Sister Lisa scratched her ear, even pressing it hard, as if to check whether she had just misheard something.

To her, Richard was the most unbelievable boy she had ever seen or heard of—but no matter what, in her eyes, he was still just a boy.

How could a boy have the audacity to want to get engaged to a fully grown princess?

"Richard, you—?" Lisa was at a loss for words.

But Richard simply kept pulling her along, hailing a carriage taxi, stepping inside, and instructing the coachman to take them to the royal palace.

Of course, the coachman assumed they just wanted to see the palace grounds, not enter it.

It wasn't uncommon for visitors from outside the capital to come there for sightseeing.

At night, the palace had a different kind of beauty—illuminated by bright, colorful lights from magical gemstones. But what drew the most attention were the star fireflies, nearly the size of sparrows, fluttering gracefully around the palace.

There were quite a few people visiting, though naturally, no one was taking pictures—there were no cameras in this world.

However, there were painters capable of creating portraits so realistic they looked like photographs.

Richard asked the coachman to drop them off in front of the main gate, which was still open but heavily guarded.

"Richard…" Sister Lisa, still being tugged along, looked worried.

Naturally, no one could just walk up and try to enter the palace gates without an invitation.

The last time she came here, she had followed Lilith, so there had been no problem at all.

But Richard strode forward without hesitation, stopping before the soldiers guarding the gate.

"Sir Richard…" The captain recognized him immediately, greeting him respectfully with a puzzled look, clearly wondering what his purpose was.

"I wish to meet the King and the Empress," Richard said casually.

Yet the captain didn't look surprised in the slightest when he heard that.

Instead, he nodded and replied, "Please wait a moment. I'll report to the head butler."

With that, the captain hurried off.

Lisa could only stand there, dumbfounded by everything she had just witnessed.

This was beyond even Richard's own expectations—but he figured that since the Empress herself had once personally invited him to dinner, his status within the kingdom clearly wasn't the same anymore.

Before long, the elderly butler from the other day—none other than the royal head butler—arrived with the captain.

"Sir Richard, please follow me. His Majesty and Her Majesty have granted you permission to enter," said the butler courteously, gesturing for him to come inside.

"Thank you," Richard replied, before following the butler and pulling Sister Lisa along, who was still in shock and completely dazed.

The butler clearly had no objection to him bringing someone else along.

He led them into the palace—to the same grand hall they had visited previously.

Inside were the blond-haired King and the red-haired Empress, speaking with an elderly man who appeared to be from another region within the Holy Star Kingdom.

The old man seemed to be giving a report to the King.

And he wasn't the only one—there were several others, most of them looking like officials from the capital or other provinces, waiting their turn to report.

When the King and Empress noticed Richard's arrival, they immediately asked the old man to pause his report and step aside.

Richard instantly became the center of attention.

Some of the officials recognized him, while others didn't.

Of course, once they began exchanging thoughts through their Sixth Sense, those who hadn't known him quickly realized who he was.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Empress," Richard said respectfully.

"Richard, what brings you here?" the Empress asked, smiling with curiosity.

When she asked that, Richard suddenly realized how impulsive he had been.

With his small body, to come here and ask to be engaged to an adult princess—it was far too bold. Even if the princess were still a child, it would still be absurd.

But this was a decision he had already made.

Taking a slow breath to steady himself, he answered calmly, "I came to ask for your blessing—to be engaged to Princess Lilith."

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"Did he just say what I think he said?"

The officials nearby looked utterly shocked, while Sister Lisa looked as if she wanted to crawl into a hole—unable to bear hearing such extreme words.

Even the King and Empress froze.

Perhaps they weren't unfamiliar with men coming to propose to Lilith, but normally, those men were around her age—or at least already adults.

Because they were in the royal presence, the officials didn't dare make a commotion.

Even so, both the King and Empress needed a moment before they could regain composure.

The King seemed too speechless to respond, so he glanced at the Empress, silently signaling for her to handle this.

"Richard, are you sure?" the Empress asked, doing her best to speak as though she weren't talking to a child.

Richard knew how awkward the situation was, but he forced himself to remain calm.

"Yes," he said with a nod, his tone firm and certain.

"This isn't something we can decide," the Empress said gently. "We don't practice arranged marriages. Even if we did, it would be difficult for us to make such a decision on behalf of a strong-willed princess like Lilith. In this matter, the choice lies entirely with her. Shall we call Lilith to hear her opinion? If she agrees, then of course, you two can be engaged."

"Yes…" Richard replied in the same calm tone, while the officials exchanged looks of disbelief, unsure how to even react.

"Very well, please wait until Lilith arrives," the Empress said.

Then she turned to look at the King.

He seemed to be the only one who could summon Lilith through a special method.

"Lilith will be here shortly," the King said.

As soon as those words left his lips, everyone in the hall instinctively turned toward the palace entrance.

They were all eager to see Lilith's reaction when she arrived and heard such an outrageous request.

Of course, an engagement between them could happen formally—an agreement first, followed by marriage when Richard became an adult.

But would Lilith truly accept a little boy now?

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