Chapter 554.2: Dangerous Accusations (2)
Chapter 554.2: Dangerous Accusations (2)
The crowd found themselves holding their breaths before the powerful presence of the Mother Goddess. It was almost as if it was ingrained within them to be deferential to Her.
She slowly made Her way to the center seat of the dining table.
It was an unspoken rule for the crowd to rise to their feet and bow to the Mother Goddess—one that needed no reminder. However, Roel was unaccustomed to the convention, and it was only after a momentary pause to observe the movements of others that he quickly followed suit.
This is bad. How am I to know the common sense of this era?
Roel’s heart tightened. He discreetly glanced at Micher and followed his posture, placing his fist over his heart too.
While Adola hadn’t mentioned this formality during their conversations, Roel knew that it was common etiquette to rise and greet the host. What baffled him was that as soon as he made these movements, the Mother Goddess suddenly looked at him with a subtle look of surprise. Micher and the others also stared at him with widened eyes.
Hm? What’s wrong?
Roel was bewildered by the responses he was receiving.
Unbeknownst to him, the Mother Goddess quietly clenched Her fists as Her heartbeat hastened in excitement, for She knew that Roel wasn’t obliged to bow to Her at all.
Back in the ancient era, the Kingmakers were the Overseers who contracted and bestowed crowns upon the Race Sovereigns. They were Sia’s closest subjects, with their powers directly originating from Her. This legitimacy granted them many special privileges.
Even when faced with the most esteemed of individuals, the most a Kingmaker would do was to rise to their feet as a symbol of acknowledgment. No one could force a Kingmaker to lower their posture, for the only one whom they was obliged to lower their posture for was Sia Herself.
Does this mean that… he has accepted me?
Such a thought flashed across the Mother Goddess’ mind. Her heart, which had wavered due to the vehement objections from Micher and the others, settled down, and She looked at Roel with increasingly gentle eyes.
As I thought, he was only fooled by Him. It’s not too late as long as I have a proper chat with him.
Roel’s unintentional gesture greatly encouraged the Mother Goddess, causing the balance in Her heart to further tilt in his favor.
Upon seeing that, Micher panicked. It further stoked his vigilance toward Roel. He would have never thought that the lofty Kingmaker would be so sly as to win the Mother Goddess’ goodwill through the use of formalities. The fact that the other party was willing to break conventions and lower himself only meant that he was up to something huge!
I absolutely have to get rid of him, or else the consequences will be dire! Micher gritted his teeth in determination.
At the Mother Goddess’ nod, the crowd settled back down in their seats.
The banquet officially commenced. The servants stepped forward one after another to serve the guests exquisite delicacies. Roel chose to hold his tongue while waiting for his food to arrive lest he unknowingly breach other conventions in this era.
The Mother Goddess sat silently for a long time before She suddenly turned to Roel, as if She had finally bucked up Her courage, and posed a question.
“Did you have a good rest last night?”
Roel was surprised by the Mother Goddess’ words of concern. There was a brief pause before he answered with a standard response. “…Yes, it was comfortable.”
The Mother Goddess nodded in acknowledgment while quietly breathing a sigh of relief.
Regardless of how well Roel was treated in the Moonsoul Tower, it couldn’t change the fact that he was a prisoner here. Her question was intended to probe how he took this matter, and to Her relief, he didn’t seem to mind it too much.
Their conversation ended just like that.
This was the first time Roel had attended a banquet involving so many different races, so he couldn’t resist the urge to look around. He noticed that those from the Blood Clan were served fresh blood plated in the shape of a blood moon, whereas the high elves’ dishes consisted mainly of vegetables. Meanwhile, he was served the same dishes as the Mother Goddess.
Roel was understandably surprised to notice this subtle detail.
“I had the chefs serve you the same dish, as I didn’t know your preferences. If you don’t like them…”
“No, I’m satisfied with these dishes. Thank you for your warm hospitality.”
“…Mm.”
There was a moment of silence before the Mother Goddess nodded in acknowledgement, but She seemed a little happy at his response.
At the Mother Goddess’ gesture, the guests finally dug into their food. The served delicacies loosened tense nerves and encouraged conversations. Slowly, the atmosphere grew lively.
The exchanges among different races over the dining table weren’t too noisy; the guests had tactfully kept their volume down, knowing that they weren’t the stars of tonight’s banquet. As they chatted, they made sure to keep an eye out for the happenings at the front of the table.
The purpose of such banquets was to socialize. Guests should at least engage those near them in a conversation, even if it was just a perfunctory one, lest it reflect badly on them. Of course, no one would dare to fault the social etiquette of someone of the stature of the Mother Goddess and the Kingmaker, but given the context of this banquet, they had to at least say something.
And indeed, Roel was preparing to say something.
His lack of understanding of how banquets worked in this era left him unsure of whether he would get a chance to meet the Mother Goddess afterward, so he thought that he had to make use of this opportunity to say whatever he wanted to. After a moment of hesitation, he turned toward the Mother Goddess.
“Mother Goddess, there’s something I need to tell You.”
“What?”
The Mother Goddess was so preoccupied with wondering how She should probe Roel that She was startled by these words. Her response had Roel blinking in confusion.
“Mother Goddess?”
“No, it’s nothing. What would you like to say?”
“I know that what happened last night was unpleasant, but I need to clarify that everything that has happened thus far is a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?” The Mother Goddess’ golden eyes lit up.
In contrast, Micher revealed a tight frown, but Roel ignored his response and continued on.
“Yes, that’s right. You must have thought that I had defected to the Savior’s faction, but it is a misunderstanding. Not once have I wavered in my neutral stance. What happened yesterday was that I received a tip-off from an angel friend to seek refuge elsewhere so as to avoid the upcoming war.”
“Seek refuge… What’s going on, Micher?”
The divergent stories prompted the Mother Goddess to turn Her eyes to Micher, who had been the one providing Her intelligence. Despite the sudden spotlight on him, Micher didn’t lose his nerves at all. Instead, he turned his hawkish eyes toward Roel and sneered.
“O great Mother Goddess, I dare say that there’s nothing wrong with our intelligence. Allow me to pose a question to the Kingmaker since he insists that this is a misunderstanding. Who is the angel friend you speak of?”
“Archangel Lamia,” Roel replied without a sliver of hesitation, indicating that he had nothing to hide.
But Micher smiled upon hearing his answer. He slipped his hand into his chest pocket, pulled out a document, and slammed it on the table.
Pah!
Roel’s expression turned grim as he instinctively knew that things were going awry.
“Archangel Lamia… What a familiar name! O great Mother Goddess, we have been collecting information on Archangel Lamia, and we have more than enough evidence to prove that Lamia is the Savior’s pawn among the Angels. She serves as an intermediary to secretly liaise with the Kingmaker so as to not compromise their neutral front!” Micher vehemently accused Roel.
“!”
The Mother Goddess turned to look at Roel with eyes widened in disbelief.
Roel’s complexion turned livid. He had noticed that there was something off about the Angels, but he didn’t think that Micher would have dirt on them, especially since the Angels were officially a neutral party.
“My apologies, Mother Goddess, but I was unaware of this matter.”
Roel could only helplessly ‘feign ignorance’ and deny the matter, but Micher wasn’t just going to let him off that easily. The latter slipped his hand into his pocket once more.
“It looks like the Kingmaker doesn’t have a good memory!” Micher sneered as he pulled out yet another document and tore it open. “Allow me to jog your memory, then!”