Noble Reincarnation: Born Blessed, So I'll Obtain Ultimate Power

Looking at Etona’s face, I recalled the time when I first met her—about half a year after my enthronement.

☆

Inside the palace, in the resting room.

Returning from outside, I removed the most cumbersome and tiring item of my formal attire—the crown—and handed it to a nearby maid before sitting down on the sofa.

I exhaled the air stored in my lungs and massaged my shoulders to ease the stiffness.

Then I asked Don, who had entered the room following behind me, “How much of it is done?”

“Your Majesty, about 30% in total. There are just under 700 left,” he replied.

“Hmm, this won’t finish by today, will it?”

“Perhaps it would be better to simplify the process from now on, Your Majesty. You’re showing too much leniency to each individual.”

I smiled but said nothing.

It is customary after an emperor’s enthronement to distribute various imperial graces throughout the land.

The knight selection is held on a much larger scale than usual and more slots are allocated.

The knights selected through the “imperial grace” at the time of the emperor’s ascension are regarded as honorary knights with a symbolic significance beyond regular knights.

In other words, the enthronement commemoration is distributed far and wide.

As part of that commemoration, I gathered donations from across the country.

Back when I was a prince, I advised His Majesty—the late emperor—to establish the honorary knight system.

While it’s unacceptable to erase sins with money, it was decided that it should be permissible to buy only honor with money. Those who donated a certain amount to the country could receive the title of honorary knight personally awarded by the emperor.

We expanded that system further, limited it to a thousand slots for the enthronement commemoration, and gathered the top thousand donors.

The enthronement commemorative events, which already emphasized honor, were matched with the honor-focused honorary knight system, and branded as the “Feast of a Thousand Heroes,” making the entire event thoroughly dedicated to honor.

There were some objections, but since it was a festive fundraising event, we forced it through.

Now, after awarding about 300 people, we had temporarily paused.

Don’s comment about “showing too much leniency” meant I was spending time talking to each person individually, truly listening to them.

“This is just this once. Besides, it adds prestige to the entire system,” I said.

“That is true, but…”

“When I speak to them, those who receive my words boast about it when they return to their hometowns. Then the next year, more people want to donate again.”

“That would turn this into a common—no, never mind.”

Don swallowed the rest of his words.

I understood what he meant, and since it was out of concern for my health, I decided not to press further.

While Don and I were having this back-and-forth, Zoe approached and handed me a cold drink.

Almost at the same time, two young maids came from either side to wipe the sweat from my forehead and neck.

Zoe and the other maids had come directly from the mansion to serve me since my enthronement, so their delicate touch in relieving fatigue was truly exquisite.

“Thank you, this helps a lot.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“…Alright, I won’t stop you anymore.”

“Hm?”

“In exchange, I will intervene to some extent to restrain the process. Your Majesty, please continue as you wish.”

“Taking on the role of the villain, huh?”

“Your Majesty always accomplishes great things, but you are too careless about how you present yourself. If this is your thinking, it’s a shame not to add any performance at all.”

“I see. Leave it to you.”

I nodded and took a sip of the cold tea.

Don’s advice made sense, so I decided to trust him with it.

I rested a little while the maids massaged my shoulders, and once I felt somewhat refreshed, I stood up straight.

“Let’s continue.”

“As you wish.”

Leaving the maids behind, I followed Don out of the room.

We headed straight to the audience chamber.