It was the day of the holy birth. The nobles marveled at the Lord of Marshall as he walked on triumph boulevard. The golden bull armor in his body reflected the rays from the blazing sun. Golden shimmer surrounded his body, even the fur of this warhorse down below was painted a gold color.
Abel's warhorse closely followed behind one of the Lord of Marshall. Behind them was the steward, riding on their old horses. Today was the day of glory for the Lord of Marshall. Although it was also Abel's, he tried to focus on something even bigger than status. His title did not matter–Black Smith Master or young intermediate knight had already given Abel more than enough status he desired among all Duchies.
The imperial palace was not as luxurious as Abel had imagined. It also had white walls with a red roof. The only thing that sent a sense of impose was it's gigantic structure. Under the guidance of the royal servants, the Lord of Marshall and Abel entered the center of Duchy of Carmel–the place where the most power was concentrated.
The moment the past the front gate of the imperial palace, a long path made with white stone appeared in front of their eyes. There were 12 statues of different knights on the path. Ken softly said to Abel, "these are the statues of all the knights who were responsible for founding the country back in the days, the 3rd is the ancestor of the Harry Family."
The path directly led to the discussion hall of the imperial palace, the place where the Lord awarding ceremony was going to take place. When the Lord of Marshall and Abel had arrived, some honouree was already there, and the nobles had already begun to enter slowly.
The discussion hall was night and day compared to the outside of the imperial palace. The hall was extremely luxurious. The moment when Abel had entered, he felt like he had been attacked by a golden shimmer. All the walls and the pattern engraved pillars were surrounded by gold color. The crystal light dangling in mid-air was also gold. Even the fire inside the light was shining in gold.
The ceiling was around 30 meters high, and it was covered with a massive painting, depicting the battles between the gods and the evil spirits.
The floor was made with a dark gold color material. It was polished until it looked like a mirror, one could clearly see their own reflection if you look directly towards it. All of these just further intensified the gold shimmer of the hall.
The Lord of Marshall's golden bull armor blended in perfectly with the surrounding environment, and he might as well be a statue.
"Marshall, why don't you come to visit the family?" Said a handsome old man, who had a similar manner with the Lord of Marshall walked towards them. From his blunt way of speaking, it showed that he was not only someone that knows the Lord of Marshall but someone who was very close to him.
"Father!" Said the Lord of Marshall. His expression sent shocked Abel. Every time when the Lord of Marshall mentioned his family in Bakong city, he would often call them old bastards. But now, he had suddenly acted like a mouse seeing a cat, all tense up and speaking in softest voice imaginable. All the immensely proud of one self-energy he had when he was coming here was all gone.
"Stand up straight. Look at yourself; you are now one of the leaders of the family." Said the old man, as he bluntly patted the back of the Lord of Marshall harshly. Originally the posture of the Lord of Marshall looked a bit like a bow. Suddenly, he had bounced up straight. The old man proceeded to say, "you are doing very well lately, gaining a title of a Lord through outstanding military services. If you have time, come visit your mother."
He then turned towards Abel, "You must be Abel. I am Brook, the earl of Harry, Marshall's father. So we are all family here!" Earl Brook said to Abel with an amiable smile. If someone else was looking at this, they would have guessed that Abel was his actual son, and the Lord of Marshall was a stranger.
"Grandpa Brook, I hope you are well!" Said Abel immediately as he gave a bow.
"We are a family, no need to be so polite!" Earl Brook padded Abel and smiled.
Earl Brook turned his gaze around the hall. There were not many nobles who had arrived. They all seemed to be talking softly about something, so nobody was paying attention to their direction. He then turned to head back the Lord of Marshall and said: "you are just as impetuous as your younger self. How can you arrive at Bakong City at this time?"
"Father, what happened?" The Lord of Marshall seemed confused.
Earl Brooks did not explain much. He only directly said to the Lord of Marshall, "After the ceremony had finished, do not stay too long in Bakong city."
Abel looked at the serious expression of Earl Brook. He could help but sensed that something major must have taken place in Bakong City lately
"The great king of Duchy of Carmel, Astor George has arrived!"
"After hearing these words by the royal servant, all the nobles in the hall had stopped talking and returned to their seats. Only the five honourees remained standing in the center.
The King of Duchy of Carmel, Astor George, had entered the hall. He was wearing a red silk suit with a dark red cloak. At that moment, everyone in the hall stood up and bowed until the king had taken his seat.
Abel noticed the king did not look so great. Even the red suit could not wide the Sickly look on the king's face. Through Abel's power of the will, he also sensed that the fire of the king's life was becoming weaker and slowly fading.
"The title of Lord will be awarded to the Knight of Marshall, Harry!" Shouted the royal servant.
The Lord of Marshall stepped up wearing his fully golden armor in the gaze of thousands. He put his head down and kneeled with one leg respectfully in front of the king. His expression seemed extremely dignified and serene.
King Astor George stood up. He took a long sword from the Royal Servant, and lightly tapped it on each of the shoulders of the Lord of Marshall. He then said, "The Lord of Marshall, you had now woken up from a bad dream, and fight for the higher ideal!"
The Lord of Marshall lifted up his head and shouted, "I will give you my loyalty!"
To the Lord of Marshall was one of the most important, holy, and dignified moments in his life. However, the Lord's awarding process was far shorter than the Lord of Marshall had imagined. Only a few words by the king, a few taps on the shoulder by a long sword, and the entire process was completed.
Abel, on the other hand, did not really agree with these kinds of ceremonies. He knew that this ceremony was symbolic of Royal's power and control over humans. The tap with the sword signified the king had defeated the Honouree, and he had the power to kill anyone who was not loyal to him.
After three honourees more had been officially awarded the title of a Lord, it was Abel's turn. He kneeled in front of the king with his fully blue armor.
When king Astor George tapped Abel with the long sword, Abel could feel the shakes in his hand. This ceremony had taken up too much effort for this weak-bodied old man.
Before the official award, the asking said to Abel, "Master Abel, you are the youngest eagle of Duchy of Carmel, an outstanding genius. Please remember you will always be a man of the Duchy of Carmel!" Then the King proceeded to say, "Master Abel, you had now woken up from a bad dream, and fight for the higher ideal!"
Abel shouted, "I will give you my loyalty."
The voice of a teenager, who was just hitting puberty, filled the hall. Such a young coat of arms lord, the entire hall was filled with admiration.
King Astor George took out metal and put it on the chest of Abel. The metal was etched with a golden Chinese dragon with a black background.
This coat of arms was designed by Abel and made by the Imperial Palace. No matter which word he was in, Abel would always he was the descendants of the dragon. That's why he decided to put a Chinese five claw dragon on his coat of arms.
When Abel and the Lord of Marshall left the imperial palace, the originally clear sky was suddenly filled with dark clouds. When the returned to Triumph boulevard, thunder had already begun to roar, a strike of lightning slashed the sky.
Abel's power of the will at the time felt very chaotic. He had a vague sense that something bad was going to happen in this city.
Abel located where White Cloud was with his heart. It was flying in the sky around 10 miles from Bakong City. It would only take a very short time for White Cloud to reach where Abel was. Abel's worries had slightly settled. There wouldn't be a problem if he was to retreat; he only worried that someone might find out about White Cloud's existence.
Abel had doubled down on the defense. He ordered the 20 knight servants and ten black armor warriors to patrol around the hotel until he could set his mind to rest and go back to his room.
Thunderstorm washed upon Bakong city throughout the night. It was like the city was crying out in anguish, as a depressing atmosphere surrounds the city.