After the welcoming ceremony on the airship platform ended, the subsequent banquet began at Golden Rose Palace. The nobles and honored dignitaries of this ancient kingdom gathered together in Eagle Hall, where crystal lamps hung overhead and gold-trimmed silk curtains adorned the walls. They enjoyed fine wine and delicacies, exchanging toasts and building ties with the powerful figures who could bring them greater benefits, all while remaining enthusiastic and scrupulously polite. Every attending noble kept an eye on the royal attendant standing at the far end of the hall in a blue-and-red uniform. Whenever the attendant called out a family name, at least one noble would rise and go before the dais to pay respects to Her Highness the Princess, who had returned victorious, and the battle-hardened knights who had earned glorious military achievements. They raised their wine cups high above their heads and, time after time without the slightest annoyance, recited every one of Veronica's titles. Everyone wore a broad smile, as though they were genuinely delighted that the Knight Princess had returned home safely.
The defeat on the kingdom's western frontier seemed to have been forgotten. No one mentioned the ruined defensive line in the Shadow Jungle, and the nobles unanimously described today's spectacle as a "triumph." In some respects, the feats of leading the knights through the entire Chaotic Lands, bringing crucial frontline intelligence back from the depths of darkness, and helping the Western Fortress repel the army of monsters were indeed worthy of praise. But whether that glory was what the Knight Princess herself wanted was another matter.
Hao Ren had been uncomfortable with this seemingly warm but actually cold banquet from the very beginning. After watching for a while and realizing that nothing there concerned him, he suggested going outside the hall for some fresh