Chapter 140 The New Knight Commander
Who knew that just a few days after those words got out, people outside were already feeling somewhat intimidated that Holden might become an earl after his promotion and take action against these lower-ranking nobles. Then new news came from the royal capital.
The three major knight orders from the Eastern battlefield were about to return, and the list of those who had distinguished themselves was posted in various cities.
The nobles had been waiting for this day and sent people to check the announcement boards. However, when a group of people crowded around to look, they were all stunned.
Where was Candy's name on that list?
Candy was missing from the list entirely, while Holden's name appeared at the very bottom, ranked even below a local knight family's son.
What truly surprised everyone, however, was seeing a familiar name at the very top of the distinguished soldiers list from the Eastern battlefield.
—Anne Virlet.
Everyone knew the Virlet family, so when this name appeared at the top of the list, everyone was shocked, then burst into wild joy and cheers.
Someone from the Virlet family had returned to the battlefield and become a hero protecting the Soth Empire.
People remembered Holden's divorce and remarriage—the woman who divorced him and returned to her territory was none other than Anne Virlet.
They immediately recalled that when Holden returned from the Southern battlefield and used his military merit to ask the king's permission to marry Candy, he and Anne weren't even divorced yet! Later, it was Anne who took the initiative to see the king and request a royal decree for a legal divorce, which allowed her to smoothly leave the Titan family.
Some excitedly mentioned that during the divorce proceedings, the Titan family even wanted to send Anne, a duke's daughter, to a sanatorium, thus offending the great nobles of the Soth Empire.
Now connecting all these events together and looking at Holden and Candy, they seemed disgusting no matter how you looked at them.
Moreover, the board announced that Anne had been promoted to Knight Captain for her battlefield service and, upon her triumphant return, was appointed by the King as the new Commander of the Ivy Knights, replacing Duke Daniel.
This was also the first woman in history to become a knight order commander!
When Mrs. Merry heard the news, she couldn't stop smiling.
She knew it—there was no way Candy had the ability to achieve such merit!
Now not only did Candy have no achievements, but even Holden's name was thrown to the very bottom, with virtually no military merit at all.
And the funniest part was that the female knight captain who achieved great merit this time was Anne!
Mrs. Merry felt both gratified and somewhat sentimental. Such a wonderful person like Anne—the Titan family didn't know how to cherish her and just drove her away like that.
Now that Anne had achieved great merit and the Virlet family had gained such honor, how much effort and hard work must have gone into it.
Thinking about it, Mrs. Merry sighed with relief—the divorce was the right choice. Holden didn't deserve Anne. Stuck in the Titan family, she never would have had the chance to prove herself.
Anne belonged somewhere better, with better people.
As for how the old lady would react to this news, she didn't care—it would be best if that bitter old woman died of anger!
At Titan Manor, the servants who went to check the announcement board had long since returned. Now a group of people sat in the hall, the air seemingly frozen, with no one able to speak.
Especially the old lady—she was so angry her eyes turned red.
How could there be no merit? How could there be no merit?
Holden and Candy went as reinforcements to support the Eastern battlefield. With such a heaven-sent mighty force, the Soth Empire was able to achieve victory so smoothly. If not the primary credit, most of the military merit should have gone to the two of them!
But now, forget about how much merit—why wasn't Candy even on the list?
And Holden too—making a special trip to the Eastern battlefield, yet ranking lower than other unremarkable knights. He had completely disgraced the Titan family!
Drona sat to the side, his face dark. As Holden's father, ever since hearing about the Eastern battlefield victory, he had been basking in glory—after all, everyone knew his son was the commander of the Dawn Knight Order, just ordered by the king to provide support, so the battlefield victory must have included Holden's contribution.
When the old lady proposed holding a ball earlier, Drona also supported it. In their view, when Holden returned to the royal capital with the Dawn Knight Order, he would surely be rewarded, and that female knight captain who achieved great merit must be Candy. With their military merits combined, the Titan family might even produce an earl. If so, building good relationships with other nobles was very necessary.
Precisely because Holden and Candy's wedding had such a major mishap last time, Drona and the old lady decided to make this ball more lively and were willing to spend money on arrangements. Who knew Nina would use it to buy dresses!
The old lady might be swayed by Nina's few submissive words, but Drona wouldn't be.
Yet Nina still stood up crying without knowing any better, "Mother, how can Second Brother only have that little bit of military merit! And that Candy, that woman didn't even appear on the list—could she have died out there!?"
"If they don't come back with military merit, and people bring up what we did before, how embarrassing will that be!"
Drona angrily stood up and slapped Nina, "You still know about being embarrassed? Your mother told you to learn to prepare the ball, but what did you do with the money? Did you think wrapping yourself in some pretty fabric would turn you into a princess everyone adores? Can't you be more sensible and understand that the family's money needs to be used for practical purposes now?"
Nina stared at Drona in shock, clutching her stinging cheek—he had never hit her before. "Father, you hit me..."
"You never hit me before! Now you're hitting me over a little money! Mother told me to prepare the ball, and I arranged everything. It was those shameless lowly women who came to our house to freeload and had the nerve to criticize our arrangements. They should think about whether they even deserve to enjoy the Titan family's things!"
"And I prepared a dress for myself originally to select a suitable fiancé and add support for the Titan family, I..."
"What support could you possibly provide? And do you really lack this one dress? When Anne was here, you took so many dresses from her—isn't there a single one you can wear?"