Chapter 54
His Majesty the King suddenly fell ill and became unconscious.
The Queen proposed that the Third Prince temporarily handle state affairs in place of the King. The Third Prince had a good reputation and had been praised by the King on many occasions. When this was proposed, the ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, and for a moment no one objected.
In the council hall, the Queen looked at the ministers, taking in their reactions.
A smile slowly spread across her face. Things were going according to plan. Before long, her child would ascend the throne, and she would become the supreme Queen Mother of the country.
"Your Majesty, what a magnificent sight! I recall that my brother collapsed after drinking the wine you offered him." A powerful voice rang out from outside the hall, followed by several figures. Leading them was Prince Garcia, who was unusually dressed in his princely robes and holding a small gilded scale in his hands.
He stepped into the hall first, glancing over the assembled ministers. Standing at the forefront of the ministers were the princes, including the third prince whom the queen had proposed to temporarily assume the role of king. The young man's face was somewhat gloomy.
The queen's expression also changed several times.
After the sudden incident last night, Prince Ethan, who had been in a daze until now, finally came to his senses. He turned around blankly and looked at his uncle Garcia, who was close to him.
The atmosphere in the hall was tense. Garcia stood at the entrance of the hall, and the person behind him also became visible.
The ministers recognized what it was and gasped.
The golden scales symbolizing the Lortheran monarchy and the golden bow and arrow symbolizing papal authority appeared at the same time!
You Dacheng couldn't help but look at the Queen's face, and it was indeed extremely ugly.
The King's Scales would not appear unless the kingdom was in danger. The Queen had guessed which member of the Elder Council might have the King's Scales, but she never thought it would be Garcia.
Garcia held the position of Archbishop of the Church and was a former king. Even as a prince, he was very popular among the nobility. He was a former warrior and had served in the army. From any perspective, Garcia could usurp the throne at any time.
Over the years, the Queen has repeatedly warned the King to be wary of Garcia, saying that if Garcia wanted to usurp the throne and had the Pope's support, wouldn't they have no chance of winning?
The king initially told his wife not to worry, as his brother was not the type to change his mind easily.
Later, the king stopped responding to the queen and just stared at his wife, with whom he had spent every day. The queen avoided the king's gaze, and the matter was gradually forgotten.
With the arrival of the Golden Scales, the queen, the prince praised by the king, and the reputation among royalty and nobility all vanished like a tattered piece of paper, crumbling at the slightest blow.
Garcia's usually smiling face now held a hint of coldness.
All schemes and plots are exposed to him.
The room fell silent. Ethan's face was slightly pale. He sensed something unusual. As a member of the royal family, how could he not know the meaning behind Jin Tianping's words?
Their brotherly affection, even if it was feigned, was far better than that of Garcia's time.
Prince Garcia truly fought his way up from among dozens of brothers. After ascending to the throne, those defeated generals either died or were crippled. Only the current king, his own brother, had a good ending.
In the suffocating silence, the person behind Garcia finally spoke.
A calm voice rang out, and the crystal decoration on the chest of the Holy Son's robe, with the bow and arrow pattern faintly visible, revealed his handsome young face. It should have inspired longing, but it also had a touch of... inhumanity.
"By papal decree, Prince Garcia will assume the presidency of the Council of Elders, and Prince Ethan will serve as regent. In order to ascertain the truth of the matter, the Papacy has specially appointed astrologer Lortheran, who will reside in the palace until the King awakens."
The expressions on the faces of those present varied, and even Garcia turned around and couldn't help but look at the blond man he had been entangled with: "Your name is Lortheran?"
Lortheran, holding the golden bow and arrows, lifted his eyelids slightly: "Is there a problem?"
There's a problem, a very big problem.
The first king was named Lortheran, and Lortheran later became the royal surname, while the surname of the Lortheran king was abolished.
So the Little Prince is named Ethan Lortheran.
Garcia recalled the profile he had seen last night, and the expression in that instant—he really saw the shadow of his brothers. For a moment, his expression became somewhat strange.
The Queen finally came to her senses, as if she had grasped some terrible oversight, and shouted angrily: "The astrologers of the High Papacy are using the name of our ancestors, what does the Pope mean by this!"
Sylvain raised his eyes: "We dare not presume to speculate on the Pope's decree. Lortheran is a specially appointed astrologer of the Papacy, with a rank of ninth grade, personally assessed by the Pope."
Ninth-Rank Astrologer—!
The ministers stared in shock, their eyes widening as countless gazes fell upon the man with the frivolous smile on his face.
Garcia chuckled twice, then stepped forward and stood before Ethan in full view of everyone. The little prince, his face filled with fear, called out "Uncle" with trembling lips.
The chubby hand held the gold scales and handed them to him.
"Ethan, catch!"
The little prince turned pale and glanced instinctively at his mother, only to meet her venomous eyes. He stared wide-eyed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
He... understood what his mother meant.
The boy trembled slightly. He turned to look at his uncle and whispered, "I... I think my third brother is more suitable..."
Garcia smiled, but didn't continue looking at Ethan. Instead, he looked at the third prince. The young man's face was cold and hard. When he saw Garcia turn his head, he forced a smile.
“Since His Holiness the Pope has specifically requested that the Prince handle state affairs, we should certainly do our best to assist him.” His words seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Having never experienced the battle for the crown prince, the prince's thoughts were written all over his face. Perhaps it was because the incident came so suddenly, but the grim expressions on the faces of the third prince and the queen were noticed by the elderly ministers.
They remained expressionless, but a sense of unease settled in their hearts.
The king's illness this time was probably due to a conspiracy.
The king doesn't have many years left to live. His health wasn't good to begin with, and his hard work over the years has already taken its toll. He's been gradually relinquishing power, but he didn't expect someone to be so impatient.
To plot against one's father on New Year's Day is utterly appalling.
With the matter settled, Garcia held the golden scales and had absolute power, while Prince Ethan handled government affairs on his behalf.
Meanwhile, the Papacy will send astrologers to the palace for a ten-day astrological reading.
For Lortheran, these ten days were almost like wilderness survival; countless people probably wanted him dead.
Inside the royal palace.
The queen angrily swept everything off the table, while the third prince stood to one side, his face grim and silent.
"Why would the Pope interfere?! Does that old codger still want to keep the royal family under his control?" The Queen's shrill voice reached his ears, and the third prince closed his eyes.
His mother's curses continued unabated, but he remained silent, lost in thought.
Once the queen had finally calmed down, he raised his eyes and said, "Now send people to spread rumors that the Pope is interfering in the governance of the kingdom, and our supporters will naturally stand up."
"Take my father's serious illness, for example. It was also the Pope's doing. The Pope intended to usurp the royal family's power and seize control of the monarchy."
The Queen's expression changed slightly. She opened her mouth, her face hesitant: "Won't this be discovered?"
The third prince's eyes were cold: "Has he interfered in too many things over the years? A rumor is three parts truth and seven parts falsehood, that's enough."
He didn't believe the Pope would dare kill him, a prince.
The Queen gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, we'll do it your way. I'll go and contact the person right away."
The third prince continued, "Are the Golden Merchant Guild members sure they can use the curse on Father?"
"Things personally delivered by Chairman Jin should be safe. The curse is said to be a secret technique of the undead race. Now that the undead are weak, there are hardly any undead left even in the Demon King's Abyss," the Queen said. "There are no demons in the capital, so how could a mere astrologer have discovered it?"
But a ninth-level astrologer... The highest level on the list of astrologers publicly released by the High Holy See is only level seven. Does a ninth-level astrologer really exist? And that man is so young.
The Queen was very skeptical of this.
Rumors spread quickly when fueled by those with ulterior motives, and soon even taverns were secretly discussing the matter.
But everyone only discussed it in secret, mentioning it vaguely; no one dared to bring it up openly.
But some people dare to.
Veris swaggered around the tavern spreading his rumors, only to be kicked out by the owner with double pay before he could finish his story.
The young man sighed, his eyes darting around, as if he had discovered an incredible business opportunity.
He immediately turned around and went to the second tavern.
However, this time he wasn't paid double wages and was kicked out.
Veris: "..."
Well, it seems the new business opportunity isn't going to work.
A respectable tavern wouldn't dare spread such absurd rumors. If the Pope wanted to interfere in royal affairs, it would have been centuries ago; the royal family would have long since become his lackeys.
It only fools brainless idiots.
They prefer to believe that Prince Garcia successfully flattered the Pope in an attempt to regain the throne.
But Prince Garcia already had the first right of succession to the throne, so he didn't need to flatter the Pope, did he?
The grand taverns didn't want to get into trouble, but the small taverns didn't have so many scruples. Veris randomly picked a small tavern, told the owner that the performance was free, and the owner agreed.
At first, the rumors were indeed as the Queen had predicted, with people secretly discussing the Pope's interference in royal power.
Later, it was unclear what happened, but the story unfolded as the queen fell in love with her adopted son and plotted to kill the king and put him on the throne.
Later versions changed the story to say that Garcia had given birth to a son named Ethan for his brother.
This also involves the Queen and other princes, as well as other members of the royal family.
The rumors... have spiraled out of control.
Everyone is discussing royal gossip, claiming that the version they heard is the truth.
"His Highness the Prince is so good to Prince Ethan. He even allowed him to take things from the study. I think that's the real story. Every time His Highness visits His Majesty, he brings a gift for Prince Ethan!"
"That doesn't make sense either. Could it be that His Highness is in love with Prince Ethan?"
"Get lost, you tasteless bastard! The age gap is too big. Back then, His Majesty wanted the throne, and he immediately gave it to my brother. Isn't that love?!"
"Alas, it's a pity that such a loving couple was torn apart by the Queen."
...
The people of the royal capital, who had been exposed to Granvars' novels, were delighted by this bizarre yet seemingly plausible rumor. They used to think the novels were exaggerated, but now, considering the royal family, they realized it was far from exaggerated; it was clearly a factual account!
The story of brothers falling in love was all the rage in the capital a while ago, with almost everyone owning a copy, though it wasn't written by Granvar.
It's Ethan.
The little prince is in great pain; he even went to ask the queen whose son he was.
Because his mother had been extremely strict with him since he was a child, he thought that his mother hoped he would become a talented person. However, seeing his mother's extreme doting on his third brother, this belief began to crumble.
The queen was furious and ordered him to get out of the bedchamber, forbidding Ethan from visiting her.
It's insane, insane, the whole world has gone mad! No one remembers what the original rumor was like anymore. Maybe some people still have an impression, but it was indeed unfounded and contradictory, so just treat it as a joke.
The "brothers' true love" faction and the "third prince's heartthrob" faction wished they could tear each other apart.
The third prince felt that this period was the darkest time of his life. When he went out, every familiar noble minister looked at him with a strange expression. Some people even came up to him and asked if so-and-so had really confessed their feelings to him and left the capital heartbroken after being rejected.
The period around the New Year is the easiest time for government affairs. The backlog of government affairs from last year has been dealt with, and the new year has just begun. Ethan is handling it all quite well.
But most importantly, he had an assistant.
The study was where the king secretly met with his ministers and handled state affairs. Garcia took the initiative to place a second table in the main study so that Ethan could conduct state affairs there.
It was also very close to the king's bedroom, and Lortheran was free to move around in the palace, often coming to the study to keep an eye on Ethan as he worked.
He felt that this kid was the only safe person in the entire palace.
These days, not a single meal he eats is safe from poison. He walks on the street with constant anxiety, so it's safer to stay by Prince Ethan's side.
When Lortheran first saw Ethan clumsily writing the official seal and approval document, he frowned.
He reached out and flipped through the official documents that the king had reviewed, and roughly understood what the current situation was.
Ethan nervously tried to stop him, saying, "You can't look at these."
“Who would know if you didn’t tell me?” Lortheran shrugged.
"How did you get in? Didn't the guards outside stop you?" Ethan shrank back.
Lortheran: "I already told you I can move freely within the palace, you idiot."
They called the prince stupid, but anyone else would have dragged him away and killed him long ago.
However, Ethan just grimaced; in fact, he also felt that he wasn't very smart.
The review of official documents had to continue, and Lortheran, seeing his dawdling progress, couldn't stand it any longer. He pointed to a few places on the document and said, "Just have him recount the bills and submit another copy. What's so interesting about this? If he can do it, he can do it; if he can't, he can get out. Do you think the court needs another minister?"
The official document stated that the tax accounts in Xicheng District were incorrect and involved a member of the royal family, hence the request for instructions.
Ethan: "But the person he's talking about is my cousin..."
"You already have so many uncles. Even if you kill one, you still have more than a dozen. Do you really need one more uncle?" Lortheran was very puzzled.
Ethan was about to cry: "That's an elder."
Lortheran raised his hand. "Alright, I understand. I had your uncle do the chopping, wasn't it just to embezzle a few tens of thousands of coins?"
Back in his day, people would have loved a silver coin to be worth ten petals. Anyone who dared to covet his money would have their skin ripped off and used as a blanket.
Under Lortheran's firm guidance, Ethan's efficiency in handling government affairs improved significantly. His approvals were swift and decisive, and matters that would have been overlooked were now handled according to the law.
His Majesty the King is easily swayed and treats his relatives with great favor.
With Lortheran's guidance and Garcia's approval, Ethan dealt with a group of his relatives and also brought down several elders from the council.
The Little Prince felt that he was about to die.
However, he earned an unprecedentedly good reputation among the ministers.
The Queen and the Third Prince were convinced that Ethan had become the Pope's puppet, with the aim of eliminating the royal family and installing a new one.
They began to feel anxious and even regretted why they had cursed the king.
Ethan both feared and respected this astrologer from the High Papacy, because even if he didn't understand the reply this man gave him at first, he would realize after careful consideration that it was the best decision.
Imprisoning members of the royal family is nothing. Those members of the royal family are already several generations removed from the legitimate royal family, and no one will speak up for them. Dealing with these people actually makes some ministers feel proud.
Especially the Ministry of Rites.
“The astrological readings are about to end, why are you still stuck here every day?” Ethan looked at Lortheran.
The man sat on the sofa, engrossed in a book with a gaudy cover; it was the latest work by the most famous novelist in the capital.
These days, Ethan also learned that this person was a devoted admirer of that novelist.
Without looking up, Lortheran's tone was clearly contemptuous: "You want me to do astrology in broad daylight?"
Ethan: "..."
It was indeed sunny and bright outside.
Having finished his official duties, Ethan has figured out a method under Lortheran's guidance these past few days. Although it doesn't produce any great results, it's at least foolproof.
He couldn't help but ask Lortheran, "Lord Lortheran, is your name really Lortheran?"
"What else?" Lortheran finally lowered his head and looked up.
“But Lortheran is the name of our ancestor. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of someone having this name,” Ethan said softly.
What do you want to ask?
Ethan: "Do you know our ancestors?"
Upon hearing this, Lortheran raised an eyebrow, as if he were seeing the little prince for the first time, and looked him up and down. The little prince's face turned bright red, and he stammered, "This, this was just a sudden idea of mine..."
"Hahahahaha." Lortheran burst into laughter, abandoning his novel and walking over to Ethan's desk.
He clicked his tongue in amazement: "I thought you weren't very smart, but I didn't expect that not being smart has its advantages."
Ethan was confused. Was this an insult? ... But Lord Lortheran had called him stupid quite often lately.
So Ethan quickly and obediently accepted.
"Do you know about your ancestors' lives?" Lortheran asked casually as he sat down opposite Ethan.
That position was usually occupied by Garcia or other high-ranking ministers.
Ethan recalled for a moment before saying, "Our ancestor was a hero who gathered many powerful people, then quelled rebellions in all directions and established the Kingdom of Lortheran."
"What were your ancestors' professions?"
"……warrior?"
Why are you so unsure?
Ethan honestly replied, "Because of your tone, this answer doesn't sound quite right."
Lortheran laughed again, and when the laughter subsided, he looked at Ethan with satisfaction and said, "You are very much like my son."
Ethan's eyes widened: "Lord Lortheran, you'll be arrested for saying that!"
This is practically tantamount to cuckolding the king.
Then, after hearing Lortheran say something, Ethan's expression froze, and he stared blankly at Lortheran.
Lortheran said his son's name.
It has the exact same name as the country's second king.
"Is Lord Lortheran joking with me...?"
Lortheran frowned and tapped the table: "Don't think that Orlando just sends anyone named Lortheran. If you want that name, you'd better think about whether you're even born with it."
Orlando is the Pope's surname, Ethan knows that.
He jumped to his feet in fright: "You, you, you really are—"
Lortheran raised a finger to his lips: "Don't talk nonsense, I didn't say anything."
Ethan nodded nervously.
He looked down at the official documents he had finished processing, some of which included instructions from Lortheran. In reality, these instructions were just Lortheran telling him to write them and then stamp them.
If it weren't for Garcia vouching for him, he would never have listened to Lortheran in the first place.
"Does Uncle Wang know?" Ethan asked timidly.
Rotheran sat back down on the sofa, picked up his favorite author Griva's new book, and said without looking up, "How could he possibly know? He probably still thinks I'm someone's illegitimate child."
Ethan blinked and silently prayed for his uncle.
These aren't illegitimate children, they're their ancestors!
When the ten-day period ended, the royal family members were gathered in the hall where the banquet was held that day, looking at Prince Ethan sitting at the head of the table, with the enormous Garcia standing next to him.
Lortheran stood below, glancing at these good-for-nothing descendants, and sneered inwardly.
Once everyone had quieted down, he took out an astrological chart, infused it with magic, and the stars appeared. Regardless of whether the relatives could understand it or not, he said directly, "The person who plotted to kill the king is from the royal family. As for who exactly intended to rebel, I will need to conduct a second round of astrological analysis."
These words shocked everyone present, and a great deal of discussion ensued.
The Queen was ill and did not attend. In the hall, the Third Prince's unpleasant expression flashed by, but he quickly concealed it.
He raised his voice and looked directly at Lortheran: "May I ask, Your Excellency, when will my father be able to awaken? The kingdom cannot continue to let my brother handle state affairs indefinitely. The spring court audience is just around the corner. If my father is not awakened soon, I'm afraid the princes of other counties will become disloyal."
Lortheran looked down at him, his brows and eyes exuding majesty. The third prince, stared at by that gaze, suddenly felt a wave of fear. The oppressive aura washed over him like a tidal wave, and he suddenly couldn't remember anything. The surroundings had also become quiet at some point.
How could an astrologer have such sharp eyes? It reminded him of a mistake he made last year, and the furious look in his father's eyes that instantly shattered the emperor's authority. At that time, he had also been blank-minded.
Could this person truly deduce from those mysterious stars that he was the one who did it?
The third prince lowered his head, not daring to look any further.
"The king does not suffer from a malignant disease, but rather from a curse closely related to the demon race," Lortheran finally spoke again.
The Third Prince, who had been keeping his head down, froze, overjoyed. He had thought the plan was going to fail completely, but unexpectedly, this person still gave him a chance!
If the demons are found out, the blame can be shifted onto the Holy Son Sylvain.
I never imagined that the arrogant guy who looked down on everyone was actually connected to the demons!
The third prince clenched his fists at his sides, recalling the days when he was always outdone by Sylvain at the Royal Academy.
He dared not look up, for fear that the jealousy and resentment in his eyes would spill out.
A commoner who was born a vagrant, if he hadn't gained the Pope's favor, he probably would never have had any contact with the royal family in his life. Why should he stand above them?
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Author's Note: Dungeon: SSS-Rank Kingdom Takeover
Support: Level 999 Emperor Ancestor
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