Chapter 497: The Victory Banquet Begins!

Upon hearing Duke Lieshi's reply, the Griffin King wore a meaningful smile.

"Duke Lieshi, granting the title of Count is reasonable; I have also asked the First Prince's opinion, and he agrees this reward is fitting!"

"Furthermore, Weilade's assets were actually submitted for transfer by the First Prince himself. After reviewing it, I decided to approve the application, after all, it was the First Prince who submitted it!!"

"Your Majesty is benevolent; once Gervas learns of Your Majesty's reward, he will surely be filled with gratitude and work even harder to serve the kingdom in the future!" Duke Lieshi could only continue to praise, though naturally, he felt uncomfortable inside.

Whether the Griffin King saw through all this or not, his tone suddenly shifted at that moment.

"Duke Lieshi, I have also heard that in recent years, you, Duke Lieshi, have done many things for the kingdom!"

Duke Lieshi's heart skipped a beat.

The things he had done were nothing but helping the Second Prince expand his power.

Could it be that Your Majesty has some objection to this?

Duke Lieshi immediately grew tense. "Your Majesty, your subject is ashamed; in these years, due to advancing age, I have actually not been able to make any great contribution to the kingdom!"

"No! Duke Lieshi, there is no need for you to be modest! Your merits are visible to all, and I especially keep them in mind!"

"Therefore, to reward your hard work, I have decided to select an outstanding descendant from your Lieshi family and confer upon him the title of Count, with the fiefdom located in the Southern Region!"

"Duke Lieshi, what do you think of this?"

"This..." Duke Lieshi was caught off guard; he had originally thought the King was warning him.

Because he had helped the Second Prince challenge the First Prince, seeking to secure the position of heir.

Who would have known that the King was genuinely praising him.

So, what exactly does Your Majesty mean?

The matter within this deserves deep thought.

Duke Lieshi was an old fox; in an instant, he thought of a key point, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

The First Prince has long held power, yet now the King's illness has suddenly improved, and then the King suddenly decided to reward him...

Perhaps the Second Prince truly has a chance!

"Your Majesty, your subject thanks you for your grace! Your subject will surely serve you to the death and serve the kingdom!" Duke Lieshi was not foolish; having figured everything out, he would certainly not refuse such a benefit.

Seeing this, the Griffin King was very satisfied. "Very good! Duke Lieshi, then you should decide which outstanding descendant to select for the conferment; I will announce it together at tomorrow's banquet!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

【Ding! Daily intelligence has been refreshed!】

【Intelligence One: The King has finally drafted the reward regarding you, and your position as Count has been confirmed.

Secondly, Weilade's assets will also be allocated to you!】

【Intelligence Two: At this banquet, there will be the conferment of two Count titles.

The first is you.

The second is a blood descendant of the Lieshi family.】

【Intelligence Three: The Griffin King's obvious favor toward the Lieshi family at this sensitive moment has naturally sparked endless speculation among the nobles.

However, is the matter really that simple? This is not necessarily the case.

The King's recovery this time seems to hide some secret!】

【Intelligence Four...】

It was night!

Griffin Wang Gong, Agate Manor!

This victory celebration banquet was still held at this luxurious venue located atop the mountain behind the palace.

Tonight, Agate Manor was brightly lit.

A red carpet extended from the manor square all the way to the manor gate.

Luxurious carriages arrived one after another at the manor entrance, and noblemen, Ladies, and Young Ladies, all dressed in their finest, stepped down from the carriages.

Guided by servants, they stepped onto the red carpet and walked into the banquet scene.

Of course, there were also individual carriages that could drive directly into Agate Manor, stopping only upon the square.

Those who could obtain such honor were naturally only the two Dukes and the royal family members.

As for Gervas, he originally could have ridden along with Duke Hernand's carriage directly to the square.

But he chose to go with Mil, Adams, and the others.

Therefore, upon arriving at the manor gate, he could only walk into the manor with Mil and the group.

"It is truly too luxurious! I had heard before that Emerald Manor was one of the most luxurious manors in the kingdom, and now it seems true!"

"Look, that fountain can actually spray water; those must be magical artifacts, right?"

"Also, there isn't a single oil lamp inside this manor; instead, they all use night-glow pearls the size of pigeon eggs. Don't they fear someone will secretly dig them out and take them away?"

Mil and the others were like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

Filled with surprise and curiosity about everything around them, they didn't know where to put their eyes.

Among the group, only Gervas and Adams appeared calm and composed.

Adams glanced at Gervas and found Gervas's expression even calmer than his own.

He didn't find it too strange, after all, Gervas came from a ducal family.

And to better integrate into Gervas's group, Adams immediately spoke to Mil and the others.

"Baron Mil, the fountain can spray water indeed because of magical artifacts; moreover, the rhythm of the water spray changes every day, forming different water-spray effects!"

"Additionally, there is no need to worry about the night-glow pearls inside Agate Manor being stolen, because under normal circumstances, those who can enter this manor are all prominent figures in the kingdom!"

"Or, like us, nobles who have made great contributions to the kingdom!"

"Therefore, whether it is the nobility or us, who have established great merits, we certainly will not make an unwise move over a few dozen gold coins!"

After hearing Adams' explanation, Mil and the others immediately nodded in agreement.

"Young Master Adams, did you often come to this Agate Manor before?"

"Not often; I have only come here three times before, and all of them were with my father!"

"This is the fourth time, but this is the only time I have come relying on my own ability!"

Speaking of this, Adams looked at Gervas again, his eyes full of gratitude.

Being able to enter Agate Manor through his own efforts was naturally due to Gervas' help.

And the feeling of entering Agate Manor this time was worlds apart from before.

Mil and the others were obviously unable to understand Adams' troubles; hearing that this was his fourth entry, their eyes were each filled with envy.

While the group chatted endlessly, they soon arrived at the manor square.

Today's banquet had two venues in total, divided into the square and the banquet hall inside the manor.

Gervas and his group needed to receive the king's commendation later, so naturally they entered the banquet hall inside the manor building.

And not long after they arrived at the banquet hall, Your Majesty the King also arrived.

With the cry of "Your Majesty the King arrives!"

this also signaled that tonight's banquet officially began.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty the King!"

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty the King!"

The Griffin King, guarded by a squad of armored knights, passed through the hall, heading toward the throne on the high platform at the very front.

The nobles on both sides bent their waists to pay their respects, greeting him with reverence.

While greeting, Gervas and the other young nobles also secretly raised their heads to look, finally seeing for the first time the king they served.

And the first impression this king gave Gervas was thinness.

This should be due to the illness that had plagued him before.

It is said that the king was once an Earth Knight.

To be able to torment an Earth Knight to such a degree, one can imagine that the illness was truly not simple.

Of course, what was even more incredible was.

The king's illness suddenly healed.

Recalling the intelligence the System provided this morning, Gervas felt that the sooner he left the capital, the better.

Not getting involved in the trouble vortex here, and developing his own territory in peace, was the most important!