A few days later.
The investiture ceremony in Saining City was held in the palace's main hall.
Old Ford wore a grand duke's ceremonial robe embroidered with gold. Standing atop the highest steps of the hall, he held an ennoblement decree wrapped in purple velvet.
More than three hundred people stood below. Civil and military officials were arranged by rank, while the expressions on the faces of the few dukes in the front row were complicated.
Elena stood in the middle of the steps.
She wore a fitted dark-purple gown, with a white sable-fur capelet draped over her shoulders. Her hair was coiled into the standard high chignon of an aristocratic woman.
She looked like a sword drawn from its sheath—sharp, yet steady.
Su Li sat in the far-left seat of the guest section, one leg crossed over the other.
Saina sat to his right, and Elonore sat to Saina's right. Amid a crowd of impeccably dressed nobles, the three of them looked like neighbors who had wandered into a banquet by mistake.
Old Ford began reading the investiture proclamation.
Su Li grew sleepy after listening to barely half a sentence. Saina jabbed him with her elbow.
"Don't yawn. Show Elena a little respect."
Su Li closed his mouth, though his eyes remained half-lidded.
"How long is this thing going to take?"
"Who am I supposed to ask?" Saina could barely sit still herself, her feet swinging back and forth beneath the chair.
Elonore, on the other hand, sat perfectly straight, but all her attention was on the charcoal pencil in her hand.
She was secretly sketching an optimized circuit design for the ship core in the little notebook on her lap, while outwardly appearing to listen with utmost attention.
On the stage, Old Ford finally finished reading the proclamation.