Who told him to rush up there?.

Chapter 156: Royal Palace Banquet
But this kid Eli is really promising. He actually managed to hook up with Princess Lina while fighting bravely on the front line. Now, as he has taken care of his daughter herself, it will be easy to deal with the old father-in-law who dotes on his daughter.

You have to know that His Majesty the Emperor is very obedient to Princess Lina. As long as Princess Lina has made up her mind, His Majesty the Emperor would have to accept it even if Eli was just a small baron, not to mention that Eli is the son of the Duke.

In order to show their respect for Eli, the meritorious minister, the old emperor and high-ranking officials and nobles had all walked out of the city to welcome him. Now that they were going back to the imperial capital, naturally everyone had to walk again. Even though Eli and his party were leading horses, no one dared to ride on them.

Even Eleanor, who was usually the most lively and active, behaved very well at this time. She walked upright behind Eli, like a little follower imitating the behavior of adults.

Because the matter of Eli and Princess Lina attracted everyone's attention, no one cared about such a tiny girl for a while. Not to mention her, even Alyssa, who was as tall as a three-story building, was ignored. After all, the Dawn Empire and the Dragon Kingdom were firm allies, and any kind of dragon was not uncommon in the Dawn Empire.

Of course, the main reason was that no one knew Eleanor and Alyssa. Even though Eleanor was the princess of the Dwarf Kingdom, she was at the level of the Dawn Empire and usually interacted with people from the six empires. As for the nobles from the twelve kingdoms, although they did not look down on them, they did not pay much attention to them.

As for Elisa, she was completely different from the dragon she was half a year ago. Even Duke and Duchess Bruno, who had raised her since she was a baby, did not recognize her. When they were whispering to each other, they wondered where Elisa had gone and why the dragon was nowhere to be seen.

As for Evelyn, who followed Eli silently like a ghost, she was directly classified into the same category as Jessica and Cecilia. Such a weak but pretty girl was, of course, a servant in name but a concubine in reality.

When it comes to royal travel, there are a lot of problems with the rules, because no one dares, and in fact no one is allowed to walk in front of His Majesty the Emperor. The speed of the group's movement depends entirely on the speed of the old emperor.

As the Emperor of the Dawn Empire, although no one requires him to possess great strength, for the sake of their own longevity, emperors of every generation will more or less practice for a while. They do not insist on becoming extraordinary saints, but at least they hope to reach a high level and prolong their lives.

This generation of the Emperor of the Dawn Empire is already 150 years old this year, and his strength barely remains at the eighth level.

Relying on the fact that a very small number of human geniuses in history have ascended to the divine realm, the rank of the entire human race has been improved and lifespan has increased significantly. Although the old emperor is now old, he still has a long time to go before his death, and his mental and physical condition is still pretty good.

There were no twists and turns along the way. Led by the old emperor, the group soon arrived outside the imperial capital.

The capital of the Dawn Empire before them was Eli's home for two lifetimes, and it was also where Jessica and Cecilia grew up. They were extremely familiar with everything about the capital, so when they approached it and saw this towering city, they felt nothing but familiarity.

But for people who come from other countries, the huge city before them is extremely shocking.

Eleanor was from the Dwarf Kingdom and Evelyn was from the Duchy of the Undead. Compared with Eli and the others, they were all from small countries. To be honest, they had never seen a city like the Dawn Capital.

Although they had not yet entered the city, the sturdy and magnificent tall city walls alone were enough to dazzle their eyes. As expected of the first empire on the continent, the stones used to build the city walls were carefully polished, and they looked very neat and imposing.

Following the crowd past the city gate, even Alyssa's height could not reach the top of the gate even if she jumped up. It was much higher than the city gate of the capital of the Dwarf Kingdom.

When the group entered the city, they were greeted by a prosperous scene. Even when the emperor was traveling, there was no need to clean the streets. The wide streets, which were wide enough to accommodate ten carriages running parallel, were crowded with people. Countless shops with luxurious or exquisite decorations were lined up, and were filled with customers.

A little further away, there are tall buildings with exquisite layouts, and a high-end and atmospheric feeling comes to the face. Most of the people there are well-dressed and have extraordinary temperaments. It is obvious that they are upper-class people.

This was just an ordinary street near the city gate, far from the center of the Dawn Imperial Capital, but it was already more bustling and prosperous than the highest-end urban areas of the Dwarf Kingdom and the Undead Principality.

At this moment, Eleanor was like a country person who walked into a big city for the first time. Her big eyes were blinking and she didn't know where to look. Anyway, everywhere she looked was better than her own kingdom. Compared with here, the capital of the dwarf kingdom was like the fringe of urban and rural areas.

Evelyn's performance was slightly better than Eleanor's. After all, she was born in the human kingdom. Unlike the alien Eleanor, she was only surprised at the pinnacle of human civilization before her, without much envy.

However, because they had to keep up with Eli, the two women could not wander around the city. They could only wait until next time to take a good look at the scenery of this huge city.

Unconsciously, the crowd, escorted by the imperial guards, walked through the downtown area, the upscale neighborhoods, the prosperous scenes, and arrived outside the imperial city located in the center of the imperial capital.

Compared with other bustling neighborhoods, the area where the imperial city is located is much quieter. There are no high-rise buildings, no shops, and no pedestrians. There are only luxurious palaces that reveal a hint of coldness in the silence.

Since it is called the Imperial City, it naturally has city walls. However, unlike the walls outside that are finely polished piece by piece, the walls of this Imperial City are all built with huge white jade stones. They do not need to be finely polished at all, and the material itself is extremely gorgeous.

The imperial city is so large that even a high-level warrior cannot see the end of it. To enclose such a large palace, the amount of white jade consumed is a terrifying amount. Only the Dawn Empire could be so generous. If it were any of the twelve kingdoms, the cost of the imperial city wall alone would be enough to build dozens of large cities.

Following His Majesty the Emperor into the palace gate made of golden wood, except for Eli, Princess Lina, Jessica, Cecilia, Evelyn, Eleanor and Alyssa, the rest of the guards who followed Eli back to the country all stayed outside the imperial city. With their identities, they were not qualified to enter the palace.

In fact, as Eli's deputy general, Rondo was qualified to go in, but in order to command the guards, he voluntarily stayed outside. Fortunately, although the old emperor was old, he was not stupid. These soldiers who followed Eli to fight were all meritorious people. How could he treat them harshly?

After Eli and others left, palace servants came out of the palace and welcomed all the guards standing outside in. The war horses were also properly arranged. However, unlike the real dignitaries, they were arranged in the side hall closest to the main hall. However, the banquet was definitely of high standards.

While the guards in the side hall began to feast, high-ranking officials and nobles gathered in the main hall next door and took their seats in order according to their rank. However, there was one exception, and that was Eli. His most official position now was the Lord of the Demon Hunting City, but he sat in the first seat to the lower left of the emperor, a position that was originally reserved for princes and other important figures.

In this situation, the beautiful girls who had followed Eli closely before, except Princess Lina who was still sitting next to him, were arranged far away from him. Eleanor was fine, as a princess of the Dwarf Kingdom, her position was relatively forward, Evelyn was much worse, almost near the end, as for Jessica and Cecilia, they were directly at the end like Alyssa, but it must be said that it was worthy of being the palace of the Dawn Empire, even if it was just one of the halls, it could easily accommodate so many people plus a half-grown dragon.

To be honest, Eli didn't really like the rules of seniority and seating according to status, but considering that this was the royal palace that was most particular about these things, he didn't want to be too disrespectful to his future father-in-law.

"Come on, everyone, raise your glasses and toast to our anti-demon hero."

As the old emperor, sitting high on the dragon throne, raised his glass, the palace banquet specially held for Eli officially began.

As soon as the old emperor finished speaking, everyone present raised their glasses, saluted in the direction of where Eli was sitting, and then drank the wine in their glasses.

"Saint Eli has made outstanding military achievements and slain countless demons. He can be regarded as avenging the empire."

"It is said that the demons were slaughtered by Saint Eli. Even the strongest demon king is no match for Saint Eli. He is truly a hero."

"Saint Eli has such strength at such a young age. His future achievements are limitless. Within three to five years, our Dawn Empire will have one more venerable."

"More than a venerable one, Saint Eli has the potential to become a god. It is only a matter of time before he is ranked among the gods..."

"Saint Eli is invincible in power, and Princess Lina is a natural beauty. The two of you are truly a match made in heaven. I just don't know when I can drink the wine from your wedding."

"..."

After everyone put down their wine glasses, they did not hesitate to praise Eli, and praised him as someone who would appear only once in a thousand years and rarely seen in ten thousand years. Even if there were gods in heaven overlooking the mortal world, they would still dare to praise Eli to the sky.

"I just put in a little more effort on the battlefield, and I am shamelessly taking more credit, but it is still thanks to the soldiers working together and fighting bravely with me that I can return with honor this day."

Eli also put down his wine glass at this time. In response to everyone's praise, he naturally had to be humble. This was the same no matter where he was. No one would take the initiative to brag about how great his contributions were, except for those heroes who tried to talk about their past achievements.

"At such a young age, Lina is neither arrogant nor impatient. She has a good eye..."

The old emperor shook the wine glass in his hand and looked at Eli, who was not at all proud of his achievements, with a satisfied smile on his face.

As the emperor of the Dawn Empire, he knew the current noble children of the empire very well. Most of them were either arrogant or behaved recklessly. A small number were relatively modest and prudent and could be considered promising talents. However, there were very few people like Eli who not only had extraordinary abilities and unlimited potential but also knew how to be humble.

"Elai, you should know that uncle has always favored Lina. Since he has chosen you, uncle will not go against her. But you must also remember to love Lina and treat her as a treasure. She is the emperor's only daughter. Even if you have made great contributions to the country and have the hope of becoming a god in the future, don't let the emperor find out that you have treated her badly."

If what the old emperor said before was words of encouragement to the meritorious officials, then what he said now was what was in his heart. In just a few words, he unconsciously changed his self-reference from uncle to emperor, which shows his seriousness.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I am with Lina because I love her so much. I may not be able to guarantee anything else, but I will love my own woman for the rest of my life. Eli will never let Your Highness down."

As he spoke, Eli picked up the newly filled wine glass, stood up solemnly, raised the glass and saluted the old emperor from afar, then drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, without leaving a drop.

Listening to Eli's words, Princess Lina, who was sitting next to him, silently took a sip of juice, and a faint smile appeared on her pretty face. She didn't like drinking, but seeing the two most important men to her raising their glasses and drinking around her topic, as a girl, she was too embarrassed to say a word at this time.

Although she entered into a relationship with Eli because of the temptation of three years of sainthood, if you look closely, they were not in love with each other, but more like a transaction. However, with Lina's character, once she has decided on something, she will never change it easily.

As long as Eli can really fulfill his promise, Lina is really willing to be with him for the rest of her life. Besides, she is really optimistic about Eli himself. He has no obvious shortcomings, and his advantages are everywhere. No matter how you look at it, he is a good man.

As for feelings, at Lina's current age, she didn't dare to say that she understood them, but she knew that they could be cultivated. Just like her father and mother, before the Orc Kingdom presented her mother to her father, they had never even met each other, so how could they have any feelings for each other? But now? They are so in love.

"With your words, uncle is relieved. When I am free, I will have someone choose a good day to marry Lina to you. I hope you won't let uncle down."

After hearing Eli's speech, the old emperor asked the palace servants to fill his glass, but as the emperor of the empire, he still sat upright on the dragon throne. He just raised his glass and clinked it with Eli's, then spoke with a serious face.

Arranged marriage? Isn't it a little too early?
Eli couldn't help but be stunned when he heard the old emperor's words. Although he wanted to marry Princess Lina and get the most luxurious dowry in history, wasn't it a little too fast to do it now?

After temporarily leaving the battlefield, his main focus in the near future should be on training and cultivating beautiful girls. Relying on his huge wealth to recruit soldiers and arm the team is part of his plan, but not at this moment.

(End of this chapter)