A dragon's roar split the sky as Hudson made a flashy entrance above the crowd.
"Old friend, I wasn't too late, was I?"
That simple greeting conveyed Hudson's complicated feelings.
Returning to this old place once more, the royal palace was still the same palace, but the nobles standing in the court had changed generation after generation.
Not to mention those politicians—even the officers who had followed him in resisting the Beastfolk invasion had now withered away completely.
He swept his gaze over the crowd but could not find more than a few familiar faces.
Generals who spent their lives active on the battlefield rarely lived long.
More than fifty years had passed since the Dapes Defense War, and the young men of the past now had heads full of gray hair.
Those who had survived until now were undeniably lucky. Most had long since become dust.
"Haha...
Not late!
Not late!
Hudson, you came at exactly the right time!
This is an auspicious day. You arrived just in time to bear witness!"
George I had clearly grown old.
Even his voice no longer carried its former vigor.
Yet the smile on his face remained just as sincere.
Once people grew old, they could not help becoming nostalgic.
A monarch was destined to be lonely, and Hudson was one of George I's few friends.
Everyone present knew of their friendship. They held their breaths in tacit understanding, afraid of disturbing the two men's conversation.
"Then let the ceremony begin. I know you've prepared for this day for fifty years, and now your wish has finally come true."
Hudson spoke with a trace of sorrow.
He sensed a faint aura of death around George I, a sign that his time was running out.
Birth, aging, illness, and death were natural laws,