"Why would the King of Muxi City come here?!"
The people in the hall watched Todd slowly walk into the hall and began to discuss among themselves.
Reaching the front of the hall, Todd turned around, smiled, and said to the crowd, "Everyone, please be quiet. I'm sure many of you are curious about why I'm here..."
Todd glanced at the throne beside him and continued, "Saint Guard City and Twilight City are neighbors and also close allies within the diocese. As everyone knows, when Saint Guard City faced a food crisis, Twilight City was the first to lend a helping hand..."
"As for why I came here, the reason is simple. I heard about the election for the throne in Holy Guard City and originally wanted to come and congratulate the new king after he ascended the throne. However, the old king's madness caused the election to be postponed, and the timing of my visit was changed from congratulations to observing the ceremony."
"Attend the ceremony?" Earl Gordon shook his head and said, "King Muxi, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. The two candidates for the Holy Guard City throne election, His Highness Sinclair and His Highness Mathilde, are both currently missing, so the election has to be postponed indefinitely."
Todd's smile froze: "Two candidates? No, I heard there were three?"
Earl Gordon's eyes widened, and he stood frozen in place: "The three of you?!"
Outside the main hall, the sun had already set, and the hazy moonlight softly bathed the earth.
Under the clear, cool moonlight, a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in pristine white entered the hall. Her skin was as white as snow, and her beautiful face in the night gave one a dreamlike feeling.
Amidst gasps of surprise, Mary stepped onto the stone slabs, head held high and chest out, and strode into the main hall.
Earl Gordon stared at the woman he had cared for since childhood, his mouth agape, momentarily speechless.
"This is absurd!"
A loud shout came from the crowd.
Todd looked in the direction of the voice and saw Cardinal Jacob pointing at Mary and shouting, "She has no right to inherit the throne of Holy Guard City! She is the Queen of the Silver Ring Kingdom, and after marrying the King of the Silver Ring, she should have no further connection with Holy Guard City!"
Jacob's words were met with unanimous agreement from those present.
In their eyes, although the Silver Ring Kingdom was already a fallen kingdom, the queen was still the queen. How could she possibly come to inherit the throne of Holy Guard City?
Mary's posture remained upright, and her expression remained proud, but Jacob's words had brutally reopened her inner wounds.
Her pearly teeth were biting her pale lips, her nails were digging deep into her palms, and she looked like she was about to collapse.
Todd turned to Mary and gave her a warm smile, which improved her mood slightly.
"Your Excellency, something seems amiss."
Upon hearing Todd's words, Jacob, who had been smug, turned pale and said irritably, "What's wrong?"
Todmore stroked his chin, thinking as he spoke, "If I remember correctly, when the Silver Ring Kingdom colluded with the barbarians, the Church issued a holy decree excommunicating the Silver Ring King. In other words, from that time onward, the Silver Ring King became a heretic, and the Father no longer recognized his sacred marriage with the Queen..."
Jacob's eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.
Todd pointed at Mary and continued, "Since the church no longer recognizes this marriage, she naturally has no further connection with the Silver Ring Kingdom and rightfully possesses the right to inherit the throne of Holy Guard City..."
Jacob felt as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly whole.
To his utter surprise, the church had completely shot itself in the foot this time. Excommunicating the King of the Silver Ring was tantamount to ending the marriage between the King and Queen, which allowed Mary, a follower of the Father, to regain her right to the throne.
Jacob wanted to refute the argument, but he couldn't think of any other reason to explain it, so he could only stammer on the spot.
After some thought, people nodded in agreement, accepting this view.
Todd smiled and turned to Earl Gordon: "I think no one should have any objection to Mary's right to the throne anymore, right?"
Gordon glanced at the aloof woman beside him and sighed softly, "No objections."
"Now, let's move on to the candidates..."
Jacob then jumped in again, saying, "How can we hold an election now that the other two candidates are absent?"
Todd glanced at everyone in the hall and made a startling statement: "Both candidates have been disqualified."
Gordon asked in surprise, "Disqualified? What do you mean?!"
“Let’s start with His Highness Mathilde.” Todd took a report from Dion, who was walking with a limp, and said to everyone present, “I have a record here that clearly and plainly records His Highness Mathilde’s crime of selling grain.”
Gordon frowned, picked up the report that was handed to him, and looked at it carefully.
The paper details how, after the food crisis, Mathilde abused her power to sell and embezzle relief supplies to satisfy her personal extravagant desires. The long list of figures is shocking.
As the report circulated among the nobles and officials, Gordon looked at Todd: "Are these figures all accurate?"
“Absolutely true.” Todd glanced at Tristan in the crowd out of the corner of his eye, then said to Gordon, “These goods passed through several Muxi Merchant Guilds, and all the buying and selling data is verifiable.”
Hearing the people in the hall loudly rebuking Prince Mathilde's behavior, Jacob's eyes darted around, and he said loudly, "Prince Mathilde is morally flawed and may not be suitable for the throne, which is why the Papacy has given up supporting him... But what about Prince Sinclair?!"
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