Chapter 355 - 355 Geist House’s Family Crest

Getting up from his seat Marcus moved to the front of the stage along with two dozen and a half other people.

These people made up the group of new nobles that had received the tittle of baronet or baronetess, and it was apparent that this group was much smaller than those receiving the tittle of knight.

Of course, this was because while a knight was a noble title, they were always subservient to either the kingdom, or another noble, and often they only lasted one generation, either for not having an acceptable heir to take up their mantle, or due to death in battle.

'I guess even the title of baronet or baronetess is pretty rare.' Marcus thought as he looked at the other people going up with him.

Though what he did not know was that this group was far larger than normal, due to many new houses being brought to power to replace the ones that were colluding with Permafrost.

"Now would the representative from the Allaband family please step forward."

A young man who appeared to be in his early twenties then stepped forward, and kneeled in front of the king and said, "I am Tucker Allaband, Baronet Allaband's son, here to represent him."

The young man then pulled out masterfully painted crest and handed it over to the king, who nodded and took the crest before handing it over to a servant that placed it on a pedestal.

After that the crest appeared on the screens that had been set up, allowing everyone in the room to see it.

"As king I now confirm the Allaband house's title of baronet, may you serve the kingdom well and prosper."

Standing up Tucker Allaband gave one last bow to the king before going back to his place and waiting for the rest of the baronet ranked houses to go.

One by one the new baronet and baronetess houses had their family crests entered into the kingdom's archives and each one of them was confirmed by the king.

Of course, this was just a ceremonial confirmation, as the titles had already been awarded, but none the less every new noble baronet or above had to be confirmed by the king.

"Would the representative of the Geist family please come forward."

With his turn finally up, Marcus moved up in front of the king and like everyone else kneeled down, though he did give the king a knowing smile beforehand.

"I am Baronetess Irene Geist here to represent my family." Marcus said as he pulled out the family crest he had designed and made.

However, unlike all of the others that were paintings or drawings, Marcus had made his out of metal.

Taking the metal crest, the king raised and eyebrow when he saw what it was, but quickly regained his composure and handed it off so that the emblem could be displayed so that the other nobles could make a record of it.

The image of the Geist Family crest then became visible to all, and most of them were stunned by the work of art that Marcus had present, as well as confused for why it was chosen.

Still, those that knew Marcus well, understood the reasoning behind this crest and could only think that it was fitting.

'A wolf howling up to the sun and moon, so this is what you have been working on in secret.' Mrazivý thought as she looked up at Marcus' new family crest.

She had been wondering what he had been working on for hours at a time without telling her, saying it was a surprise.

"As king I now confirm Geist house's title of baronetess, may you please continue to aid our kingdom in its times of need."

Hearing this the crowd of nobles were all aghast, as what the king had said was not the standard send off for new nobles.

In fact, the way the king had phrased it, was as if he was asking for the continued help of an acquaintance or friend rather than a subservient noble.

And to further complicate things, unlike the other nobles that had simply bowed and walked back to their place, Marcus smiled and said, "Of course. I consider this place my home now, and do not want anything bad to happen to it."

After saying that, Marcus walked away without bowing, and many of the nobles watching were dumbfounded by what they had just seen.

They had now idea why a low-ranking baronetess was talking to the king so familiarly and why the king was allowing it.

However, the rumor of Baronetess Irene Geist being a powerful spirit quickly began to circulate, and with that last interaction with the king, many more were starting to think that this rumor could be credible.

'Looks like it worked.' The king thought as he saw the nobles whispering amongst each other.

Naturally this had been set up by him and his advisors to help add even more legitimacy to this rumor, that was partially true.

This way it would help to prevent other less savory rumors, like Marcus being a monster in need of purging, rather than a mysterious spirit helping the kingdom.

The king then finished up confirming the remaining baronets and adding their family crests to the kingdom's archive, before dismissing all of them back to their seats.

Except, one of them after taking their seat briefly, stealthy exited the grand hall as to not draw attention.

'Now it is time for the next part. This is where it is going to difficult, and interesting.' Marcus thought as he exited the grand hall.

"Now would those new nobles receiving the rank of baron or baroness please step forward."

Once the king had said this, a group of fourteen people stood up and shuffled their way down to the king and went through a similar process as Marcus had.

However, unlike Marcus who already had his title, for any rank above Baronet, the king had to personally award it.

Now this did not mean that high ranking nobles like dukes, marquises, and counts could not award such titles, only that they could not add the title via the system. This power belonged only to the king.

After that the king went up the ranks, next doing viscounts, with which there were only five of, then counts which were only two, and finally Marquis which had one new addition replacing a family that had been purged for being leading figures in Permafrost.

Yet, as everyone was getting ready to leave for the day, since the first day was always allocated for confirming and awarding nobles titles, and the kingdom had only ever had four ducal houses, all of the nobles were surprised when the king said, "Everyone please stay seated, I have a special announcement to make and another title to award."

Looking about confusedly, none of the nobles knew what was going on, and even the four dukes' houses were in the dark.

"For their meritorious deeds in helping to bring down the criminal syndicate known as Permafrost.. I would like to welcome the man that single handedly delivered us the evidence we needed, Marcus Ferrous."