"Before this meeting officially begins, there is one matter I must announce first."
Marcos clapped his hands.
The clang of his armor and the sharp collision of metal immediately drew everyone's attention.
He first gave a formal salute, then shouted in a powerful voice—
"Knight Reinhard van Astrea, step forward!"
"Yes!"
"Knight Reinhard, report your findings to everyone present!"
"Yes!"
With that, Marcos stepped back and yielded the platform to Reinhard, who strode forward.
After reaching the stage, Reinhard saluted just as Marcos had.
Then he announced the results of his mission.
"Honored members of the Council of Wise Men."
"Reinhard van Astrea of the Royal Guard hereby reports the successful completion of my mission."
"The final Dragon Maiden—the last candidate for the Royal Selection—has been found."
The moment Reinhard finished speaking, the hall erupted into noise.
Whispers spread rapidly through the crowd.
A king held extraordinary importance to the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica.
After all—Only the king could communicate with the Divine Dragon Volcanica.
Lugunica had always advanced under the Divine Dragon's guidance.
The people could scarcely imagine a future without that guidance.
That was precisely why the Council of Wise Men remained so eager to select a new king despite already possessing enough authority to keep the kingdom functioning normally.
At the front of the crowd, however, Crusch frowned in confusion.
"Ferris."
"This is different from what I heard."
"Didn't you tell me this gathering was supposed to be a banquet?"
"Oh, come on, Lady Crusch~"
Felix waved his hands.
"Ferri-chan only saw a lot of food and wine being carried into the castle and said, 'Maybe there'll be a banquet, nya.'"
"Lady Crusch misunderstood all by herself."
"Is that so?"
Crusch nodded seriously.
"My apologies."
"It was wrong of me to suspect you of deceiving me."
"No, Ferris was absolutely saying it that way on purpose."
Their absurd master-and-servant exchange made Shiro instinctively comment from the side.
"Eh?"
Felix immediately turned toward him.
"Handsome, are you trying to drive a wedge between Ferri-chan and Lady Crusch?"
"If so, I recommend giving up, nya."
"The bond between Ferri-chan and Lady Crusch is stronger than steel!"
"No, Ferris."
Crusch calmly shook her head.
"I detected no falsehood in his words."
"This was likely merely a misunderstanding."
"If so, resolving it is enough. There is no reason to become hostile over such a trivial matter."
"Oh my~"
Felix cupped both hands around his cheeks and wriggled happily.
"Lady Crusch is so broad-minded."
"It makes Ferri-chan fall for you all over again."
Shiro stared at him.
Perhaps Felix truly deserved to be Crusch's knight.
His understanding of her personality was terrifyingly accurate.
Even in this situation, he still had enough room to turn the accusation back onto Shiro.
"The individual who has put herself forward to become king—"
"Her name is Lady Felt."
Reinhard's announcement continued from the stage.
Yet aside from the final name, almost no one was actually paying attention to the details of his speech.
Instead—Everyone's gaze turned expectantly toward the doors.
They were clearly hoping the final Royal Selection candidate would suit their preferences better than the four already present.
"Bring her in."
Miklotov gave the order as soon as Reinhard finished.
The crowd did not have to wait long.
A beautiful young girl appeared at the entrance, supported by a maid.
A flowing pale-yellow gown.
Brilliant golden hair.
Crimson eyes.
Playful little fangs.
There was almost no word better suited to describe Felt's current appearance than—Princess.
And this seemingly elegant princess did not begin by offering a graceful greeting.
Instead—She slightly lifted both sides of her skirt.
Everyone present naturally assumed she was about to perform an elegant curtsy.
Then—
"GO TO HELL, YOU BASTARD!!!"
A stream of crude language completely incompatible with her appearance exploded from Felt's mouth.
And before everyone's astonished eyes—She shook off the maid supporting her.
Wind wrapped around her body.
Ignoring the fact that she was wearing high heels, Felt shot across the hall at an absurd speed and appeared in front of Shiro.
Then she kicked him.
BOOM—!
The air exploded.
A violent gust whipped through the hall, making everyone's clothes snap loudly.
Those who had just been delighted that the final candidate appeared to fit their image of royalty were frozen in place.
Felt had shattered every fantasy they had built around her—At light speed.
"Hey!"
"Why are you suddenly kicking me?!"
"I haven't done anything to piss you off lately, have I?"
Shiro caught Felt's lower leg with one hand.
Her calf, wrapped in pure-white stockings, remained suspended in the air as he stared at her in utter confusion.
"Do you have any idea what I went through after you convinced me to go with that shithead?!"
Ignoring the fact that one foot was still hanging in midair, Felt pointed a slender finger straight at Reinhard's face and began cursing.
"Ever since I got dragged to his place, I've been forced to wear stupid dresses like this every single day!"
"I can barely even walk properly in them!"
"And the first thing I have to do after waking up every morning is attend those disgusting, boring etiquette lessons because that shithead makes me!"
"I don't even get time to go outside for a walk!"
"And whenever I try to quit and run off, that bastard grabs me by the collar and carries me straight back!"
For a child born in the slums like Felt, learning noble etiquette was nothing short of torture.
She simply could not understand why eating a meal required so many pointless procedures.
Would performing all those fancy movements somehow allow her to eat more?
No.
Then why waste time doing them before every meal?
For Felt, being able to fill her stomach every day had already been a luxury for most of her life.
She had absolutely no interest in learning ornamental nonsense.
"And those garbage nobles!"
"You were right before!"
"They're even more disgusting than the people in the slums!"
"They can barely hide the disgust on their faces when they talk to me, but then they turn around and wag their tails like little dogs at that guy's family!"
Felt did not care in the slightest where she currently was.
Standing before countless nobles—She openly displayed her contempt for their entire class.
"Lady Felt."
"I would ask that you refrain from using the word 'shit' in the future."
"It does not sound particularly—"
"SHIT!"
As though deliberately trying to infuriate Reinhard, Felt bared her little fangs and viciously repeated the word the moment he tried to correct her.
"In any case, I've had enough!"
"I'm sick of this entire country!"
"And I'm sick of all these nobles too!"
An astonishing amount of fury erupted from Felt.
Apparently, she had accumulated an enormous amount of resentment during her stay with Reinhard.
So much that she no longer cared how this outburst might affect her position.
She simply wanted to land one good kick on Shiro—The bastard who had convinced her to enter the Royal Selection, abandoned her afterward, and then somehow appeared in the faction of one of her opponents.
Shiro looked toward Reinhard in surprise.
He was genuinely curious what Felt had experienced to make her this furious.
But this was obviously not the time or place to catch up.
So—
After thinking for a moment, Shiro copied the same tone Felt had once used toward him and casually said—
"Make sure you live strong, okay?"
…