Chapter 969 Debut
Lin Fan just checked out a few more things with the system before leaving the store.
Momonga wasn't planning on leaving, so Lin Fan just left the store to him while heading back to the palace.
Angela, Yuki, and Zi Ling had gone out to eat, so for once, it was just him alone.
However, there was no danger to him at all since he had guards from the Lin Astral Family with him.
The captain of his guard team was someone in the Peak Planet Realm with a Ruler Artifact. Unless there was an actual Ruler Expert that invaded the Lin Astral Empire, it was impossible for anyone to hurt Lin Fan.
If there actually was a Ruler Expert that invaded, they would be immediately stopped by the Lin Astral Emperor and the other Ruler Experts in the palace. It wasn't as if Lin Fan was that far away from the palace in the first place.
However, since this was his first time being alone, many people thought that this was their opportunity to approach him.
There were many nobles that wanted to use the pretext of bumping into him to start a conversation, but his guards kept them all away.
Since these were private guards of the Lin Astral Family, the nobles didn't dare go against them.
After all, private guards of the Lin Astral Family were all experts among experts that were drafted into this special unit. The status that they had in this Lin Astral Empire wasn't below that of these nobles.
So even if the nobles wanted to flex their influence and power, it wouldn't work on these guards.
They had no choice but to let Lin Fan pass them and reach the palace without being able to approach him.
Once Lin Fan was in the palace, he was surprised that he had received a sudden summon from the Lin Astral Emperor.
It was an invitation to a family dinner.
Since he had come here, other than the first few days where they met for family dinners, this had never happened.
After all, the Lin Astral Emperor and the empress were all busy people. They had only been able to get a few days off by pushing everything to their ministers.
However, there were things that could only be done by them that the ministers wouldn't be able to handle. In the end, they would still be forced to return to work and they would be much busier than before.
So that was when the family dinners ended.
But that also didn't matter since Lin Fan and the others were all finding things to do.
As members of the Lin Astral Family, there wasn't a lack of things for them to do, so they all kept busy.
Lin Fan had his store of course, so that was what kept him busy the most.
So for there to be a sudden family dinner, it must mean that something important had come up.
Without wasting any time, Lin Fan followed the maid to the dining room that the dinner was being held in.
When he arrived, he found that everyone was already here and seated. He was the only one that they were waiting for.
Seeing that he was here, the Lin Astral Emperor gestured for him to sit down.
Since he was the one that they were all waiting for, it was already clear that he was the reason why they had been gathered today.
After Lin Fan sat down, there wasn't a person that said a single thing as they all turned to look at the Lin Astral Emperor.
Seeing all of them look at him like this, the Lin Astral Emperor revealed an amused smile as he asked, "Is there something on my face?"
Not a single person answered this and it was clear by the unamused looks on their faces that they weren't interested in the joke.
Seeing this, the smile on the Lin Astral Emperor's face became bitter, but his eyes were still amused.
After all, this was his family that he could joke with, so he couldn't be mad.
He was no longer the ice cold and cruel Lin Astral Emperor that everyone else knew, but rather the loving father and grandfather that this family knew.
So he didn't waste any time with this and said, "It's time for Xiao Fan's debut banquet."
"Debut banquet?"
Everyone except Lin Jian and the empress repeated before looking at Lin Fan with confused looks.
Lin Fan shook his head to show that he didn't know what was happening either.
Seeing these looks, the Lin Astral Emperor explained, "It's been long enough that Xiao Fan has been here that we need to hold a banquet to introduce him to all of the Stellar Kingdoms and the other Astral Empires. He needs to be introduced to our allies, so that his status can spread and everyone will know not to do anything to him."
Everyone nodded in agreement when they heard this since they knew that the Lin Astral Emperor was right.
As long as Lin Fan's status as the heir of the Lin Astral Emperor's throne was known, there wouldn't be anyone in the surrounding area that would dare to do anything to him.
As for the ones that would do harm to him, the enemies of the Lin Astral Empire, precautions had already been taken. Unless they were willing to go to all out war with the Lin Astra Empire, no one would be able to do anything to Lin Fan.
So the best move now was to hold this banquet for Lin Fan to debut.
This was something that the Lin Astral Emperor had been planning since he had met Lin Fan, but it had taken a long time because of the various things that had happened in between. Such as the challenge of Lin Hong and Lin Fan defeating Lin Tian.
These were things that the Lin Astral Emperor had never planned for, so he had to change his plans to fit around these things.
But in fact, his original plans would have taken even longer to prepare this banquet. He would have had much more time since Lin Fan would have been hidden from the Lin Astral Empire and they could slowly prepare everything.
That had all been ruined when that parade had been held to welcome Lin Fan.
Since then, it had been impossible for him to continue on his original path.
So he had to adapt to everything.
After all, it was impossible for the Lin Astral Empire to keep the news of Lin Fan within the confines of the Lin Astral Empire forever. There were already cracks that had begun to show in the frameworks, so they had to move fast.
Still, it was all about balancing the amount of preparation to how long they would be able to maintain this secret.
This was the timing that the Lin Astral Emperor had determined to be the best time.
Seeing that no one said a thing, the Lin Astral Emperor said, "The debut banquet will be held in two weeks and we will be inviting the royal family of all the Stellar Kingdoms under the Lin Astral Empire. At the same time, we will be inviting guests from the Wang Astral Empire and the Lu Astral Empire that we are currently allied with."
Everyone suddenly revealed a serious look when they heard this.
With such concrete plans, it made it clear that this was serious and that everything had already been planned.
So the only thing that they could do now was…prepare for the banquet that was coming.
But Lin Fan couldn't help picking up on one certain thing.
He looked at the Lin Astral Emperor and asked, "The Stellar Kingdoms under the Lin Astral Empire…does that include the Zi Stellar Kingdom?"
Hearing this, the Lin Astral Emperor couldn't help revealing a smile. In fact, everyone in the room couldn't help revealing a smile…that was except for Lin Xue who had a dark look on her face.
The Lin Astral Emperor waved his hand and gently tossed something in front of Lin Fan before saying, "That is their acceptance letter right there."
Lin Fan looked down at it and he recognized the mark of the Zi Stellar Kingdom. This was a mark that he had seen from Zi Ling many times, so it was hard for him to mistake it.
Not to mention, there was an aura that was similar to Zi Ling that was coming from the acceptance letter.
Lin Fan also revealed a smile when he heard this, but he didn't raise this matter any longer.
When he turned back to the Lin Astral Emperor, he had a serious look on his face again, as if he was waiting for something.
The Lin Astral Emperor gave a nod of appreciation when he saw this.
He always admired how calm and intelligent this talent great grandson of his was.
No matter what he implied or what plans he had, this great grandson would usually be able to see through his thoughts right away.
After this nod, he said, "I've already arranged tutors for all of you to teach you the things that you need for this banquet."
Lin Ao, Yue Qingrou, and Lin Xue were surprised to hear that they were included in this, but they quickly realized why.
They were Lin Fan's immediate family, so of course they couldn't be missing from this banquet.
However, this banquet was a solemn affair, so they had to learn the etiquette involved in this matter. That was what the tutors that had been prepared were for.
It was going to be a hard two weeks for them.