The morning prayer continued until sunrise.
In the meantime, I talked about various things with Sana about how big a knight squad I could create and something along those lines.
We agreed on some terms and decided to proceed in that direction. Of course, I had told her that I would like to get Sophia to join my newly created squad, and Sana agreed to it.
And when the morning prayer ended, Sana stood up and introduced me to the masses from the second floor. I walked near the railing and looked down, waving my hand to the masses.
Surprisingly, I noticed some familiar faces below, such as Rania and some of my classmates. They looked at me with smiles on their faces but didn't try to wave at me. Why? Because the other people cheered loudly to get my and Sana's attention.
We only waved for a few seconds before retreating. That was the formal introduction and my first appearance as the Paladin. I didn't even say anything, but people were happy seeing my face.
'If only they know what I plan to do with my title.'
It was ironic. I only got this title to dominate the nuns and get social status. My intention wasn't that pure. Though I couldn't deny that I also protected them from the nearby monster, as hunting was the only exercise that could satisfy me besides sex.
After greeting the masses, Sana asked me to follow her to prepare for the meeting with the King. It was about time for him to arrive.
We went to the gallery room at the back of the church. The gallery room was more luxurious than any room I had ever visited, with pictures on the wall and a crystal clear chandelier hanging above.
Two couches were in the middle of the room, and a crystal table was placed between them with a blue rose inside a beautiful vase decorating it.
We sat on the couch adjacent to each other as we were waiting for the King. It wasn't that long before I heard a knock on the door.
"Enter." Sana replied softly to the knock, and the door was opened from outside.
A female knight appeared. Even though she wore a helmet, I knew who she was. It was Sophia, the knight who tagged along with monster subjugation yesterday.
"Excuse me." She bowed her head with her hand on her chest. "The Royal carriage has entered the main church area. We escorted the carriage to the backdoor as instructed before. Please give us further instruction, Archbishop."
"Please escort the King to this room. We will be waiting for his arrival."
"Understood." Sophia raised her body and left.
The door was closed once again, leaving only the two of us inside.
"Paladin," Sana called out to me, and I looked at her. "I must warn you about the King of Virtue Kingdom. That man, Cassius Humilitas, is a sly old fox. His words are twisted like a snake, and he can lie easily because he has already gained all Sins from lying. You must be careful around him."
"I will keep that in mind." I nodded at her.
It just took a few minutes before the door was knocked again. This time, Sana and I stood up to greet the King. At least I understood the basic formality when meeting someone important. I wasn't that person who couldn't read the room and made an unnecessary enemy with a King of a nation.
The door was opened without our words this time, and two people showed up, with Sophia waiting behind them, bowing. A man and a girl.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." Sana greeted the King and curtsied as soon as the door closed. She wore no skirt, so she only nodded slightly.
"No, Archbishop Sana. It's my pleasure." The King replied with a smile. He didn't even nod his head due to his position, and then he turned to me. "I guess this is our first meeting, Sir Paladin. As you know, I am the King of Virtue Kingdom, Cassius Humilitas."
The man was wearing blue and white noble clothes with no gaudy accessories. He had light blue hair and golden eyes, unlike Alexander Bluerose, who had dark blue hair. His handsome face looked kind, with a soft smile and wrinkles around his eyes.
That man was the King of Virtue Kingdom, Cassius Humilitas, someone Sana told me to be careful about.
He extended his hand toward me, which I took and shook with a soft smile.
"It's a pleasure. My name is Arthur Vainglory, a new Paladin of Castitas Church."
Just like him, I also didn't nod my head. He didn't mind, as my position as a Paladin was more or less similar to his.
King Cassius released his hand and gestured to his side toward the girl who followed him from a step behind. "It must be your first meeting with my daughter."
At his sign, the girl curtsied while holding her skirt.
"It's an honor to meet you, Paladin. My name is Carissa Humilitas, the first Princess of Virtue Kingdom. I am eager to greet you in the Virtue Royal Academy, but please forgive me as our schedules didn't match. So I am really glad to finally be able to meet you directly."
"Please don't mind it, Princess Carissa. I am also glad to meet you today."
I looked at her again. She had a small cute face and the same hair and eye color as the King. She had modest breasts and wore a sleeveless blue dress covering her chest and a pair of shiny high heels. A rather unsettling smile plastered on her face. It seemed fake.
Many people, young and old, knew this girl. She was the most famous person in the Royal Academy, and currently, she was also on top of the list of the girls I didn't want to sleep with, even though she was cute.
She was the girl Eliza mentioned back in the café. Now that I saw her at a close range, I could see how fake her personality was.
'I really don't want to get involved with her.' I thought as I kept my face calm, not showing any emotion.
"Well then, Your Majesty. I believe that we're both busy with our future schedules, so why don't we talk about the important things regarding your purpose of visiting us personally."
Thankfully, Sana was so quick on the uptake. She realized I was faking my expression and immediately changed the subject. Her blessing must've kicked in again.
"You're right, Archbishop." King Cassius agreed, and then we sat down on our seats.
For some reason, the King sat across from Sana, and he let Princess Carissa sit across from me.
It should be noted that in a meeting like this, people with the highest position would sit face to face. Just from this sitting arrangement, I knew that the King had planned on getting Princess Carissa to make a connection with me.
And from this, I also knew that the King had yet to acknowledge me to be in a higher position than Sana. Something along the lines he underestimated me or took Sana's position highly.
Whatever it was, I didn't really like it. But as I mentioned before, I didn't want to make an unnecessary enemy, especially when the other side was the King of a Nation.
At that moment, the King crossed his legs and looked at us alternatively, "If I may be honest, Archbishop. Because we're both busy, let's skip the needless talk and let's talk about the main subject of my visit."
"Please, Your Majesty." Sana replied while gesturing for the King to continue. From her tone, I noticed that she was also a bit pissed off with our seating arrangement.
At least I knew that Sana was thinking highly of me.
'Well, I still looked like an 18-year-old boy, while Sana is an Archbishop that has already been in position for 5 years. It's natural if the King looked down on me.'
But that was only for now. Let's hear what he wanted to say first.
"I was thinking of deepening the relationship between the government and Castitas Church. That's why I have a proposition." The King spoke while glancing at me.
It was just as I had expected. This guy–
His smile deepened as he continued, "Why don't we have the first Princess and the Paladin get married to each other?"
–He came here with a marriage proposal.
