I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 125: Royal Capital Astria (2)

Royal Capital Astria, the massive city and capital of the Silatein Kingdom, was still immersed in a pleasant afterglow.

“It was real.”

The Light of Camelot.

The golden light that appeared repeatedly in the legend of King Arthur was both the light of hope and the light of courage, a symbol representing humanity’s infinite potential.

The exhilaration of facing the Light of Camelot lingered in both mind and heart.

Even now, closing one’s eyes seemed to bring back visions of Camelot’s light, and listening carefully, one could almost hear the glory of Camelot that everyone in the royal capital had shouted together.

People whose excitement had reached its peak could not easily disperse.

They gathered in small groups to share stories, or held onto minstrels who had arrived late, repeatedly listening to tales of the returned human king—the Black Knight of Lothian.

The nobles were not much different.

Lost in the afterglow, they ran to their studies to retrieve books they had read in childhood, The legend of King Arthur.

Some shed tears while looking at the worn books they had read countless times, while others wore smiles.

‘At this rate, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the entire royal capital has fallen into a hypnotic state.’

Princess Elizabeth, the crown princess, who maintained her rationality among those in the royal capital, smiled bitterly.

In truth, she had somewhat anticipated something like this would happen, but how should she put it? Even though it was expected, when it actually became reality, it was still hard to believe?

The sight of the capital’s residents in excitement, and all the nobles, regardless of whether they were royalists or aristocrats, shouting the glory of Camelot without any obvious self-interest, was truly a dreamlike scene that was hard to believe even when seen with one’s own eyes.

‘Of course, it will be temporary.’

She didn’t mean that after some time, the residents and nobles would turn their backs on Yoo Seong as if waking from hypnosis.

They would continue to support him.

They would still believe in and rely on him, and wouldn’t doubt that he was the human king but that was the extent of it.

If a Holy King’s Army were truly established, would everyone in the royal capital unite and participate with one heart and mind?

And not just for the Silatein Kingdom, but for an expeditionary force to save foreign countries—like the Kingdom of Cabal or the Kingdom of Bertoria?

There would be participation.

Many of the royal capital’s residents would express their support, and nobles would likely offer substantial sponsorship but it was clear that there would be fewer people willing to go directly to the battlefield than expected.

Asking to protect neighboring territories—territories that weren’t their own Silatein Kingdom—would inevitably lead many to pause or even subtly withdraw.

Sadly, humans were that kind of animal but the crown princess wasn’t particularly disappointed.

She had known from before that this was inevitable.

‘And well, even that level of support would be more than enough.’

The returned human king and the Light of Camelot had that much power.

Moreover, this was the era of the Ominous Stars.

Just as light shines brighter as the night deepens and darkness thickens, human hearts would be moved more strongly than in peaceful times.

‘The finally returned human king.’

The one who would inherit everything of Arthur Pendragon.

The successor of the Light of Camelot.

Princess Elizabeth was caught in a truly peculiar feeling.

She felt a slight sense of blasphemy and a strange satisfaction, a sense of fulfillment and enjoyment, and various other emotions.

This was because the very human king who had returned was now wearing a very apologetic expression along with the king’s magician.

“So that’s what happened. You just dumped everything on me and left. That’s what happened.”

The crown princess, who had deliberately spoken with a bit of spite, was again caught in a strange, slightly dangerous-feeling emotion because the human king and the king’s magician became even more apologetic.

I can control the human king and the king’s magician.

I can dominate their emotions!

‘- Well, not really.’

Anyway, something similar to that feeling made her heart race and her face flush.

To escape this potentially addictive emotion, the crown princess cleared her throat and spoke with her characteristic elegant smile.

“I’m joking. I was worried when you suddenly disappeared, but I’m glad you’re safe. And originally, I was there to handle such situations. You don’t need to worry too much.”

In reality, it wasn’t as easy as her words suggested.

The disappearance of Yoo Seong, Rene, and Jillian hadn’t been prearranged.

It would have taken exceptional capability to lead the excited Holy King’s Army and continue the victory ceremony while surprised and flustered.

But the crown princess had managed it, and as a result, she could receive a kind of reward.

“Thank you.”

“Your Highness.”

The reward being Yoo Seong’s sincere gratitude and Rene’s adoring gaze full of reverence, gratitude, and affection, as she sniffled with emotion.

‘She’s really such an adorable girl.’

The crown princess had two younger sisters, but they both had a significant age gap and weren’t like Rene.

Both were more like proper, traditional princesses.

Perhaps that’s why the crown princess found Rene, who was honest with her emotions and showed such diverse expressions, extremely cute.

“I’ve prepared accommodations in the palace. You must be tired, so let’s rest for now. We’ll proceed with the important schedules starting tomorrow.”

Suppressing the urge to pat Rene’s head or give her a light hug, the crown princess spoke to Yoo Seong, who again showed a grateful expression.

Yoo Seong’s tasks in the royal capital could be largely divided into three categories:

Garner support from the royal capital for the establishment of the Holy King’s Army.
Meet the king of the Silatein Kingdom.
Obtain the sacred relic of Camelot passed down in the Silatein Kingdom.

The first task wouldn’t be completed with just one victory ceremony.

There was a need to arrange at least one separate meeting with the nobles of the royal capital.

‘Probably some kind of banquet will be held.’

Like a palace ball at the royal palace.

For a moment, Yoo Seong imagined Rene in a dress and smiled slightly, and Rene, not knowing the reason, just smiled along.

And the second task.

The king of the Silatein Kingdom was currently in a coma.

Publicly, it was known that his health had deteriorated and he was unable to move, but the actual condition was much more serious.

Therefore, rather than meeting the king, it would be closer to paying a sick visit to the king.

According to what had been heard so far, it wasn’t due to a curse or magic, but the result of an aggravated chronic illness. The crown princess seemed to have some slight expectation of Jillian.

After all, she was a genuine saint who had directly received divine revelation.

The third task would be to go to the place where the sacred relic was kept with the crown princess, which would likely be completed relatively easily.

However, Merlin’s seal on the place where the sacred relic was kept could only be unlocked on a predetermined day, so it was necessary to match the date.

“The servants will guide you. Please rest comfortably.”

“Thank you.”

“It is an honor to be able to assist Your Majesty.”

After the crown princess gracefully acknowledged Yoo Seong’s thanks and gently withdrew, the servants approached Yoo Seong and Rene.

They were all in a state of extreme tension or excitement or both, perhaps because they had seen the Light of Camelot from afar, though they couldn’t directly participate in the victory ceremony due to being in the palace.

Regardless, as Yoo Seong and Rene left the room, the crown princess slightly stretched her body.

Unlike Yoo Seong and Rene, she had to work immediately instead of resting.

‘First, I should deal with the nobles.’

Even at this moment, nobles desperate to meet the human king were gathering at the palace one by one.

The crown princess took a deep breath, straightened her posture, and took a step forward.

Yoo Seong and Rene’s bedrooms were located in a separate palace on the outskirts of the royal palace.

It was a separate palace built by the previous king for the queen, but essentially only three people were staying there: Yoo Seong, Rene, and Jillian.

“Then rest well.”

“You too, Rene.”

Since Rene was on a different floor from Yoo Seong, they parted at the stairs. Rene followed the servants to her room and encountered someone who had arrived earlier and was waiting.

“Heung…”

Seeing her sister sitting with a vacant face and a loose smile, Rene furrowed her brow, dismissed those around her, and approached closer.

“Sis, sis. Sis. Get a hold of yourself. Sis?”

Even when called right in front of her face, she showed no sign of recovering her senses, so Rene began to shake her shoulders.

Only then did Juliet finally regain her senses, blinking her eyes several times before saying to Rene.

“Rene.”

“Yes, sis.”

“The union of our family and the successor. Does it really have to be you, Rene?”

What kind of nonsense was this all of a sudden?

While Rene was bewildered and couldn’t immediately respond, Juliet shuddered once, then abruptly stood up and said.

“Ah, this won’t do. For the firm solidarity of our family, all the sisters should—”

“Stop saying strange things.”

“Why? What’s strange? It doesn’t seem strange at all to me?”

Her brazen nonsense was the same as usual, but her eyes were different.

They had been sharp eyes full of intelligence, but now they were, how to put it, dreamy and a bit intoxicated?

That’s why Rene didn’t react to Juliet’s nonsense and instead redirected the conversation back to normal.

“Anyway, we’ve arrived at the royal capital.”

“Yes, though we probably won’t stay long.”

Ninian, the manager of the barrier, had said that some of the seven kings were already inside the barrier.

While it was still unknown which regions the kings of monsters were in, it was as good as confirmed that the ‘Holy King’s Army’ would soon move toward where the kings were, regardless of which direction.

Given the recent disturbing news about the Kingdom of Bertoria, they might pass through Baltois County and head toward the Kingdom of Bertoria.

“Let’s see, the things to do in the royal capital this time are an audience with His Majesty the King, the banquet, and securing the sacred relic, right?”

“Yes.”

The audience with His Majesty the King was actually not very relevant to either Juliet or Rene.

The fact that the king had lost consciousness and collapsed was a hushed matter, but it was already known to those who should know, and the current de facto king of the Silatein Kingdom was Crown Princess Elizabeth.

‘Of course, if Saint Jillian were to perform a miracle and restore His Majesty the King, the story might change a bit…Anyway, for now, it’s not particularly relevant to Rene, that’s for sure.’

The two remaining tasks, attending the banquet and securing the sacred relic, were both closely related to Rene, but among them, the important one—or more precisely, the one Juliet herself could be involved in—was only the banquet.

“Lady Rene of the Baltios County. I’m sure you understand how important this banquet is without me having to emphasize it?”

At Juliet’s question, Rene slightly furrowed her brow but soon nodded.

She didn’t like Juliet’s speech and behavior that unnecessarily framed her and the crown princess as opponents, but apart from that, it was true that this banquet was extremely important.

It was a place for Yoo Seong to gain the support of the nobles as the Holy King.

She couldn’t show an inadequate appearance as the king’s magician.

As Rene clenched her fist, Juliet smiled faintly and said.

“As always, just trust your sister. Understand?”

“Yes, sis.”

Regardless, at times like these, the only one she could trust was her sister.

As Rene nodded, Juliet pinched her cheek with enthusiastic eyes.

While the entire royal capital was excited about the king’s return, there were those who trembled with fear and despair.

That person is real.

Not a fake.

The human king has truly returned.

Then what should they do now?

The reason for their confusion was simple.

They were those who had already given up on being human.

Those who had chosen to become vampires, falling for the sweet whispers promising immortality and eternal life.

The return of the human king was something no one had expected.

Many regretted that if they had known the king would truly return, they would not have made their current choice but regret was just regret after all.

They had already crossed a river that could not be turned back from; they were beings with no way to return.

That’s why they looked to their leader.

Should they proceed with the plan even in the midst of the human king’s return?

Would it be possible to successfully carry out the Vampire King’s orders?

To their gazes mixed with anxiety and fear, the man nodded.

The plan had already reached its final stages anyway and even the human king would not be able to stop their plan.

“We continue.”

We carry out the Vampire King’s command.

At the command of the vampire who came from beyond the barrier, the newly born young vampires in the royal capital swallowed dry saliva.

Without anyone taking the lead, they all turned to look in the direction of the royal palace.