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Chapter 28: The Victory Feast

In the Banquet Hall of the Deron Castle,

William entered the banquet hall ahead of Crown Prince Benton as the most important person supposed to enter the party late. According to the prince, the reason why royals attend the party late is that they want the rest of the people to feel less pressured by the royals and let them enjoy the rare events where many nobles gather to meet.

When William entered the hall, everyone including servants all turned around to see the giant hero as musicians paused their instruments. With the entire banquet hall staying silent, William didn\'t know what to do until the old knight commander clapped his hands which everyone did the same, giving a round of applause to the hero of the campaign.

"From destroying three enemy armies to defeating the daemons, you are the key player of this campaign and no one is going to ignore that. Still, I didn\'t expect you to come in with a new suit, especially since I assume you didn\'t plan to attend this kind of event during the expedition." Sir Dolven said to William with curiosity while looking at William\'s new black and dark blue suit.

"Well, the Duchess told me to get one so I asked Prince Benton to help me acquire one for tonight. Still, I prefer my armor since it is much more comfortable than this suit. I mean, this suit is also comfortable but you know what I mean," William tried to explain to the old knight as one of the servants brought a drink which William quickly grabbed one to drink. The alcohol didn\'t do anything but it gave William a few seconds to think while Sir Dolven laughed after seeing giant paladin struggling to fit in with the environment.

"Don\'t think too much about it, just be yourself and don\'t try to impress anyone by being something you\'re not. You already earned everyone\'s respect and admiration with your action on the battlefield. I will teach you how to handle nobles in the capital during our trip there." Sir Dolven said to William which made the giant man ease up since he was an awkward person at a party back in his world. With that, William finally relaxed and began to look around to see many young nobles looking at William as if he is a celebrity.

Just as William was about to grab the whole plate of food, a heavy double door opened again and a small group of young women entered the hall. The leader of this group is the Duchess of Argus, who is wearing a white dress with gold flowers that represent her family crest and light red lines that indicate the connection to the royal family.

Rana Basslio Beckett immediately saw William and Sir Dolven and approached them while dismissing her followers to do freely as they wish. As the Duchess approached two men, Sir Dolven bowed his head to welcome the lioness but William just froze where he stood since the moment he saw her enter the hall.

"Sir Dolve, William. It is good to see you both. William, I see you took my advice and got yourself a nice formal suit, I guess there is hope for you after all." Duchess Beckett said to William with a smile as Sir Dolven chuckled silently. William finally returns to reality and quickly toss the plate to the side to welcome the lady properly.

"Sorry about that. Yes, I decided to get one, just that I didn\'t know how formal this feast would be tonight." William quickly said to the Duchess and tried to be formal which the Duchess gave a small smile.

"Don\'t worry about putting an act of nobleman at the party here. We all are friends and there is no need for you to strain yourself as someone else." The Duchess ensures William and grabs a large mug of alcohol from the table to chug the whole thing in one swing. After finishing the mug, the Duchess grabs the second mug from the table and raises it to signal an announcement.

"We, the proud soldiers of the Alderim began this expedition to recapture the lost city of Deron and the infamous Fort Stormfist. During this campaign, we lost fellow soldiers and faced impossible odds against supernatural enemies. But, we also found a friend who we can rely upon on the battlefield and survive to return to our families in the end. To you Sir William, the Black Paladin of the God-Emperor and a new friend to the Kingdom of Alderim." The Duchess gave a victory speech in which everyone in the banquet hall cheers and raises their drinks to honor William.

William, who is now a center of attention again raises his right hand to accept the cheer from everyone. With a short celebration speech done, the Duchess grabbed another drink and gave it to William which two of them drank their mugs.

"Sorry if I put you on the spot, but you are the one who deserves the recognition." The Duchess gave a quick wink to William which made him blush a little bit, but before he could reply, there was a sound of a throat clearing behind William which Duchess, William and Sir Dolven turned around to see who it was.

"Cousin, I was going to give that speech but of course you stole my thunder," Prince Benton said to the Duchess as he looked a little upset and turned red as if he drank a few alcohols before entering the party.

"Oh dear, I didn\'t know you were even there at the banquet hall, prince. There should have been an announcement when you entered the hall." The Duchess said to the prince in the most outrageous way as she gave little gasp for the extra.

"I was about to enter the hall when a group of ladies cut in front of me and burst through the door as if they did see me at all. So when they entered the room, I got mixed with them to which no one realized I was here." Prince Benton explains his misfortune of missing the entrance as the Duchess covers her mouth with a fan to hide giggle and Sir Dolven just sighs due to mischief of two commanders of the elite armies.

"Well, at least you are here to celebrate the victory of your expedition. You faced undead armies, vampires, the Blood Duke and daemons to earn significant support from the noble families when we return to the capital. Also, you have a new blueprint for the weapons to which we can start producing them for every army in the future." William reminds the prince\'s original goal as he raises his drink. Hearing this, Prince Benton thought for a second before returning to a bright mood as he grabbed his drink and joined the celebration.

The party continues and reached the late phase, in which many of the young nobles retire to their rooms. The only people who are still in the banquet hall are a few older nobles from Sir Dolven\'s army, Duchess\'s entourage, and four VIPs. When the city bell rang once indicating it was 1 am, Sir Dolven was the first from the four to excuse himself to retire for the night.

"Well, it looks like time for this old man to go to bed. This was a great feast, Prince Benton. See you tomorrow after lunch and start planning for returning to the capital." With that Sir Dolven and his followers of older nobles left the banquet hall.

"I guess I will head back to my room as well. Please, enjoy but make sure you two get enough rest as well." Prince Benton said to the Duchess and William which afterward followed Sir Dolven\'s example to retire for the night.

"I guess it\'s just you and me, Rana. Maybe we should call it a night and continue our conversation again tomorrow." William said to the Duchess but to his surprise, the young commander was rather energetic than usual.

"What! But I was having a nice time talking to you. How about this, let\'s go to the training field to enjoy the night sky with more wines. Hey! You guys can go back for the night, I will be with Sir William for more… discussion on politics and military strategies," Rana, who is now red as apple said to her followers which many of them refuse as their commander is very drunk.

"My lady, you should come with us. You had enough drinks tonight," One of the young ladies said to Rana, to which she refused and gave the same order to dismiss all of her officers.

"I will be fine as long as William is here with me. Now, to the field!" The young lioness said out loud and grabbed four wine bottles to which she began to walk towards the main door. Seeing this, William did the only thing he could do, follow the stubborn lady with her followers following a few feet behind him.

"Sorry my ladies, I guess we have to follow her until she passes out, hopefully soon." William apologizes to the group of ladies as both of them start walking faster to catch up with the Duchess.

When everyone arrived at the training field, the Duchess was sitting on the bench drinking directly from the wine bottle. When she saw William, she jumped up and approached him in an unbalanced way to show how drunk she was.

"William, when I arrived at this city to help my cousin and Sir Dolven and saw you for the first time, do you know what I wanted to do to you in person?" The Duchess quietly said to the Space Marine as she pointed him to get closer. William, who is now nervous to hear what kind of answer he would get from drunken beauty, followed her instruction and took a knee to get closer to hear the Duchess\'s words. As he got closer, he smells sweet flower perfume from her and saw the bright red colored expression on the lady\'s face which made his two hearts beat faster than usual.

"What was it that you wanted to do when we first met?" William asked the young lady and waited for her answer. What came next surprised him as Rana Basslio Beckett, the young prideful lady of the hero from the last war gave her answer to the giant Black Templar and Emperor\'s Champion.

"I want to have mock combat with you! You and me, no fancy armor or weapons but with training weapons, right here, right now. The loser of the fight owes a favor to the winner." The Duchess challenged William to the duel to which all of her lady followers facepalms as if they saw this coming.

"... Ok, I guess I will accept your challenge, my lady."