My Girlfriend is an S-Class Adventurer

Chapter 240 The Hall Of Thrones

The Central Palace was the place where the minds that ran the entire Oukiwa City came together, and also where matters that could impact the entire Empire were decided.

Since the Emperor's job was to take a broader look at the entire Empire, he couldn't waste time on small things like criminal trials, bureaucratic laws, reports, financial administration and the like, so this was the nobles' job.

There were eight Noble Families: Hangen, Smakusa, Collalto, Sallow, Strogueher, Daren, Land and Ballard.

In the past the leaders of these families only met annually, but as the generations passed these meetings had to become more recurring, and so the Council was finally founded two generations before Ayumi Yamazaki took over as Matriarch of the Strogueher.

At first, she had to fight the looks of the other members, after all, she was not a pureblood noblewoman, but a woman who became a noble through marriage to Akai Strogueher, a somewhat unbalanced Elf.

When Akai died, the Strogueher Patriarch of the time, Manilyn Strogueher, did not exile Ayumi, much to the dismay of some who did not wish this. In fact, he only did not do so because he was the first to find out about Nathalia, who was only a few months old at the time. For this reason, Manilyn gave Ayumi all the support and, in the end, everything happened as it should, Ayumi won the contest for the post of head of the Family.

However, even after the long-haired, stunning-looking Elf had gone through all this and many other problems, her position was still being outraised by three members of the Council: Erick Smakusa, Shanks Ballard, and Thomas Landford.

Aymui warned Luke about this, and that he shouldn't get angry if they tried to hit her in any way, because she already knew how to handle it.

Still, the half-wolf did not accept that and answered her as they stood in front of the door to the Council Hall.

"Wait a minute... did I hear you right? If they offend you, I'm supposed to be quiet?" He asked, not believing what he heard.

She looked both ways, embarrassed, as there were many people near the scene. Then she took his right forearm and guided him a few feet to the side.

"Yes..." Ayumi whispered, worried if any of the guards could hear Luke.

Luke realized that he spoke too loudly, so he moved quite close to her face, making her blush, and whispered in her ear:

"And when should I say something? When they compliment you, is that it?"

The Matriarch found the half-wolf's question funny, so she laughed a little and stopped when she remembered that the other people were watching them. Then she threw back a lock of her hair with her right hand and leaned over to whisper in Luke's ear.

"Just say something in case they ask, you are going as my bodyguard, not as a speaker, okay Professor Luke?" She teased him.

When Luke heard this, he felt his heart flutter, for the gentle tone of the Matriarch's voice made this title even more pleasant. At that moment he closed his eyes and asked her to repeat it. "Say that ending again, and I promise I won't open my mouth for the rest of the day."

...

"What are you doing, Mr. Lange? Shall we go inside?" Ayumi asked, and when Luke opened his eyes, he realized that she had already rushed to the door.

'Damn... I have to stop letting my senses be duped by this cheeky Elf.' He thought, but in the end, he was glad to see her smile, even though he had embarrassed himself in front of some people.

When Ayumi pushed open the eight-foot-high door to the circular hall, naturally her bang was heard and then her creak, this was a giant door after all.

Next, the half-wolf came upon an encyclical environment. On the ceiling of this place were several shining crystals, which illuminated the entire room. On the floor, eight quartz thrones, separated by only a few feet, captured the attention of anyone who was present in this space for the first time, and Luke was no exception, but he restrained himself.

Four of the eight seats were already taken, which meant that Ayumi was only the fifth to arrive for the meeting.

Just as Ayumi opened the huge door, Luke turned back and closed it, to maintain privacy.

The moment the people sitting on the throne saw the half-wolf, they all widened their eyes. They knew that Luke Lange was a member of the Strogueher Family, but it was never revealed what level of relationship he had with its members, whether he was an estate guard, whether he was someone's personal bodyguard, or even whether he was a professional instructor. These were the most predictable and plausible options.

However, this relationship between the half-wolf and the Strogueher ceased to be clear when he began working at the Oukiwa Academy of Nobles.

Still, no one thought much about it once they saw Luke, they just wondered why the bodyguard this time was not Oliver, who was the one who usually accompanied Ayumi.

The Strogueher Matriarch walked outside the circle to the throne with the Strogueher symbol carved on it, this one the design of a five-petaled flower inside another flower a little larger, but with the same appearance. As she sat down, she looked to the sides to see who was present.

On the throne to Ayumi's right was an Elf with white hair and red eyes, which instantly reminded him of Nathalia, who had the same features. Based on what Ayumi Yamazaki had told him earlier about the members of the Council, this was the Matriarch of the Sallow Family, Nico Sallow.

Beside her, there was a man of short stature with intensely red hair. His ears were more pointed and elongated than most Elves', but he was also smaller than most Elves.

As soon as Luke stopped at the right side of Ayumi's throne, he moved from right to left as he stared at Luke.

At that moment, the half-wolf knew that this little Elf was no ordinary bodyguard, in fact, Luke knew that no one in that room was really weak.