Hearing what happened to Ritzy's childhood made them feel bad for him. They started to pity him and try to say some comforting words.
Amora,
"I'm sorry for what you had to go through".
Benedire,
"Yeah, I as well-".
Ritzy raised his hand, signaling for them to stop.
"Don't worry. I didn't know any better and I was very young. I didn't see it as horrible or crazy at the moment so it wasn't traumatizing. If I knew before what I did wasn't normal and I was being abused, then maybe it would be traumatizing. So don't worry about it. What happened, happened".
Ritzy's mind,
'Sadly, this isn't my first world so it was traumatizing. It was the third-worst kind of hell I've ever experienced. Luckily, I've experienced similar kinds of hellish training courses before so it wasn't too bad'.
Benedire,
"Well, if you don't see it as bad. We won't as well, but we'll still give him a piece of our mind the next time we see him".
Ritzy smiled to his response while thinking,
'Give him more than just a piece of your mind, it's the least he deserves for making me believe that what I did was normal'.
Soon, horses were heard coming closer to the three of them. Getting closer, they saw it was Benjamin, Dalya, and the knights.
When they got close, Benjamin quickly jumped off the horse and went straight to his grandfather and went on one knee while bowing.
Benjamin,
"Grandfather, I'm sorry I didn't report to you after my targets were killed. I-".
Benedire,
"Benjamin".
Hearing his name, Benjamin looked up at his grandfather, filled with guilt and some fear of what his grandfather could possibly say.
Hesitantly, Benjamin said,
"Y-Yes".
Benedire,
"Do not worry, Young Ritzy has told the whole story. You are forgiven but you still need to be punished. Not for leaving, but for leaving without even leaving a proper note for your worried grandfather".
Benjamin,
"I-".
Benedire,
"We'll talk later, but for now come have a seat with your poor old grandfather".
Almost instantly, two butlers appeared with fancy wooden chairs that complemented the tea table they were drinking at. One butler quickly placed a chair next to Benedire and the other placed two chairs on the opposite side of the table from Benedire.
Benedire,
"Please sit grandson".
Benedire then turned to look at Dayla and Junger,
"You two as well, third daughter of the Doddery and knight Junger".
Benjamin, Alter, Junger, and Dayla were surprised by Benedire's actions and their faces showed they were nervous.
Benedire,
"Do not worry Miss Dalya, Ritzy has told me the whole story, I just want to brief you on what will happen. Don't be nervous, it's good news".
Junger and Dayla were still cautious and nervous about what was happening but they still accepted Benedire's offer to sit with them.
As they were sitting down, Benedire spoke to the rest of the knights.
"Loyal knight of the Reds and Benedire family, I thank you for staying with Young Ritzy and my grandson. I will properly reward you at a later time but for now, you need to leave".
The knights didn't hesitate to leave. Benedire was the highest level of noble after a king. What he desired he would get. If the knights stayed, they knew it would end with dire consequences. They've heard and have seen many times nobles punishing knights for simply bothering them.
The knights bowed with one arm across their chests while saying "Sir" in unison and then left.
With them gone, Benedire started speaking.
"Miss Dayla and knight Junger, Young Ritzy has told me your story and I want to apologize. Your father, Miss Dalya, is an old acquaintance of mine and someone who I consider a friend. Sadly, I wasn't a good friend because while you were in the same war as me, I didn't bother to check up on you".
"If I had visited you, I could've seen that Ravageur was taking advantage of your good nature. I could've helped you end this engagement and helped you be with knight Junger. But, you don't have to worry about that boy anymore".
"I have ended your engagement with my power and notified your father and his parents about what happened. All I hope is that you'll forgive me".
Amora,
"I do forgive you and I thank you. If you haven't intervened, we would have to go through more hardships until this problem was fixed. I thank your Lord Benedire, you do not have to apologize anymore".
Benedire face seemed to relax and he responded with a relieved and joyous voice.
"I thank you for forgiving me. I hope from now on, our families relationship will continue to grow from this".
Benedire's mind,
'I hope she doesn't investigate what in reality happened. On how Ravageur died to a child beastkin while raping the child's mom. By him dying to that, I naturally notified the Bentley family with a fake letter saying he died honorably on the battlefield, which naturally voided their engagement. Also on how I just sent her family a letter that the fiance died but luckily a valiant knight of the Reds family fell in love with you and as a favor, I asked them to marry you to him'.
Amora,
"Thank you, and I hope from now on our families continue to grow closer together".
Benedire,
"I as well hope the bond between our families grows".
They both gave pleasantry smiles to each other, to show they are now in good relations with each other. As per noble customs.
Benedire,
"With that problem out of the way, I would like-".
Horses were heard coming closer, interrupting their conversation. Soon, two knights appeared in front of them and dismounted.
Off their horses, they quickly bowed, and then the one on the right spoke.
"Lord Benedire, the conquest has been successful. All the beastkin have been put down or recaptured. Grasso just needs the appearance of all generals and you as well to officially pronounce this war has been won".
Benedire,
"That's good to hear, please tell Lord Grasso I will be on my way".
Knight,
"Yes, right away lord".
The two knights bowed again and left.
Benedire turned back to the table and spoke to everyone,
"I invite all of you to go see Grasso officiate our victory. Would you accept my invitation?".
Dayla,
"Of course Lord Benedire, Junger and I would be delighted to".
Junger nodded to show he agreed with Dayla's response.
Amora,
"I as well would love to see this war officially end".
Benedire,
"Of course grandfather, I wouldn't miss this joyous occasion for anything in the world".
Ritzy,
"I as well will go".
All the nobles in the table looked at Ritzy except for Junger. Ritzy and Junger were confused about the sudden change in the atmosphere. But then Benjamin made a small hand signal, telling him to continue.
Benjamin's hand motion made Ritzy remember what Benjamin taught him the night of the banquet. That when accepting an invitation, one must share their emotion about the event.
Ritzy gave a slight cough,
"Sorry tea went down the wrong way. What I was saying is that I as well will go, it such a joyous occasion and I thank you for extending the invitation to me".
Benjamin sighed from relief hearing Ritzy's response. He was worried Ritzy would've forgotten and exposed that he wasn't shown any noble etiquette. Causing Ritzy to embarrass his family for not giving proper teachings to their children.
Benedire,
"Then let us go right away. I'll request my knights to lend all of you some of our finest horses to travel to the celebratory area".
"But before we go, Miss Dalya and Lord Ritzy, would you perhaps desire a change of clothes. We can't have you two looking like simple mercenaries".
Benedire turned to a nearby servant,
"Get Miss Dalya and Lord Ritzy some appropriate clothes to wear for the event. Get the best male warrior clothes and female healer robes, it's our victory celebration and they will be properly commended at the ceremony so they must look like noble warriors".
...
The ceremony used for announcing the war's victory is more than announcing the battle has been won. The ceremony has four parts. It would start with the head general announcing the war is won by giving a proper speech about those sacrificed and the value of this war while having a rousing ending that the war has been won.
The second part consists of the proper rewards being given out. There are two sections in this part. One section is located nearby the ceremony area. It has a trusted noble friend of the king pay all the fees to the mercenaries and any other hired help. The second section is in the ceremony area. At the ceremony, knights and mercenaries who impressed the nobles are rewarded and also asked if they want to serve the kingdom directly instead of the nobles they belong to if they are knights.
The third parts consist of rewarding the nobles. If the person is a young pseudo-noble, no matter what, they will be given the lowest ranking of nobility at least. If they are already a noble, then they would either be thanked for their service or be raised in noble rank if a captain or higher level noble recommended it.
The last part is used to announce the next day's Victory Banquet. The head general would announce at what time and where the noble banquet starts. The head general would also announce the customary reward banquet for the commoners.
Normally in the commoner banquet what would be offered is hefty amounts of cheap alcohol and a pound of meat for free. The rest would be priced at 75% it's market price. For the cheaper nobles who were assigned as head general, they would only offer a slice of jerky and one cup of ale for free. The rest would be priced twice its regular amount.