Herald of Steel

Beihrut was very pleased by the reward Amenheraft announced.

Although he could not care less if he was made lord of Ankook or lord of the slums or even the lord of Adhan, because he had absolutely zero interest in ruling, he was very very pleased for being awarded the Imperial princess Hellma, whom he had always lusted over, but never thought would actually get the chance to hold.

Because Beihrut, for all his martial prowess and gallantry, was by nature a scum, the lowest of the low.

He was a born sadist and pervert who took pleasure in sexually assaulting underaged children and particularly enjoyed hearing them cry and scream.

In fact, he had forcibly taken many children, had many child brides, and killed scores of them, all under the complete immunity of his royal guards captain title and even under the much bigger umbrella of protection of the previous king.

His victims ranged from innocent civilian girls who simply went outside with their parents when they caught his eyes while he was traveling, to underaged daughters of various nobilities he visited to even fresh acolytes of the temple.

As such, it was common knowledge among citizens in Adhan and even in some minor nobility circles to hide one's children whenever Beihrut was near.

Some even went as far as to smear ash and dirt on their children's faces and clothes to make them appear less attractive.

As a matter of fact, many noble houses decided to participate in the rebellion for revenge for their daughters, who were humiliated and sometimes even killed by untouchable Beihrut.

Many of them had petitioned before again and again to Amenheraft's father to punish the brute or at least discourage him, but the king simply paid no ear to such drones of lesser beings, stating, "It is the right of those serving close to the son of god to partake in pleasures forbidden to the common mass. Beihrut. choosing your daughters is their greatest luck in life."

This was not at all surprising because it was well known among the nobility that Beiheut would, along with indulging himself, regularly gift Amenheratf's father with similarly underaged children, whom the previous king quite enjoyed having.

But it had to be pointed out that for all his so-called tactlessness and immunity, Beihrut never crossed one line.

He never attacked anyone from the royal bloodline, not even the illegitimate ones.

For a mere mortal to attack the descendant of a god was unthinkable, even to him.

But this did not stop him from lusting over them.

Especially the current king's half-sister Hellma.

The abnormal lust he felt toward her was nothing like he had ever felt towards any other girl.

The imperial princess was just 140cm, had exotic wheat-colored skin, and was just fourteen, the perfect age in his opinion- no longer a small girl but not yet a grown woman.

And Amenheratf had just given her to him, the girl of his dream just like that.

And what was more he had given her not a bride but as a concubine, as a mistress with no social status.

That meant that he could do many things to her that otherwise as his legal wife would have been not possible to do, things that might leave marks on her and be problematic.

Just thinking about the depraved things he would do to the golden-colored porcelain doll made Beihrut's loins hot.

Amenheratf was of course aware of everything. He had even specifically given the rewards to Beihrut knowing this.

Hellma was Ptolemy's own sister and this was his way of punishing the rebels.

And because of Beihrut's complete disinterest in governance, the huge city and lush pastures of Ankook would still be effectively in his hand.

After rewarding his three highest retainers, Amenheratf surprisingly bought up the name of a fourth dead retainer.

"There is one more person I would like to reward. He had sadly left us today, fighting bravely without equal- Lamiz. And for his unmatched sacrifice, I will have Lamiz be entombed and buried with me as part of my eternal guard." Amenheraft dropped a bombshell.

This bought an enormous chatter among the crowd as the 'Eternal guards" were stone statues of only living royal guards who were buried with a king's dead body to protect him through the journey to the afterlife.

A very key important point to being the eternal guards was to be alive.

Manuk tried to explain this to his king and tell him why a dead person could not serve as an eternal guard, " Your Majesty, only the living, from the plane of the mortals can protect your soul from the dangers of the Path. Lamiz's soul is already in the underworld. He cannot come to your aid."

" I have made up my mind, Manuk. Lamiz will accompany me through the Path. It's my soul and I will protect it as I wish." Amenheratf declared majestically, with a tint of anger in his voice.

"As you wish, Your Imperialness." Manuk sensing the king's mood prudently retreated.

After dealing with his most important retainers, he then turned to all his lesser entourage and spoke, " It's night, and let us return to our camp tonight. I shall reward all of you richly in due time."

"Your Majesty, to serve you is our eternal reward."

"I have witnessed Ramuh in action today. My soul is at peace."

"We exist only to serve you."

Various flattery and humble proclamations rang out from the crowd after Amenheraft's announcement, each eager to outdo the other to praise their king.

As the king seemed to be retiring to his tent for the day, suddenly Manuk posed a question, "Your Majesty around twenty-five to thirty thousand Cantagenans have surrendered. What do you intend to do?"

This was was a very important question because depending on the king's answer, he would have to make many arrangements, such as a place to keep the captured, give them food, schedule guard routines, and many more.

"Hmmm." Came the long drawn-out reply of Amenheraft.