Chapter 444: All the Gentlemen Please Take Their Seats
As the spectators watched, the Lord Chamberlain first broke his white cane, snapping it in two.
"Farewell, Your Majesty."
Minister Hermes respectfully placed the broken cane on the queen's coffin and bowed to it.
This meant the end of Mycroft's lifelong loyalty to Her Majesty the Queen and the dismissal of his position as Lord Chamberlain.
He felt a little regretful, but also relieved. He turned and walked away from the coffin.
Attorney General Carter, who was standing behind him, also stepped forward, tore his shoulder strap into two pieces, and placed them on the coffin.
"Farewell, Your Majesty."
Minister Carter also closed his eyes and spoke in a low voice, feeling somewhat lost.
This was not a speech to the Queen's soul, but rather a speech to his past self.
After all, the Queen wasn't like an ordinary person, whose soul only officially ascended to the Dream Realm after her funeral. At the moment of her death, the Lord's Knights had already taken her to the Lord's realm. Now, only her body remained in the material world.
Each minister was required to destroy the token of power bestowed upon them by Queen Sofia at the funeral, thereby relinquishing their ministerial status. The new ministers would be decided at a roundtable meeting the day after the national funeral.
And there will undoubtedly be another announcement at this roundtable.
That is a declaration of war on Xingti.
Aiwass, wearing a solemn black clerical robe, stood quietly behind Isabel with his hands tucked into his sleeves in front of him.
Logically, Aiwass should be worried about the war.
After all, Avalon had already been destroyed by the Star Antimony, not to mention that Aiwass would soon leave Avalon for the Theocracy. Could Isabel really withstand such pressure on her own?
Obviously, the ministers were also feeling a little worried or excited about this.
Those who knew of the advanced technology of the planets were also clearly distracted. Compared to the ordinary people who were only angry, they knew that Avalon had reached the edge of a cliff. Whether Avalon started a war or not, it would be destroyed.
——But Aiwass is not nervous at all now.
Because now there is a secret information - apart from Isabel, only the people who lived in the Temple of Silver and Tin last night know it.
Emma's assassination of Isabel even alarmed the Theocracy.
Perhaps it was because Bishop Mathers realized that he had been bewitched, so he urgently contacted the Theocracy through the church's channels. In short, Bishop Mathers came to the Temple of Silver and Tin in person that night.
After asking Aiwass and Isabel whether they were still in danger and whether they needed purification and treatment, he made a very sincere apology to Aiwass and Isabel for being bewitched.
Afterwards, he acted as a messenger and explained to them the intentions of the Theocracy.
——The Theocracy acknowledges that Avalon stands on the side of justice and allows Avalon to launch a limited war of revenge against Star Antimony.
In other words, the Avalonians could stop the war whenever they wanted; and the Star Antimony would have to force King Valentine VII to abdicate and make satisfactory compensation to Avalon before the revenge war could be mediated and ended. Once the war began, the Star Antimony could only defend within their borders and could not counterattack into Avalon, otherwise the Theocracy would intervene.
After learning about the attitude of the Theocracy, Aiwass breathed a sigh of relief.
In the original timeline, the Theocracy encountered a very difficult situation in the summer of 1899, the year Avalon was destroyed. Because of this, when Avalon was invaded by the Star Antimony people in the autumn of 1899, the Theocracy remained silent and could not help.
And it was only January 1899.
The vicious incident that nearly caused the collapse of the Theocracy's order and was not resolved by the players until 1900 had not yet occurred.
The Theocracy and Avalon have a very close relationship... In a sense, Avalon could even be considered a vassal state of the Theocracy. After all, Isabelle herself is one-quarter elven. And this incident is undoubtedly 100% the fault of Star Antimony. Therefore, the Theocracy firmly stands on the side of the people of Avalon.
Therefore, the attitude of the Church is to take sides.
Not only did he support Avalon in launching a war of revenge...but the Eternal Pope personally ordered that nine papal guards would be sent to protect Isabel closely.
The Pope's Guards are the "elf stewards" of the Founder's family who are solely responsible for preventing the Founder's family from becoming extinct.
The protection from the elves was to guard her until death. After all, Isabel's lifespan was definitely not as long as theirs.
The weakest among them has the strength equivalent to the peak of the fourth energy level, and among them, outstanding strong ones like Butler Oswald even have the combat power equivalent to the fifth energy level.
This time, the Theocracy sent only the elite of the Pope's Guard, all of them powerful men on Oswald's level. Furthermore, they were all young enough, unlike the current "elf butlers" who were all elderly.
——Nine Queen’s Guards who are equivalent to the fifth level!
As the nation with the most top-tier experts, the Theocracy only has around fifty experts of this caliber. This time, nearly one-fifth of them were directly allocated to Avalon.
Then the attitude of the Eternal Pope is very clear.
It's because they think that there are too few top-level experts of the Star Antimony people to bully Avalon...so the wealthy Church directly made up the difference.
There were seventeen Level Fives on Xingti's side. Excluding Xingti's aging monarch, his uncontrollable Red and Black Phases, and the deceased Emma, there were thirteen remaining.
On the Avalon side, Janice had already left, leaving only four "big-time" transcendents. Counting these nine, there were exactly thirteen people in total.
——What, you like bullying people? If you have the guts, why not send them all out?
Apparently, the Eternal Pope was also angry.
When the Avalon royal family was cursed, the Theocracy also advised against war. After all, they hadn't directly attacked the monarch—directly attacking the rulers of other nations was explicitly prohibited by the Theocracy's rules. The rulers of each nation could only be overthrown by the locals, not by other nations.
Even in the original world line, when the Theocracy was almost paralyzed and the fully armed and war-ready Star Antimony people had to wait until Minister of Trade Droste poisoned the Queen before they dared to initiate the war.
As a result, Xing Ti is becoming more and more rampant, and even directly attacks Isabel herself.
This angered the Theocracy.
——What? You don’t know how to be shameless even if I give you the chance?
If the Theocracy was not a permanently neutral country, they might have to go out and beat Xingti themselves this time.
While Avalon couldn't deploy them for war, this prevented the Star People from using them for decapitation tactics. They could even be used to identify spies, which fell within the scope of "maintaining the safety of the living space." In other words, the Theocracy hoped Isabel would find ways to utilize them to cause trouble for the Star People.
It will also greatly boost the morale of the people of Avalon, letting them know that the Theocracy is on the side of Avalon!
But the Xingti people couldn't say anything either.
Because it was indeed Emma who did it.
When they heard the news, they were also horrified. The Star Antimony people were not prepared for war at all, and they had sent Emma here to seek cooperation with the Avalonians. Her attack on Julia was not the intention of Valentine VII, but a personal request from the Red Prime Minister.
The result was that no matter how the prophet from Xingti divined, the best he could get was the answer that "the succubus did attack Isabel."
Not long after Bishop Mathers left, the Star Antimony Royal Family called the Temple of Silver and Tin.
This wasn't proper etiquette. A matter of this magnitude required a formal diplomatic letter, ensuring that all three parties had a record of the conversation. But because they desperately needed an explanation, Xingti called that very evening.
It was Valentine VII himself who called.
After asking Aiwass's opinion, Isabel chose not to accept it.
Because the "young queen who was attacked" should be angry, especially since the Grand Guardian "nearly lost her life" because of it. At this time, the Theocracy generously offered help, so it was normal for her not to answer the phone.
When the phone rang for the second time, Aiwass answered it for Isabel, who listened quietly beside him.
The "Valentine VII", who was known for his ruthlessness and decisiveness, seemed unusually gentle and even humble on the phone.
He didn't care at all that it wasn't Isabel who answered the phone. He immediately formally apologized to Isabel and all those who were injured and died in the incident, and declared that he would give "adequate compensation."
His explanation can be summarized as follows: "This is the work of the devil in Emma's body, and Emma herself is also a victim. This matter has nothing to do with her and therefore has nothing to do with Xingti's political stance."
Valentine VII verbally promised a great many benefits, and stated that Xingti would immediately send a diplomatic mission of the highest standard, and that his eldest son would personally visit Avalon, hoping that Avalon would remain calm for the time being.
It is obvious that he plans to cede a lot of interests in the subsequent diplomacy, just hoping that war will not happen.
——What is he afraid of?
Aiwass keenly sensed something.
Something seemed to have gone wrong inside Xingtan... It was a problem that had not appeared in the original world line, which made Xingtan lose the confidence to go to war with Avalon.
So Aiwas rejected him without hesitation - he was about to finalize the agreement with Grandet and no longer needed the resources of the Star People. Not to mention that Grandet had revealed to Aiwas that the Star People were now in a desperate situation and they could not offer any benefits at all.
Today, Avalon needs a victory and an enemy to awaken the spirit of the entire country.
Such a powerful reason to declare war, and with the Theocracy as their backing—if they missed this opportunity, the Theocracy might not be so supportive of Avalon next time. This thing can't be "saved for next time."
Valentine VII obviously also caught the confidence of Aiwass from his tone.
Then he immediately realized that this was no longer negotiable.
But even so, Valentine VII still maintained a polite and friendly attitude and ended the conversation.
No one from the Xingti Embassy in Avalon was invited to the National Funeral Day ceremony. Those with a keen sense of smell could already sense the scent of war.
Although Avalon had not yet expelled them, both sides now knew that war could begin at any time.
The storm is coming.
This depressing atmosphere continued until the round table meeting on the second day of the National Funeral.
January 3, 1899.
Perhaps it can be regarded as the most important round table meeting since the new king ascended the throne.
When all the knights were in place, only the Minister without Portfolio had not yet arrived.
But this time, the Cavaliers didn't dare to talk about Aiwass anymore.
There was no noisy discussion, only a midnight-like silence shrouding the entire Round Table Hall. It was as if the atmosphere of yesterday's funeral had continued into the day.
But just when the knights thought that Aiwass, Queen Isabel's shadow, would not be there again...
A person slowly appeared at the gate.
That man was Aiwass.
There was no crow perched on his shoulder, but a dancing flame butterfly.
The Queen's Guards sent by the Theocracy had already arrived in Avalon, so Aiwass no longer needed to keep Night Demon on 24/7 alert. He could finally swap out Flame Butterfly and use the pastoral method to feed it experience.
When the crows leave, the butterflies return.
This means that Glass Island has become safe again.
Aiwass was no longer wearing the Moriarty family's knight armor, but his own clerical robes, trousers, and white cloth shoes.
——That is the Minister Moriarty who is now well-known throughout the country!
He wasn't wearing armor... Did this mean he was going to take his seat as a spiritual councilor?
The knights discussed in low voices, breaking the dead silence.
But at this moment, Aiwass, who had just entered the room, suddenly took off the outermost surplice he was wearing.
He casually handed the veil to the ceremonial officer guarding the door.
Aiwass's pure white shirt also had a pure white clerical collar, and the collar also had the two golden thorns with roses embossed on it. But the clothes he wore underneath made him look like a star noble.
Pure white shirt, pure white trousers, pure white cloth shoes.
Coupled with Aiwass's long platinum hair, he now looked like he was shining in the morning light.
He put his hands behind his back and slowly stepped onto the broken glass steps.
Passing by the armored knights, they passed by the huge round table that could accommodate twenty-two people.
Aiwass reached out and gently touched each of the armored knights sitting at the round table.
The butterfly fluttered between his fingers, and the elegant fragrance of sandalwood and jasmine spread in all directions.
Under the knights' stunned yet silent gaze, Aiwass sat safely in his seat.
That was the position closest to Isabel, on her left.
There is no doubt that Aiwass is the first unarmored Knight of the Round Table since the founding of Avalon.
Just like the glass steps that have never been broken since the founding of the country, Avalon's ancient traditions that have been passed down to this day, although meaningless but unshakable, were also destroyed by Aiwass.
But now, no one dares to question it.
Aiwass rested his chin on his left hand and looked around.
Some people met his gaze without fear, while others lowered their heads or avoided his gaze.
Aiwass chuckled, picked up the hammer in front of Isabel with his right hand, and struck the bell in front of the queen.
"—The meeting is now in session."
Aiwass supported his chin with his left hand and looked calmly at the knights who stood up.
He sat in his seat and announced leisurely:
"My Lords... please take your seats."
(Volume 1: Glass Stairs, End)
An update of more than 8,000 words, this volume is complete!
There are also final remarks~
(End of this chapter)
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