Published at 21st of February 2023 6:08 am

Chapter 694 Dining With The Royalty

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We waited for the butler to arrive because we could not wander around the castle despite one of our companions being royalty herself. As much as she can go and tour us, the people working inside the castle clearly are treating Tina differently. I won't be even surprised if we are not even treated as guests but as servants instead but I will hold back until then. All that said, if Tina bursts out and can no longer hold back her anger then I will back her up on whatever she is going to do.

Every one of us did not say anything. Tina already told us to not discuss anything while we are inside the palace. Not only do the people of the insect kingdom possess extraordinary hearing prowess but they also have great camouflage and invisibility abilities so while we are there, there is a big chance that there will be spies and snooping people trying to gather anything from us.

And like what Tina said before, there are indeed some snoopers around us who are just under the camouflage disguise or are doing their invisibility skills. Because I can easily determine whether someone goes on stealth mode or disguise mode due to how things happened in the past timeline, their disguises are very bad attempts to conceal themselves. If I could kill them, I can easily shoot them one by one.

We waited for around 30 minutes before the butler returned to us.

"Dear guests, the King and Queen are now ready to meet up with you all. Please proceed to the Dining Hall as soon as you all are ready."

After saying that, the butler left and didn't even bother to escort us.

"These guys should really be fired from their jobs. They can't even properly do their jobs..." Tina grumbled as she stood up from her seat. "Come on guys, I will lead you all the way to the Dining Hall. Unless the interior of this castle has been changed drastically, the dining hall should still be in the same place as it was before. Let's go."

All of us followed Tina as she led us to the Dining Hall. While we are on the way to the dining hall, many of the servants who are on duty as we passed by gave us a strange look. Some are confused while most of them clearly show disdain. As expected, Tina is very much an unwelcomed presence for them and they are not afraid to show it.

Tina still remembered everything since we arrived at the Dining Hall without being stuck somewhere around the palace. The place is quite massive and based on all the twists and turns and forks of the road we passed by, it would take a bit of exploration before we even stumble upon the Dining Hall.

Despite being insect people, the royalty of the Insect Kingdom is just like human royalty. The design of their items and stuff are all same as the humans so there isn't much change in the dining hall, a typical long table, multiple chairs, and a classy vibe that usually, the rich only enjoy.

The King and Queen are already eating despite the guest not yet arriving which is a clear disrespect as that is a sign that the guests are not that important for them to wait for. I can see how pissed Tina was but she held it in. She didn't want to cause trouble just yet.

I look around and realized that the place is full of guards. Not only the guards present near the two royalties but also guards who are out of sight and are hiding using their camouflage and stealth abilities. They have the whole dining room covered with guards that I feel a little bit uncomfortable.

The servants escorted us to our seats. At least they still treat us like guests or if they truly didn't view us as guests, we wouldn't even receive a basic courtesy like that as well. My patience is running thin but I managed to keep it up and not yet explode. Of course, that doesn't mean I have an infinite amount of patience. If things keep getting troublesome, I won't hesitate to lash out.

We started eating though I can't fully enjoy the meal if the atmosphere is this tense. Not a single one of them is speaking and I am not there to break the ice. I am just a supporting character for Tina this time around so it's not in my place to do that first.

It took a bit of time before someone broke the deafening silence hanging around and that is the queen herself who broke it.

"Ahem, first of all, we thank you all for coming here and answering our invitation. As you all know, we have something to talk to all of you regarding some matters."

Based on the queen's opening sentence, she is referring to me and my other companions as a whole. It's fine enough if we are just the only guests but there is also her daughter whom the letter is specific to be in talks with her. But this is just disregarding the presence of their daughter who has been away and who has been sent to her death when they were still under the demon's control.

I didn't say much and just waited for the queen to continue talking and she did continue after seeing me not saying anything from what she just said.

"We apologize that we didn't contact you so soon after the events that transpired here in the past. We should be grateful to you all who saved this land from the control of the demons."

"Why are you thanking me? If not for the help of your daughter, this kingdom would be already destroyed and turned to dust. I merely helped since she pleaded for us to help," although my words are clearly not what transpired, it's also true that she indeed asked us for help, though I am clearly going to the route of helping out anyway as that was the quest laid out for me.

Hearing this, the queen stopped and it seems like she swallowed something hard as she didn't get to speak after hearing that. Looks like all the facts were hidden from her since she didn't even know much about Tina's involvement. Although she didn't face off with the king in the end, it is still because of her that the other demon was defeated while I was busy defeating the king under the influence of the weapon of the Seven Deadly sins series.

"Ahem. Let's not dwell on the past. We know that our daughter helped with the final battle against the demons but we are also in debt to you who stopped the destruction of the kingdom and for sparing us while we are under demonic control. So we invited you to receive a reward of your choice. We can't just let you have not gained anything from that scuffle and we should have at least compensated you for the trouble we have caused," the king offered.

"As much as I would have been happy with that, I do not care much about rewards regarding that. If you really want me to receive a reward, then have Tina, your daughter talk with the two of you and fix this family problem of yours."

One of the guards armed himself by activating his bladed hands and glared at me, "How dare humans talk down to our majesty like that?!"

I didn't back down and was ready to pull my weapon as well. "If you think I would be afraid fighting against you or anyone else present in this room, you are all wrong. I have faced countless battles so these encounter doesn't matter much to me."

Tina didn't stop me from doing so but the king commanded the soldiers to calm down and the soldiers were forced to stop as well and returned to their neutral stance.

"Very well. If you think that is the appropriate reward for what you have done, we will do so. However, that is not the main topic here. We are actually calling you here to fulfill a request and we are hoping that you accept it. As for our daughter. the reason we called her here is due to one who will inherit the throne."

Looks like my previous assumption was indeed correct. The king and queen called Tina back to the kingdom in hopes of discussing the matter of throne inheritance. With both the brother and sister who were supposed to be the ones who will inherit the title of king and queen dead, the only candidate left is none other than Tina herself.

But there is one thing I am curious about. There shouldn't have been any events here in Aquagius that is worth remembering at the moment. I am quite certain that nothing is worth noting at the moment so what is this thing these guys are trying to talk with me? Is it perhaps a hidden event?

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