Chapter 324
Chapter 324
On November 6, 1991 of the Holy Calendar, the entire Gabela Empire was decorated with lights and colors, especially on the road leading from the city’s eastern gate to the central square, which was even more exaggeratedly decorated, with colorful flags fluttering and entertainers playing and singing. Both sides of the street were crowded with residents, noisy and talking, and everyone was looking towards the eastern gate from time to time. Not only inside the city wall, but also outside the wall on the main road there was a long line.
Everyone gathered in the streets today to welcome the generals who had returned from their expedition. The empire traditionally emphasized on the merits of war, and the common people did not spare their enthusiasm for the victorious army.
In order to maintain order, the city guards set up a post on both sides of the street at regular intervals to prevent the crowd from surging into the center of the street.
Just after eleven o’clock in the morning, I don’t know who was the first to shout out, “It’s coming! Coming!” , and the sound quickly spread from outside the East City Gate to the streets within the city, and then all the way to the square in the center of the city.
On the west side of the square, a huge viewing platform had already been set up, and the Emperor of Gabella, Bartley Griffin, led the members of the royal family and court ministers to sit on top of the platform. Among them were his younger brother, Prince Felton Griffin, his eldest son, Emperor Oliver Griffin, and his third son, Emperor Dicky Griffin, who was also born to the Empress, but the Emperor was not accompanied by the Empress. Ministers, on the other hand, were seated on either side of the Royal Family, headed by the Chancellor, Duke Diaz, and the Royal Advisor, Davide Aldrich.
The vicinity of the observatory was heavily guarded, and commoners were forbidden to approach it. Only the famous nobles of the Imperial Capital were allowed to get a seat near the dais. Kevin and Senior Monde sat near the Observatory by the blessing of their teacher and the aura of the Bachelor’s Tower, where they sat on the newly constructed stepped seats.
Hearing the cheers coming from the east, Emperor Batri stroked his bushy beard and grinned broadly, about to meet his second son after a long absence.
After about ten minutes or so, the trumpets sounded from far away, and the cheers of the crowd grew louder and louder, hitting the observatory in waves.
Everyone on and off the stage focused their attention on the streets to the east, and finally, a group of people appeared in the crowd’s line of sight.
Kevin strained his neck to see what the legendary Second Prince looked like. The senior next to him, Mond, had been so excited that he could hardly sit up. But no one around them stood up, and the two of them were too embarrassed to be too presumptuous.
The procession gradually entered the square from far and near, and Kevin finally distinguished the person he was looking for – Antonio Griffin.
It was hard not to recognize him, he was so eye-catching – blonde hair that gave a sense of radiance, a goose-egg face that at a glance was a partial handsome male, a handsome but not abrupt figure that was more than one point taller and less than one point shorter. It was impossible to see his eyes, as they were still some distance away, but Kevin had long been certain in his mind that they were the proud, sharp eyes of an eagle – the Creator would not leave a blemish on his best work.
It seemed that he existed to prove the phrase “some are born noble”, riding a white stallion at the front of the procession, followed by two lines of people behind him, which emphasized a kind of leadership temperament.
The second prince of the Gabella Empire had thus left a deep impression on the residents of the imperial capital. Before that, His Royal Highness had also shown his face in public many times, but basically he had accompanied the Emperor to attend major events, and outside the heavy guards of the royal guards, ordinary people could only roughly judge that he was a nice young man. Through the upper echelons of people who had contacted the Emperor’s son, the fact that His Highness was handsome and had an extraordinary temperament had been circulated, but in this era where there was no photographic technology, ordinary people could only rely on their own brainstorming to guess the Emperor’s appearance.
Senior nobles would always disguise themselves when they went to places where commoners gathered, and Antonio was no exception, which was why most of the residents of the imperial capital didn’t know his exact image.
And today, after His Royal Highness entered through the east city gate, he walked a whole street under the close gaze of the crowd in a big way, and the commoners finally got a good look at the son of the legendary witch.
Due to his amazing appearance, the name [Son of the Witch] not only didn’t bring a sense of fear like before, but instead, it cast a layer of mystery over the prince, making people want to get to know him better.
Of course the main reason is still that Antonio has a huge amount of war achievements under his belt, and history is always forgiving towards the outstanding and victorious on the battlefield. Even if a person is brutal and has done something dishonorable, people will always subconsciously ignore the bad side when evaluating him.
Antonio came to the front of the viewing platform and dismounted, slowly walked up the steps under the watchful eyes of the crowd, kneeled down on one knee in front of Emperor Bartlett, and opened his mouth to say, “Father, I’m back.”
The ministers on the Emperor’s left and right and the nobles on the stage rose. Maester Aldrich had a look of relief on his face, Prince Felton was smiling faintly, and Chancellor Duke Diaz was stroking his beard not knowing what he was thinking. The Grand Prince Oliver was also smiling, but a closer look was a bit stiff. The third prince Dickey, on the contrary, had a look of adoration on his face, looking like he had no negative emotions towards his second half-brother.
The Emperor sitting right in the middle seemed to freeze for a second or two, then slowly got up and reached out a slightly trembling hand to rest on Antonio’s shoulder, saying in a slightly choked voice, “My son, now that you’ve had this achievement, your mother must be proud.”
Antonio’s shoulders shook and an inexplicable emotion welled up in his heart as he said to the Emperor, “Thank you, father.” “Rise, my son.” Bartlett helped Antonio up, the emperor’s majesty immediately replacing the loving fatherly image from a moment ago, and he asked in a deep voice, “Is Duke MacDonald alright? Did he not explain anything when you left?”
“His Excellency the Duke is all right, and will lead the rest of the army back when he’s done with the Nestorians. The old duke said that our battle has made the eastern border peaceful for at least ten years.”
“Haha, good!” Although he tried to maintain his majesty, the Emperor’s heart was happy, let’s see who dares to chew on the name of the Witch’s Son.
He crossed over to Antonio and walked to the edge of the viewing platform, speaking loudly to the crowd in the square, “Subjects of the Empire! We have finally completely overwhelmed the Nestorians, and this victory will keep them at peace for at least ten years!”
In response to the Emperor’s volley of cheers, the hurrahs went on and on.
The Emperor continued loudly, “We were able to win thanks to the cooperation and unity of the handsome men in the Imperial Army, and the Empire has never been stingy in rewarding those who have accomplished great feats!”
His gaze turned to the bottom, the generals Antonio brought back were standing at the bottom of the steps with serious expressions, among them, there were many young men.
The Emperor sighed in his heart, “All of them are the future pillars of the empire!”
“Gentlemen, please come up, you are the protagonists today.”
Hearing the emperor’s call, the generals picked up the steps after saluting from afar, some of the younger ones looked very formal.
The first to meet with Bartlett was a young general with red hair.
“The boy from the house of Efes!” As a close friend of Antonio’s, Bartley had known Siegfried for a long time, and he shook the young man’s surgery and said, “I saw from MacDonald’s battle report that your performance this time was equally good.”
Siegfried said modestly, “All thanks to His Royal Highness’s wizardry and Lord Duke’s good command.”
“Haha!” Bartley happily patted him on the shoulder, “Please continue to help Antonio more in the future.”
Siegfried nodded his head, “I will definitely fulfill your majesty’s wishes.”
“Hmph!” Bartley patted him heavily with satisfaction and turned to the next general.
……
Along with the Expeditionary Army’s welcome ceremony, the atmosphere in the square grew more and more enthusiastic. People began to sing and dance, drinking and reveling. The minstrels were already composing new poems to depict the victory as they performed.
As for the main character of the poem, it was naturally His Royal Highness, who shone like the sun.
(End of chapter)