68 Ceremony (4)

The crowd that was surrounding the Evandall family dispersed as soon as they heard the trumpet, each going to the place that they were supposed to, giving a bow to the king and queen until the king had said it was ok to lift their heads.

The two princes also headed to where they should be while Lucas moved swiftly to where his family was. It was not difficult to find because they had specific rows that they should stand at.

"Dealing with people is always as annoying as usual."

Edwin whispered with a frown, only getting a short reply from Maria.

"Endure it."

"Lucas, being young is nice, right? You can slip away easily."

Edwin asked Lucas as he noticed that Lucas was able to easily swift away while they were being bombarded with questions which had nonsense.

Even though Edwin thought that, for Lucas it was not that pleasant even though he managed to slip out.

'I wonder if you would say the same if you had to be sandwiched between the two princes who are enemies to each other.'

But Lucas didn't say so. With just an awkward laugh, he had awaited what the king would say next as he stood in front of the throne chair with the Queen by his side.

"In recent years, many of the disasters have fallen upon this Rudia Kingdom."

The room was silent except for the king's voice. Lucas was amazed that the king had such a loud and clear voice even if he started to get old.

"But we have fought through all those struggles together and were able to keep this kingdom safe till now."

"And we all know that without the Evandall family, we would not be able to make it this far."

"All of you know today's purpose of meeting together in the place. We praise the one who contributes. And that's why I have decided to give the prize that is worthy of the ones who have helped the kingdom to survive."

The king stopped again as if he wanted to raise the people's curiosity of what he was going to award.

"Cassius Evandall, Duke of the Evandall Territory."

Lucas could see that his father stepped out, making a formal bow to the king. He tried to remember the procedures because he didn't want to mess up which would shame his family more or less.

"You have cleared up the Dark Wave that befell on the territory three years ago. In addition, despite the challenges, you safely guard the borders and remove the unusual demons in the Ereck forest and nearby territories. Even though your own territory was suffering from crisis, you have made sure to safely protect both."

The king moved his hand and there was a servant who brought him a golden box.

"And thus, I have given you permission to supervise the northern selected troops, will award you normal sets of enchanted armoury enough for 300 soldiers and 5000 gold coins."

The king handed over the box which contained the permit to the Duke as Cassius accepted.

The hall was filled with whispers and awes. Currently Evandall was the main family who possessed most of the military power, owning the main military bases in the middle and east part of the kingdom, almost equaling military power which was owned by the royal family.

The king giving them the northern troops now made them equal to the military power of the royal family which was really rare in the past generations.

And not even the more military power, the king gave them weapons and armors which were crafted with materials of mana. And 300 sets of them was not a small amount to look down upon. It was too obvious that the king was showing a great favour to the duke Evandall.

Lucas started to worry if there would be complaints of unfair treatment from other dukes, causing a riot or cold civil war within the kingdom.

Lucas could hear his father say thank you to the king before he left the spot so that the king could move on to other people.

"Edwin Evandall, son of Duke Evandall."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The king paused for a moment as Edwin gave him a bow of respect.

"You have helped greatly in the case of removing the demons, enhancing the protection of the border lines, together with you father. Despite being young, you are strong and courageous. And thus, I award you one box of high class-mana stones, one high-class enchanted set of armoury and 2000 gold coins."

This time the king handed over the scroll which contained the reason for the award and permission to draw the awards from the Royal Treasury which Edwin accepted and returned to Lucas's side.

"Maria Evandall, daughter of Duke Evandall."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Recently, we just had the most vicious curse within the kingdom. And you, despite your young age, managed to control the curse to your best, not caring about your own life. Because of your actions, the curse, in other words, this infectious disease didn't get too spreaded and was able to lower the casualties. That's why, I award you one box of high-class mana stones and 3000 gold coins."

Maria also accepted the awarding scroll that the king had given as she said thanks.

"Lucas Evandall, son of Duke Evandall."

Lucas also stepped towards the king like his father and siblings did, giving a slight bow as he waited for what the king would have to say.

"All of you might have known but this child is the one who cured the demon curse, saving the whole kingdom from disaster. Without this child's abilities, we would not even be making this ceremony today. His brave acts and miraculous abilities saved countless people from their fate and also this kingdom."

Lucas waited for the king to finish his speech, praising his abilities. Normally, Lucas would love to be praised at some times but now he really didn't want it.

He knew that his actions had saved the kingdom from the future crisis but didn't like how the king was trying to exaggerate the situation more and more.

Seeing that the king waved his hand again and the servant brought over a golden box, Lucas had hoped that it would be something that was too strange.

But was there a time where fate let Lucas's wish be fulfilled?

"And thus, I award you the second-grade medal of honour and 3000 gold coins."

Lucas' jaws dropped. He was expecting some kind of mana crystals or maybe gold coins but not a medal. Especially not a second-grade medal of honour which would only be given to most achieving adults, not a 10 years old kid.

'What the heck? Isn't this medal what Ryosuke got in the story?'

Lucas felt like his head had been shot with a thunderbolt.

"The youngest master got a medal?"

"I mean… it is the second-grade medal…."

"When was the last time that one achieve the second-grade medal?"

"Around a hundred years ago?"

Whispers emerged here and there. Even Evandall's family couldn't believe what just happened. But Lucas and his family knew quite well that the king's intention might not be as sweet as how the awards were.

The king bent over to hand the box into Lucas's hands.

"I have great expectations on you, child"

Lucas saw that the king sweetly smiled at him as if he was soothing a little kid.

And Lucas didn't have a good feeling about it for which he instantly knew that the king was trying to pin him down to serve the kingdom.

Lucas looked up at the king and his eyes meeting those of the one who gaze at him softly.

'Hah… Like father, like son.'

Lucas tried to keep his face as soft as usual, saying thanks politely to the king.. But in his mind, he internally cursed.

'You all only know how to use the people, huh?'

Lucas controlled himself not to glare at the king.

Since he decided not to stir up unnecessary trouble today, didn't he?