The banquet hall was already filled with nobles. The waiters kept walking to offer drinks to the party guests.The room decorations are very beautiful and luxurious, and don't miss the music as a complement to enliven the party atmosphere.
Even though the party still hasn't started but the guests have started dancing to the rhythm of the music being played. The nobles also began to arrive in the room. Now the room where the welcoming and victory party was being held became very crowded because many guests were present at the party.
In front of the entrance of the banquet hall, Rowena was already holding Sir Damian's right arm tightly. Rowena saw Sir Damian whispering to one of the banquet hall doormen. After he finished whispering, Sir Damian straightened his clothes and stood up proudly.
The doorman opened the door for them both and shouted, "Marquess Damian Leonard von Squella and Rowena Ernest von Squella enter the room."
Dressed in a white dress with exposed shoulders and a white cloth wrapped around the sleeves, she walked into the banquet hall with Sir Damian. The clear sound of footsteps as he entered the room made everyone in the banquet hall look at him. From maids to nobles there were amazed by her beauty, long dark black hair flowing with red Camellia flower decorations all over her hair, and blue diamond eyes.
All gazes were on him. Sir Damian who was very sensitive to the situation immediately whispered a few sentences in Rowena's ear.
"Remember never to take your hand off me. Then never accept a dance invitation from anyone else. Damn! For some reason I'm sure that after this there will be many applications that will come to my residence," whispered Sir Damian.
"Then why did you add your surname after mine?" Rowena replied.
Sir Damian paid no heed to Rowena's words. After they entered the room, the party began. Rowena thought maybe they were the last guests to arrive.
The music stopped. The doorman announced the presence of the Emperor, Empress, and crown prince into the room. Everyone including Rowena bowed their bodies to welcome the presence of the Sunverro royal family. Prince Helios who was walking right behind the emperor and empress smiled when he saw Rowena.
The three main pillars of the Sunverro kingdom sat on their respective thrones. The emperor rise again from his throne and gave a speech for the opening of the welcoming party.
"As a king, I am very grateful to my crown prince and members of his army for successfully conquering the continent so that I become the emperor today. From now on Sunverro has turned into a great empire that will not be defeated. This time's party is held as a form of gratitude My love to all of you who have fought for these years. I hope you all can enjoy it with full of joy, "said the king who has been promoted to the rank of emperor.
"Of course I will give proper credit to those who fought with my son on the battlefield there," continued the Emperor.
Then the Emperor called out one by one the names for those who had been very instrumental in the formation of the Sunverro empire until the moment Rowena had been waiting for arrived.
"Yesterday you said who was the most meritorious in this conquest?" His Majesty asked Prince Helios quietly.
"Rowena Ernest, she is a very meritorious person because of her extraordinary strategy and strength," replied Prince Helios.
His Majesty the Emperor nodded his head as a sign that he had understood. "Then the last one is Rowena Ernest."
Rowena walked towards the throne of His Majesty the Emperor. She stood gracefully about eight steps from the Emperor's throne.
Rowena bowed and gave a greeting. "Greetings to the sun that always shines on the empire, Your Majesty."
His Majesty's eyes immediately widened when he saw Rowena's face, as did the empress. Even the empress also rise from her throne to see Rowena's face more clearly. Rowena smiled at the reaction of the two people in front of her. As expected, the emperor and empress must have seen her as her mother, Erica.
"Is it true that you helped Helios during this war with your extraordinary strategies?" asked the Emperor who wanted to make sure.
"That's right, Your Majesty the Emperor. Even though I am a weak woman but it was I who helped Prince Helios in winning every battle in the Northern continent," replied Rowena.
Everyone in the room of course did not believe Rowena's words. It made no sense to them. How could such a weak and frail looking woman be able to help in such a cruel and bloodthirsty battlefield? They thought maybe Rowena was actually helping the Sunverro troops, helping to quench their sexual appetites.
"It's not that I don't trust you because you're a woman, I just wanted to make sure the information the crown prince gave me was true or not."
Rowena smiled a little and said, "Everything the Crown Prince said is true."
His Majesty laughed very loudly after hearing Rowena's answer. "Very well. As a reward for your courage and wisdom I will bestow upon you a surname, a peerage, and several domains."
"Your Majesty, you can't give him a surname or a peerage because she is my adopted sister," said Sir Damian interrupting His Majesty's words.
"Isn't Marquess Squella still not adding Lady Rowena's name to the Squella family list? Then before you add her name, I will give her a surname and peerage first," replied His Majesty the Emperor who seemed to want to irritate Sir Damian.
"Dammit, that old man is exactly the same as Helios," Sir Damian muttered as he gritted his teeth.
"Let's continue again. Rowena Ernest, I will give you the name 'Erica' as your family name. Then I will bestow you the position of Grand Duchess as well as two additional territories such as the Kingdom of Cretia and Luxuzo. I hope you can help the Crown Prince in the future," said His Majesty Emperor.
Everyone present there was taken aback by the gift given by the Emperor. In Sunverro no one had ever filled the position of Grand Duke and now His Majesty the Emperor had suddenly announced that Rowena was a Grand Duchess. Just like other kingdoms, Sunverro adheres to the notion that a woman cannot wield a sword or have a peerage unless the title is obtained by marriage.
To them, Rowena was not the right person to become the Grand Duchess because she only sold her body to Prince Helios and his troops during the war.
Hearing the gift given by His Majesty the Emperor, Rowena smirked. "Aren't you very mean to me, Your Majesty? How can you give the Kingdom of Cretia and Luxuzo to me who is a commoner who has only been a noble for a few minutes?"