Ryder and his team reached the duchy of Duke Devilia. The Royal Bird flew in all its glory, surrounded by all the Royal Guards.
High Duke Milana was flying right above Ryder, but she didn't come on any flying monster. She flew on her own and maintained the speed just fast enough to fly in the same place as Ryder.
The citizens of the duchy saw the beautiful flying monsters flying in the sky in a group.
"Isn't that the Royal Beast?"
"You're right! The one behind that is the Royal Guardian Beast, which belongs to master Rale!"
" It means that it's His Highness! He's here!"
" I heard the announcement just yesterday that he'll be visiting this place in the near future! I never knew it would be so soon. I can't wait to see him!
A lot of the citizens were amazed as they recognized the Royal Beast that only the Royal Prince was allowed to travel on.
Most of the citizens started chanting, "Long Live the Prince!"
Ryder looked down and couldn't help but smile at all the love.
' Even though it's not real, it does feel amazing,' Ryder thought as he smiled. 'The Kings of old times definitely had a good life," Ryder chuckled as he smiled.
[You have gained a new title: The Beloved Prince]
"Finally, you have me a normal-sounding title," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face as he watched the notification about him gaining a title.
He tapped on the notification to understand what it actually gave him.
[ Title: The Beloved Prince]
[ Description: Only a prince beloved by the citizens can get the blessing of the Kingdom. Whenever the Prince fights any battle inside his Kingdom, all stats are doubled for the fight]
[Warning: The effects only apply to the Kingdom of the Prince. The effects won't be there if outside the vicinity of the Kingdom]
'Now, this is a good title. I can switch with this when I need to fight and switch back to the Successor of Salem after that. After I get level hundred, I'll be able to equip two titles at once. I can keep both of them activated at the same time then,' Ryder thought as he closed the screen.
"That's the palace. We're already there," He muttered as he nodded his head.
The Royal Flying Beast landed before the entrance of the Royal Palace. All the other people landed as well.
High Duke Milana stood on Ryder's left, a single step back. Ryder stood on the Right side of Ryder, two steps back. The other Royal Guards stood behind them.
"Your Highness," The Guard Chief of Devilia's Palace came to greet him since he was already standing outside.
"Hey, it's you. Good to meet you again," Ryder let out as he smiled.
He remembered the Guard Chief since that man was the one who escorted him to the hunting place when Ryder was living in this Palace with Devilia.
"I'm great, Your Highness. Please come inside," The Guard Chief replied as he invited them inside.
"Silence! What kind of reception is this?! The Prince of this Kingdom is standing outside the Palace of the Duke, and the Duke didn't even come out?! Where is Devilia? Call her out right now! Did she forget how to handle things like this?!" High Duke Milana thundered as she glared at the Guard Chief.
She seemed genuinely angry. Her aura was so fierce that it forced all the guards of the Duke's palace to their knees, including the Guard Chief.
She was careful not to let her aura get near Ryder, though. She didn't want to harm the Prince too accidentally. She knew that Ryder wasn't as strong as them now. If he were forced to his knees accidentally, it would be the biggest blasphemy towards the throne, and she would be killed for treason and disrespect towards the throne. She was pretty experienced in this and knew how to control her aura, so she didn't have any difficulty.
The door of the Palace suddenly opened as a beautiful silver-haired woman stepped out of the palace, donned a beautiful green gown.
" Calm your anger, Senior Mila. I came out here as soon as I found out of His Highness' arrival. Please forgive my delay," Devilia told High Duke Mila in a kind tone.
"Calm Down, High Duke. It was only a few seconds delay," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly watching High Duke Mila angry.
"Hmph," High Duke Mila retracted her aura.
The guards felt like they could finally breathe when the mountain like aura wasn't pushing down on them anymore.
They all stood up as they wiped the sweat off their face.
" I'm so glad that you're here, Your Highness. I apologize for my delay. Hope I didn't waste too much of your time," Devilia greeted Ryder first, and then she greeted High Duke Mila as well.
"Please come inside," Duke Devilia invited them with a smile on their face.
Ryder nodded his head as he walked inside the Palace with Devilia and others. Devilia escorted them towards the Great Hall.
"Have you arranged everything for my speech?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at Devilia.
"Yes. I had everyone informed about your arrival and about other things that you asked. I'll make another announcement saying that you have arrived. Tomorrow, we can do that," Devilia replied as she kept walking ahead.
Along the way, she saw a servant. She stopped that servant and told her something in a low voice to make sure that others didn't hear her.
Ryder wondered what she talked about, but he knew that he couldn't ask. It wouldn't be normal to ask about private matters of a Duke as a prince. He could've asked her if High Duke Mila wasn't here, but before her, he needed to act like a people aloof Prince.
Devilia took them inside the Great Hall of the Palace, where she had arranged for seats for everyone.
Ryder walked forth and sat on the main throne.
High Duke Mila sat on the throne beside him, but there was a problem. There were two people that needed to sit, Rale and Devilia, but there was only one seat available.
Rale felt strange, but he didn't say anything as he walked behind Ryder and simply stood.
Ryder also looked at Devilia with a frown, wondering what she was doing. Why was there no seat for Rale.
"I apologize, Master Rale. Please take that seat before you. I'll be the one standing. It's my fault that I arranged for fewer seats. I didn't know about the arrival of the High Duke with you. I would've arranged an extra seat then," Devilia replied as she smiled wryly.
"Ah, right. I told you about the arrival of my team only. High Duke Mila was added in the last moment, I forgot to update you about it," Ryder reacted as he remembered his fault.
"Sigh, Devilia. Why are you acting like a child? There's a simple solution. Just bring more chairs. What has happened to you today?" High Duke Mila let out as she sighed. "You are generally so confident."
" Ah, I'm sorry. It's because my father will be coming to the Palace today to meet His Highness. I'm just a little..." Devilia sighed as she shook her head. "Anyway, I told the servant to bring more seats."
'Ah, so that's what she was telling the servants in such a low voice,' Ryder thought as he got the answer to his previous question.
"Oh? Your old man is back from his trip? I get it; it's the time for a switch. It would be interesting to talk to him," High Duke Mila nodded her head.
She looked at Ryder, who looked confused about the person they were talking about.
"You don't know her father. Her father is our spy in the Death Domain. He's coming back, and another spy will handle the things there now," High Duke Mila told Ryder.
"A spy in the Death Domain? Isn't that dangerous for your father?" Ryder inquired.
"My father is the master of the art of spying. That old man doesn't worry about anything," Devilia answered Ryder.
" I guess you chose the right place to start the journey. Instead of waiting for him to get to the Royal palace, we can talk to him here and get the information faster," High Duke Mila said.
"Yeah, I'm pretty interested in the news of the Death Domain. My spies tell me that they have been pretty active in the human realm too. They slaughtered a human village some time ago," Ryder chimed in as he remembered the thing about the village in the Tiara Kingdom.
" Really? If that's true, then they are getting restless about something to show up in the human realm. They even went to the Undead Region and schemed against us by kidnapping the Vampire King's subordinate. Those guys are definitely up to something," High Duke Mila muttered as she frowned
' Right. Let them take the blame for the Undead Region. They don't seem like the good guys either,' Ryder thought as he kept his mouth closed.
