( The night of the banquet )

” I can’t believe Max is late to his own party….. just how long will his meeting with patriarch Vega last? ” Sebastian questioned as he felt completely lost in the banquet with his military uniform enjoying drinks, while stronger military officers and royal guards stood on watch as security for the banquet.

” I think they will bring him about 5 minutes from now, since some of the higher dignitaries have started to arrive ” Anna replied as she scanned the room and recognised few high profile names

” NOW ENTERING – The patriarch of the Saint Maximus Clan, Sam Saint Maximus alongside his family “

Asiva instantly straightened up hearing Sam Saint Maximus’s name, as the clan leader of the 7th ranked clan walked into the banquet alongside his wife and two children.

The lower ranking clan officials bowed in respect, while the clan leaders went up to greet him personally as the entire atmosphere stirred with his entry.

While the Saint Maximus Clan was not the most powerful warrior clan, it was the clan that nobody wanted on their bad side.

The Saint maximus knew too much about too many people and could pull a lot of strings if they wished to.

The sweeper clan was not to be underestimated.

Asiva courteously went to greet Sam as while she felt no real attachment to the clan, in her worst time it was the Saint Maximus who had came to her aid for which she was truly grateful.

The venue of the banquet was a large celebratory hall inside the royal palace which was covered in expensive decorations all around.

A large blue rhodium crystal ornament hung from the ceiling displaying the astonishing wealth of the Titus clan as blue rhodium was considered one of the most priceless crystals in the universe with a single piece going upwards of a billion gold coins.

For the Titus clan to hang an ornament worth hundreds of billions of gold coin in a public banquet hall was a testament to their stable foundations and incredible wealth, as anyone standing underneath it felt intimidated.

” NOW ENTERING – The hero for whom this banquet has been organised, The rising star of Titus clan military, Captain Ravan “

The doorman announced Max’s entry as Max walked in ultra luxurious white robes with gold lining.

Asiva was stuped for a moment looking at her majestic boyfriend as her heart started to beat at an incredibly fast rate.

The robes he wore were tailored to perfection, the soft material did not stick to his skin and folded perfectly over his muscular curves.

One could make the shape of his extraordinary biceps from the way the robe was designed as while it was lose the length was a bit short around the sleeves as instead of a full traditional robe that covered the full length of the arm, Max wore two garments, one long glove covering his palms and forearm, while his robe only covered half his upper arm like a tshirt.

The robe was white, while the gloves were golden, giving Max a very fashionable look which complimented the embroidery on the robe.

To say that Max looked handsome was a grave understatement, as he had the aura and charisma of a young lord today.

Everything about Max oozed ‘ Royalty ‘ as he did not look like the wild uncultured war captain at all, but rather a noble scholar.

The only downside to his dressing was his concealer mask which hid his pretty face. Max did not show his face in public even today, sticking to his principles of anonymity.

His entry garnered a lot of attention from the dignitaries present, as within seconds he was swarmed by a whole bunch of people he did not know.

Asiva wondered if she should rush to Max’s aid, knowing that socialising was his weakness, however, when she saw Max handling himself perfectly well, she was pleasantly surprised.

Max replied to everyone patiently as he laughed and mingled with the upper class as if he was one of them.

” Captain Ravan, is it true that you killed 1000 barbarians with nothing but your bare fists? Of everything I heard about you, this one I find hard to believe” one aristocrat asked Max

” Of Course not, I only killed about 400 with my bare hands, the rumours are exaggerated ” Max replied casually making the aristocrat gasp in shock as he seemed extremely impressed with Max’s prowess.

” Captain Ravan, is it true that you decided to take on the fort alone because the higher ups won’t send you reinforcements?” Another aristocrat, which was planted by Vega asked as everyone became silent when this question was asked

Max knew this was his moment to start with tonight’s act as he said ” Yes, sadly it’s true. After I won the northern fortress with my men, the territory I controlled was larger, I had suffered some minute losses in the fight and needed new troops for the upkeep of the territory as well as launching an offensive on the southern fort. However, the major rejected my request because we don’t have enough frontline troops to spare.

I was depressed about this situation for a while, but then I got a letter from patriarch Vega himself motivating me for my success on the northern fort win and advising me to continue with my ambition to win the Southern fortress no matter the odds

Because even if I died, if I died for my people and my clan, it’s a worthy death “.

Max’s reply caused a stir amongst the nobility as while they were impressed by Max’s bravery, their minds started to wonder how the hell did the extremely militarised zone of the frontline planets not have enough personnel to be deployed to maintain newly won provinces?

They did not buy this bullshit, they could smell that something was fishy.

Looking at the plan moving in the desired direction Max smiled as he excused himself from the group.

Tonight was a big night, and he needed to repeat this performance several times until every attended knew that the Aurelius clan denied his request for aid.