Chapter 361: Nationwide Broadcast

"Moreover, this time, His Majesty Beladian has invited many legendary figures to the ceremony. We, as family members, can follow our father into the royal palace. However, with our father's rank, we probably won't even get a chance to see the Grand Duke of the Golden Dragon."

Andrei yawned as he analyzed, mercilessly crushing his sister's daydreams. The siblings' intelligence seemed to double when they bickered with each other.

"Shut up," Delia snapped, her face turning sour as she heard her brother's analysis. Even if she couldn't see, couldn't she just imagine it?

"Lydia, Anderson, my title is too low to allow you two to meet the ruling Grand Duke. I really am sorry," Count Dewitt approached, overhearing the argument between his children, his face darkening instantly.

"Father!" Seeing their stern father, Anderson immediately jumped out of bed.

"You have ten minutes to get ready," Count Dewitt commanded with a stern face. "Your father is but a minor noble, and we need to enter the palace before the ceremony starts."

Ten minutes later, the elegantly dressed but slightly disheveled noble siblings, Anderson and Lydia, joined their father in a carriage pulled by two griffins.

"Lydia, help your brother straighten his clothes," Count Dewitt frowned, glancing at his drowsy son as they flew low in the carriage.

"Oh." The beautifully dressed girl reluctantly responded to her father's command, but she dutifully began to tidy her brother's attire. Out in public, they were a unit, and if her brother lost face, she would be mocked as well.

"Eh, isn't that the Claude family crest?" Just then, a feigned surprised voice came from above the carriage, "Lydia, are you in there?"

Hearing her name called, the girl pulled open the carriage window and looked out to see another carriage, pulled by a dragon-lion, flying parallel but several meters above them.

On this dragon-drawn carriage, a girl in an off-shoulder court gown looked down with a smug expression, feigning surprise, "Oh, Lydia, why is your carriage flying so low? It's so hard to talk to you looking down like this. I was going to chat, but never mind, I'll move on ahead."

Before Lydia could respond, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, the smug noble girl retreated back into her dragon-drawn carriage. Their lion-dragon roared and flapped its wings, quickly outdistancing the griffin-drawn carriage, laughter echoing faintly from within.

"See, that's the noble lady you've been thinking about," Lydia slammed the window shut and turned her frustration towards her brother.

"This is the royal capital; being mocked is quite normal," Count Dewitt, sitting straight and meditating with his eyes closed, spoke emotionlessly. "You should prepare yourselves mentally in advance."

Though he said this, the count's hands were clenched into fists under his sleeves, whitening with the effort. No father with a normal conscience could remain indifferent after seeing his daughter humiliated.

"Sister, just you wait. One day, I will make our Claude family's carriage fly above theirs like earlier, and then you can look down and talk to them," Anderson, used as a vent for his sister's frustrations, didn't get angry but instead softly comforted her. Out there, they were a unit, sharing both honor and disgrace. Driven by a young man's pride, Anderson set a lofty goal for himself.

"Haha, then you'll have to work hard!" Hearing her brother's declaration, the girl laughed, "If you want our family's carriage to rise above theirs, you'll need to achieve a duke's title. The simplest way is to train hard and break through to become legendary, then you can be ennobled by the... no, by the ruling Grand Duke."

According to the rules of the Lockman Kingdom, all nobles have the right to fly above the city, not needing to vie with commoners for road space. However, the height at which they could fly was strictly regulated, not merely at will but according to the rank of their title.

"I will become a duke," declared the fourteen-year-old Andrei, clenching his fist, a vibrant red aura of battle qi emerging around it. He was also a young prodigy with exceptional training talent, though he had been somewhat slack in his practice recently.

Soon, the powerful and majestic griffins pulled the carriage over the palace. The coachman consciously lowered the carriage, and following the guidance of the palace guards, parked it properly.

"So many people!" As the family of three disembarked, a servant welcomed them and led them into a hall in the palace, which had been enlarged by a spatial formation. As they entered, they were stunned by the bustling crowd before them.

"Count Dewitt

, His Majesty has invited all nobles of count rank and above from across the nation, which is why there are so many people here," the servant explained, repeating what he had already said countless times.

"So, the lowest rank here is count?"

"Yes."

"And nobles below viscount rank don't even qualify to attend the banquet?"

"They can watch the ceremony broadcast live via magical images in their own territories. It's almost as good as being here in person," the servant added, his face proud and eager.

"Live broadcast magical images?" Lydia covered her mouth in surprise. This technology, she heard, was only widespread in the empires of the main continent. The kingdom could only access it at a steep cost and, due to basic magical infrastructure being less advanced than in the empires, it was difficult to spread.

"Not only the uninvited nobles can watch the broadcast, but the commoners living in the cities of the kingdom can see this grand ceremony as well," the servant could not hide his pride and delight. "His Majesty has dispatched a large number of mages to set up magical screens in all our cities to broadcast live."

Just as the family was marveling at King Beladian's grand gesture, the ground suddenly began to shake.

At the same time, in the spacious hall, magical screens rose up from all sides, each displaying an astonishing scene.

One by one, armored giants with snow-white skin marched in neat steps into the bustling, noisy city under the morning light...

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