Second World

Jack nodded his acceptance. Thaergood rose and Duke Alfredo came next.

The swearing of fealties went on for a long while as there were many people in the hall. The outworlders who were invited also did the same. They had been advised about this when they came to the palace. If they were unwilling, they were turned away.

Swearing fealties were not just symbolism to the outworlders. If they did, they were automatically accepted into the Themisphere Kingdom faction if they weren't already. If they were already a kingdom faction member, they would receive merit points that were enough to level them up to Baron at least.

The outworlders that John had invited were mostly those with guild headquarters as well as leaders of other influential guilds or groups. By tying them to the kingdom faction, it would help to strengthen the kingdom more.

Through Serenity's divine ability, both Jack's vows and the current swearing of fealties were broadcasted to the entire country. She did this to help Jack solidify his status as the king so that no one would question the legitimacy of his kingship.

It was past afternoon before the fealty-swearing ceremony was completed. Jack was then ushered to the royal balcony. The throne room was situated rather high up in the palace, so he could see almost the entire capital from this balcony.

Down there in the palace courtyard, many civilians had gathered. They crowded until outside the courtyard's wall. They cheered when they saw Jack who was now in the king's uniform.

Jack wondered if they truly cheered for him or if it was something organized by the kingdom's officials.

As his enhanced eyes looked through the crowd, he spotted Amy, Samantha, Gruff, and young Janus. Amy and Samantha cheered passionately. At least Jack was sure these two cheered for him wholeheartedly.

Gruff and Janus weren't invited to the throne room to swear fealty because they were executives of league factions. Their loyalties lay elsewhere. But Bailey, who was also a member of the League of Champions, did. She even informed Jack that she would focus her time more on the kingdom faction than the league.

Jack also spotted Haestus from the Blacksmith Circle and Andrea from the Healer Society among the crowd. He believed there were also other representatives from other league factions down there.

Jack lifted his hands. He was supposed to address the crowd. The voice from the crowd slowly lowered to a murmur.

"People of Themisphere...! I stand before you now as your king. But I believe you have seen me walk amongst you in this past year. I understand that many of you, maybe all, see me as an outsider. I won't deny that. I and my kind, whom you call outworlders, are indeed outsiders. But please rest assured that I don't see you as any different than I see the other outworlders. I swear to you that I have taken an oath to devote myself to making this country a better place, for both natives and outworlders. I truly intend to uphold that oath! For we are one. Whether you are a native or an outworlder. We are all the citizens of Themisphere...!!!"

Cheers erupted, louder than when Jack first came out of this balcony.

'Probably someone down there is choreographing the crowd,' Jack thought amusingly. He didn't mind. This was just a show anyway. The real chore was just about to begin. He would have to prove to the people through his deeds that he was worthy of this crown.

Jack made a slight bow to the crowd before retreating to the throne room.

A feast had been prepared. Everyone moved to the gathering hall to enjoy the refreshments and also let them mingled around. A feast was also prepared for the civilians gathering in the courtyard outside. Everyone was celebrating the coronation of the new king.

Duke Alfredo took Jack around the gathering hall, meeting nobles and other influential natives. He could see some of them were just wearing a friendly façade. He hated this kind of political gathering. Nobody seemed to be their real selves. But he guessed he had no choice but to play this game now. He acted as polite and as friendly as possible, not giving in to his usual casual and carefree manners.

John shamelessly tagged along whenever they went. Jack didn't mind. John was more suited to this kind of function than he was. Jack pulled Jeanny to tag along as well, just to balance up in case John made an insensitive remark. Jack mostly just nodded and answered questions with short comments.

Despite this feast being meant for people around the country to know one another, Jack noticed one sad point. There was a clear separation between a couple of groups. The native group and the outworlder group. The two seemed to form their own circle and just chatted among themselves. Very few out of the two groups made the effort to greet the people from the opposite group.

Jack sighed. It might take more effort and more time if he wanted to bring these two groups together.

The feast went on until late at night. Guests from outside the capital again stayed in the guest rooms prepared for them inside the palace. Even the outworlder leaders were given ones. They happily accepted. Not every day they received such hospitality from the kingdom.

The next day, everyone gathered again. This time for a more somber affair. The funeral ceremony for King Themos, Prince Alonzo, and Princess Sindral.

Only a few people knew the truth about Themos and Sindral. So, to most officials and the mass, Themos and Sindral were still the kind monarch and the gentle princess whom they knew in the past.

Under Jack's insistence, Commander Quintus' funeral was included in this royal funeral ceremony. Lindsey was there. Jack tried to strike up a conversation with her but she was mostly quiet. Jack didn't have the guts to tell her that her father died because of doing a favor for him. He could only secretly swear that he would take care of her.

The ceremony similarly lasted for a day. The head priest from the Church of Creation performed a lengthy ritual. The army then carried the four's bodies in a ceremonial procession to the royal crypt, which was located in a cave inside Mount Thenias.

After the funeral ceremony was over, some officials who were from other cities left. Some stayed another night. Emris and Meryl were among the ones who left the next day. They had to return to their border forts. It had been some time since they left those posts. Their long absence was not good for the safety of those borders.

It was after everything calmed down that Jack had the chance to deal with the matter of actual ruling. By using the monarch system.