Escaping Valhalla: A litRPG, isekai, tower-climber

Chapter 57:

Dinner was not served in the same room where we ate lunch previously. This time, it was served in the banquet hall, and I sat to the right-hand side of the King at a table that stretched long enough for twenty to sit on either side. This was just the first table. Situated at the end of the hall were three even longer tables that ran perpendicular to it. We were alone, besides the guards and servers.

The King relaxed after our appetizer, and as we waited for the next course, he said, "I am glad to see you growing into your title."

I noticed he wasn't using the royal "we" as he had been in a public court. I smiled, taking that as permission to be more informal.

"Yes, I had a certain scare that woke me up to my own inadequacies."

"Certainly. After months of dithering upon my previous request, I was glad to see you have made progress. I hadn't expected anything from you, honestly. I hear you got robbed on the road, came back, found the bandits within a week, excised corruption in your own county, doubled theft in your own county, changed some laws, and now your county is extremely profitable. I haven't even heard one account of womanizing about you since," he continued.

I blinked. "I didn't realize Your Majesty had kept such careful track of me."

The King shrugged. "Well, I respected your father a great deal, and while I don't keep careful track of everyone, I do like to know the goings-on and general disposition of most of my vassals."

"That makes sense," I replied.

"But not only did you do that," the King continued, "you then absolutely destroyed a peer of yours with superior numbers in battle and then sieged him out of his own castle in under a month. From what I can tell from the reports, I hear you were actually slower than you needed to be."

I nodded. "It's very possible that I could have finished earlier, but I didn't see the need for it."

The King leaned back in his seat as a server placed a dish in front of him. "You are reminding me more and more of your father."

I let the server place a dish in front of me as well. We kept eye contact, and I didn't feel the need to respond to that last comment.

"Now, when it comes to rewards," the King said, "I have something in mind that I think you'll appreciate. Your father was never one for political pomp. He promptly refused any title I tried to give him other than that of a simple count. I don't understand why. But if you continue to show yourself to be as competent as he was, I see no reason for this state of status quo to continue. And you don't have the standing to refuse me as he did."

The King delivered the last line with a smile that did little to soften the truth of the words.

***

Victor frowned as I explained my meeting with the King and the subsequent follow-up dinner I was going to attend that evening.

"There's a lot of possibility," he said. "The King is unfortunate. The Queen has produced four daughters, none of them fit to be heirs. Not that he wouldn't rather have them inherit like a son, but they all have their own deficiencies that make them unsuitable to rule."

"This has been shown time and time again whenever they're given a modicum of responsibility. And the King knows this. However, I do not believe he even intends to marry them off to secure an heir; rather, he would rather adopt outside the family. Three of his four daughters are already married, and another is promised mostly to foreign royalty in an attempt to get them out of his hair," Victor said. "At least, that's how the rumors go."

Leaning back, I grumbled. "You don't think that..."

***

I listened carefully, but as the King continued, I was pleasantly surprised. I had feared that he would try to name me his heir, which would have been far too soon and would have massively lowered my respect for the man. But no.

"I can't just give you a ducal title," the King said. "As much as your actions were of great benefit to the Crown, it was all very... unofficial. But that doesn't mean I can't find ways to reward you otherwise. There is a certain niece of mine who remains unwed and soon to inherit, as my younger brother has unfortunately fallen severely ill this winter."

I frowned, not liking where this was going. I raised my hand outward, palm extended, cutting the King off. He seemed more surprised than offended.

"I think I see where you're going with this," I said. "But if possible, I would like to request an alternative reward."

"Oh, you have something in mind?" the King said, clearly surprised that I would turn down the offer to inherit a ducal title.

"Yes, I'm not quite ready to be tied down just yet," I said with a smile.

The King looked confused at the expression, but I continued. "I would consider it a great honor if I was allowed to lead your forces in the coming war with the Aldorians."

The invasion date was perfect. I needed eighty souls for my next month, and I would be struggling to meet that without war. Consolidating my forces would be extremely difficult in time for an invasion of another neighbor of mine. Besides, that would probably not go over well. If I could use the invasion and mount a defensive, I would have no problem meeting the quota. Likely, if the war became protracted, I could stay for several more months, even with the escalating quota, before either I finished off the war or simply ran out of time.

"I'm not sure what about a wife would tie you down..." The King tapped his chin and then scratched his beard thoughtfully. I could see him shifting to consider my request. "Yes, I think that would actually be very good. That would let me stay here. But I see no reason for that to be a reward. I'll have you do that anyway. I still want you to consider Alana."

I groaned internally. I didn't want to marry some child... I knew the nobility married young. Plus, I wasn't going to be around long enough. Besides, I didn't have any feelings or attachments. This wasn't something... No. My internal voice rambled at me, full of protests and general disdain for the idea. I still hadn't even gotten over my wife after she died a decade ago! And then I died. I could feel myself moving on once I found out that she had been absorbed into the Heavenly Host, but it was a process, and I wasn't ready. My mind wound itself into knots. Plus, the nobility here married young, and that just... No.

"Um, I think she's a little young, isn't she?" I asked, not actually having any idea if this was true, but grasped at straws anyways.

The King waved his hand. "No, no. She turned eighteen last week."

"That's still kind of gross," I muttered quietly enough that the King couldn't hear. "I don't even know her," I said a little louder.

"Well, don't worry. We'd have a proper courting period, at least three months, where you can get to know her, and if there are any real objections, they can be worked out," the King said.

"I really would—"

The King frowned at me. "I don't think I've heard anything about some sort of childhood sweetheart or any sort of dalliance of yours in a while. Didn't think you were the type that put down real connections. Or is the thought of marriage really that terrifying?"

"No, no, I'm okay with connections. Just—"

"Just are...," the King said, tapping his nose knowingly. "Well, I won't tell anyone, but it can be purely a political marriage, though you will be expected to produce an heir. Even as you are, you would have that expectation placed on you."

"No, no," I protested vehemently. "It's not like that."

"I need dukes like you," the King said. "I need someone who maybe I cannot trust but is at least competent, can command armies, and seemingly doesn't have the political ambition to be a danger yet. Though, hopefully, we'll get some ambition out of you soon enough."

"No," I grumbled. "It's not like that."

But my protest fell on deaf ears, the King giving me a knowing smile.

"Well," the King said, "I see. I can't change your mind entirely, but we'll move ahead with the courtship anyway. Hopefully, by getting to know her, you'll see the benefits. Besides, I actually can't officially put you in charge of the army. You don't have the station for it, but she can be nominally in charge, and you can actually run things. She'll have my direct orders to listen to everything you say."

I frowned but nodded. Hopefully, that would do enough for me to be considered the leader of the troops.

"Very well. It seems I don't have any sufficient reason to refuse further," I said. If the courtship was three months, the odds of me actually being able to meet my quota for that long were incredibly slim. So maybe I could just do my best to avoid her and put it off for as long as possible.