Soon, in mid-November, all the promotion decrees and lists of rewards for meritorious service finally reached the East Sea Alliance, and His Majesty the King sent the Prime Minister to preside over this large-scale collective promotion ceremony alongside Duke Barick.
By then, nearly a month had passed since the war ended. The relevant promotion decrees and lists of rewards had long been ready; the entire promotion ceremony had been delayed until now solely to await His Excellency the Prime Minister.
But there was no helping it. After all, a noble promotion ceremony on such a scale, involving hundreds of nobles and even a duke, called for a very high level of protocol.
By rights, this promotion ceremony should have been held in Golden Tree City, the kingdom's capital, but the fighting in the East Sea Alliance had only just subsided.
Hidden dangers still lurked in this newly conquered land: several War Grand Duchies farther south were watching like tigers eyeing their prey, while bands of resistance fighters roamed the East Sea Alliance's own territory.
Considering that nearly all the nobles being promoted were commanders who had led troops in this war, and that their armies still had to remain here to quell unrest, those armies could not be left without command.
Thus, in light of these special circumstances, the promotion ceremony was still arranged in the East Sea Alliance, with the Prime Minister serving as the king's plenipotentiary envoy and presiding over it alongside Prince Balek.
Later, once the fighting had completely subsided, the nobles in this group ranked count or above would most likely have to travel to Golden Tree City for a second promotion ceremony. Put plainly, they would publicly swear allegiance to His Majesty the King.
Of course, that would certainly have to wait until all unrest