Chapter 144 – Conferment Ceremony (1)

Having arrived back at the capital, Jade received a summon by the two siblings.

They had timed it perfectly and summoned him as soon as he got back.

“Mister Jade has arrived.”

“Escort him in.”

“Yessir.”

With a stern expression, the Grand Chamberlain responded back in a deep voice and opened the door.

Shortly after, with the escort of the Grand Chamberlain, Jade was able to see the two siblings sitting a little garden.

“You’ve come.”

As soon as Lloyd saw Jade, he immediately jumped up from his seat and welcomed him.

However, there wasn’t a single person that thought this was strange.

Everyone knew that Jade had immensely contributed to the battle and felt that this was an appropriate reaction coming from Lloyd.

“Did you have a safe trip?”

“Yes, thanks to you guys, I was able to take care of everything before coming back.”

“I’m glad everything went well.”

Laney gave her greetings with a smile after Lloyd, yet her atmosphere seemed to have changed in the last few days.

Although she had originally been beautiful, it seemed like she was blossoming even more now.

“Now we can move forward with the conferment of your title. Although they didn’t show it, there are three people who have been waiting for a while now.”

“It seemed like Steven had some expectations as well.”

“Haha, we know. He’s not someone who’s able to hide his true feelings.”

Lloyd lightly laughed.

However, a tint of leisure could be seen on his face that wasn’t there before.

“Are you finished with the purges?”

“Yes, I finished it up just in time.”

“Thanks for you hard work.”

“Not at all, it’s something I definitely had to do. If anything, I had a great time. It was something I was able to do because I beat the hardship and survived.”

Laney who was quietly sitting next to Lloyd slowly nodded her head.

If they weren’t fortunate enough to meet Jade, they may not have been sitting here like this.

That’s why Jade was a necessity to the two siblings, even if Heinze didn’t pressure them to.

-That kid’s eyes are filled with greed!

-I don’t think she gave up yet.

Celestine and Elestra whispered into Jade’s ears.

As much as her face had become beautiful, Laney’s greed had grown as well.

Of course, it wasn’t that they didn’t know why Laney was acting like this, but the mere fact that the two spirits just didn’t like her.

It was very apparent that -she wanted to use Jade.

-What’s she going to do if she doesn’t give up when I don’t have any feelings for her.

-In the old days, men always had to be careful of women. They always had to be careful of their middle leg!

-What can a spirit not say.

Jade was dumbfounded, yet on the other hand, he was curious as to where she learned to say such things.

-Heng! How long do you think I’ve lived for? You think even I don’t know how old I am?

-You don’t have a reason to calculate your age, and when your young, you don’t know how old you are.

Elestra responded back for Jade as she felt that Celestine was being absurd.

However, this didn’t mean that Celestine understood what she said as she continued to be confident.

“Everything happened the way it did because of you Jade. If we hadn’t met you in the Great Forest…….Hoo. Even thinking about it is horrible.”

“I’m sure us siblings wouldn’t be able to sit here like this. We won’t be able to forget this grace for the rest of our lives, and we will live each day while paying you back.”

“You didn’t achieve all this with just my help.”

“However, it’s true that you took the biggest role in it.”

Lloyd spoke with sparkling eyes as he saw Jade shake his head.

Of course, what Jade had said was correct as well.

However, it was the definite truth that Heinze, Arelia and Jade played key roles in winning the battle.

“I really believe it was good luck that allowed us to meet you in the Great Forest.”

“That’s right.”

“I can’t seem to think straight because you two keep praising me.”

“Ei, what do you mean praising you. We’re just telling the truth.”

Laney responded back while giving a sidelong scowl with her beautiful eyes.

And seeing this, Celestine became enraged.

It was quite a good thing that Laney was unable to hear her words.

Instead, Hwid who was in Jade’s arms wriggled its eyes as the spirit was being too loud.

“Furthermore, we haven’t been able to give you a proper reward yet. Although the nobles want me to be noncommittal, I would never be able to do that.”

“You’re talking about the title.”

“Yes, I made this arrangement for us today so we could discuss things with you. Different from how I feel, it’s not like you’ll just take it even if I give it to you.”

“Are you trying to make me a Duke?”

Jade jokingly spoke, but Lloyd’s reaction wasn’t normal.

He had made an expression as if he had thought up this idea as well.

“If it was me, I would love to give it to you since our territory isn’t small. Of course, there’s a higher position than that and can be a faster method.”

Lloyd jokingly spoke as he glanced over at Laney.

With eyes full of meaning, he began to look back and forth between Jade and Laney.

And even Laney played along with his jokes.

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Keum! You must not take a joke so seriously.”

“I’m being honest though?”

Laney made an expression as if she was hurt by Jade’s words.

However, everyone knew she was just acting.

An act where there was sincerity at the core of it.

“With everything you’ve done for us in the battle, I want to give you title of a Duke, but the nobles are highly against this. Even though they know you’re a high-ranking summoner. Of course, I understand from their point of view as well, since a new duke means the current duke will lose more power and that would be the same thing as the nobles becoming weaker. So, as unfortunate as it is, I think Marquis is the limit that I can hit right now, but I promise I will promote you to Duke before long.”

“I think Marquis is plenty high already.”

Jade waves his hand.

He just needed the identity of a noble, not a high-ranking title.