"She was... way over the board," said Nightingale grumpily as she revealed herself from the Mist. "What did she mean by that?"
Roland also noticed the subtle change in the att.i.tude of the Pearl of the Northern Region after he told her about how Iron Axe had dealt with the n.o.bles. He had a vague feeling that Edith became completely honest with him, which was actually not a bad thing.
"Well..." Roland thought for a while and asked, "Are you able to tell whether she"s lying or not?"
"She was telling the truth," Nightingale replied while twitching her mouth. "She did mean what she said. Otherwise, I would have stopped her and got to the bottom of it.
"Well, in that case, let it go." Roland smiled. "I have neither strength nor time to guess what everybody"s thinking about."
Nightingale instantly stopped her complaining after hearing these words. She jerked her head away indifferently and said, "You, you"re right... You just need to focus on one or two people and that will do."
It took Roland a great effort to suppress his laughter. He twitched his lips, amused at how bad Nightingale was at concealing her own thoughts. Roland cleared his throat and said, "Then let"s go back to the office. I have a lot of work to do."
He has to test out the two newly developed internal combustion engines and figure out how to use them to achieve ma.s.s production. Also, he needs to design the parts and other supplementary mechanical equipment. Furthermore, he has to work on the design and the a.s.sembly of the armored trains, the manufacture of the biological rubber, as well as the expansion of the plants and the armies.
However, there was one thing that outweighed all of these tasks.
Although it was just a matter of formality, it played a significant role in bringing the people together.
The moment Olivia arrived in Neverwinter, Roland knew it was time for him to officially ascend the throne.
A week later, the Castle District of Neverwinter was open to the public for the first time. Under the guidance of the police and guards, thousands of civilians, who had gone through a screening process, gathered around in the yard, waiting for the coronation in excitement. The streets festooned with streamers and lights beyond the Castle District were swarmed with people. Apparently, people"s enthusiasm was not quenched by the snow.
The Lord"s castle was also temporarily altered due to the upcoming ceremony.
The wall of the front yard had been torn down and replaced with fences so that people could see what was going on inside. All the facilities in the yard had been removed, and new patches of gra.s.s had been laid. The audience would have a full view of the whole ceremony once they walked up the slope of the Castle District.
Each side of the castle was decorated with a red banner hemmed with black that dropped down from the roof and stretched across the whole building. The bright color of the banner stood out in the vast whiteness, adding a note of solemnity and grandeur to this shabby castle.
The biggest change was on the second floor of the castle.
A balcony facing the gate of the front yard protruded from the second floor. No doubt, the king was going to receive blessings from his subjects here after the coronation.
Only the designer of the balcony, Minister Carl, knew that the temporary alternation had been completed by the witches. Ms. Agatha had first created an ice wall, to which Ms. Soraya applied a "brick coating", making it look like a part of the castle.
In such cold weather, the thick ice wall would last for several days.
On the other hand, people inside the castle were busy with the preparation work.
"Your Majesty, are you ready?" Wendy"s voice popped up outside the bedroom. "All the ministers and guests are now here waiting for you."
"Got it. Just give me one moment," Roland replied. He turned around to the girl in a white dress and asked, "Are you ready?"
"Wait a minute... I"m still a bit nervous." The girl was no one else but Anna. She peered down at the crowd below through the curtain, apparently unnerved by the frenzy down there. "Are you sure you want me to come with you? The ceremonial officer told me no king has done it before."
Roland realized that Anna was not as fearless as he thought. Although she was smiling, she was still worried and lost upon such a big event. Her confidence came from her outstanding academic performance and her desire for new knowledge. When she is dedicated to her work, she is a true genius. Despite her talent, she is essentially a girl in her twenties, born and brought up on the countryside.
Anna is certainly not accustomed to presenting herself in front of thousands of people.
Roland smiled and said softly, "Then I"ll set a precedent. Or do you want me to crown myself?"
"No, of course not." Anna shook her head. "I"m just..."
Roland walked up to her, wrapped his arms around her and said, "In that case, I"ll put it in another way."
"Another... way?"
"Yes." Roland took a deep breath and asked in a very serious tone, "Miss Anna, I would like to hire you as my wife. Will you accept my offer?"
"Haha." Anna burst into laughter. "No, I"m no longer a prisoner. Also..."
"Also what?"
"It"s on such a short notice." She pounded Roland"s shoulder with her little fist, then reached out her gloved right hand and said, "Thank you, Roland. Let"s go."
Roland grasped her hand tightly and replied, "As you command."
The couple pushed the door open, walked across the hallway, down the stairs, and into the hall on the ground floor.
The hall instantly fell silent. People automatically made way for the pair while bowing their heads.
Roland glanced at the Neverwinter witches on his left side as he proceeded. He saw Tilly, Ashes, Nightingale, Wendy, Lightning and Agatha... Completely different from what they had looked like three years ago, they blended into the society and became an inseparable part of the kingdom.
On his right side stood the city hall officials and local officers, including Barov, Edith, Iron Axe, Carl, Kyle, Theo, Yorko and so on. They formed the governmental bodies in the Kingdom of Graycastle. Through the years, they have elevated themselves from common people to the prominent political figures.
The coronation should have been a very complicated procedure. However, since the witches and the officials of Neverwinter had all acknowledged Roland"s sovereignty, the process was considerably simplified.
Roland led Anna to the center of the hall, where stood a stone table with two golden crowns on it.
As both King Wimbledon III and the Church of Hermes were gone, Roland dismissed the request of the ceremonial officer to administer the coronation, insisting that the king and the queen should crown each other.
It was the first time in the history of Graycastle to crown a king and a queen at the same time.
The ceremonial officer was certainly opposed to Roland"s suggestion, but to no avail. Surprisingly, Barov sided with Roland this time.
Roland bent down and allowed Anna to crown him, and then he gently placed the other crown on her head.
When the pair turned around, everybody knelt down.
"Long live our king!"
In the cheers of the crowd, Roland and Anna walked to the platform at the other end of the room, out of the domed hall onto the balcony.
There was an eruption of noises below!
Without waiting for him to raise his hand to wave, a deafening cheer flooded over him.
"Long live King Roland!"
"Long live the king!"
"Long live the City of Neverwinter!"
The cheers were earth-shattering. The crowd was flooded with euphoria as the king ascended the throne. Streamers and petals drifted down from the balcony and swirled in the cold wind. For a moment, n.o.body seemed to care about the flurries of snow anymore.
Just as the city bell tolled, the cannons at the encampment of the First Army also produced thunderous roars at a distance. There, on the border of the Barbarian Land and the Western Region, rose the new King of Graycastle.