278: Marriage?

Chapter 278

Now that we have an idea of the game at play, let’s dive in.

Where were we?

Oh yeah.

The religion.

“Grand Lady Elara has harbored a demon. She should not be allowed in this meeting until the church has cleared her of all suspicions.”

The cardinal’s voice had nothing but righteousness in it. He had also calmed down a little, seeing as he wasn’t yelling heretics and demons in every second breath.

“I thought the church already went to the Grand Lady Elara’s house. Were there no findings?” Elizabeth spoke, her regal authority dripping in her voice.

“How can we find someone Grand Lady Elara has hidden so meticulously?” The cardinal argued.

“Didn’t you say she was under suspicion? Your words sound as if you’re sure about it.” Elizabeth retorted.

“I am merely addressing the worst case scenario.” The cardinal said. He was smart saying it that way. No one could say anything to that since it sounded logical.

“Then you must have some proof, do you not?” One of the ducal lords, representing the second prince, asked. As much as it sounded like he was on Elara’s side, he was actually fishing for more.

“The goddess’s oracle has said so. That there is a demon in the Carlson estate. And that he was responsible for King George’s death.” The Cardinal pushed everything to the goddess.

He was basically saying, ‘Go ask the goddess if you don’t believe me.’

“Then bring the Saintess here,” Elizabeth said.

“Does Her Majesty the Queen believe that Saintess is such a being who could be summoned here for this matter?” The cardinal retorted.

“Then are you asking us to believe the words of a Saintess we don’t know may or may not have said?” One of the other ducal lords asked.

“How dare you?!” The cardinal yelled out loud, “The Saintess’s word is the goddess’s word! Had you said that in the Holy Land, we would have beheaded you!”

Damn. That was a statement. And no. Despite what you think, the cardinal had truly lost it this time. So much as that, he said something he shouldn’t have.

His one statement instantly turned all the ducal lords against him.

“You will do well to keep in mind that this is not the Holy Land, your lordship. This is Newmark. And as much as you would like to believe, Newmark is not under the church’s jurisdiction.” Elizabeth spoke, coldness in her voice that spoke not only for her, but for the whole Kingdom of Newmark.

Even Galliard, who hadn’t said a word since the beginning, flinched, a glint of scorn passing his eyes when the cardinal so casually mentioned beheading.

The old man had made the matter worse for him.

Anyway, the party who was concerned in all of this hadn’t said one word since the beginning. Elara remained silent, as if she had a plan.

I remember asking her to make me the king, and if that wasn't possible due to the world’s birthing circumstances, I had asked her to change the pattern and remove one prince to replace me as a hidden card. However, looking at the situation, it didn’t seem like it would be feasible. That left only one option.

Damn. It’d better not be what I was thinking.

That was when Elara raised her hand, and the hall came to a still silence. While the queen stopped speaking out of respect, the others stopped out of fear.

“As we have already established, this is not the Holy Land, but the kingdom of Newmark. Even if I am harboring a demon, that is for this kingdom to punish me for. Not the church.” Elara’s words were calm but firm.

There was no space for any arguments.

“So, we shall stop mentioning the demon now. And focus on the succession ritual. This kingdom had been without a king for almost two months now. We shall decide the new king in the next few days. If anyone has any objections, they may speak now.” Elara spoke, but before the others could start, she said, “But keep in mind that you will be deciding the future of this kingdom, not the holy land.”

That meant that the cardinal wasn’t to speak. That also meant that the crown prince should speak up now, or forever hold his breath. That also was a subtle threat to the other dukes, but right now, that threat wasn’t working much because they knew Elara couldn’t do anything to them in such an open setting.

Anyway, so the king, or queen, would be selected in the next few days. And it wouldn’t be decided by the public, but by whoever had most of the power. As much as you believe that a long battle of succession was coming in which brothers would duke it out with their respective armies, that scenario wouldn’t be happening.

The reason was only one. Even with Elara, Newmark was a small kingdom. Sure, it was more powerful than all the other kingdoms, but it was basically the only path leading to the explored part of the dark forest, and since the church was closest to it, it would be the first to invade it if the kingdom were to become weak after internal strife.

Of course, the empires wouldn’t leave it alone either. Who would leave a gold mine alone when they had the power to snatch it, huh?

Elara’s hand was the only blessing this kingdom had. And that was the sole reason why everyone wanted her out of this room, because if she was involved, then she would be the one to become king or queen. But if they could use semantics to keep her out and keep her in the kingdom at the same time, that would be the ideal scenario, wouldn’t it be?

In simpler words, those on the second and third prince’s sides had one foot in each boat.

One boat leading to Elara remaining in this kingdom, and one boat leading to her being powerless.

Both boats wouldn’t be reaching their destinations, as it would seem, thanks to the cardinal making it sound like this kingdom was the church’s.

“Now. Present your terms.” Elizabeth said.

Galliard may have had the title of the crown prince, but that title was as good as that of a certain superhero girl in the team of superheroes. That title would have only helped him if George was alive. With him gone, it wasn’t going to help him one bit.

And so, we began with Galliard. Now, terms in this time, again I mention, weren’t like those in modern times. I’ll make this many jobs, I’ll make the country great again, I’ll make this and that and those and whatever.

No, terms in this timeline were related only to power. And right now, it would seem like everyone held the same amount of power. Galliard had the church, which was strong, but far.

The second and third princes had four ducal houses. Not all four were specializing in only one field, but their influence in their respective fields equaled each other.

One mastered trade, one mastered mines, one mastered connections, and one had a strong military.

The trade and connections ones were together, and the military and mines were the same. One side’s wealth equaled the other side’s might.

Both were necessary for the kingdom.

Finally, the last piece left was Teresa. The only princess of the Newmark kingdom. Fifteen years old, and as rumors had it, she was set to engage one of Elara’s grandchildren.

Maybe the son of the one who came with us. Would explain why he had come.

So, at a cusp, right now, the situation was at a stalemate. Not one side could trump the other’s.

No. Actually, Teresa would be at the lowest.

Reason?

She only had the queen behind her at the moment.

Sure, the princess was set to marry one of Elara’s grandchildren, but it hadn’t been made public yet. It was just a proposal, and it might not come to fruition. Even if it did, it hadn’t been said yet, and the royal family would have to see if the one being mentioned was even worthy of the royal blood or not.

If there was even a little leeway, the ducal lords and the other princes would make sure to do anything they could in their power to stop Elara from obtaining royal blood, even if the queen was all for it.

But, as they say, everyone had a hidden card. Elara’s hidden card wasn’t power. It was her sharp mind. Wanna know how she turned the entire court upside down?

Like this.

“It seems we won’t be deciding the king of Newmark today. So, let us stop for today and reconvene tomorrow to discuss more in detail who is worthy of such a position.” Elara said, making it sound like it was the most important matter and no other mattered, and just like that, she added, making it sound like what she was about to say didn’t matter at all, “And Your Majesty, I would like to discuss in private later the matter of my grandson marrying Her Highness, Princess Teresa.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The silence was golden.