Hey guys, MT here!

I'm glad that I've managed to keep the light-heartedness and I think that its time to move away from the hospital, now. This chapter will have a few surprises and I don't really know if they will be good or not.

Anyways, before I give too much away, ENJOY!

UPDATED 8/5/15

Chapter 29

One week later…

"Agh, I hate getting all dressed up like this," said Saito while fidgeting. It was now the start of the new month and Henrietta said that most of the soldiers were healed properly and they will be holding a festival in Romalia's capital to celebrate the end of the war. The Void users, familiars, Ondine Knights, and many other are going to be honored and the festival will be going on for several days.

Today is the first day and Saito is currently getting ready with the help of Siesta, who is also dressed nicely.

"Saito-san, you have to look nice in front of everyone. You will be in front of many leaders of Halkeginia and Miss Vallière would be angry with you if you are not in proper attire," said Siesta, calmly, as she adjusted Saito's collar and then smoothed out the fabric of his clothes. Saito blushed when Siesta's hands lingered on his chest, mostly out of embarrassment and the two were interrupted when Louise came in.

"Siesta, is Saito ready yet?" asked Louise as she walked in, rocking her pink dress. "Oh good, you are. Princess-sama said that she wanted to see us beforehand to notify us about what will be happening during the awards ceremony."

"Hm? Alright but what could she give us at this point? I'm already a Lord and you're the daughter of a Duke. There really isn't anything to add to that," said Saito, curiously, as he walked towards her, Siesta in tow.

"It doesn't matter, let's just go. We can't let Princess-sama wait," said Louise, coldly. Saito sighed in sadness at how she was still angry with him. The other day, Louise had come in to visit Saito again and when she walked in Siesta, Asuna, and Tabitha had all been asleep in Saito's bed, effectively suffocating him, and she immediately blamed him before blowing him out the window with her Explosion. The following days she essentially ignored him until yesterday when they were released from the hospital and the two slept together in a hotel nearby.

The trio walked towards where Henrietta was and Saito and Siesta followed behind Louise, who was wearing a calm expression and walking as if nothing was going on between her and Saito.

Saito walked behind his wife, looking gloomy, before speeding up a bit to try and speak to Louise.

"Louise, are you really still mad at me? I told you it wasn't my fault," whined Saito, not wanting her to be mad anymore.

"I'm not mad at you, Saito. I have no idea what you are speaking about," said Louise, calmly. Saito stopped and slumped down again in self-loathing before continuing to walk as they made their way down the hall and then the stairs to the floor which Henrietta was staying at. They walked mostly in silence until reaching the door and Louise lightly rapped her knuckles against the door.

"Come in."

The three entered when Henrietta invited them in, Saito being the last one and closing the door afterward.

"Louise, I'm glad you could get here before the ceremony," said Henrietta, happily, as she strut across the room to hug her childhood friend. Louise returned the hug with a bright smile before the two broke and Henrietta looked around between everyone. "Hello Siesta, Saito-dono."

"How do you do, Your Majesty," said Siesta as she curtsied to the queen.

"Hello, Your Majesty," said Saito before bowing.

"Saito-dono, I told you that you don't need to be so formal when it's just us," said Henrietta, disappointedly. Before Saito could reply, Louise interjected, prodding the young queen to speak about what she had called them for. "Ah, yes, I should be speaking about why you all are here. The ceremony starts in about a half an hour so I probably should begin."

"That would be wise, Princess-sama. It wouldn't be good to be late," said Louise, calmly. Henrietta glanced at her friend and then at Saito with a curious gaze, receiving a moping Saito in return. She giggled, lightly, but chose not to ask.

"Anyways, I have been confiding with some of the other leaders and it seems that the representative leader of Germania and Queen Charlotte, along with myself of course, have come to a consensus. Saito-dono, the Des Ornières estate is near the border between Tristain, Germania, and Gallia, yes?" asked Henrietta, receiving a nod from Saito along with a confused expression as he didn't know where this was going. "Well, the land up to the borders, behind your estate, are mostly farmland, not really belonging to anyone, and so, I decided to grant you this land."

"W-W-What?! B-But, Princess-sama! That…That would almost double our land! That's much too generous!" shouted Louise in surprise. When Saito heard 'almost double' he gaped. The amount of land they had was more than enough as it was. If doubled, they wouldn't know what to do with it.

"It really isn't, though I'm not quite done. The representative from Germania and Queen Charlotte also agreed to extend that land into their own countries. They will be granting you land equal to your original estate's size, basically quadrupling your land and also making it its own state, watched over by three different nations," explained Henrietta with a sly smile. Louise's eyes almost popped out of her head when she heard this and she fell back against Saito, fainting from the sheer shock.

"L-Louise!" shouted Saito in panic. Henrietta merely giggled in amusement at the couple as Saito laid Louise in his lap and fanned her with his hand while she muttered out 'quadrupled' and 'three countries' in a dazed state.

"Anyways, don't be late for the ceremony, you three. I expect to see you there," said Henrietta as she walked towards the door, winking at everyone. She left the room right afterward, leaving a flustered Saito and unconscious Louise in a panicked state.

At the ceremony, Romalia's plaza was overflowing with numbers unprecedented for one place at the time. Around a hundred thousand people, both soldiers and citizens, had come to the ceremony and they filled the plaza to the bursting point, spilling out into the connecting streets as far as the eye could see. Most of the inner part of the city was set up for the festival, shops and stands open all along the edges of the streets, all the pubs and bars in the city prepared for the influx, and there were decorations littering the buildings and hung up from above.

"Welcome, everyone!" shouted Julio, using a voice amplification spell to raise his voice over the crowd. The conversations quickly died down when they heard the head priest speak and everyone turned their attention to the blonde man. "The war is officially over!"

Roars erupted out from the crowds and the combined sound was ear piercing, causing several of the people on stage to wince and cover their ears.

"The Valkyrie nation sent a representative to say that they officially surrender and wished to open up negotiations for a peace treaty!" began Julio when the crowd died down again. "Three of the races which interacted with the great Brimir are now uniting and we will continue to expand and grow in the world he created for us! Now, today, we will hold a ceremony to give special congratulations to those who led our forces and who had a great impact on the result of the war!"

The crowd roared again in excitement and quickly hushed themselves as they watched Henrietta, Tabitha, Harold, and Axel move forward.

"We all know," began Henrietta, using the same magic as Julio's aide used on Julio to increase her volume. "This war would not have been won anywhere near as easily without the Void mage! They lent us their strength, passed down from Brimir, and helped to protect us and fight with us. I present to you the three Void mage!"

Henrietta moved to the side and each of the three mage moved forward, curtsying to the crowd.

"Louise Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière! Tiffania Westwood! And last, but not least, Gwendolyn di Bellerose di Albion!" introduced Henrietta. The crowd roared in applause at the three young women and Henrietta smiled at them, clapping along. Tiffa and Gwen blushed, brightly, at the amount of praise, Louise, remained calm, though.

After a moment, the three stepped back and Harold stepped forward.

"Of course, we cannot forget the two great familiars, some of the strongest in recorded history!" shouted Harold. Saito and Asuna stepped forward, both in formal attire. "Saito Chevalier de Hiraga Des Ornières and Miss Asuna, familiar to Gwendolyn! I will be rewarding Miss Asuna by making her a part of my family, making her of royal blood. She has informed me that her name prior to the addition is Asuna de Tsukino. Now that she is a part of my family, she will be known as Asuna de Tsukino di Albion!"

The crowd roared again, many of the soldiers from Albion shouting out 'Long live Princess Asuna!' as her induction into the Albion royal family made her a princess. Asuna blushed in embarrassment and Gwen could be seen in the background, struggling to restrain herself from hugging her adopted sister. Asuna and Saito stepped back and this time Henrietta stepped forward to add something.

"We would also like to recognize Professor Colbert for his work in improving our weapon technology! I would like to give him the Tristain Medal of Honor for his work and…" said Henrietta before turning to Axel who continued.

"We, of Germania, would like to offer Professor Colbert land in Germania to have a lab built and give him servants to assist him in his studies and projects. A brilliant mind such as his should be allowed to roam as free as it would like," said Axel with a smile on his face. Mr. Colbert's eyes widened in shock and a bright grin appeared on his face.

"Thank you for such an honor, to both you, my Queen, and Sir Axel," said Mr. Colbert, calmly, as he bowed to the two. Both smiled at him and he stepped back a moment later. Next, Tabitha, Henrietta, and Axel stepped up and Henrietta said one last thing.

"Now, before we end this ceremony, and allow the festival to begin, we have one more award to give! I, as Queen of Tristain…" began Henrietta.

"I as Queen of Gallia."

"And I, as representative leader of Germania."

"Do confer onto Saito Chevalier de Hiraga Des Ornières the status of Duke and will make the land he owns from our three countries into a Duchy called the Grand Duchy of Hiraga," said Henrietta, smiling brightly along with the other two leaders. Saito's breath hitched in his throat at hearing such a thing, his eyes also widening to an unnatural level. He couldn't believe his ears. A Duke?! They were making him a Duke?! And it wasn't just Henrietta but Tabitha and Axel, too? WHAT THE HELL?!

"Q-Q-Queen Henrietta, I couldn't accept something like this from all of you," said Saito, barely able to keep his shock down to form coherent sentences.

"You have showed all of us that you are a very capable leader and led over a hundred thousand soldiers into battle. You deserve the honor, Mr. Saito," said Axel, happily. Saito glanced at him and then at the rest of them.

"All of the Dukes of Tristain have agreed that you are more than worthy. There's no reason you shouldn't be allowed to receive such an honor," said Henrietta, happily.

"Same for Gallia," said Tabitha, calmly, with a small smile. Saito's eyes became a bit glassy out of happiness that they saw all saw him like that and he bowed to them shouting out a 'Thank you, I'm honored'. Saito knelt before the three rulers and Henrietta and Tabitha took a white cloak with golden trim and a symbol on the back which looked like a silhouette of a dragon. They flung it behind Saito and laid it on his back before taking the ropes at the neckline and tying them, loosely, around Saito's neck.

Saito stood up afterward and smiled at the three leaders before turning to the crowd and bowing, receiving loud cheers from all over the crowd. Saito turned and walked to Louise, grabbing her hand, tightly, after reaching there.

"And now with that, let the festival begin!" shouted Henrietta, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers.

Meanwhile, Louise looked at Saito with a stern expression.

So? What did you guys think?

Hmm, wonder why Louise is reacting that way? We'll have to see why in the next chapter! :D

Anyways, Review and let me know what you guys think about Saito becoming a Duke and getting his own Duchy!

Was it too much? I feel like this war was bigger than the others and that he had a bigger role so he deserved something bigger.

Anyways, until next time...byeee :D