Ars looked at them and praised them.
"You all look beautiful!"
Rachel looked at me and commented in a happy mood.
"You are not looking so bad either! And of course we all look beautiful, it's us, we are always beautiful!"
Ars smiled at her and nodded, agreeing with her.
"Inded, you are all always beautiful, and you are also all cute and adorable! My beautiful wives! Not doing so bad for a, not looking so bad either guy. If I say so myself."
They blushed and smiled with happy expressions. Who wouldn't like to get praised.
When they were all ready they started moving towards the podium, where the speech would be made. The place was already very crowded, with a lot of people already waiting for them. Some were known faces, others unfamiliar ones but they all were here with smiles and happy expressions.
Ars smiled and waved at them, they all cheered at him and his family. Rachel and Reiju were surprised, they knew Ars was loved by the citizens but this was on an entirely new level.
Reiju was surprised but since she had the time to see how people treated Ars and the royal family she wasn't as surprised as Rachel. Yes, Rachel used to be a princess before she basically decided she didn't want to be one anymore, but even when she was young and lived through similar events, nothing came close to comparison to this.
She looked around, and there were people pointing to tattoos they made of the royal family or members of it, others were literally on their knees praying to them, some were just screaming as loud as they could for the royal family, and there were even some people that she didn't even understand what they were doing… But they all had one thing in common, they all loved and worshiped the royal family, fanatically, she couldn't even start to phantom what someone could do to be this loved.
She looked back at the rest of the royal family and couldn't help but ask.
"I knew you were liked by the population of the kingdom, but this… This is on a whole new level of love… There are people praying to you guys like you guys are some sort of gods…"
Reiju was also amazed but the more she thought about it the more realized how absurdly loved their family was.
Ars looked at Rachel confused and asked.
"Are they not supposed to like us?"
She looked confused before replying with a shocked face.
"Yeah I think it's good that they like you… Us… But this is on a whole new level of like… This isn't just like, they think of you guys almost as their saviors, their gods, that's not normal!!"
Ars thought about it and he realized she was kinda right, he just got so used to being treated like this that he didn't even question it anymore. He looked at her and said,
"It is, what it is! So learn to live with it."
She was speechless but couldn't even talk back, it was indeed shocking but it was better than being feared or disliked, like some nobles and royals were.
She decided to sit down and try to calm herself down.
After close to an hour, it was time for the speech, Ars got up and moved to the front of the podium, he looked around and close to 35000 people went instantly silent. He smiled at them thankfully, and started.
"I am happy to announce that another year has passed since the official creation of the kingdom, and as usual we have people to introduce, and 1 official reward to be given."
Then he paused for a few seconds before continuing with a classic speech.
"It is with much joy we gathered here to commemorate the kingdom foundation day and the good health of everyone in the kingdom…"
Ars went on talking about the kingdom, and what had changed during this year.
"... To finalize the speech I will now introduce you to the 2 new queens."
He took Reiju's hand, and pulled her to his side before continuing.
"This is the new queen in charge of medical related fields, you can call her Reiju like you can call me just Ars."
Everyone laughed and every single voice in the crowd said the same thing.
"NOT HAPPENING!! YOUR MAJESTY ARS!!"
Ars sighed and everyone laughed. Then Ars smiled and continued, he took Rachel hand and also was going to pull her, but she reacted faster and quickly approached before she was pulled.
"And this person is your other new queen, who is in charge of foreign affairs and related fields, you can refer to her as queen Rachel. Now I will let them talk for a bit."
Reiju just laughed, she knew he would most likely pull something like this. So she made a quick speech she prepared just in case. When she finished, she looked back at Ars with a smug face.
Rachel on the other hand was caught completely off guard, she didn't have the time to interact with Ars enough, to know there was the chance that Ars would try something like this.
She panicked for a bit and when she was going to start her very improvised speech, she accidentally bit her tongue.
"I bith mah thonge…"
Everyone laughed and after that she made a very short speech explaining what she would do for the kingdom. When she looked back and saw Ars super amused face, she said very quietly.
"I'm getting revenge for this!!"
After that, Ars went to the front again, and looked at everyone. Then he said with a happy expression.
"Now the last part of the boring part of the day! The big official reward."
He looked at Rook, who had already been notified previously, before continuing.
"There will be 2 different rewards."
Everyone exclaimed in admiration.
"Hoooooooo!"
Except Rook who was now confused, he had only been notified of one, he could only curse in his mind and keep a smile on his face. Ars then kept going.
"First is the reward from having accumulated enough points to choose any of the rewards from the point list."
Ars gave him a list and he chose the reward. This was the reward Rook knew it was coming so he already had an idea of what he wanted. He quickly introduced his choice to everyone.
"I will choose the rumored and very desired potential upgrade!"
Everyone who heard him nodded, agreeing with his decision, but quickly went silent with the expectation of listening to the other reward.
Ars smiled and then announced it.
"The second reward is referent to the great service he does for this kingdom everyday, and the reward is a title. From now on Rook, I grant you the nobility title of Viscount! You can make a speech expressing your happiness!"
If he was complaining before internally, he was now complaining loud enough everyone heard him.
"Not again, your majesty… When will you stop adding things at the last second just to entertain yourself…"
Ars smiled and pointed at the crowd before saying excitedly.
"It isn't just to entertain myself, it is entertaining for everyone, and gives no time to make an empty speech, forcing people to actually say what is in their minds, besides…"
Ars looked at everyone in the crowd and screamed as loud as he could.
"ARE YOU NOT ENTERAINED!?"
And the crowd went wild, like Ars had said they also enjoyed seeing people in high positions fumbling with words panicky.
After that Rook did a short improvised speech, and at the last part of his speech he looked at Ars and said.
"Sonner or later I'm gonna find a way to make you do an improvised speech."
Ars just laughed and decided to end the speech and give start to the festivities.
"So without further additions, this year's festival has now officially started, have fun and stay safe!"
After the end of the speech everyone went on to have a good time, and as usual the royal family went around having a good time with everyone too.
A week later when the festival was over it was time to talk with Rook about his potential increase.
Ars went to meet Rook at his house, he knocked and Rosar was the one who opened the door, she was surprised and exclaimed quite loudly.
"YOUR MAJESTY! What brings you here?"
Ars showed a friendly smile and explained, but something in her expression wasn't right.
"I'm here to talk with Rook about his reward."
She nodded and welcomed him, like she already expected it.
"Well, don't just stand there at the door, come in! We don't bite 90% of the time in this house… The other 10% is when we are eating! Don't get any funny ideas!"
Ars smiled and entered, he went to sit in a chair he located in their living room, he thought of teasing her but decided it wasn't the time.
Rook came to meet him shortly after. When Rook saw Ars with a mischievous look, he could imagine what was going on, in his mind.
Ars looked at Rook and quickly asked with a happy expression , and a playful tone.
"When did you marry!? And why wasn't I invited! I thought we were friends… Oh the betrayal, my heart can't endure such pain…"
Rook, already expecting the fake drama, chooses to ignore it and replies calmly.
"We aren't married yet, and let's talk about the reward… I have the strange feeling you will try to escalate this situation to the moon if you can to entertain yourself…"
Ars showed a reluctant expression but nodded. Rook sat down in front of him and asked.
"So what do you want to say to me, involving the rewards?"
Ars looked at Rook and clarified.
"To be precise, what I want is to decide on a date for you to receive your enhancement. I know it might be a bit rushed but I would like a date you would be available to receive it."
Rook looked at Ars strangely and asked.
"Can't you bring the injection any day of the week? I mean it's just an injection, right?"
Ars nodded but then explained a bit further.
"Yes, but since it's the first official reward, it has been requested by the public to make it a public display where anyone can confirm with their own eyes if they go, that you did indeed receive the reward, and it's not just propaganda."
Rook looked up and smiled awkwardly, before making a question.
"So… Basically someone heard of the reward during the festival and decided to bitch about not seeing the reward being delivered to me… Right? Are you sure that someone isn't you?"
Ars just nodded and replied.
"Yup! Strangely, and sadly it's 100% not me, and you got it right on the first try, some did bitch about it… I can imagine who but… Let's leave that out of the equation."
Rook sighed and looked at Ars seriously, before adding.
"So now, instead of a simple delivery, you and I need to make a show out of it…"
Ars showed an annoyed expression but confirmed it.
"Yup!"
Rook looked a bit exasperated but nodded, and inquired.
"So when do you plan to make the delivery, and how?"
Ars explained quickly and simply.
"Well I was thinking of making things quite simple and delivering it to you before the start of training during a morning training routine of your choice, just something small and very early to force the lovely fan to come at that time to…"
Rook laughed and nodded before adding.
"Cheers to petty revenge! And we can do it the moment you get everything ready!"
Ars laughed and replied with a huge grin.
"Cheers!"
After that Ars was about to leave when he spotted Rosar spying on them from the corner, he smiled and waved at her, she approached and said cheerfully.
"Don't worry when our marriage comes you will be the first guest besides, our families, the queens and the princesses… Yeah, you will be the first after them!"
Ars looked at her shocked and Rook behind me started laughing his ass off, Ars started to reply, but got interrupted by her.
"Rea…"
"Yes, don't worry we still love you, but you probably have stuff to do, so we won't take more of your time."
Ars could only look at her and exclaim.
"Are you kicking me out?!"
She looked offended and defended herself.
"Of course not, you are free to stay, but since you are already leaving and probably have other things to do…"
If Ars wasn't sure she was the one behind the complaint before, he was now, his eyes clearly accusing her, and she knew Ars knew, so before he could say anything he got kicked out of the house.