Chapter 120: Chapter 120
At Shan’s shocking declaration, the banquet hall, which had been noisy just moments ago, gradually fell silent.
The scene was strikingly similar to when he had recited the prearranged script at the royal welcome banquet after his return.
‘Acting in a way that bewilders people is actually quite entertaining.’
It even made him think he would like to practice properly and try it again if he got the chance next time.
Though he wasn’t sure if such an opportunity would ever arise.
“I… I cannot agree to that! No matter what, Her Majesty is the Queen of Pendia and the legitimate lineage of House Hasra. Isn’t this outright treason?!”
At that moment, a middle-aged noble spoke in a trembling voice.
At the unexpected reaction, Shan unintentionally raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at him.
“Then what on earth did you think we gathered here to do? Did you think we came to play house?”
A young noble with a flushed face from alcohol sneered.
Shan realized he was the young Duke of Ranpel, who had inherited the title after his grandfather died of old age not long ago.
Since his father was the elder brother of the first queen, he was also privately a cousin of Conrad.
“We are merely claiming the rights we ought to possess! If a fight breaks out because she refuses, how could that possibly be our responsibility?! It would simply be a tyrant paying the price she deserves!”
“What I wanted was only for Her Majesty the Queen to take our opinions seriously! Don’t you know the difference between an appeal and blackmail?!”
“Gathering in large numbers to coerce with force is the very definition of blackmail!”
Before long, the banquet hall grew loud again with nobles engaging in verbal arguments.
Those who insisted on pressing their opinions even by giving Cheryn an ultimatum, and those who backed off, claiming that treason was going too far no matter what.
Shan sat in the head seat, quietly observing the conflict between the two factions.
A short while later, it was Count of Shedil who settled the commotion.
“Now, everyone calm down.”
As the figure who had served as the focal point for the anti-reform nobles in place of Shan, everyone respected him.
After all, the count was Shan’s stepfather and the lord of Shedil, the heart of the Velakar territory.
Furthermore, he was a lord capable of projecting military force far greater than all the other nobles present in this room combined.
“Let us keep it simple. We will guarantee only the rights of those who join our cause and sign the joint petition. As with anything, one must take risks to gain something.”
At the warning that those unwilling to risk together should not expect to reap the rewards, the nobles looked at one another with confused expressions.
A moment later, the noble who had first voiced opposition let out a sigh and asked.
“I will not participate. Will you kill me to silence my mouth?”
“That is something only a tyrant would do. If you do not wish to, you may leave.”
“Wait a moment, Count. If that happens…”
“The Queen will find out. So what of it? If we were going to worry about such things, we should have dismissed all the servants around us first.”
The young Duke of Ranpel, who had been trying to restrain Count of Shedil with a troubled expression, showed a bewildered reaction at the unexpected words.
Plotting treason while not caring whether the Queen knew or not… could such a statement make any sense?
Servants were merely like hands and feet, but nobles like himself knowing and reporting it was an entirely different story.
However, the words that followed revealed where the count’s confidence stemmed from.
“The royal guards are all warriors who served under my adopted son for years and revere him as a god of war. Most of them are fellow Altoans as well. Furthermore, since the Lord Protector even has the authority to command them, strictly speaking, they wouldn’t even be breaking their oath. If you were a royal guard, would you point your blade at us on the Queen’s order? Dare to point it at Lord Thousand-Slayer himself?”
“That is…”
“This is a decided match from the start. Unless loyalist nobles lead thousands of troops down from the north, there is no way she can oppose us before the coming-of-age ceremony.”
Everyone wore overwhelmed expressions at the revelation that the capital was already virtually under their control.
Only then did they realize how immense the authority guaranteed to the Duke of Velakar by the Queen truly was, and how helpless the situation became the moment he turned traitor.
As the night deepened, about a third of the visiting guests stepped back, believing that treason was going too far, while the rest signed the joint petition.
Selfish scoundrels who thought it was enough to blackmail the Queen and secure their own self-interests.
Opportunists seeking to line up under Shan, who might become the practical, or perhaps definitive, ruler of Pendia in the future.
And even ambitious men who believed they could coax and manipulate Shan to bend him to their will in the future.
As people harboring all sorts of intentions departed the manor, Shan let out a sigh as he saw them off alongside his stepfather.
“Wow, this is really exhausting…”
“Heheh, if you live as a politician, you will have to do this kind of work for the rest of your life. You must constantly evaluate people while simultaneously being evaluated.”
“Hearing you say that really makes me not want to do it even more.”
“Indeed. You should just continue swinging your sword diligently according to Her Majesty the Queen’s orders in the future. As far as I can see, that suits you best.”
After sharing such small talk with the count, Shan washed his body clean in the bath and entered his bedroom.
Amidst his fatigue, as the soft and warm feather blanket wrapped around his body, sleep naturally poured over him, but he still had a task to do before surrendering to slumber.
“Did you see that?”
A few seconds after asking into empty air, accompanied by a rustling sound, a sizeable house spider climbed up onto his palm.
Since cobwebs were swept away in an instant at the Duke’s manor, it was a creature he had instructed the servants to leave alone, claiming it was a hobby of his to raise it separately.
[Yes. I was a bit surprised because there were more people opposing it than I expected.]
The spider wrote letters on Shan’s palm, saying that to be honest, she had thought everyone present there would agree.
Shan recalled the faces of the people he had met during the banquet and spoke.
“It means that while those who opposed it cannot bring themselves to give up their noble rights, they don’t have the heart to go as far as treason for it.”
[That’s right. It also means that with a mindset of that degree, they are people I need to look after to some extent.]
This performance also served the role of sifting out idiots who would stop at nothing for their own power versus useful tools who at least held onto the value of loyalty.
Those who were ready to collude among nobles at any moment to oppose their monarch for their own interests would be cleaned up all at once on this occasion.
Even if those who refused to rebel against Cheryn would not be granted back the rights originally stripped from them, they would obtain positions to work for the kingdom in other ways.
Of course, there might also be those who saw through the essence of this incident from the start and refused to stand on the losing side, but such individuals were also useful talent in that they were quick-witted in their own right.
Provided, of course, that the ruler standing above could control them appropriately.
After briefly chatting about various matters regarding what lay ahead, Shan looked down at the spider and spoke softly.
“Then I won’t be able to see you until the coming-of-age ceremony.”
[That’s right. Until then, we have to pretend to be sulking at each other.]
To describe the rift between a nation’s queen and its Lord Protector as “sulking.”
The expression sounded somewhat cute, causing Shan to chuckle softly despite himself.
“Will you be able to sleep alone?”
[Yes. I already kept sleeping alone while you were away. That much is fine.]
Repeating the words Cheryn wrote in his mind, Shan swallowed the words he had honestly wanted to say back.
Because saying that he wished she would keep relying on him, that he wished she wouldn’t get used to falling asleep alone without him, would be too selfish a thing to say.
Caressing the spider’s back in silence, Shan spoke quietly.
“I miss you.”
In the reception room, he had been so preoccupied with acting that he couldn’t even properly appreciate Cheryn’s appearance, which he was seeing for the first time in several months.
He wanted to engrave in his mind how she looked and what kind of voice she spoke with.
The spider, which had remained frozen stiff for a long moment, wrote letters with its front legs.
[Me too.]
After writing that single phrase, the spider crawled off the bed and slipped right into a wooden drawer.
*
The Lord Protector’s full-scale declaration of rebellion slowly spread throughout all of Hasra.
Since some of the nobles present at the banquet at the time were spreading rumors around, and the count had not cracked down on the servants’ mouths either, it was a matter of course.
However, despite the rumors spreading far and wide, Queen Cheryn issued no orders whatsoever to arrest the traitor Duke of Velakar, let alone the faction following him.
Such behavior was more than enough to make people feel that the Queen had completely lost her ability to control the Lord Protector.
“Is it really fine like this?”
“Seriously, it has become laughable to even say that the Hasra Royal Family is ruling the country…”
Many expressed bewilderment at a situation where a mere noble openly pushed his demands and pressured the monarch, yet she could not even summon and reprimand him, let alone punish him.
Rumors spread widely that royal knights who had deep ties with the Duke of Velakar knocked on the door of the Duke’s manor several times, but all were turned away without even stepping inside.
At this, several who had refused to join on the day of the conspiracy changed their minds.
They had pulled out simply out of fear that things might go wrong, but looking at the current state of affairs, wasn’t the Queen unilaterally backing down?
Though they would gain less than those who were together from the start, they still needed to strike while the iron was hot.
“Um, I have come to see His Excellency the Count…”
“Please come inside. The master said you may enter at any time.”
Count of Shedil welcomed those who visited like that and had them write their names on the joint petition.
Saying that since they had changed their minds even if belatedly, he would guarantee a certain level of rights and interests.
After two more days passed like that, the day of destiny finally arrived.
Queen Cheryn’s coming-of-age ceremony began not only in the royal palace, but throughout the entire city of Hasra.
In the center of the city’s grand plaza, floral wreaths hung all over a giant tree, and theatrical troupes gathered from various places played cheerful music.
Guards distributed wine and food that had been collected in advance to the passersby.
“Kheu, the booze tastes great.”
“Long live Her Majesty the Queen!”
“May she live a long life!”
Wiping away the thick beer foam smudged around their mouths, the citizens praised the mage Queen who had brought them peace.
She was a wise monarch who had rebuilt Pendia, which had been devastated by civil war over the past few years, and actively distributed magical devices to elevate the living environment of the people.
Her popularity among the ordinary commoners was extremely high.
Stories such as the conflict between the Lord Protector and the Queen surfacing these days were high-level affairs that were none of their business.
After all, wasn’t high-born folk squabbling among themselves hardly a new story?
Meanwhile, inside Hasra’s Red Palace, preparations for the full-fledged festival began as well.
Shields painted with the emblem representing the Hasra Royal Family were hung all across the grand banquet hall of the royal palace, and court musicians gathered to prepare music.
They were people invited from Galen, the ‘City of Music’ located in the southern part of Libert, for today’s event.
Expensive red carpets were laid in the corridors, and magical devices emitting various brilliant lights were installed in the garden and outer walls of the building.
Paintings, tapestries, and taxidermied monsters usually stashed away in the royal palace art gallery decorated the walls and corridors.
Putting such devotion to shame, the nobles who had come from all across Pendia and stayed entered the palace one by one, looking at each other with suspicious gazes instead of marveling at the scenery.
‘Did that fellow also join hands with the Duke of Velakar this time?’
‘Isn’t he from our faction?’
‘His belly looks somewhat bulging and suspicious, could he have brought a dagger…?’
Unlike the outside, where people boisterously ate, drank, and enjoyed themselves to purely celebrate the Queen’s coming of age, the atmosphere inside the royal palace was like thin ice.
The nobles who gathered one by one gauged each other’s reactions and congregated into their respective factions.
The division between the emerging noble class recruited by Cheryn after demonstrating their operational capabilities in various fields and the old noble faction maintaining only their legacy was clearly revealed.
‘Vulgar wretches who wagged their tails at the young Queen to gain government posts.’
‘Anachronistic relic forces plotting treason, the lot of them!’
Meanwhile, those who belonged to the old faction but lacked the guts for treason, or were simply far too loyal for such a thing, formed a third faction.
Regarded as enemies by both sides, they read the room among themselves with dispirited attitudes.
In the banquet hall where only tension lingered alongside low whispered voices, a voice shattered the silence.
“Entering is the Guardian of the East, the Lord Protector and Commander of the Royal Knights Order, the Duke of Velakar!”
Watching Duke of Velakar Shan Barendil-Kurt enter, the faces of the emerging nobles hardened.
For he was the only one among them to enter wearing a long sword at his waist and a cuirass on his chest that could transform into full body plate armor at any time.
This, too, was a privilege granted to Shan by the Queen.
The right to carry weapons and equipment at will anywhere…
Nobody at the time, save for a few exceptionally worrisome individuals, had ever thought such a right would be used to oppose the Queen.
As Shan, wearing his sword, stepped forward confidently and stood beside the old faction, confident smiled appeared on their faces.
“Have you arrived, Lord Protector?”
“Look at the state of those fellows over there. They look for all the world like nothing so much as soaked mutts.”
Shan turned his head toward the opponents those standing behind him were giggling and mocking.
Roden, Lug, Ravana, Abras, Colun…
The royal knights who had fought alongside him, as well as the nobles and knights belonging to the Palles region, were looking at Shan with bewilderment and hostility.
The religious figures, including Vent, and the mages were no different.
‘Impressive.’
Even if the others didn’t know, Roden alone knew the entire inside story, yet his acting was so astoundingly convincing that it naturally drew admiration.
He lacked the confidence to act that realistically even if he were to die and come back to life twice more in the future.
Glancing subtly toward the edges of the banquet hall, he saw the royal guards watching Shan with extremely tense expressions.
They seemed to feel the pressure of the fact that if something went wrong today, they might have to fight to subdue Shan, their direct superior.
How long had the delicious, freshly made food been cooling amidst the tension?
When the musicians waiting all around blew their bronze trumpets simultaneously, a grand sound echoed forth.
It signified that the protagonist of this coming-of-age ceremony was entering.
“Entering is Her Majesty Cheryn Gizel Aste Hasra, descendant of the Great Emperor Baren, Sovereign of Pendia, Duchess of Hasra, Marchioness of Beshalia, Countess of Adentes and Ronsh, Viscountess of Kiesa and Zerkan, Baroness of Leol, Tebain, East Solod, Garn, and Rosk, Lord of Essos, Tanjel, Vadkia, and Castaman, Protector of the South Sea, Master of the Blade Mountains, and Pioneer of the Demonic Realm!”
Since she had acquired many titles through this civil war, the descriptive titles were also tremendously long.
Had she not bestowed titles upon Roden and other royal knights or followers, it likely would have been two to three times as long as this.
Cheryn’s appearance as she entered alongside the grand chamberlain’s cry was close to being ‘fully armed’ in a feminine sense.
Subtle shading was applied under her eyes, making her already sharp eyes even sharper, while heavy makeup on her lips and highlighted cheekbones created a fierce impression.
The dress was an emerald-reminiscent green; despite seamlessly covering every part except her face, its form revealed the curves of her body beneath a semi-transparent veil, exuding feminine charm without a hint of vulgarity.
Unlike her age of just nineteen, she looked several years older, appearing less like a young girl and more like a fully matured woman.
Perhaps thanks to the veil covering her hair and the large, magnificent crown placed atop it, not the slightest impression of a weak queen swayed by her vassals could be felt.
Shan stared at Cheryn with a dazed expression before quickly focusing his eyes.
Although it was already nearly complete, he still had to remain faithful to the very end to firmly establish a justification.
In the meantime, Cheryn also looked down at the nobles seated below before fixing her gaze on Shan.
Her paying attention to Shan was hardly a surprising matter.
For the hottest topic in Pendia’s court politics right now was precisely the confrontation between the two of them.
Of course, in truth, Cheryn was not pondering what Shan was thinking or how to appease or subdue him, as others imagined.
‘He has certainly changed…’
It had been a few months since subduing the succubus Yure in Beshalia.
Having absorbed the essence of the succubus, Shan’s face had clearly changed from before.
At a glance, one might assume he had simply changed naturally with age, but being quite knowledgeable in human skeletal structure and growth, she knew this was no natural change.
A jawline that had become more chiseled, slimmed-down cheeks, and facial features that had grown three-dimensional with a high, straight nose bridge.
Since the overall shape itself remained the same, it wasn’t to the extent of turning into an entirely different person, but if his previous appearance was merely neat, he could now be considered distinctly handsome.
At her knight becoming even handsomer, Cheryn desperately suppressed the corners of her mouth from twitching upward.
Fortunately, managing her facial expressions was something she was exceptionally good at, so no such hint was exposed.
This sight of the man and woman admiring each other’s appearance looked to others like a fierce clash of wills.
At the conflict between the Queen and the Lord Protector, the servants carrying food and wine throughout the banquet hall trembled.
A moment later, as she gestured, the grand chamberlain cleared his throat and proceeded with the event.
Speaking of the Goddess’s grace, Archbishop Vent anointed the Queen with holy oil and declared that she had reached adulthood and could exercise all her rights.
Of course, it wasn’t as if there had been any particular restrictions before either.
After that, gifts were opened, starting with those from individuals who were unable to attend due to circumstances.
Being a queen, the gifts were mostly precious metal ornaments like necklaces, rings, and bracelets, but given Cheryn’s personality of not particularly enjoying jewelry, a significant portion of them would likely be resold to replenish the royal treasury.
And finally, the moment everyone had been watching for arrived.
“Next, the Duke of Velakar will present his gift…”
Stepping forward along with the grand chamberlain’s fearful voice, Shan bowed politely toward Cheryn and spoke.
“To Your Majesty the respected Queen, I wish to denounce a terrible criminal act in this very place.”