Heena immediately lowered her head, perfectly executing the posture of a modest, humble noblewoman.
"I thank His Majesty for the high praise," Heena replied, her voice soft and deferential. "It is truly nothing, Your Majesty. My grandmother simply insisted on teaching me poetry, literature, and the classics to ensure I would not fall behind the other noble ladies of the capital. I do not know much, but I know a little."
Across the hall, several civil nobles were internally grinding their teeth. 'Can you not just shut your mouth?!' they grumbled in their minds. 'Just act like a brute who doesn't know anything! Stop outsmarting us!'
Heena caught their furious expressions out of the corner of her eye and mentally scoffed. 'Why should I? Stay mad, ink-drinkers.'
As she stood there, looking at the furious nobles and the smiling Emperor, Heena felt absolutely zero fear.
