I wasn’t alone in not finding something worthwhile of my coins, however, as I observed the princess getting more and more anxious by the minute. “Not this… This one is not good either… No…” She cutely began voicing her thoughts out loud due to her rapidly mounting anxiety.
While it was a rather adorable sight, I elected to intervene; “My fair princess, you seem to be greatly troubled. Maybe this humble lord could offer his assistance?”
Felicity yelped when she realized that I was speaking to her, and her embarrassment only increased in its intensity when the realization that she was accidentally speaking out loud hit her without a shred of mercy.
The head maid was ready to intervene once again, but the princess spoke up before the old woman could begin nagging me with her lessons of decorum and the like. “Umm…”
She glanced around as if trying to find the right way to go about things. “I don’t want the world to hear this… Can you come closer?”
“Absolutely not.” The Aegis Vanguard who was closest to me growled his denial. It was easy to see that her personnel were permitted to order her around when it came to her safety, or maybe it was just this one man? He seemed to be the leader of this Vanguard squad based on his slightly differing armor, maybe only the captain was allowed to question her judgement.
Did the strongest of them really position himself the closest he could to me so that he was between my noble person and the princess? Did I seem to be that dangerous of a man?
While he might’ve been permitted to oppose the young princess’ decision, it seems the latter didn’t agree with that arrangement as Felicity stood and walked over to my couch instead, where she plopped down next to me.
I curiously observed the Aegis Vanguard and snickered inwardly when his wide, unbelieving eyes stared at the princess. This must’ve been the first time she rebelled, heh.
“Move!” He shouted as he shoved my Kaelira away so that he could stand behind me like a grim reaper – one wrong move and he would strike. The remaining five members of her escort squad also joined their captain as they surrounded us.
“My Lord had done no wrong, you can’t push his personnel aside! He has the right to be protected just as much the princess does!” Kaelira shouted furiously while wrestling with the man who shoved her aside. She couldn’t even make him budge even though he stood still without mounting much of a resistance.
However, this didn’t bother my stalwart protector as she did her best.
That was until I turned around to glare at the Aegis Vanguard with my primordial arrogance baring its sharp fangs; “Know your place, guard dog of the king, before I put you down.”
I didn’t care if it was his sworn duty to protect the princess, that didn’t give him the right to push my woman around.
The amphitheater erupted into the coldest silence that had ever descended on such a large crowd of people in this place.
“Did he just…”
“Talk like that to the royal guard?”
“No way…”
“Stormlord, please let her be.” Felicity decreed, making my bloodthirsty mood evaporate as quickly as it formed.
… So it’s him. Stormlord was the same man who was the leader of the outpost that guarded the Geim. I didn’t see him back then, but Blossom had told me tales of how he fought against the horde of high-level werewolves.
The man in question grunted, and just as so, my athletic elf found herself squished between two Aegis Vanguard members as she did her best to remain as close to me as possible.
It must’ve been quite the funny sight, as she was right now pretending to be my pleasure slave. If even my sex toy was this adamant about protecting me, then what about my loyal combatants? That must’ve been the thought swirling in many heads.
“I feel like I have to keep apologizing to you, Lord Black…” Felicity sighed.
“Don’t worry about it. As a man responsible for many subordinates, I know just how much some of them like to act out.” I replied while sending Stormlord one more glare before returning to the little girl sitting next to me, “Can you tell me what troubles you, my fair princess?”
“Grr!” The head maid growled in my direction once again for referring to Felicity like that, but if she didn’t care then I wasn’t going to stop, so I ignored the old woman.
The princess made some rather adorable hand motions as she waved for me to lean in closer, and I listened as I placed my ear right to her lips, eliciting many flinches from the Aegis Vanguard that watched my every move with keen eyes. “The truth is, my father will celebrate his 1000th birthday in a few months, so I came here in hopes of finding a worthwhile present…”
Oh. That was big news, the king would likely pass away within a few years, a few decades at most. However, from what I knew he was a rather fit and strong person, so I thought this to be rather strange. Maybe they found a way to slightly elongate a person’s lifespan which was hidden from the populace just like the Geim-boosted wizard potion was.
However, I didn’t think Felicity to be a dumb girl who would make such a big blunder as to tell me this, so the higher nobility must’ve known his real age, and she thought me to be a member of said group.
Thus, I pretended not to be surprised. “I see. That’s a hard task indeed… However, maybe an adult man like myself can offer you some insights.”
She nodded with serious eyes that let me know how badly she wanted to find a good present for her father, “Yes, Lord Black, that’s why I accepted your offer.”
“But I’m curious, why didn’t you bet for my elixirs? Wouldn’t they be a rather good gift?”
Felicity shook her head, “No… Father prefers artifacts. He calls elixirs as the tools of the weak.”
What a close-minded fellow.
<What a close-minded man. He reminds me of the dumbest and most disgusting race, also referred to as the Goddess’ sole mistake in elven circles; dwarves.> Seraphiel giggled, before we heard Kaelira shout;
<Even if this king is stuck in old times, he still can’t be as bad as a dwarf!> Kaelira was an unapologetic racist when it came to dwarves due to them banning her from practicing artificing, so even among elves, she stood out when it came to hating the midgets.
Sera was shifted to my right thigh when Felicity decided to come over to my couch and sit on my left side. My poor fifth woman was a bit excluded from the conversation like this as she sat on my right side, but the healer didn’t seem intent on standing up to join the wrestling match Kaelira was conducting with the Aegis people.
And just like that, my back-and-forth with the royal princess began.
“Oh, that looks like a great cloak. The auctioneer said it has protection against spells, it might be good for a man who is getting on in age. It gets harder to dodge spells with sheer Agility.”
She shook her head, “No… he has a better one.”
“What about those gauntlets? I heard he likes fighting with multiple weapon types.”
“He has a gauntlet he loves already.”
“That spear…”
“No…”
“This sword…”
“No…”
I sighed after a few minutes, “This is getting us nowhere, he is a man who can buy everything he wants for himself, and with his age, he already had plenty of time to do so.”
“Even your insight can’t help me…?” Felicity asked with pure desperation evident in her teary eyes.
I smiled, “I have an idea. Have you tried giving him something more personal before?”
“What do you mean?”
“A drawing you made with your own hands, for example.”
She gasped, “Hn? Wouldn’t that be equal to me saying that he is not worth spending gold on?”
“Tell me, is he a loving father? Does he care for you as a daughter?”
“Yes!” She decreed without hesitation, “Father played with me when I was little every time his schedule allowed him to, and even now he keeps pestering me to play with him, despite me admonishing him every time, saying that I’m not a little girl anymore!” Felicity had a lot of strength in her voice, this must’ve been bothering her cute little head for quite some time.
“Then I know what you should do exactly.”