Queen Isabella certainly deserves such praise.
At only 27 years old, she possesses not only a beautiful face that could captivate any man, but also abilities that match her unparalleled beauty.
She ascended the throne at the age of eighteen. Before her ascension, the royal family was experiencing a power struggle. Isabella was not the first choice to take the throne. She was able to ascend the throne only after a series of bloody events.
The series of bloody events made the domestic regime extremely unstable at the time, which naturally led to domestic turmoil. Various factions existed in the political arena and the military, constantly arguing with each other. Chaos also frequently occurred among the people. Some heretics spread their religion in the country, and elected the so-called "Son of the Father" and "Saint John the Head" in an attempt to govern the country with religion and place the sect above the royal family.
This is only a domestic matter; the situation is equally unclear in foreign affairs.
Although the neighboring countries of Hungary and Luxembourg are not a threat, if the turmoil continues, these two "neighbors" will inevitably seize the opportunity to launch an attack.
Putting aside other matters, the Grand Duke of St. Ist of Hunli had long coveted the territory. At that time, the border region of Koster was a disputed area, and St. Ist had always harbored the delusion of trying to annex it to Hunli. There had been many small-scale conflicts in this area before.
While the neighboring state of Shenglu is relatively peaceful, they are also opportunistic. If large-scale turmoil occurs within their borders and their national strength weakens, they will inevitably disrupt the "peaceful" situation. Even worse, if the two countries join forces and launch an attack at the same time, their "hegemonic" status will inevitably be shaken, and there is even a possibility that they will be stripped of their power.
This shows the immense pressure Queen Isabella, at only eighteen years old and having just experienced a series of bloody events, was under amidst such internal and external troubles.
Moreover, she is a woman. Although there have been female monarchs in the history of the Kingdom of Sari, without exception, it was not easy for them to maintain peace in the country during their reigns. But today is incomparable to the past.
This is a change unprecedented in hundreds of years. It is an era of rapid development with emerging new technologies. Simply "defending the country" already means decline.
The current trend is that if you don't move forward, you fall behind. All countries are developing rapidly, and the tide of the times is rolling in. Only those who dare to brave the waves can stand firm, while those who retreat will inevitably be eliminated.
Therefore, it was far from enough for Queen Isabella to simply stabilize the domestic situation; what she needed to do was to take the Kingdom of Saar to the next level.
The pressure on her was unimaginable, but she really did it!
Not long after ascending the throne, she first stabilized her power through various means, and then began to deal with the issue of heretical religions among the people. At that time, these heretical religions had already gained considerable influence in the country, and the number of believers was unimaginable. Even sending troops to suppress them was only a temporary solution.
The leader of the church, St. John, claimed to be the "Son of the Father" and possess divine power. He said that if one followed him, one's soul would ascend to heaven after death. With such a claim, his followers worshipped him as a god, and his prestige among the people was even higher than that of Queen Isabella, who came from the legitimate royal family.
Ordinary methods of violent suppression are completely ineffective in containing the unrest. Sending assassins to kill the cult leader, St. John, would only add fuel to the fire, inciting numerous heretics and uninformed civilians to rebel, making the domestic unrest even more difficult to control.
Despite the dire situation, Isabella did not resort to conventional methods of suppression.
Instead, she personally went down to the common people to meet with St. John, and in public no less. St. John was naturally wary, but soon after the meeting, the two chatted and laughed, and in the end, Queen Isabella publicly acknowledged St. John's identity as the "Son of the Father."
This behavior greatly shocked the orthodox Vatican. Not only did she not resolve the issue of heresy, but she also wanted to acknowledge the identity of this fraudster. What should the Vatican do then?
Has the Vatican become a heretic?!
Subsequently, a wave of criticism swept in, and St. John, who had been recognized by the Queen, gained even greater prestige. At that time, he truly held sway over the country and became a veritable emperor!
But a month later, the reputation of this "Son of the Father," St. John, plummeted!
Within a month, the Papacy's position was already precarious, and pagans had almost replaced them. St. John, on the other hand, seemed to have become a god. He not only moved into a magnificent residence, but was also served by many boys and girls, under the guise of "better conveying grace to pure children."
But all of this changed at a royal banquet.
It was a grand banquet hosted by the royal family, inviting celebrities from all walks of life. As the "Son of the Father," St. John was naturally the most important person there.
At that time, St. John and Elizabeth had become close friends. Although they were more than twenty years apart in age, they admired each other greatly and often had long talks.
But as the banquet was about to end that night, Elizabeth ran to the ballroom disheveled and in a sorry state, revealing that St. John had used the pretext of "protestant doctrine" to arrange a private meeting with her in his room, but then suddenly launched an attack, intending to do something treacherous!
Fortunately, Isabella sensed many problems with this "new doctrine" at the beginning of the conversation, and she also doubted St. John's identity as the "Son of the Father." She was wary of this, and when St. John launched his violence, she struggled for a while and then stabbed him in the mouth with a hairpin, thus escaping the room and preventing St. John from succeeding.
The crowd was shocked and furious. Then they saw Saint Covenant running out, barely clothed and covering his mouth which was covered in blood.
He mumbled something incoherently, essentially saying that Queen Elizabeth was talking nonsense and that it was all her doing. Elizabeth, however, rolled up her skirt and confronted him sharply, saying, "No woman would use her innocence to deceive others. I am the Queen, and I would never use this to deceive the world!"
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
