CHAPTER 375: IS THIS KINGDOM MINE FOR THE TAKING?

Tall, austere black spires rose all around, resembling a mysterious forest firmly rooted in the unyielding ground below.

After several days of reconstruction, the royal city had partially recovered.

However, the broken decay of the royal city could not be quickly restored to its former glory through ordinary repairs.

Passing through this iron-forged forest, a palace as majestic as a steel behemoth stood towering in the center.

In the spacious yet desolate palace, two blood-red silk banners hung down gracefully.

Like crimson waterfalls suspended in mid-air, their ends gently brushed against the cold floor.

The palace was filled with rows of seats, luxurious yet cold.

Nobles dressed in lead-gray robes sat with solemn expressions.

Their gazes swept across the noble seats, noting the many empty chairs, and their faces darkened with gloom.

The nobles, gripping the armrests tightly, had eyes filled with disappointment and confusion.

Their gazes were fixed on the empty throne.

King Augustus, who should have been sitting on the throne, had vanished without a trace.

It had been just one day since Count Laurien's death.

The nobles had only rested for a brief day.

After receiving the summons, they had hurriedly returned to the royal city.

The order from Grand Duke Balo was one they dared not neglect.

So they hadn't even had time to tell their trusted subordinates in their territories about this shocking event.

Now, as they returned to the palace and saw the empty throne before them, each heart surged with turbulent emotions.

The Samuel royal family had ruled the Kingdom of Kanter for over a dozen generations, but now, it seemed, everything was about to change dramatically.

A stifling and uneasy atmosphere permeated the palace.

Until crisp footsteps broke the silence, entering the view of the worried nobles.

The nobles all looked up to see a familiar black coat appear in their line of sight.

"Lord Viktor!"

"Lord Viktor, you've arrived."

Viktor's arrival caused everyone present to show expressions of surprise and reverence.

They all stood up, faces solemn, and bowed respectfully.

Their gazes focused on Viktor as he slowly took his seat in the guest position that King Augustus had originally prepared for him.

Uncertainty and doubt filled the hearts of the nobles present.

Why had only Viktor come?

Where was Princess Aurelianne?

As a diplomatic envoy from the Empire, Princess Aurelianne should have been inseparable from Viktor.

Yet this time, Aurelianne had not accompanied him.

Normally, diplomatic envoys from other countries needed to follow their diplomatic teams, traveling within pre-planned areas.

The absence of a diplomatic envoy might be related to private handling of sensitive matters concerning royal power or territory transfers.

After all, as outsiders, they had no right to interfere in another country's politics.

Considering recent events, today's summons by the Grand Duke might be intricately connected to these incidents.

But wasn't Viktor also an outsider?

Although many nobles present had acknowledged Viktor, that didn't mean he was a member of the Kingdom of Kanter.

He was still an Imperial Count and a member of the Mage Council.

The nobles in the palace had begun to discuss in low voices, speculating among themselves.

Amidst the buzzing discussions, Grand Duke Balo emerged.

Dressed in a lead-gray robe and leaning on a cane, his somewhat hunched figure appeared before the nobles.

His cloudy gaze swept over everyone, pausing momentarily at the empty noble seats.

Then, he turned his gaze to the seat beside the throne.

The nobles had just sat down, but the arrival of the Grand Duke made them stand up again in respect.

But when they saw who was slowly following behind the Grand Duke, they were all dumbfounded.

"A...Augustus?"

"It really is Augustus!"

"So he was captured and brought back..."

Augustus dragged his feet slowly, following behind the Grand Duke.

His eyes were hollow, like a puppet, as he slowly walked before everyone.

The nobles were all stunned, eyes wide, mouths agape.

But beyond the shock.

Excitement, anger, resentment... a series of emotions all surged towards this king of immense evil.

And when they saw, in their dazed state, that Augustus was still wearing the crown symbolizing kingship.

Someone could barely contain their emotions, slamming the armrest hard and cursing:

"Augustus! What right do you have to wear that crown?"

Other nobles felt equally furious, but they restrained their emotions and didn't voice their curses.

After all, what Augustus had done was simply too beastly.

Just by introducing demi-humans to attack the city, causing innocent civilians to die, he was unfit to continue sitting on the throne as king.

However, the angry curses didn't elicit any reaction from Augustus.

He remained expressionless, his eyes hollow.

But Grand Duke Balo's cloudy eyes calmly glanced at the noble who had cursed.

Seeing the Grand Duke's gaze, the noble exhaled heavily and didn't continue speaking, sitting back down.

Others quickly followed suit and sat down.

However, everyone's mood was overshadowed by a layer of gloom.

Because Augustus's body was once again seated on the throne.

This was hard for those present to accept.

And then there was the Grand Duke's reaction.

No one knew what this legendary duke, revered by thousands, intended to do.

At this moment, the Grand Duke merely scanned the crowd and said with an utterly calm tone:

"If he doesn't continue to sit there, do you think one of you should take that position?"

Upon hearing this, the anger rushing to their heads instantly dissipated, and cold sweat broke out all over their bodies.

Anger had almost made them forget this fact.

No matter what Augustus had done, he remained the king of this country, the sole bloodline of the Samuel royal family.

Since a shocking change in the kingdom several years ago, the previous king and all the princes of the Samuel royal family, along with all their bloodlines, had perished.

The entire Samuel royal family was left with only the previous king's sole son.

Augustus, who was still studying at the Star Academy at that time, escaped this horrific calamity.

But this also led to a dual decline in the kingdom's strength and power.

Apart from the Grand Duke, each royal member had possessed the strongest power, serving as the kingdom's high-end strength.

This was also why the Kingdom of Kanter had always been powerful enough to contend with the Empire.

However, when the Samuel royal family was nearly exterminated, with only Augustus remaining.

The kingdom's high-end combat power noticeably decreased, leaving only Grand Duke Balo to shoulder the burden alone.

And no matter how unworthy Augustus was, he was still the sole bloodline of the Samuel royal family.

He had to sit in this position.

Otherwise, it would be disrespectful to the Samuel royal family and the great kings of the past.

Most crucially, apart from the Grand Duke, no one else could gain the recognition of all nobles like Grand Duke Balo.

Anyone who wanted to sit on the throne would have to weigh how many heads they had.

But what the nobles couldn't accept was that their country would continue to be led by such a criminal.

Fortunately, at this moment, the Grand Duke gave them a reasonable answer.

The Grand Duke's cloudy gaze swept over the nobles' grave and unwilling faces, and his hoarse voice slowly resonated:

"However, Augustus's crimes cannot be atoned for."

At this moment, the entire hall fell silent.

All eyes refocused on the Grand Duke.

"In a few days, we will arrange a marriage for Augustus and a queen."

"The child born will be raised by the queen's sister."

The nobles exchanged glances, feeling a sense of surprise.

Correspondingly, they had some guesses about the identity of the queen in their hearts.

At this point, the Grand Duke firmly stated:

"The bloodline of the Samuel royal family must continue."

After hearing the Grand Duke's arrangement, the nobles all exhaled a long-suppressed breath, and the oppressive feeling was swept away.

They found the Grand Duke's arrangement quite reasonable.

In the future, the descendants of Samuel could not continue to be raised by Augustus.

If the father was already like this, what would the son turn out to be?

Entrusting the child to someone else for upbringing would correct the new king's nature, and they would naturally be willing to support the new king.

They only needed to wait for the new king to grow up, and Augustus, who could only produce children, would no longer need to sit on the throne.

However, the Grand Duke then raised another issue that caught everyone's attention:

"Next is the inheritance issue of Shulbon."

"Everyone, do you have any suitable candidates?"

Mentioning this matter, the nobles present were also intrigued.

They all sat up straight.

Due to Augustus's actions, many lords had died.

Those territories were fine, as they would be inherited by the lord's descendants as the first in line.

But Shulbon was different.

Because all the crimes committed were by Shulbon's lord, Laurien.

So, after his death, Shulbon couldn't be inherited by his descendants.

Simply put, Laurien's crimes were attributed to his descendants, especially since his daughter was also a vampire.

How could a vampire lead humans?

This sparked some interest among the nobles.

Although they each had their own territories, Shulbon was considered a prime location within the Kingdom of Kanter.

While they couldn't acquire it themselves, they could recommend nobles under them to compete for it.

The problem was.

Although everyone was tempted, the governance issue of Shulbon made them deeply troubled.

Because Shulbon had introduced the faith of the Goddess of Abundance, causing most residents to believe in the Abundance Church.

This would undoubtedly impact the rule of the new lord.

No one knew what abilities Laurien had to make these citizens so devoted to him.

Even though Laurien, before his death, even wanted to drain their blood.

But this problem also had a solution; at least they could first secure the territory and then discuss.

The nobles were already calculating in their hearts, pondering.

But a figure slowly approached from the palace entrance.

"Excuse me, Grand Duke Balo."

A gentle voice, like a clear stream, passed through everyone's ears, interrupting the thoughts of the nobles present.

They all turned towards the source of the voice.

It was a nun with her eyes covered by a thin veil, dressed in a black robe.

Her weathered hands rested on her lower abdomen, a slight smile on her lips, standing quietly at the entrance.

The sunlight from outside the palace penetrated through the steel towers, shining on the nun, illuminating the palace.

She stood in the light, her black robe seemingly draped with a faint golden garment, appearing utterly sacred.

Under the puzzled gazes of everyone.

With a gentle smile, she softly asked:

"May I offer a suggestion?"

"""

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

patreon.com/BZDXG - Unlock a HUGE stash of advance chapters now!

Dive deeper into the story ahead of everyone else!