Chapter 229: A Different Silver Peak City

When Henwell arrives in Silver Peak City, he immediately senses the atmosphere is way different.

The patrolling cavalry are just one part of it.

Every year during the Midsummer Festival, Silver Peak City tightens security.

But this year, it’s on another level—and that’s understandable.

What really puts Henwell on edge is the sheer number of professionals showing up.

From a hundred kilometers out, he starts picking up the presence of plenty of these professionals.

The closer he gets, the denser their numbers become.

And it’s not just knights—there’s a variety of other professionals.

Many of them emit vague class powers—that’s about the Battle Knight rank.

By the time he reaches the city outskirts, Henwell senses six dawn class professionals in a single day.

That’s Grand Knight level—top-tier combat power in any nation.

From what he sees, these folks aren’t aligned with any of the six kingdoms, nor have they pledged to any faction.

They seem like lone wolves.

Henwell asks Count Jansen about this, but Jansen’s just as clueless.

Henwell figures these people aren’t here for his engagement or the Midsummer Festival.

There’s only one other reason—they’ve come for Vorry duchy’s transformation.

The duchy’s becoming a kingdom—does that really have some special significance?

If it was just about pride, it wouldn’t draw so many professionals.

So the ceremony must offer some serious perks to attract all these mystery-powered individuals.

Henwell wants to dig into the reason but he’s swamped and can’t spare the time.

He must prepare for the engagement, and none of his subordinates are Grand Knights.

Diving headfirst into contact with these high-level professionals would probably stir up unnecessary trouble.

So, despite his burning curiosity, Henwell holds back and heads to the Phoenix family castle on Silver Peak City’s east side.

The next few days are a whirlwind.

Henwell has to personally write invitation letters, prepare gifts for guests, oversee the ceremony setup, plan the banquet menu…

A mountain of tasks keeps him busy from dawn till dusk.

For just the formalwear, Countess Grace pulls together dozens of outfits for Henwell.

One whole day, he’s shuffled around by a gaggle of maids, trying on different clothes while several noblewomen critique his looks.

After a dizzying week, Henwell finally wraps up all the preparations.

Now, there’s one week left until his engagement ceremony, and only four days until Amir’s coronation.

This night, Jansen’s eldest son, Orak, returns to the Phoenix castle.

Seeing Henwell decked out in formalwear, Orak claps him on the shoulder. “Henwell, you look way more handsome like this!”

Henwell, worn out, sighs. “Big brother, was your wedding this much of a pain?”

Orak laughs. “Hell no. When I got married, the Phoenix family wasn’t nearly as powerful. I didn’t marry the daughter of the Count, so the whole affair was way smaller. Looking back, it’s probably a good thing—I sure wasn’t this exhausted back then!”

They chat for a bit before Henwell asks about the situation in Silver Peak City.

Every kingdom’s sent envoys—nothing but princes and ministers—a clear sign they’re taking this seriously.

Arius has also returned to Silver Peak City.

But he hasn’t had a chance to visit the Phoenix castle.

Since Amir officially revealed Arius’s royal status, he’s now a bona fide royal family member.

With such a huge event underway, Arius, as a junior prince, naturally stays in the palace.

All the duchy’s counts and viscounts have settled into Silver Peak City for the time being.

Henwell can’t help but ask, “If everyone’s coming here, doesn’t that leave the borders a bit exposed?”

Orak thinks it over, then shakes his head. “No way. I heard that during these transformation and elevation ceremonies, there’s a guarantee—no wars can break out. No faction is allowed to attack the country undergoing the transformation for any reason.”

Henwell frowns. Between nations, there’s no real binding agreement—just deals based on interests.

If something exists that can make these countries actually follow the rules, it must be tied to even bigger stakes.

Most likely, there’s some unknown power behind it—something far stronger.

Henwell hasn’t heard of any such force yet.

Could it be connected to those mysterious professionals showing up?

Or maybe it’s some dominant power from another continent?

Henwell knows for sure that his continent is the Eastern Continent of the Seventh Plane.

That means the Seventh Plane must have more than just this one continent.

What puzzles Henwell is why no one’s ever heard of the other continent.

He even sent people to investigate, but no official records mention any other continents.

That’s really odd—could those continents be super far away?

His mind spins with all kinds of thoughts.

Henwell always stays cautious around the unknown and uncertain.

But for now, he has to focus on finishing his engagement ceremony.

Later on, he’ll dig deeper.

And he’s already found a lead—the mysterious Veil Organization.

Two days before the duchy’s transformation and elevation ceremony, Count Jansen approaches Henwell holding two invitations.

“Grand Duke Amir invites us to go to the ceremony the day after tomorrow. Let’s go attend it! I’ve heard this was a sudden arrangement—Amir’s own decision.”

Henwell takes the golden invitation, studies it for a moment, then asks, “Uncle, knowing Amir as you do, what’s he trying to pull here?”

Jansen frowns. “Kill us? No way! No one else would agree to that! What I’ve heard is that after the ceremony, the Duke plans to reward all parties.”

”From the marriage alliance war to the defense and counterattack against Ika, nobody’s gotten clear benefits yet. Using this grand event to reward the meritorious makes sense.”

Henwell shakes his head. “Then there’s even less reason to invite us! We’ve embarrassed the duchy’s top brass twice during those wars. Plus, we’ve already snagged tangible gains—the land and population are practically in our hands.”

”The duchy will never legally recognize Peace Haven or your western territories. The Duke certainly won’t raise your rank any higher; count is the limit. As for me, he’d probably love to strip me down to a commoner rather than promote me.”

“So, do we go or not?”

Henwell sighs. “We go. Of course we do. This is the duchy’s big day and a personal invite from the Duke. As long as we haven’t broken ties with the duchy, we can’t refuse it. Let’s get ready and show up on time.”