The doors of the throneroom were flung open as Lalatina waked in, behind her was the explosion mage Megumin and the Kazuma the Hero who defeated the demon king.
The silence that had hung in the room became even deeper as the three walked in, no one said anything about the disrespect that they had shown by forcing themselves in and breaking the door of the castle.
"Hey, I came here because I'm invited, and then the guards say that I can't come in?" Kazuma says to the king who rolls his eyes at the man's words.
The royal guards draw their swords and all of the mages present prepare their strongest attack and defence spells but the three only look bored.
'Iris, what's going on?" Kazuma says to the princess who hops off her seat and walks to him.
"Remember what happened last time he was alone and now he has his party with him." Princess Iris says to the knights who slowly put their swords back into their sheaths and bow their heads at the princess.
"Kazuma you are supposed to wait until the doors are opened for you." the princess's personal guard says to Kazuma, but the woman becomes stiff when the man looks her in the eyes.
She watches as the man's green eyes look around the room and finally land on her.
He walks slowly towards her each step seems to grow louder and deeper as he nears her.
"So why did you call me?" Kazuma says to the king while ignoring the prince who stands not too far from where she sat.
"I called you to reward you by giving you land and appointing you lord." the king answers Kazuma who says.
"Pass."
'I beg your pardon?" the king says to the disrespectful man.
'You heard me, I said pass.' he waves his hands in the air.
"Your majesty with all due respect, let's be honest here I wouldn't last a day being the one in charge."
" I want to spend my days leisurely doing nothing if I can and." he stops talking and looks around the room.
"Let's be honest no one here has anything good to say about me." Kazuma finishes his explanation to the king who strokes his golden beard at the man's words.
"Yes your reputation is even lower than dirt but you are a businessman who has managed to gain lots of wealth." the king says to Kazuma who turns to look at her.
"So what's up with her?" he asks the king who gives her a glance.
"She is to vanish from my kingdom, her house to be destroyed and everything that belongs to them will return to the crown." the king answers Kazuma who smirks.
'Greate if you don't want her I'll take her."
The king was about to say something when Kazuma raised his hand and stopped the king from saying anything else.
"How about this I keep the mansion, her family crest, the land that the mansion is in, and the portraits of her family."
"You can take everything else, I still get rewarded and you lose nothing." Kazuma says to the king who smirks.
"Then your reputation will be even worse."
"Reputation, I'm an adventurer. I'm no lord I travel with my party-killing monsters so what do I care about that.' Kazuma answers the king who nods and signals to the guard to take her crest.
She tries to hold onto it but the knights tear it away from her.
"You now belong to him." the king says to her with a voice so cold that she swears that he could kill her with a single word.
"Don't do that, from now on she is just another member of my party. I don't own her just like I don't own Meguming or Darkness." Kazuma says to the king before putting his hand on her head.
The nobles in the throneroom begin to murmur among each other, she can see them smirking with barely contained laughter.
She can no longer move, the man's hand on her head sends a cold chill down her spine, she looks at him with wide eyes that can't even shed any more tears, because of the shock of what just happened.
She had just escaped from one nightmare only to enter another.
Lady Lalatina or Darkness was once a delicate lady, and while she was a knight she knew how to separate her duties as a Crusader from her duties as a noble.
Lalatina was soft-spoken, a lady who dressed modestly while having a body that many men desired to enjoy while being the envy of the women around her.
All of that changed when Kazuma entered her life.
There are stories of Lalatina wearing incredibly revealing clothes the kind that evil nobles force their maids to wear. She has even heard that Lalatina enjoys being beaten like some kind of training instrument that the men attack for fun.
"What are you planning?" the king asks Kazuma, suspicious of the man's intentions.
"Me, I just want a harem of girls with different colored hair. I mean look at my party I already started." Kazuma answers the king who looks coldly into his eyes.
"Fine have it your way.'
"The mansion, the woman, the family crest, the portraits, and the land around the mansion are yours, and the crown will take the lands the gold, and all of the jewelry that once belonged to her family."
"And Kazuma." the king says to the man, his voice growing more dangerous with every word.
"I will ignore how disrespectful you have been because of your friendship with Princess Iris. So get out." the king orders Kazuma and she follows him like a doll that has no will of its own.