CHAPTER 284: THE REVELATION

"Entering his majesty, her majesty, the Father King and Mother Queen, and the First and Second Princesses."

At the announcement, the nobles bowed. "Greetings to the royal family blessed by Lord Nerin. May the blessings of Lord Nerin continue to shine upon you.

The royal family entered the banquet hall.

"You may rise." Fedor said.

"Over here," Nova Kiran mouthed, waving her hands.

Beatrix and Serina noticed her and excused themselves from their parents, heading in Nova’s direction.

"Princess Beatrix, princess Serina."

Beatrix and Serina smiled before crushing Aristia and Alaric in a collective hug.

[Oof!] Aristia, who was squeezed in between the two felt a bit of sympathy for herself. [And I thought Laura’s was worse. At least Alaric wasn’t spared either.]

The two released them before nodding and smiling at the others.

Not long after, Beatrix and Serina noticed Carolyn.

"Who’s that?" They asked the same question Aristia had.

"That’s Baron Cornwell’s long lost daughter, Carolyn Cornwell."

"Oh," the twins nodded to show they understood.

"You don’t know what happened." Lauren said, rolling her eyes.

Beatrix and Serina asked, "Hm? What happened?"

Nova explained what happened.

Serina scoffed. "So she doesn’t know the features of members of the royal family? Even a baby knows this."

She said the same thing Aristia had said.

They had just opened their mouths, about to say something when a clear voice stopped them.

"You all have to be careful when interacting with her. You can be easily misunderstood."

She didn’t need to say much, but they all understood.

Aristia was simply warning them. Even though they wouldn’t actively engage with those from minor nobillity, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be occasions where they would have to engage with them.

"Okay." They nodded seriously.

Minutes later, the nobles sat down for the feast.

Servants entered the banquet hall and served the food.

Fedor got up. "This banquet was held as a way of expressing our joy that the locusts have left, and there is no famine."

He then raised his wine glass. "Here, I propose a toast to this victory over the famine."

The nobles raised their wine glasses.

"It’s all because of his majesty and his Chief Advisor." A nobleman from minor nobillity praised Fedor and Wilson.

Fedor laughed, his gaze moving across the table.

"I want to use this moment to thank the person who gave this idea."

At Fedor’s words, everyone smiled.

So it turned out that it was Wilson alone who had come up with the idea of building storage houses and granaries.

However, some frowned. If Wilson was the one, would the king need to use the word ’person’? Shouldn’t he have said thatbe wanted to thank his brother?

Aristia herself didn’t react much. It didn’t matter to her if it was revealed that she was the one or not. Since Fedor decided to reveal it, then she would take the credit.

Fedor continued, "If it wasn’t for her, our kingdom would have been in a precarious situation."

His words caused an uproar among the nobles.

They immediately hung onto the King’s words.

She.

Who was this she? That meant it wasn’t Wilson? Had the king made a mistake? But it couldn’t be possible.

Their mouths hung open in shock, and they engaged in a heated discussion.

"Could it be her Majesty?"

"Or maybe her Imperial Highness?"

"It could be either of them."

They turned to Wilson expectantly, waiting for him to say the words they had been waiting for.

Fedor smiled, feeling satisfied at the curiosity and impatience that buzzed in the air at the suspense.

Seeing that he was about to speak, the nobles quickly quieted down.

"The person who gave this idea is none other than my beloved niece, third Princess Aristia."

Chaos almost ensued.

Third princess?

Princess Aristia?!

That princess Aristia?!!!

The nobles were beyond shocked.

"E-Excuse me, your majesty?" Someone blurted out.

Surely his majesty was joking, right? How could it be the third princess?

But... could his majesty joke about something like this? This was a serious matter!

Someone laughed awkwardly. "Your majesty is not serious... right?"

No one said anything. Instead, their gazes stiffly shifted to Wilson, Catherine and finally stopped on Aristia.

The little girl was watching with a passive expression, occasionally putting food into her mouth that her brother and cousin put into her plate.

The nobles were speechless.

Here they were still struggling to digest the king’s words, and the person in the middle of it was just eating without a care in the world.

But... who would dare to ask her to stop eating?

"It is just as I said. My niece was studying two years ago, and she read about destructive pests called locusts. She wondered if there would ever be a solution to it. She thought about it until she found a solution. Then she came up with building what we now call storehouses and granaries." Fedor tweaked the story.

Aristia hadn’t said that she studied. She had told them that she had heard a maid talking about locusts in some other lands.

"We never expected that locusts would really attack the kingdom." Wilson said what their family had been thinking, except that it was in front of the whole nobility in Amberale.

Hearing further confirmation that it wasn’t a joke, the nobles were amazed.

"Hmm. I’ve heard that the third princess has always excelled in her studies. Who knew she was such a genius?" An old, scholarly looking nobleman exclaimed.

His words set off a wave of praises, whether they meant it or not.

"It’s truly wonderful. Marvelous indeed. The third princess saved the kingdom." Another noble man said.

"Already thinking of such matters at her age. Truly remarkable!"

"And it was two years ago. She was five years old then."

Aristia only smiled sweetly and politely, before adding food to Alaric’s plate.

"Eat, Al. You shouldn’t only be adding food to my plate. You too, Laura."

The two nodded. "We’re eating, we’re eating."

The nobles watched this.

They could clearly see that the third princess didn’t care even though she had done something so huge.

She also wasn’t arrogant.

Somehow, this uncaring attitude of the princess... made it difficult for them to dislike her.

And her smile at that moment. It was very nice to see.

Soon the banquet ended and it was time to go.

The noble families left the palace, each one personally thanking and praising Aristia for her major contribution to the kingdom.

In the end, Aristia smiled until her mouth felt sore.

Finally, all the nobles left.

Well, almost all of them.

Carolyn Cornwell slowly approached Aristia, her head bowed slightly.

"Princess... third princess Aristia. I’m really very sorry for not recognizing you earlier."

"I’ve told you, it’s alright. And welcome to nobility." Aristia still kept the kind, pleasant smile on her face. Before Carolyn could say more, she waved. "Goodbye, miss Cornwell."

Carolyn nodded quietly and turned around to leave.

She entered the carriage where her family was waiting for her. The carriage began moving towards the palace’s gate.

"Princess Aristia." Aristia heard a familiar voice calling her name.

She turned away from the Cornwell’s moving carriage, seeing Vivian Quentin standing in front of her.

She caught sight of the Quentin couple standing a distance away in front of their waiting carriage.

The couple was smiling so wide it felt like their lips would stretch to their ears.

They had seen their daughter with the princess earlier in the banquet hall talking closely with her, and now their usually reserved daughter approached the princess. This deeply pleased the couple. They had to seize any chance to get closer to the royal family.

Their other daughter couldn’t help but glare at Vivian from where she stood in front of the carriage.

Aristia turned her attention back to Vivian.

"Goodbye, princess Aristia." Vivian said.

Aristia nodded with a light smile.

"Bye, Vivian. So, you’ll be returning to your Fief?"

Vivian nodded. "Yes. But... not soon. My parents.... want to stay in the capital a little longer." She said.

She knew the reason why her parents wanted to stay longer in the capital instead of leaving for their Fief. It was so that she could be able to see Aristia more and strengthen their relationship, since they couldn’t meet in the North and sending letters may not do much.

Aristia also deduced the reason.

Nevertheless, she smiled.

Vivian curtseyed,"Then, see you, princess." She said and turned to leave.

However, Aristia stopped her.

"Vivian."

Vivian turned back, a curious expression on her face.

Aristia looked into her eyes for a few seconds before finally stepping closer and saying in a lowered tone.

"I have something I would like you to do for me."

Vivian’s face turned confused, but she showed she was listening.

"Find out about Carolyn Cornwell." Aristia said.

Surprise showed in Vivian’s face before the expression dimmed.

She finally nodded.

A small smile appeared on Aristia’s face on seeing her agree. "Then, I look forward to seeing you, Vivian."

Vivian turned around, heading towards her family’s carriage.