Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 61 Journey

Thales watched the nobles' open and covert arguments with indifference, then lowered his head dejectedly.

Power, procedure, war, military strength, throne.

He let out a soft sigh.

Is this the future I'm facing?
He suddenly felt that the world that had been unknown and strange, which had aroused his endless curiosity, had become somewhat boring.

“Cyril,” Duke Cullen glared at Falkenhausen with displeasure, “do you always have to be so blunt?”

A deafening roar echoed from afar in Star Gathering Square, the sound chaotic, mixed with anger and fanaticism, making it difficult to hear clearly.

Meanwhile, in the Hall of Stars, the commoners and minor nobles who were listening in erupted into a flood of protests!
"Shameless lord! This is usurpation!"

“But we need an heir! What if something happens to the king at the front…”

"Traitor, die! Canxing is our king, that is a sacred oath!"

"This is all for the stars! We must stand together and fight Exter!"

The dukes exchanged silent glances, while the earls whispered among themselves.

"Silence! Silence!" Gilbert tried his best to maintain order, but to little avail.

Until the Supreme King of the Stars, Kessel V, his eyes gleamed.

He gripped the mysterious scepter that shimmered with starlight and rose upright from his throne!

He roared angrily in a stern voice:

"Heir?"

The Hall of Stars fell silent instantly, everyone staring at the king's robust figure.

"What a perfect time! But it just so happens that the stars are in trouble, and we must cooperate to fight the enemy!"

The king placed his hands on his scepter, his sharp gaze fixed on Köst Nanthurst before him.

The one-eyed dragon slowly raised his hand to his chest and knelt on one knee before the king.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but this is a test,” Kusder said calmly and earnestly, his words conveying sincerity. “I believe that the originally weakened and scattered power of the stars will be reunited in the confrontation between the dragon and the stars.”

"Everyone knows that the first person to suggest forcing the establishment of an heir will inevitably be condemned by the public."

"But am I doing this for myself, so that Southrest can ascend the throne?"

Kusder raised his head, his single eye revealing a clear gaze:

“Your Majesty, you may exclude Southrest from the list of heirs.”

"Everything for the sake of the stars—please appoint an heir, or at least determine the method for selecting an heir—that way, the stars will surely return to the pinnacle of the Western Continent, and may even recreate the glory of the empire."

Kessel slowly walked up to him and sneered, "Korsde, sometimes I can't tell whether your righteous indignation is genuine or feigned."

“But it is beneficial to the stars,” the One-Eyed Duke calmly replied, “regardless of whether it is genuine or not.”

“I had also imagined this situation—but it was at a high-level meeting, and it didn’t have to be so ugly,” Count Dastan’s voice came. He stood up steadily, walked behind Gosd, and knelt down on one knee as well. “But Your Majesty, your state affairs meeting has turned this legitimate remonstrance into a public confrontation that resembles a coup d’être.”

“But we all have perfectly valid reasons,” Earl Sorel said solemnly as he stepped forward from behind, knelt on one knee, and declared, “for the revival of this once great but now riddled-with-holes nation.”

"Just by changing the king?" Gilbert's face contorted with rage. "You think you can turn the stars into an empire just by putting on a crown?"

“It’s not that simple,” Count Bozdorf said grimly as he stepped forward and knelt down firmly. “Instead, it’s about turning the once high and mighty king into one of us, thinking what we think and doing what we do. Monarchs and nobles were originally one, separated by the difference in power… Now, we are united again.”

“Kevindil has followed the Stars since the final battle, and this vow will never change,” Jann said, bowing his head deeply. “But I think that protecting the safety and future of the Stars is also His Majesty Tormund I’s wish, and he will understand.”

Duke of the Tricolor Iris stood up abruptly and joined the kneeling crowd.

Falkenhausen's untimely laughter rang out again: "So you mean to implement an elective monarchy? Ha, how about 'let us share His Majesty's burden'! Just like Exter?"

“Better than Exter – we have a thousand-year-old imperial heritage.” Count Lacia of the South Coast Territory glanced at Duke Jann with a complicated expression before kneeling down.

Cohen watched in disbelief as his father, Count Karabyan, silently knelt down, following Count Lacia.

King Catherine V coldly looked down at the dukes and earls, who all knelt on one knee.

“This is not the fault of the Starry Sky royal family, but the fault of that crown, that throne, and that scepter.” Duke Cullen sighed at this moment: “Since the royal line has been cut off, for the sake of the stars, it is not necessarily a bad thing for His Majesty to choose an heir.”

The two counts of the East Sea Territory, Harvia and Amund, also silently stepped forward and knelt down after the Duke of Cullen spoke.

“A blatant and shameful coup,” Earl Godwin, one of the royalists, said through gritted teeth. “How can you do this, and still be so self-righteous and awe-inspiring?”

“Can’t you see it?” Count Deleuze Cromar calmly rose from his seat and knelt down: “This is the inevitable trend.”

Below the Fuxing Palace, the noise from the crowd grew louder and louder.

"Thump!" Val slammed his fist on the armrest of the stone seat, his eyes turning cold: "Sometimes, I'm really disgusted by you guys."

He clenched his fists, bowed his head, and said, "An unbelievably coincidental war, an unbelievably coincidental act of advice... and the sacrificed North..."

Kaiser V looked directly at him with a unique and enigmatic gaze.

Under the king's enigmatic gaze, the Duke of the North closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

His brow furrowed, as if he were engaged in a fierce struggle.

Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he opened his eyes to Kessel.

But Val did not look the king in the eye. The once-magnanimous Duke of the North, now dejected and disappointed, said:
"But if this can secure the Northern Territory, and the stability and security of the stars..."

"Kai, maybe you should reconsider."

His two northern earls both hung their heads in silence.

King Catherine V's eyes dimmed.

He turned away, no longer looking at his old friend.

Seeing Val's hesitation and guilt, Duke Cyril Falkenhaus laughed sharply again.

"It seems that Your Majesty's only options are to directly select an heir or to establish a system of electing a king."

Only Catherine V stood expressionless above his courtiers.

All he held tightly in his hand was a scepter.

Thales suddenly realized how lonely his father was.

What would the situation be like today if I hadn't been found?
Thales, who was watching all of this, suddenly felt dizzy.

Again.

A memory from the past came to mind:

Wu Qiren sat in a tiny classroom, reporting to a professor and two students:

Poggi inherited Weber's German academic tradition, examining the formation of the feudal state in the context of power...

No! Not now!
Thales pressed hard against his temples, trying to suppress the flashback of memory.

But when Thales’ attention returned to the Hall of Stars, he finally heard the authoritative words of King Catherine V:
"It seems that without designating an heir, I won't even be able to fight a war."

"Okay."

“Then I will appoint an heir.”

Jann frowned slightly—that sense of unease was growing stronger.

King Catherine V did not even glance at the nobles on the ground, and slowly sat down.

The words Thales had been waiting for finally rang out:
“Let him meet everyone, Gilbert.”

coming.

Thales' mind went blank.

He forced himself to swallow.

He looked at Gilbert and waved.

Inside the dark room, a hidden door suddenly opened, leading to a long staircase that seemed to lead nowhere.

Discussions broke out in the Hall of Stars.

The dukes and earls remained calm, but in their glances, they all saw doubt in each other's eyes.

Thales straightened his bow tie.

【Thales.】

The boy called out the name of his world.

It's time.

Thales decisively stepped down the stairs.

Just treat it as another game.

step.

Another step.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty…” Count Dastan on the ground raised his head and looked directly at Kessel: “Your chosen successor is not among the nobles in this hall?”

The Supreme King simply stared at him coldly, without uttering a word.

In the narrow passage, Thales pressed his hand tightly against his forehead.

The memory flashed back again.

But he gritted his teeth and continued walking forward with determination.

I opened my eyes to a hall of stars.

When you close your eyes, you become another version of yourself, living in fragments of memory.

The bond between lords and vassals was imbued with strong personal feelings and private interests... The struggle for power gradually corrupted it, leading to the collapse of order, instability, and periodic outbreaks of chaotic violence... The unified feudal system ultimately fragmented and fell apart...

However, the rise of feudalism was still a valuable effort on our part to consolidate public rule...

Poggi also believes that in this process, the legitimacy of power, the limits of monarchical rule, the responsibilities and traditions of the state, and even the importance of law have all come into historical view and been recognized—this is the most valuable legacy that feudalism left to subsequent states…

But we still have to ask, what exactly did Poggi's observations and analysis miss?

What exactly was missed?
"Your Majesty, have you chosen your successor?" The one-eyed man, Kusder Nanthurst, raised his single, meaningful eye and looked around. "It seems that neither the Tebak family nor the two great clans of the southwest have come?"

The Supreme King still ignored him.

Thales arrived at a side door and could already see the commoners surrounding the Hall of Stars.

No, it's not the side door.

He realized that the door before him led to the center of the hall—the Twenty Stone Seat. It was the main entrance.

The guards looked serious, but some couldn't help but look at him, at the badge on his body.

The moment they saw it clearly, many people's breathing quickened, and some even leaned forward in a daze.

But a guard who appeared to be the leader sternly rebuked them and then bowed respectfully to Thales, making way for them to enter the hall.

However, just as Thales was about to take a step...

"Go."

You will be better than him.

Thales suddenly looked up!
All I saw was that the guard had already turned and left.

Only a figure in full armor and helmet remained, his back to the viewer.

Yodl.

Thales clenched his fist.

It's you?

Similarly, civilians both inside and outside the hall had already seen the little boy outside the door.

They began to whisper and signal to each other.

Memories flashed back like the receding tide.

The boy felt as if a new force had been added to his body, making him more energetic.

Thales took three deep breaths.

It's just another game.

It was just another thesis defense.

Thales cleared away all emotions and expressions and stepped onto the star-blue patterned carpet.

He began his journey.

He moved forward, stepping over the outermost group of ordinary civilians.

A somewhat rustic-looking country gentleman nudged a friend who ran errands between the city and the countryside.

"Who is that?"

"Children are allowed in?"

"Perhaps a nobleman?"

"so small?"

"Hey, did you see that? That child is dressed so nicely."

"She's almost as good as the Baron's daughter."

Thales kept his eyes straight ahead.

He stepped forward, crossing the steps formed by merchants, artisans, farmers, and guild leaders.

A portly carriage merchant looked somewhat surprised.

He tugged at the arms of two colleagues.

"Look at that child!"

"Is he a nobleman who arrived late?"

"This attire is not that of a minor nobleman!"

Do you recognize the insignia he's wearing?

“It looks familiar. I once pulled a group of customers, and the scrolls they were carrying had that mark.”

"Why are you coming in at this hour?"

Thales kept walking.

He stepped forward, passing the seats occupied by veterans and government officials.

A judge from a small village on the outskirts of the city saw him.

He frowned and whispered in the ear of another city hall approver.

“Look at that family crest.”

"That's... oh my god!"

"how is this possible?"

"I also think it's impossible. You're not mistaken, are you?"

"I've handled hundreds of royal edicts! How could I possibly make a mistake!"

Thales ignored him completely.

He moved forward, stepping over the unsupported stone seats of lower-ranking nobles such as lords and barons.

A baron smoking a pipe had a glint in his eye and almost bit down on the pipe in his mouth.

He leaned forward and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Could that be... a nine-pointed star?"

"What? This..."

Do you think the same way I do?

"almost."

"Then now..."

"Yes, he truly deserves the title of the Iron-Fisted King."

Thales ignored it all.

He stepped forward, passing over the stone seats of viscounts, earls, and other middle-ranking nobles.

An honorary earl opened his mouth in disbelief.

He didn't need to inform anyone else; many nobles had already seen Thales.

"That is……"

"Your Majesty... how are we going to handle this?"

"No, there hasn't been a single word from them all these years..."

"Could it be an illegitimate child who has been living away from home..."

“Those lords…”

"Sigh, this pool is too deep..."

"Just wait and see the good show."

The murmurs, noises, and commotion among the crowd grew louder and louder, eventually escalating into a commotion and a roar.

People stood up, leaning forward to look at the mysterious boy with the gold and silver nine-pointed star on his body.

In the very center of the stone seat, Cohen turned his head curiously toward the source of the commotion.

A boy dressed in aristocratic attire, with a nine-pointed star brooch pinned to his finger, walked forward with a serious expression.

Cohen stared at the nine-pointed star, frozen in place.

Why does that boy have the emblem of the Starry Sky on him?

Thales stepped onto the thirteen-stone seat without changing his expression.

Gilbert winked at him.

The three seated dukes saw the boy approaching step by step.

They could no longer remain calm.

Val stared in shock at the approaching boy, his fists clenched.

"Are you... joking?"

Kulen frowned, his obese body leaning forward.

"That boy...the insignia on his body..."

Cyril ground his terrifying teeth, his brow twitching, and spat out a few words.

"Ah... this is really... unexpected."

The Supreme King gently raised his head, his eyes filled with both coldness and amusement.

He chuckled softly:

"Everyone, come and meet Thales."

The lords, who were kneeling on one knee, all turned around.

The moment he saw the boy's face, the pupils of the South Bank Guardian Duke, Jann Kevindir, immediately dilated and contracted.

he.

he?
he!
Kessel began to stroke his scepter again, and once more spoke words full of authority and weight:

"He is my son."

"The only bloodline of the Shining Star royal family."

Thales bowed deeply to the king, his right hand forward and his left hand behind his back.

He turned to the lords scattered across the ground.

"Good day, sirs."

Thales heard himself say this.

That was the first time Thales had spoken to the noble lords who held great power and ruled the kingdoms in the stars.

(End of this chapter)