Chapter 24: New Proposal

The Royal Meeting Room was not the place for someone of such a high status as a Duke. 

Unlike the throne room, which was designated for holding an official audience with the Royal Family, the Meeting Room only welcomed rich commoners and aristocrats who were granted permission to see the King as the elected representatives of their kind or simply because they were able to make noticeable contributions to the continuous development of the Kingdom. 

The silence in the room was overbearing. The King sat at the end of the long, rectangular wooden table, its corners ornamented with bizarre carvings filled with gold – the only thing that indicated that, despite the room's modest interior, the person sitting at the table was still in the presence of royalty. 

'I did not expect any special treatment but this is simply preposterous. If word of this traveled beyond the border, the King would be reduced to nothing but a commoner himself.'