The Rus' Princes entered the Hungarian palace to the cheers of the local residents, where King Bela of Hungary had prepared a magnificent and fitting banquet for them.
This banquet made Rostislav very comfortable; King Bela spared no expense in the banquet's grandeur to demonstrate his legitimacy, bringing forth the highest standards of everything this country had to offer.
Besides local Hungarian dishes, he also served many Rus' dishes, and as for fine wine, it was delivered as if it cost nothing.
At the banquet, King Bela called upon everyone present to raise a toast to the Rus' Princes, praising their actions in campaigning against the Pechenegs, as Hungary was also troubled by those Nomads.
This immediately elevated the Rus' to a high position, but this was already expected by the Princes; they had been hearing such praises all along the way.
Every time, this was Rostislav's proudest moment, because all of this was his idea.
This banquet could be said to be enjoyable for both hosts and guests, and by chatting and boasting at the banquet, Rostislav learned that King Bolesław and Bishop Henry of Augsburg—the latter being the favored minister of the current Empress Dowager—had already arrived in the city.
Now, Andrew's son and his mother had not arrived; Edward was protecting Andrew's wife and children, and it was said they were already on their way.
Of course, King Bela expressed his desire to win them over at the banquet, but the uncle did not give him a single solid word; if he wanted their stance to waver, he had to show sincerity, not just say a few words here.
There was nothing much to say about the days after the banquet; these Rus' were constantly invited to banquets; the King of Poland invited them, and Bishop Henry of the Empire invited them.
In addition, many local nobles and merchants also invited the Rurik Princes; since their arrival here, banquets had been non-stop.
And the Yaroslavichs did not refuse any invitations to banquets, attending all of them, but they did not say a single solid word.
Izyaslav had unified their stance: in principle, they all stood with Anastasia, and as for other matters, they would see what chips the Empire, Poland, and King Bela could offer.
Oh, right, Anastasia's full name is Anastasia Yaroslavna Rurik; she is Solomon's mother, the uncles' sister, and Rostislav's aunt; they traveled so far, of course, to support their relatives.
And by means of the Polish and German banquets, Rostislav was able to get a good look at the King of Poland and Bishop Henry.
When meeting Bolesław, Rostislav found that he was indeed as described in those evaluations: a handsome man, full of adventurous spirit, and just by observing his unintentional movements, one could tell he had experienced many trials of war.
However, the King of Poland did not say much to his uncles at the banquet, as he did not need to gain anything from Rurik.
He was the benefactor of Bela, the victor of the Hungarian civil war; whatever Bela lost at this conference, he would make up for it and even double the gifts.
The King was very interested in him and took the initiative to talk to him, which surprised Rostislav a bit, but the interaction with the King was quite peaceful; the King came to talk to him about something they were both very good at—war.
After all, Bolesław himself was a warrior King who had long been active on the front lines of battle; he even wore chainmail at the banquet—though it was a lightweight ceremonial armor.
Rostislav mainly discussed the use of cavalry with this King, and the King greatly praised the Moscow Prince's use of cavalry.
This greatly surprised Rostislav; it seemed this King had collected a lot of information about him on the battlefield—not useless boasts, but actual battlefield performance.
This made Rostislav subconsciously wary of the King of Poland, but then he felt a bit ridiculous; those battles were five or six years ago, so what was strange about the King of Poland finding several participants of the battles to learn about them?
Rostislav still underestimated his reputation, especially among the younger generation; in the Eastern Christian World, young Princes generally took Rostislav as their role model, and fathers also used him as an example for their sons.
Moreover, Rostislav's reputation in this land had recently risen to another level; his campaign against the Pechenegs was praised by the Magyars.
The Magyars were very happy to see their sworn enemies attacked and slaughtered, and poems by Magyar poets praising Rostislav's military prowess were even circulated in this land.
Stories about him became more and more outrageous and exaggerated, and he could only express his helplessness.
Rostislav tried to explain that it was a feat accomplished together with his uncles, but others simply wouldn't listen or believe him.
Fortunately, this King of Poland did not mention these things; they only discussed true military art.
Regarding military matters, Rostislav was very happy to communicate; this King was also a person who had been tested by many battles, and exchanging battlefield experiences with such a high-ranking commander was very valuable.
However, the King of Poland disdained matters of books; in his opinion, that was not something a warrior should do; let the priests learn it.
Seeing the King despise books so much, Rostislav subtly changed the topic; if the King of Poland didn't want to talk about it, then they wouldn't.
And Meshko's relationship with him was indeed as good as he said; when they met, the two were as intimate as brothers.
However, they both maintained their boundaries; both understood their current identities and positions, so to avoid putting each other in an awkward situation in the future, they naturally had to avoid appearing too intimate.
But even so, this made Rostislav inwardly have to place Meshko at the edge of his core circle.
Doing so was good for everyone; Rostislav could trust Meshko, but would others trust this intimate brother of the future potentially enemy King of Poland? Moreover, in political struggles, this matter was too easily exploited.
As for the banquet with the Germans, there was nothing much to say about the meeting with Bishop Henry; he was just an ordinary bishop, but it seemed he had some ambiguous rumors with the Empress Dowager.
But Rostislav did not believe any of these rumors; juicy palace stories were like that, good for passing the time, but definitely not to be taken seriously.
However, this bishop seemed to be an opponent of church reform, which made his reputation somewhat complex; at least Rostislav noticed that many German nobles at the banquet looked at this bishop with quite complex expressions, and the attending Hungarian church figures kept a distance.
The Prince also heard some news about political changes within the German Empire; many German powerful figures seemed very dissatisfied with this bishop and the Empress Dowager behind him.
And Rostislav was too lazy to care about these things; what did the matters of the Catholic World have to do with him, a minor Orthodox Prince?
As for the internal strife of the Empire, it had even less to do with him; if it weren't for his nephew and aunt, he wouldn't even pay attention to these things.
And speaking of the internal strife of the Empire, Rostislav remembered that the Empire seemed to have an important power transition a few years later, but unfortunately, he couldn't recall the specific details.
However, the uncle and this bishop were talking animatedly; after all, in some sense, they were on the same side; the Rus' undoubtedly stood with their relatives, and the bishop wanted to support the pro-Imperial Hungarian King, but he didn't hear a single word of what these two specifically discussed.
And that bishop was not interested in talking to him, a junior; Rostislav spent that entire banquet continuously eating meat and drinking wine.
Rostislav didn't participate much in the later banquets; after all, he was a junior, so he could just show his face at the banquet and then slip away, free to use his time as he pleased.
And in his spare time, he and Jan wandered the streets of Fehérvár, taking a good look at this ancient Magyar city; opportunities for such a long journey were rare.