Chương 50: Pledges matter

Scarlett felt the stares of people bearing down upon her, a strange mood covering the room following her words. The man before her, sitting on a golden throne overlooking the room, had an inscrutable expression on his face as he studied her. The emperor's gaze felt stifling to her, the lingering emotions inside her urging her between supplicating in front of him and rising up to teach the noisy people around them a lesson. She chose to do nothing for the moment.

She wasn't quite sure why the original seemed to have such a heavy obsession with the imperial—it definitely was to an unhealthy level—but it wasn't something she wanted to feed too much into when she could avoid it.

"The Baroness appears to have a high opinion of herself," the emperor suddenly said, leaning back on his throne. Scarlett felt an odd sensation travel up her back. She wasn't certain if that was a prompt for her to speak, or if it was meant rhetorically. Her whole current situation was far removed from what she would have wanted. She had been nervous for a while—or as nervous as she could get with the system's traits weighing down on her—about this ceremony.

It was an unknown to her and her knowledge of the game, which made it a danger considering how important of an event it appeared to be. The Elysian Proclamation, and other situations like it, were exactly why she had spent so much time prior to visiting the capital trying to read up on the local customs. And while she had learned a lot, detailed information on precisely what went on during this ceremony wasn't among it.

For a time, she had hoped that what she had learned of the general noble customs would be enough. She knew most of the correct forms of address among the aristocracy and towards the imperial family, and was wishing that would be enough to make do.

And if things really went to hell, she had a couple of contingency plans that would probably ensure her safety, though they would also likely put her in a position where she was indentured to the imperial family in ways she didn't want, even if she could work with it if necessary. Unfortunately it didn't seem like lady luck felt like smiling at her today. Scarlett's hopes had quickly sunk after Evelyne and she had been separated after they arrived and that male servant had led her to the 'Inaugural Chamber'.

There, they had given her a damn blade out of nowhere—something she hadn't seen any mention about in anything she read—and just left her in a large dining hall along with a bunch of other nobles without further explanations. She had at least been thankful enough that no one spoke to each other there, simply partaking in the light refreshments provided. But then more servants had arrived and started leading the nobles away one by one.

When it came to her turn Scarlett had actually been brazen enough to try and get some information from the servant leading her, but the servant had simply told her—with a rather strange look—that they weren't privy to the goings-on in the 'Chamber of Elysia', as it was.

Left without any other options, when they'd reached a long set of stairs leading up to the throne rooms which she had been prompted to climb, Scarlett had simply kept all her attention focused on the noble a few dozen meters ahead of her—which she only then realized was Duke Tyndall—and copied exactly what he did. Which had put her in her current situation. Although there had been some noise immediately following her words, the hall was completely quiet now as the emperor observed her.

Just a few steps to her right Scarlett could feel Leon Delmon's stare too. As if it wasn't enough that she'd made a fool of herself in front of this nation's freaking ruler. The person immediately beside the throne suddenly leaned closer to the emperor, and Scarlett's eyes shifted to them. It was someone she recognized well.

Wearing a tight-fitting red dress, with what almost looked like purple scales running down along its sides, and with a long silver staff in hand that had a purple gem affixed to its crown, was the imperial advisor. A woman with long black hair and a striking appearance. Evelia Blackwood. The woman whispered something in the emperor's ear, who nodded along slowly. Scarlett's eyes lingered on her for a moment as she stepped back.

The emperor leaned forward on his throne, and Scarlett shifted her eyes back to him, readying herself for what she might have to respond.

"Well, I am not one to discourage ambition," he announced in a clear voice.

"You are of a perennial house, one that has served this empire for longer than most. I will accept your pledge." Scarlett paused, unsure for a moment what to do as an almost gratified feeling welled up inside her. Pushing the odd sensation to the side as she focused on the situation, she recalled what actions Duke Tyndall had taken and bowed her head as she returned the blade in her hands to the short scabbard she'd been given.

"Thank you, my liege," she said, standing up and walking to the foot of the stairs where she put her blade down next to the others. She pointedly ignored Leon—who had eyes front with a still face now—and turned to the left to walk over to where the other nobles who'd completed their pledge had gathered. Most of their eyes were on her as she approached. A couple displayed poorly disguised outrage on their faces, but most didn't show much of an expression at all.

She ignored them for now, situating herself next to Duke Tyndall, who didn't seem to want to pay her much attention to begin with. The emperor hadn't gotten angry at her, so maybe she did have some luck after all. She'd work with what she got. Looking back toward the platform where the emperor sat on his throne, this was Scarlett's first real chance to observe the people around him. Most of them she recognized.

Behind the throne and slightly to the right was a tall man somewhere in his early twenties with bright blond hair that curled to one side. He had a sure smile on his face, wearing an odd mix between a red-and-blue uniform and golden pauldrons and bracers. That was the crown prince, who—while not super relevant to the overarching plot of the game—did appear now and then in 'Chronicle of Realms'. At the same spot but to the left of the throne was a young woman with neck-length black hair resembling a bob cut.

She wore a tidy set of black-and-red attire with a frilly scarlet cravat, standing with a straight back as she looked on at the current proceedings with a neutral expression. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. This one Scarlett knew best. After all, Princess Regina was one of the game's companions. She turned her eyes away from the princess. Regina might be a companion, but that didn't mean Scarlett wanted anything to do with the young woman.

While having her in your party was fun in the game, having an escaped princess running along with you in this world just sounded like an even worse recipe for disaster than whatever she'd just done. Slightly behind Regina was the second imperial princess, a young girl with bright golden hair arranged into a long braid. Scarlett didn't know too much about her. The second princess had mostly just been an NPC you could share some short dialogue with in the game, but nothing major or plot-related.

Evelia Blackwood stood in front of both of them, closest to the throne. Scarlett avoided glancing at her for too long—she didn't want the woman to think she had any interest at all in her—and instead inspected the five people in golden white armor that surrounded the imperial family. With their helmets on she wasn't quite certain exactly who was who, but she had some idea at least. She only remembered the names of two of the Royal Guards, though.

The absolute giant of a figure that stood at the top of the stairs—Scarlett wouldn't be surprised if he would've won some kind of Guinness record back in her world—guarding the door the imperial family had entered through had to be Holdger 'The Mammoth'. The sword that hung over his back had to be longer than Scarlett was tall. And though she wasn't quite sure which of the other white-armored guards was Leandra 'The Swift', there were two that looked more female so it was probably one of them.

While Scarlett hadn't paid it much mind in the game, it did occur to her that all the members of the Royal Guard had epithets of some kind. She wasn't quite sure if that was something you gained when joining, or if there was some other connection behind that. Whatever the reason, in the game it had served as a pretty good indication that they were strong.

She turned her gaze back to the emperor himself, mostly trying to ignore the feeling of reverence that filled her when she looked at him and the rest of the imperial family. She had no idea why the original was so fixated on them like this. But she had to admit that he had an air of grandeur to him, gazing out over the throne room filled with people who were all important in some way or the other.

She found it a little bit humorous, however, that he was the one up on that platform that she had seen the least of in the game. He barely appeared in it at all, in fact. The only time she had seen him was in her second playthrough. When she assassinated him. He always died about one year into the game no matter what you did though. It was just that in her Cabal playthrough, you could complete a long questline where you were the one to do it. Albeit with the help of some powerful members of the Cabal.

She followed his eyes across the space. The next noble in line had already approached the large doors to the throne room, but there were still countless stares in her direction. She paused when she spotted Evelyne among the crowd. The younger woman had a horrified expression on her face. For just a brief moment, Scarlett felt a pang of guilt at having been the cause of that, but—perhaps unfortunately—the emotion didn't last long.

"Next amongst his majesty's loyal servants," the man next to the entrance suddenly announced as he slammed his staff onto the floor.

"Count Stockwell Bentley of Farmire has arrived to reaffirm his family's oaths to his liege and the Empire!" Now most people's eyes turned away from Scarlett as the next noble—an old man with balding grey hair—began walking across the red carpet running through the center of the room. When he reached the stairs, he knelt down in front of the emperor on the same spot Scarlett had and touched his head against the floor twice.

"Let this humble servant of the Empire greet your majesty, on this day of oaths and testimonies," the old man cried out.

"I offer you my blade once more, ever to be in your service and protect your lands in your name and the name of Ittar. Justly and earnestly have I carried out your will, and so I shall until the end of my days. I beg of your majesty to accept my pledge." Scarlett held back a sigh at the sight. So there were different lines and conduct for different nobles. Then, by copying the noble before her, she'd essentially copied the proper actions for a duke? Her eyes shifted to the emperor.

That couldn't be a crime, could it? Considering the emperor had still accepted her pledge like that, probably not. At worst, it was just some sort of faux pas, most likely.... But even if that were to be true, it couldn't be denied that this had been a major misstep on her part. Barely listening to the emperor's response, her eyes went back to Evelyne, who seemed to look on at the current doings with a distracted expression. In truth, Scarlett could think of a way she could have avoided a situation like this.

But she wasn't quite sure if it was something she could have brought herself to do. She only partially registered the old man placing his blade in front of the stairs and walking over to stand by her, as an announcement arrived of another noble's entrance. The same procedure repeated itself, continuing for a long while. Most of the titles the nobles held gradually grew less important as time went on.

Scarlett recognized a few of them here and there—Count Knottley among them—but it was mindboggling how many of them there were. What was even more amazing was how the announcer fellow could keep track of all of them, as well as the order they were in. While she herself didn't count, she was pretty sure there were at least two hundred of them, if not more. She'd only seen maybe a sixth of them when she was still there in the Inaugural Chamber, so she hadn't expected quite this many.

One of the things she did take note of while observing the train of nobles pledging their allegiance to the emperor was that a baroness such as herself was supposed to touch their head to the floor five times—not one—before addressing the emperor, as well as refer to themselves as 'lowly servant' instead of 'grateful'. They were minor details, but such things mattered in this culture, she assumed. It took hours—literal hours—for the entire pledging process to finish.

And the entire time everyone was expected to just stand there and wait, doing absolutely nothing but listen. Scarlett was honestly surprised that all of the people present managed it. There were some older people present, and she saw several younger children on the other side of the hall that also had to suffer through it. Her sympathy went out to them. Although her situation wasn't really the best at the moment either. She endured the endless waiting, but her mind often wandered to what she should do next.

Even though she now realized what her mistake was, she didn't know the magnitude of it yet, or the consequences it would have. As long as it didn't mean actually trying to kill her she would probably be fine, but she didn't quite know what she would have to pay. When the sound of a staff hitting the ground rang out once again, this time louder than all the times before, everyone's attention turned to it.

"All present have born witness to the testaments of His Majesty's servants as they carry on the glory of the Empire!" Then people's attention suddenly shifted back to the emperor, and everyone near Scarlett kneeled. She hurried to do the same, as the emperor slowly rose from his throne. The Royal Guard opened the door at the top of the stairs as the emperor began walking towards them, the rest of the people around him following close behind.

Soon enough, after the platform holding the throne was completely empty and the last of the guards had disappeared through the door, a staff strike resounded once more.

"His Majesty has retired to recoup for the Elysian Ball. The Imperial Gallery will now open up until evening!" Suddenly every single one of the black-armored knights who lined the walls of the throne room slammed their fists against their chests as they stood at attention. Scarlett looked around her as people slowly started moving, the nobles on her end of the room towards a set of doors near them that were opened by two knights and the people on the other side of the room towards a similar set of doors. Right.

So the next thing up was this ball or whatever.