yet," Ikaris declared.
"Master?"
"She means the seventh, my Queen, it seems the Hero Ikaris regards that imposter as master over her, she is obedient to none other than him, she even declared that no queen or god can get her to bend a knee, only him," Her advisor at her side whispered to her.
The queen seemed reluctant, but because she valued Ikaris as the strongest and most willing amongst the heroes she allowed the disrespect in the presence of her subjects to go unpunished, swallowing it with a bitter pill and gesturing to the table. "Your seats have been assigned, Heroes, come and dine with me, tonight you will feast, and your training will begin at sunrise in the morn.
Ikaris turned her attention to the door while everyone else went to their assigned seats, this is also when she saw Han of all people come next to her and place his hand on her chair, pulling it out as a sign of courtesy.
"They told me that next to you is where I should sit, as the next strongest amongst the heroes," Han spoke frankly, staring down at her with a somewhat lustful glare.
"Ikaris, did this bastard just stare at you?" Sol seemed to appear out of nowhere between the two of them picking up a fork and swinging it thoutlessly toward Han's eye. If Han hadn't been aware of the threat and seen Sol move he would have lost an eye in an instant, but he was able to summon a sword and block the fork causing it to graze and tear off a piece of his ear, but the sword itself was smacked into his face because of the amount of force Sol swung with.
The entire dining hall erupted in gasps of shock and outrage.
"How dare you attack a hero in my presence you-"
"We have an existing agreement, Your Majesty," Sol turned his gaze to the Queen. "I would avoid him because of our personal grudge, and in return, he would never lay his eyes or a hand on Ikaris, this is a dispute amongst us coming from our own world, he broke that agreement the moment he ogled her,"
"I-I never agreed to-" Han stammered to respond, but went silent at Sol's gaze falling upon him again.
"I do not care about some petty squabble!" The Queen stood outraged, looking at Han who was being healed by Eris and clutching his sword with his eyes wide in shock and blood dripping from his nose.
"It's his honour, and my pride on the line, a line that he crossed, no matter the day, age or world, no man has the right to lay their filthy eyes on her!" Sol summoned a spear from his pocket arsenal and slammed the hilt of it on the ground causing the entire hall to shake and the musicians to halt in shock. "I don't give a damn about your rules, your laws or your title of Queen, he's lucky to be alive-"
"Master, calm down," Ikaris grabbed Sol's fist and slowly opened his hand, taking it and resting it on her own head.
"Tch, find somewhere else to sit, I don't want you anywhere near her from now on," Sol looked down at Han who was trembling on the ground and then looked at Ikaris. "Why are you still wearing that?"
"Ah- because you bought it for me!" She chuckled nervously.
"Sol Vestic, seventh summon, imposter amongst the heroes," The Queen leaned on the table angrily as her eyes flared with magic.
System
[The queen has shown interest in you]
"Just who the hell are you?"