Chapter 003: The Granting of a Title in the Great Hall

Seeing Du Fan lost in thought, Prince Fischer didn’t explain much. Instead, he suddenly clapped his hands, and melodious music filled the air. Then, two groups of court maids slowly emerged from the large door behind Prince Fischer. Each maid in the lead held a silver plate, with an item on it, both covered by a golden scarf.

After approaching Prince Fischer, the maids slowly knelt down and simultaneously presented the silver plates. Du Fan faintly realized what Prince Fischer was about to do. Sure enough, he saw Prince Fischer lift the golden scarf to reveal a delicate parchment. He glanced at Du Fan, smiled, and said, “Du Fan… kneel down and listen to your title being conferred.”

Du Fan was slightly stunned but quickly knelt down. Prince Fischer smiled again, unrolled the parchment, and said in a low voice, “I, Fischer Austin, hereby declare… that starting today, Du Fan Green is granted the title of Hereditary Duke. He is also appointed as Court Guard, Court Magic Advisor, and Court Scholar… All present are witnesses!”

At these words, the nobles around them were astonished. Duke!? Hereditary!?

Although some had heard rumors earlier, they never expected Prince Fischer to actually confer such a title… After all, granting hereditary noble titles wasn’t something any emperor would do casually! Once such a title was conferred, the recipient would gain their own territory, the right to form private armies, and the authority to enact their own laws within that territory… Most importantly, it could be passed down through generations!

Even the Green family had no idea how much merit they had to earn such a title. Yet now, Du Fan was being granted one outright?

Though most people had heard Prince Fischer’s words on the day of the coup, Du Fan had been barely alive at that time… Everyone knew he wouldn’t survive, so it made sense for Prince Fischer to confer such a title on him…

But after several days, Du Fan stood here, unharmed, receiving this title from Prince Fischer… It was truly…

At this moment, with Prince Fischer’s decree issued, it was clear that Du Fan’s status had been finalized… The Green family would now have two dukes… Some who were at odds with the Green family began to worry secretly that the family might take this opportunity to rise to even greater heights, and that even the Lionheart family might not be a match for them in the future. Nobles who shared the same political views as the Green family were secretly pleased—given such favor, their own lives might improve as well… Only Duke Green, standing among the crowd, smiled slightly upon hearing these words. Yet in just a short while, his smile turned grim, though no one noticed… According to unofficial records, on the night Duke Green was granted his title, he flew into a rage in his mansion. No one knew the reason, but it is said that a few lucky servants heard these words coming from the duke’s study: “Duke? Duke!? Two dukes in one family!? It may seem glorious to outsiders, but who knows what Prince Fischer is thinking? Hmph… He’s making such a fuss about granting titles clearly because he has no choice but to accept that Du Fan is still alive—otherwise he would have done it discreetly. By making such a show of it, he’s simply trying to split my Green family in two! My family has fought for the Gavin Empire for centuries—should we not even deserve the most basic trust at the end??” Of course, those servants who heard these words disappeared within a few days, so the authenticity of these words is highly doubtful… Let’s turn our attention back from these unofficial accounts to the palace. After saying those words, Prince Fischer simply stared intently at Du Fan, who was kneeling on the ground. Du Fan’s mind was filled with countless thoughts, but in the end, one idea prevailed: he respectfully took the parchment from Prince Fischer’s hands and then said loudly, “Thank you, Your Highness!” Prince Fischer shook his head and said, “What’s there to thank? My dear Duke, this is what you deserve… Well, take another look… What other gifts have I given you?” With that, Prince Fischer lifted the silk cloth from the second silver tray. On it lay a cloak. He gently shook it to unfold it and then casually draped it over Du Fan’s shoulders. The nobles’ eyes fell on the runes on the cloak, and instantly, their faces changed color!

Lilacs! There were lilacs painted on the cloak! You see, the rune of the lilac has always symbolized royal status… And now, Prince Fischer has given him this cloak representing royal status at such a critical moment… In other words, Du Fan can now almost be considered part of the royal family!!! What an honor! To put it bluntly, with this cloak on, if Du Fan were to try to seize power in the future, it would be justified by its presence. Only a few people who knew Emperor Austin III’s decree back then understood what this meant… The old emperor had intended to marry his youngest daughter to Du Fan, and now Prince Fischer was taking such actions, clearly intending to follow the late emperor’s orders… Du Fan had been made a duke and could now marry a princess… His future was boundless… Outsiders understood these things, but surely Du Fan did too? Although he didn’t know why Prince Fischer, who had once wanted to kill him, had suddenly changed his attitude, he couldn’t say much at such a time. Facing the complicated looks around him, he could only pretend to be innocent. With a slight smile, he said, “Thank you, Your Highness, for this gift.” Then, Du Fan slowly stood up and stepped aside. Prince Fischer seemed not to intend to further win over Du Fan. He glanced around and said, “Since Duke Du Fan has received his reward, I certainly won’t forget those who contributed to the coup back then.” With that, Prince Fischer clapped his hands, and someone brought over a scroll. He slowly unrolled it and began to read aloud. Clearly, he had thought long and hard about this document, which involved almost all the nobles who sided with him during the coup. Their contributions varied in size, but most of them received some form of reward—some got titles, some had their positions changed, and others gained wealth, possessions, or people under their control. The details were numerous, and Du Fan grew impatient after just a few lines. When he heard that Redcliffe had been promoted to commander of the imperial guards, he showed an expression of expectation… After all, Redcliffe had previously been the deputy commander, so his promotion wasn’t a big deal. In short, in the end, every noble from Prince Fischer’s faction benefited, ensuring that rewards were distributed fairly.

Initially, some people were jealous of Du Fan’s rewards, but with Prince Fischer’s actions, almost everyone was satisfied, which was quite rare. As for the powerful families in the imperial capital, there was nothing more to grant them, so Prince Fischer didn’t do anything unnecessary, though his words implied that he would never relinquish power and that the empire’s governance would still rely heavily on these noble families in the future… These families were thus satisfied. After the rewards were distributed, Prince Fischer took the opportunity to decide on punishments for the eldest prince’s faction. Of course, all the nobles who participated in the coup had their titles revoked, their lands taken away, and their private armies disbanded on the spot. Yet Prince Fischer showed mercy—normally, those who participated in the coup would have been reduced to slaves if they survived… But he didn’t do that. Instead of stripping them of their titles and lands, he gave each of them about ten acres of land to prevent them from starving, though they could no longer stay in the imperial capital. After the Purple Jasmine Dynasty’s counterattack, those soldiers and officers who had contributed to the victory were demoted by one rank and kept under observation, meaning they might still have a chance for promotion if they performed well in the future. As for the Belinger family, the biggest supporter of the Purple Jasmine Dynasty, every member of the family was captured; their servants and relatives were turned into slaves, while the core members were executed on the spot. The Belinger family’s wealth and lands were seized by the empire. Those remnants of the Purple Jasmine Dynasty who fled to the northern regions were left to be hunted down by the Green family, with the task to be completed as quickly as possible. With things having developed to this point, it could be said that all the nobles were satisfied, and Prince Fischer’s control over the Gavin Empire became even more secure.