Chapter 831:The Royal Court Of Eldorian

Chapter 831: 831:The Royal Court Of Eldorian

Leaving aside the riches taken by Blanks, all other gold was submitted to the national treasury of Eldorian.

Inside the Imperial Palace, Queen Ophelia sat on the throne while several officials stood before her. The atmosphere was quiet as they waited for the report. Ophelia rested one hand on the armrest and looked at the officials with a calm expression.

One of them stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty."

Ophelia gave him a brief look and nodded.

"Report."

The man straightened his back and began to speak.

"Your Majesty, the collection from the territories of the four families has been completed in most areas. The gold recovered from their main storage facilities has already been transported to the Imperial Treasury."

"How much?"

"We have collected around 10 million gold bricks so far."

A few officials standing nearby exchanged glances. Even for the Imperial Treasury, 10 million gold bricks was an enormous amount.

"Aside from the gold, we have also recovered large amounts of high-grade mana stones, rare ores, magical materials and various valuable resources. There are also several warehouses filled with weapons, armor and other equipment that belonged to the four families."

Another official stepped forward and continued the report.

"We have also found several businesses, properties and storage facilities registered under different names. Their value has not been calculated yet, but the total should be considerable."

Ophelia listened without changing her expression. Her fingers lightly tapped against the armrest as she listened to the reports.

After a few more details were given, one of the officials muttered with a displeased tone,

"Your Majesty, we might have collected more, but it was Lord Ethan’s men who found it first, so..."

He paused without stating the last words.However, everyone understood what he meant.

Blanks might have taken a portion of the wealth before handing the rest over to Eldorian.

The accusation was serious. If proven, it could lead to heavy charges against Ethan and his people.

Ophelia slowly raised her eyes and looked at the man.

"Do you have any proof?"

The official froze.’Proof? What proof?’

Was there any need for proof? Everyone could guess this.

Seeing him remain silent, Queen Ophelia spoke in a majestic tone.

"Don’t put baseless slander forward. Unless you have proof, don’t throw accusations here."

The man immediately quietened down and lowered his head.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Another official stepped forward and bowed.

"Your Majesty, there is another troublesome issue."

"What’s it?"

"It’s about Lord Ethan’s forces raiding the camps of the Devine Family. The Mage Tower is highly interested in their research. Since Lord Ethan has raised it, that made things easy, but who knows how many nefarious things he might have obtained."

He took a breath before continuing.

"So I request you to order a thorough investigation."

Ophelia’s expression became cold.

"The spoils belong to the winner. Lord Ethan himself took on the fight and finished things off. Now that things have been handled, you want the spoils of war?" she asked coldly.

"This servant didn’t dare!" the man shouted as he quickly lowered himself into a bow.

"This servant just thinks that the technology used by the Devine Family is quite dangerous and shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands."

"So what should we do?" she asked.

"We should give them to the Mage Tower to destroy the dangerous things."

"Wrong hands... Heheh."

Queen Ophelia sneered.

"You are saying it as if the Mage Tower was a righteous faction."

The man’s face stiffened.

"Who knows how many inhuman things they have been doing since ages?"

Her voice became colder as she spoke.

If not for the Mage Tower being quite strong and troublesome, she wouldn’t have tolerated them for so long.

Eldorian had established the Mage Tower to control the mages and gain a steady influx of mages to command. But year after year, it had grown stronger and had isolated itself from Imperial authority.

Instead of supporting the Empire, it was now the Mage Tower that supported the princes and princesses who were fighting for the throne.

In the previous war, her brother’s supporters had the Mage Tower on their side, and they had partaken in absolute carnage. Several successors had died because of that conflict, and she was the one who remained in the end.

She already had enough strength and factions to support her, but if not for the demise of her brother, there was no way the power would have been yielded to her.

"But..." the man wanted to raise an objection, but Ophelia’s cold glare immediately shut him off.

"It seems you are getting paid by the Mage Tower instead of the court. In that case, there is no need for the court to pay you."

"From now on, ask the Mage Tower for a salary."

The man jumped in shock and immediately kneeled down.

"Your Majesty, please have mercy!"

Ophelia simply looked away and completely ignored his begging.

The others also looked at the man and shook their heads.

’Is this guy a donkey? Why is he dragging things?’

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Empress was protecting Blanks, while this man had been dragging Ethan down.

It wasn’t just him. Several nobles had been trying to put down Ethan even before he could start.

Yet none of them had expected Ophelia to shut them down so directly.

The discussion continued for some time as the officials went through the remaining matters. Reports about the properties, businesses, resources and other assets taken from the four families were placed before Queen Ophelia.

After listening to everything, Ophelia finally raised her hand and stopped the discussion.

"As for the gold, transfer 20% back to the Ambrose Family and submit the rest to the Imperial Treasury."

The officials exchanged glances before one of them stepped forward and bowed.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We will arrange it immediately."

Ophelia nodded and then leaned back against the throne.

"Apart from that, draft an Imperial Edict."

The officials immediately became attentive.

"Confer upon Ethan Blanks the title of Duke and turn the County of Blanks into the Duchy of Blanks. The Duchy will cover the western part of the Arcadia region."

The moment her words fell, the hall became restless.

Several nobles exchanged looks while others frowned. Some had clearly been expecting this decision, but hearing it directly still caused uneasiness among them.

"Your Majesty, isn’t Lord Ethan too young for such a position?"