For a moment my mind stopped. I’ve never liked being the center of attention in conversations. I can handle it if it’s a fight, because my mind focuses solely on my opponent. In situations like this, where I have to speak, it’s a different story—worse when you have so many powerful people waiting. I calm my mind, remembering the practices with my family and my last days of preparation.

  “It all started at the opening party at the school…” I recount from the very first moment I saw her. I remember that day clearly—Brendu looked particularly beautiful. I can’t deny her beauty, and I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t feel a strong physical attraction to her.

  My thoughts only have a slight connection to my words; I carefully dress up the story to make it sound as natural as possible. I briefly tell them how the days passed, how we grew closer, some stories about dinners or moments with our group of friends.

  I felt a bit pressured when I mentioned the ambush at the school; the pressure came from everyone in the room. None of them directed it at me—they simply let out a bit of their pent-up frustration. The culprit was never found, and it must be horrible to remember how your family was almost attacked.

  At the end of the story, I recalled helping a village at the border. Since they already knew about it, I only gave them surface details up to today. I deliberately never mentioned living together; they’re aware of it, but I didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up.

  Throughout the conversation, they let me speak almost without interruptions. At times the queens asked questions about our dates, and at others Ruddo intervened to ask about the attackers. Overall, it felt like giving a lecture to a very demanding audience, where I couldn’t afford even the smallest mistake.

  In the middle of everything, the food was brought in, and we all sampled the small appetizers. Each and every one of them was a delight—the cooks of a royal family are top tier.

  “As king, I’d like to thank you for helping the village, Maki.” Jucam speaks when I finish. I blink several times; I must have heard wrong. “No, you didn’t hear wrong. The village leader held a vote to change the village’s name the very day you left. Everyone agreed, and of course, when the proposal reached us, it was accepted.” I stare at the plate in front of me, feeling his smile widen.

  “Thank you? It wasn’t necessary… but if the village has already decided and the royal house accepted it, it’s a great honor to have my name carried by a village of the Juka Kingdom.” Honestly, it feels a bit strange to hear this. At first I thought about asking whether it could be changed; thankfully, I processed it quickly and realized what a huge mistake that would have been.

  “That’s not all.” Brendu’s older brother stands up from his chair; the crown prince looks at me. “For your bravery and strong sense of responsibility in saving a village in crisis and the citizens of our territory from certain death, the royal family has decided to reward you.” A smile forms on his face, and I can see Brendu holding back a bit of laughter.

  “We have decided to grant you the title of Honorary Knight of our kingdom.” At that moment my mind short-circuited. Obviously, everyone in this room already knew; they all reacted with light applause. I’m the only one sitting there, frozen, not knowing how to react.

  A noble title? Seriously? I understand very well what this title represents. As an honorary knight, I have no responsibilities in this kingdom; I’m still not bound to this place. It’s the only way I can obtain a title from another territory—being a noble of the Empire, I can’t obtain another title without special permission, unless it’s an honorary one.

  I just didn’t expect something like this so soon, much less here. I had already considered obtaining a noble title within the Empire to avoid losing the benefits of being one. After all, when Ritmo inherits our territory, everything will change; Sers and I will lose the right to be nobles of the Vichag family.

  It’s a bit complicated, but there are ways to regain it—either by inheriting the territory if our brother dies, or through personal merit. That could make you a single-generation noble or an honorary noble, like I will be from this moment on.

  The crown prince must have read my expression, because he continues after a few seconds. “Don’t worry about any political matters in our territory; there’s no issue with the Empire either. We’ve already spoken with Marquis Timal and with the Emperor about this.” His words reconnect my brain—I can’t stay silent any longer.

  I stand up, place one knee on the floor, and bow my head. “It’s a great honor to receive this title, especially when it’s granted directly by the royal family. I promise to carry this title with honor and to meet expectations.” Thankfully, I had already researched and memorized the proper protocol for receiving a title; otherwise, this would have been incredibly embarrassing.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I can see surprise on everyone’s faces except two people. The king remains completely serious, and Brendu looks happy and proud. What’s going on? I feel a bit confused.

  “Brendu, did you tell him something? We said it would be a surprise.” Ruddo looks at his younger sister, a bit annoyed—or perhaps incredulous.

  “Why would I do that? I didn’t tell him anything. Maki is just perfect.” She sticks her tongue out at her brother. So it really was a surprise; everyone had been expecting a different reaction, and I surprised them in a different way. They assumed they’d see something else and were caught off guard by my proper response.

  Brendu runs over, offers me a hand to stand up, and gives me a tight hug. “Congratulations, Maki.” I return the embrace and thank her.

  The meeting continued as if nothing had happened. Well, I suppose for them granting an honorary title is nothing special—probably a monthly or even weekly affair. I’m sure they usually have someone else handle these matters. At least I received a ring with my name and a tiny crown, proving I’m an honorary knight of this kingdom.

  Something still surprises me. For now, everything feels very different from what I expected. I know they’re all normal people like me, but they’re still a royal family. Why are they accepting me so quickly? They should be asking me thousands of questions to see whether I’m trustworthy.

  Thinking back to my previous life, when some fans met me, they were also greatly surprised. One of them once said: sometimes we idealize celebrities so much that we forget they’re flesh-and-blood people like anyone else. That makes some sense—maybe I was just being a bit paranoid.

  No, I shouldn’t think like that. Being known isn’t the same as being part of a royal family. It shouldn’t be as simple as it’s been. My mind has been very agitated this whole time. I know Brendu wouldn’t let them do anything to me, but I don’t know how her parents think—they must be very careful when it comes to their daughter.

  “Is something wrong, Maki? You’ve been very quiet for a while. If you have something on your mind, feel free to say it.” Mike speaks to me; he already offered to let me call him older brother—of course, I refused.

  I hesitate for a moment about whether to ask. It might be careless of me. I gather my courage and let it flow. “To be honest, I’ve been thinking about something. After meeting you, I realize you’re a very united and loving family, but I can’t stop thinking of you as the royal family as well. All this time I had a rather stupid thought—about being interrogated or something like that.” Everyone goes serious for a moment, even Brendu.

  Ruddo is the first to burst into laughter. “Maki, we’re a ‘normal’ family—with many quotation marks.” He even makes the gesture with his fingers. “Of course, we did think about interrogating you at first. Our little princess was completely against a royal-family-style interrogation, and we decided to respect her decision so she wouldn’t run away from the family.” Ruddo gets hit by Brendu as he finishes speaking.

  “We want to be honest with you from the start. You’re right—we doubted you at first. We do that with anyone who wants to get involved with our family; I can assure you all major noble houses do the same. We planned to ask simple questions with open Imra to discover your intentions—Brendu couldn’t have refused that. After talking it over, we decided to give you a chance and see what kind of person you are first.” The crown prince speaks next.

  Mike continues. “Unable to take the more common options, we chose another path.” Another path? I see a smile form as he looks at me. “We decided to ask and learn everything possible about your life directly from the people closest to you. We sent people to your territory to speak with locals; we talked to people close to you in your childhood, and even to some nobles and influential figures.” His deep voice makes him sound very serious.

  “Marquis Timal was one of them. If someone of his caliber is willing to put his hands in the fire for you, it means you’re doing things right. Another was your teacher—the director, Susan—who was also willing to share details about you without revealing anything important or fundamental. After so much investigation, we realized something: you’re strong, reliable, and a person with a great heart, among many other good qualities.” When the crown prince finishes, I look to see everyone’s reactions.

  The king only stares at me with the same serious gaze as before; I can’t read clear emotions from him—it’s almost impossible to decipher his thoughts. The queens wear broad smiles—do they agree? Ruddo looks happy regardless of the atmosphere, even giving me a thumbs-up, and the crown prince maintains a polite smile that’s hard to read.

  Finally, I look at the most important person—Brendu. She’s smiling beautifully, those lovely eyes shining, and my heart starts beating much faster than normal.

  “Don’t worry about unnecessary matters; we can talk about this later.” The king ends everything with a simple sentence. Everyone returns to how they were before my question, giving it no more importance than necessary.

  “I understand. Thank you for answering my doubt.” I thank them and follow his example. With my mind now clear, I can be more active in the conversation—I no longer need to dwell on unnecessary thoughts.

  Brendu gently takes my hand and traces letter by letter with her finger: “I love you.” on the palm of my hand. We both smile, then turn to answer the queens’ and Ruddo’s questions; they’re the most talkative ones.

  There’s only one thing on my mind—the king told me: we can talk about this later. If that means a private conversation, I’d rather avoid it for now. Future Maki can deal with that when it comes; for the moment, I shouldn’t think about it.