Rise of the Legendary Emperor

Chapter 168: Noble Families

"Do you think one of the nobles could have done this?"

Since the carriage was destroyed by the attack, they were going to Emir on foot.

"I don't know, that's what bothering me"

He learned that the unknown enemy was a hundred times deadlier than the known ones. 

"Me too, but we shouldn't trust anyone, even Lord Clemo"

It was very unlikely that Lord Clemo planned this attack because he was the one who sent him to Emir earlier and Lord Clemo didn't have the guts to do something like this.

"Your armor, can it be repaired?"

He was currently wearing a black tunic with cape and trousers he bought in Luther and Granner. He could have worn his old black armor but he wore that during his stay in Emir for every day so it wouldn't be very kingly of him to appear before the nobles in old clothes.

"Yes, it might take some time to repair it though"

Arrora nodded and replayed the attack in her mind

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"The poison arrows, why didn't they do anything to you?"

She didn't know that he and Knight passed the trail of snakes in the divine which made them immune to poisons.

"Why? Are you disappointed that I didn't die?"

"Don't say that"

She shook her head as she sounded like she's going to cry

"If you cry one more time, I'll make you wash everyone's clothes in Everlight, especially the clothes of the dwarves"

Arrora almost jumped back in surprise as she frowned

" you're kidding?"

"No, I'm serious"

She would rather prefer eating a bunch of live worms than washing the nasty sweaty clothes of the dwarves and seeing his serious face, she could tell that he's not kidding.

"Where did you get that idea? It's pretty gross"

"That's the less gross idea I have"

Hearing him say this, she rolled her eyes and said

"Stop, your majesty, I don't even want to know them, eww"

Wrinkles appeared on her nose as she lowered her brows

Eventually, they reached the Emir and saw the villagers in the distance.

Unlike before many villagers had a smile on their faces because the tax rate was way lower than it was during King Hedor's rule as well as the wage for their works was increased by Warren as per his command. 

"Look, it's his majesty"

"Wow, he's so young and handsome"

"The black ones"

Many villagers stood dumbstruck looking at them as he could hear many conversations about him and the men. Many villagers came to greet them on their way to the capital but he had no time to deal with them as he wanted to quickly settle the matter with nobles and return to Agoria.

While walking towards the capital, he noticed that so many people were gossipping or roaming around the streets without doing anything or going in the direction of the tavern. Especially the women, they were gathered in groups and gossiping as the children were playing in the streets. And he couldn't blame them considering they had no other means to spend their time, the women couldn't handle the hard labor of mining works, the children had no schools or sects and the men who couldn't do mining work had no other work to do than drinking and doing odd jobs.

However soon, after he settles the water spirit in Emir, there would be many works like farming, herding, butchering, and many more.

"His majesty is here"

When the guard saw him and the men, he quickly ran inside to inform Warren as the other guards quickly came towards him and bowed.

"Your majesty"

He nodded and the guards opened the gates to let them in.

"Your majesty"

Warren and Loren came running and greeted him as Lord Clemo caught up with the sibling after a few moments

"Your majesty"

Don nodded as he looked at Warren and Loren. Warren looked the same as when he first met him except for the fancy clothes he wore. But Loren seemed very different as he could tell that she gained a few pounds, there were no neck bones visible and her face was glowing probably due to the regular bath like the royalties.

"How are you two?"

"We're fine, your majesty"

Both of them said at the same time 

" is everyone here?"

"Yes, your majesty, the nobles in Emir is here"

"They are here too, your majesty"

"Then we shouldn't let them wait anymore"

He followed Warren and Loren to where the nobles were as Lord Clemo and Arrora followed them behind.

Lord Clemo was surprised to see that he's wearing something else other than his black armors.

"Lord Clemo, the farmer's sister, is she here?"

Loren quickly understood who he was referring to as fear rose in her heart because Joel said that Don would not be happy when Warren couldn't do anything to Lord Walter due to lack of evidence. And when they heard Lord Clemo say that he had to bring the woman to the castle before Don came, they realized that he's going to deal with the matter personally.

"I already brought her here, your majesty"

"Let's get the party started"

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When Don entered the throne hall, the nobles were sitting on their seats as on the right side, there were five groups with three to four people in each group and three groups on the left side.

All of them stood up and bowed, which looked more like a nod towards him as Don seated himself on the throne and motioned them to sit.

"I don't know your names and your families, introduce yourselves please, let's start with you"

Don started with the nobles from Emir.

"Your majesty, it's an honor to meet you, I'm Kwinten Lievens, the patriarch of clan Lievens"

He read about the Lievens in Joel' file, their main source of income was providing security for the nobles in and outside of Emir, their clan was more of a glorified mercenary guild.

Don nodded and looked at the next person who's a woman in her early or mid forties with dark circles under her eyes.

"I'm Tatianna Vanneste of Vanneste family, your majesty, I'm honored to meet you"

When she said her name, he understood the reason for her dark circles under her eyes. She was the sister of Yashira, the woman who was poisoned by Pedra's men. The Vanneste family was making their fortune by buying mines and finding new mining sites and selling them to the highest bidder.

"My name is Jamie Pattyn, I pay my respect to you, your majesty"

The blonde hair man said with a smile, according to the file, the Pattyn family made their fortune by construction works, it said that almost all the buildings in the noble district were built by the Pattyn family. And now they were investing in various businesses outside of Emir.

After Jamie Pattyn, the old man next to him stood up with the support from the two men beside him.

"I'm honored to finally meet you, your majesty, I'm Davy Lambert, head of the Lambert family"

Lord Clemo suddenly felt pity for the old man, he knew what's going to happen to his son, Walter Lambert, and his grandkids. Unlike Lord Clemo, Arrora didn't even feel any pity for the old man, as far as she was concerned it was the old man's fault that Walter grew up to be the man he's now.

Don didn't show anything on his face as he nodded and looked at the middle-aged man with a goatee as he stood up

"I'm Manuel Demet, the patriarch of the clan Demet, your majesty "

He was from the clan as same as the woman who was behind Yashira's death, Pedra Demet. The clan Demet was always at war with the Vanneste family because they were at the same business, mining and Pedra took the rivalry to the next level by killing the Vanneste family head's sister.

After the Demet family, Don turned his gaze at the ex nobles of Agoria as the first one, a middle-aged man with no hair on his head stood up.

"I'm Leonard Burian, your majesty, it's nice to meet you again"

He let out a fake smile to cover his frustration with Don since he stripped away the noble title from them. The Burian family was one of the five major noble families in Agoria but after Don killing Lord Massen and Ryan, the Burian family became the strongest.

"You're looking good, your majesty,I'm Ester Radana, Clan Radana's head"

The woman seemed to be in her early or mid-thirties as she let out a seductive smile. He was surprised to see her trying to hit on him even after what he had done to Massen and Ryan, but he chose not to mind her actions as he looked at the last person.

The last person to stand up was a woman with a graceful smile, She was a beautiful woman who wore a red silk robe. And when she stood up, he noticed the redness appear on Lord Clemo's face as sitting beside Lord Clemo, Arrora could hear his heartbeat increasing.

"So she's the love of Lord Clemo's life huh?"

Don remembered the widow woman who made Lord Clemo fall in love with her. And looking at Lord Clemo, the woman gently smiled and introduced herself.

"It's an honor to meet you, your majesty, I'm Helena Speckle, daughter of Zohana Speckle, the head of family Speckle. my mother is very sick, your majesty, she couldn't handle a long journey from Agoria to here, forgive us"

"It's alright"

Don said as Zohana bowed and took a seat.

"Let's begin"