Chapter 442 The Celebratory Party VII: The Count Bourne



Evan's own rewards were exactly as he had predicted, bountiful monetary rewards, a limited military authority equivalent to a 'Sergeant Major of the Army' but could only be used under certain circumstances, and a High nobility title…when he came of age.

Basically, the Emperor's words went something like this:

"Evan Eris is to be granted a title in the Peerage of 'Count'. However, he is not to acquire the corresponding Court Ranks of Lower or Upper Fourth.

Additionally, upon his coming-of-age ceremony, his title is to be advanced from the Peerage of Count to that of Marquis."

The moment the Emperor was done speaking, the sound of murmurs broke out across the hall as the rank Evan had received, was far higher than they had expected.

It was not an Honorary title, but a full Life Peerage, one that was going to automatically become Hereditary when he came of age.

Evan's achievements and contributions were lauded to be one of the highest, as he and his party's actions of saving multiple small towns across Cheverton, assisting in large-scale evacuations, the information he had provided, and lastly, his battle achievements in Operation Synchro, the Falos County Raid, and the final battle; all these added together gave the young hero the highest number of merits.

But despite this, it was impossible for some of the Baron and Viscount-ranked nobles to feel good about the fact that a kid who was less than half their age was acquiring a title that was higher than theirs, as well as the authority that came with it.

Some other younger generation nobles and heir apparents who were older than Evan also felt a bit envious of this.

Even the Dukes who were present were momentarily stunned as the Emperor had not told them about the rank upgrade beforehand.

Emphasis to be placed on 'momentarily'.

They and the other high nobles who were farsighted, instantly figured out the Emperor's reasons and some of his true intentions for doing this.

As for the few Barons and Viscounts who were disgruntled, Duke Cheverton's sudden question silenced their mutters.

"Is there anyone who has a problem with His Majesty's decision?"

"…"

The hall instantly turned silent the moment the man spoke, with all those nobles instantly quieting down.

No one dared to even whisper anything anymore.

"Funny, I was about to ask the same thing."

Ralphie who was standing close to the centre of the hall spoke up right after, his words followed by the boisterous laughter of the black-haired man standing beside him.

"HAHAHAHA! I'm with my little bro on this one. Why're you all making a fuss about this? He was going to gain a peerage when he came of age either way, after all."

Finley spoke as he slung his arm over Ralphie's shoulder, citing something that many had unconsciously ignored.

Evan was currently the heir apparent of Duke Roger, and even if he was not, he was going to eventually acquire a subsidiary title under the Eris Dukedom when he turned 18.

And as the heir apparent, the title he was to be given was the most Senior Subsidiary title under Duke Roger, which was that of a Count.

Even if he was not the heir, he was still going to acquire the same title as the Duke had more than one subsidiary Count title.

Subsidiary titles were basically nobility titles of authority which were not used to identify a particular noble due to the concurrent holding of a greater title.

It was the same as Ralphie and Finley's father, the Marquis Thompson, who possessed Viscount Subsidiary titles, but since his most senior title was that of Marquis, he was addressed as such.

Of course, someone holding a subsidiary title of their parent was not privy to the same level of legal and social privileges as someone holding a Substantive title of the same rank, meaning Ralphie's Subsidiary Viscount authority was not to the same level as a normal Viscount who gained that title via grant or inheritance.

"His Majesty gave him what he was going to acquire eventually beforehand, with a little bit of upgrades and future advancements.

"A 'Little bit'?"

Hearing Luke's questioning reply to his words, Finley placed a hand on his chin and thought about it for a moment before saying.

"When you say it like that, it becomes glaringly obvious that it's actually NOT a 'little'."

Luke only shook his head and sighed softly while Finley continued with his words.

"Then again, he deserves it, and looking around; I can see that quite a lot of you agree with me."

Finley looked around as he spoke and true to his words, there were nobles who were giving nods of approval in response to his statement, even those who possessed the Marquis titles that Evan was to eventually acquire.

Looking at things from the perspective of the Empire as a whole, the amount of High Nobility (Marquises and Dukes) only amounted to 30% of the total nobility, and those who were currently present all had no qualms with the Emperor's decision.

Besides, they all understood that it would be troublesome for the nobility as a whole if Evan was not promoted here and now.

It's because they understood that if not, in the future──it would become hard to advance in rank no matter what kind of achievement they raised.

When their promotion is considered, their achievement would be compared with Evan's and a lot of them would become unable to get the promotion.

And like so, with a little delay, Evan acquired his title as initially planned.

Now then, there was one other little issue which was an issue shared with all subsidiary title holders and the children of substantive title holders who were granted their own peerages by the Monarchy.

It was the fact that both Duke Roger and Evan held the last name of 'Eris', meaning that Evan, the younger and lower ranked of the two, could not be styled or referred to as 'Count Eris' so as not to cause confusion.

This required Evan to pick a different name to be styled as a titled noble with.

It was something that Evan was supposed to take his time deciding and eventually chose at a later date, but much to the Emperor's surprise, Evan had already decided.

Or rather, there was no need for him to even make a choice, the name he had picked, was naturally his 'real' name.

"Von Bourne."

"Von Bourne?"

Kieran narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this, something Evan noticed when he was turning towards Duke Roger, but he ignored it and replied to the Emperor in a low voice while gesturing towards Roger.

"Yep. As he is styled as 'His Grace, Prime Minster Roger, The Duke Eris', I would now then be…'Lord Evan, The Count Bourne'. Simple enough?"

"What about the 'Von'?"

"That's optional, the same way the 'Del' in my current name is."

"I see. Any particular reasons for choosing that name?"

"No comment."

Evan only gave a perfunctory smile as he replied, choosing not to say anything due to Laurene's presence here.

'Wouldn't want to make a slip-up now, would I?

Besides, I've been looking for a means to incorporate 'Bourne' into the way I'm being addressed, this is a perfect chance.'

The Emperor obviously could not care less about Evan's reasons and had only asked out of slight curiosity, choosing to end the matter after Evan's refusal to answer.

There was then the matter of having a crest and a monogram but those were things to be done another day.

On a side note, the level of Evan's 'Limited Military Authority' was not publicly stated by the Emperor, he was simply given a badge that contained the insignia of the rank granted to him.

With the whole fiasco out of the way, the party entered its final phase, with the number of participants slowly decreasing as many nobles and adventurer attendees took their leave.

While some were discussing the newest member of the Empire's mid-ranking nobility, two of the Empire's Dukes were in a corner discussing other important implications of Evan's new title.

"Evan's 'future' title isn't a Life Peerage, huh?"

"It would seem so. His Majesty really intends to use it as a binding force to keep Evan tied to the Empire."

Duke replied to Luke's words as he looked at the young hero who was now talking with the Utrarian Republic's representative.

"Ah, there was that too. But anyway, do you plan to reinstate your older son as heir apparent?"

"Yes.

Formerly, they were evenly matched, however, as of now, he's clearly the better choice. Evan has changed, and the current him is not suited to succeed the position.

Arnold, on the other hand, has only gotten better."

The man calmly analysed his two sons, citing how much of a better successor the current Arnold was when compared with Evan.

"Is that so? Then how are you going to deal with your conservative vassals?"