CHAPTER 511: -36- KING’S WRIST

"Great master! Good morning! Today is Wednesday, with clear skies, and it is the first day of Lutecia’s lockdown being lifted."

"Your breakfast is ready, a West Yonette cheese sandwich, an Elf Nectar salad, and a cup of avocado yogurt imported from the Northern Territory Grand Duchy."

"Would you like to get up and eat now, or would you rather rest a bit longer?"

In the early morning, Sebastian’s familiar voice came from beyond the curtains, waking Charlotte from her slumber.

Although she could function without sleep nowadays, a habit ingrained from a life of routine, getting her daily rest remained Charlotte’s method of relaxation and unwinding.

Stretching lazily and yawning comfortably, she slowly sat up and said languidly,

"Let’s get up."

As soon as she finished speaking, the ready Sherry came in with maids, each carrying various exquisite garments.

Charlotte glanced over them, casually choosing a white noblewoman’s house dress.

The maids quickly sprang into action, attending to her with reverence and caution as they helped her change clothes.

"Any news today?"

Charlotte asked, both lazy and curious, allowing the maids to dress her like a doll being outfitted.

From beyond the curtains, Sebastian’s voice became a bit cheerier,

"Yes, news has come from the Royal Palace. The central council meeting is to convene tomorrow, and I have already delivered the invitation to your study."

Charlotte paused briefly, somewhat surprised,

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow. This time the uproar was too great. Even the nobles left in charge in other lands were alarmed. As soon as the lockdown was lifted, a great number of noble carriages went straight to the inner city, heading directly to the Royal Palace and the Lutecia Cathedral."

Charlotte laughed,

"They’re going to beg, aren’t they?"

Sebastian, from outside the curtains, shook his head,

"Not just that, many also see it as an opportunity, after all... quite a few titles were stripped this time around."

Charlotte clicked her tongue,

"Well, they’re going to be disappointed then. Our King is set on strengthening centralized power. Titles that have been taken back won’t be easy to relinquish again."

Speaking, she asked with interest,

"They must have other moves, right?"

"Yes, I’ve heard that some of the nobles outside of the city, making use of the time Lutecia was locked down, have jointly requested to propose a new item concerning the distribution of titles during the central council meeting."

Charlotte immediately understood.

The full name of the central council meeting was the New Moon Nobles and Royal Family Central Joint Council, essentially a platform for dialogue between the nobles and the royal family, a battleground for their power struggle, and a weapon for the nobles to restrict royal authority.

Proposals passed with a high number of votes at the council, even the King in principle, could not reject, or else it would be seen as a violation of the Holy Code and the Royal Authority Contract.

Although the recent investigation punished a large number of nobles, it was after all, only a small part of the aristocracy. The majority of the nobles did not wish for the royal authority to be too strong.

Especially after this "Great Purge", the contradictions between the nobility and the royal family would only deepen, and the high likelihood of proposals to reallocate titles being passed with high numbers of votes.

Once the proposal passed, even if Louis V was reluctant, he would have to hold his nose and release all the reclaimed titles.

However, the submission of proposals required procedures and time, and the convening of a central council meeting also had a "cooling-off period."

Apart from the fixed meeting every four years, meetings like today’s temporary convening could only take place once within a four-year period, a measure of restriction and balance of the council’s power.

The last fixed central council meeting had been a year ago, implying that the earliest next meeting wouldn’t be until the scheduled meeting in three years’ time.

So... as long as Louis V started the meeting before the covetous nobles submitted their proposal, the nobles would not be able to apply pressure on the King via the council to re-allocate the titles.

Thinking this, Charlotte felt admiration for the King of New Moon Kingdom.

All she could say was, as expected of the Great Monarch universally recognized by New Moon Kingdom, not only was he personally powerful with outstanding military capabilities, but his political acumen was also second to none.

As Charlotte knew, the King ostensibly held the final decision on when to convene the central council, but the timing could only be decided through a cabinet vote.

Under normal circumstances, such a hasty convening of the meeting was definitely impossible to pass through cabinet review, but as Charlotte knew, ten cabinet members of New Moon Kingdom were implicated by this investigation, with two members executed and three others deposed.

When Charlotte ate melon, she specifically checked against the list she had reported to the Holy Royal Court.

The two executed cabinet members indeed had their names on the roster list, but the three deposed were not.

However, as Charlotte knew, those three cabinet members were all nobles dissatisfied with the centralization policy.

It was clear that Louis V had used this purge to eliminate his adversaries, finding an excuse to kick the three unlucky ones out of the cabinet.

This was done silently, without any objections raised during the investigation, probably because they indeed found "evidence" of collusion with the Blood Demon Sect.

Moreover, among the other nobles investigated and tried, many similar cases existed.

Each time Sebastian brought back intelligence of a noble being apprehended, Charlotte would compare it with the list, and aside from the genuine nobles on the roster list, over a third of those tried were not listed.

And the majority... were from the opposition.

Obviously, these were the unlucky few the royal family was using the opportunity to dispose of.

The new cabinet members had yet to be appointed, and the remaining members were mostly of the Royal Party, so whenever the central council meeting should be convened, it was up to the King to decide.

Ultimately, the central council meeting, which was supposed to be a venue for the nobles to limit the King’s power, became the tool for the King to restrict the nobles’ proposals instead.

As for whether those titles that were stripped will be brought up again at the next meeting...

That’s a matter for three years from now.

By that time, the Royal Family will likely have completely seized control of those territories.

As for the Nobles... pull one batch, punish another. With Louis V’s tactics, it seems there will be ways to keep the proposals bankrupt, or even directly pass bills recognizing Royal direct jurisdiction.

Now, the Royal Family’s maneuvers over these past days seem like one connected series of moves.

Louis V probably planned it all along; it’s just that Charlotte gave him an extra knife, inadvertently speeding up the process.

After the purge, the Nobles suffered heavy losses; the Church, although it cleansed much of its filth and disrupted the permeation of the Blood Demon Church, did suffer damage to its reputation.

The Royal Family alone made a killing and furthermore strengthened centralized authority.

This is truly dramatic.

You see, everyone initially thought that this central meeting was the coalition of Nobles and the Church pressuring the Royal Authority.

But what happened? The meeting hadn’t even started, and those jubilant Nobles had all been dealt with, on the irreproachable grounds of "judging the Fallen," in line with the New Moon Kingdom’s political correctness in combating the Blood Demon Church.

Thinking this, Charlotte’s opinion of Louis V increased a few notches.

...

With Lutecia’s unsealing, a flood of Nobles hearing the news and long-awaiting merchants and travelers poured into the Royal Capital, and the once-quiet streets revived with bustle.

If it weren’t for the "Great Purge" of the past few days, it would be hard to imagine the Royal Capital had been in such trepidation just a few days ago.

Indeed, the world turns with or without anyone; even after about ten days of investigation and trials, the people truly affected were limited.

With a population near one million, the Church and the Royal Family couldn’t possibly comb through everyone thoroughly. The focus was mostly on the roll call reported by Charlotte, slightly extending the related scope.

The most affected were the Nobles, who are tiny in population size.

For the common people, the purge of these individuals was merely gossip for after dinner. Perhaps, after finishing the discussion, they would spit and praise that His Majesty the King administered just punishment.

After all... the reputation of Nobles has always been less than stellar, whereas Louis V holds a very high reputation among the common folk.

After reluctantly serving breakfast as the Dragon Maid, Charlotte continued to hole up in her study, perusing Albrecht’s memories.

She had a meeting tomorrow and didn’t plan to run around anymore, lest she attracted too much attention.

After all, as a Great Noble of the Kingdom, her every move would be scrutinized.

Of course, interest in Albrecht’s memories was also one of the reasons Charlotte stayed home.

Not going to lie, this guy committed to imprinting memories, and even included quite a bit of Bloodline gossip and odd stories. Charlotte found it interesting, treating it as a novel and a tale.

However, Charlotte’s personal time did not last too long.

In the afternoon, Sebastian knocked on her door again:

"Master, Count Gaston has arrived in the Royal Capital and has just sent an envoy, wishing to visit you at the manor."

Count Gaston?

Charlotte frowned.

Before the Central Council meeting, Nobles gatherings were prohibited.

Although a one-on-one Noble visit was relatively less conspicuous, Charlotte, an Earl from the Northern Land, and Gaston, a Regent Minister from the Bold Duchy, meeting each other at this time—if seen by others—would still unavoidably lead to speculation.

However, after a short contemplation, Charlotte agreed.

Since Count Gaston wanted to see her at this time, there must be important matters he wished to seek her counsel on. After all, he was her forcibly contracted Blood Servant, who had helped her a great deal and taken a lot of the blame for her, managing affairs to her satisfaction. It was only right to meet him.

As for what the matter was... Charlotte had her guesses.

"Understood, let him come over."

She said.

About fifteen minutes later, Count Gaston arrived at Charlotte’s manor.

He looked travel-worn, a worried expression in his eyes.

"Please, leave us."

Charlotte said to the maids and servants in the hall.

They bowed respectfully and withdrew, leaving only Charlotte and Count Gaston, with the Elf butler Sebastian standing behind Charlotte.

After the others left, Charlotte’s expression cooled, and she said coldly:

"Lord Gaston, I believe I told you not to seek me out after arriving in the Royal Capital."

Count Gaston showed a look of shame:

"Master, I’m extremely sorry..."

"What is it you want?" Charlotte asked directly.

Count Gaston glanced at Sebastian, hesitating.

Nevertheless, he bit the bullet and bowed to Charlotte:

"Master, please... save the Gaston family!"