Imperial Crown.

Chapter 406: Royal Power, Not Forever

Many thanks to Qidian Dad [Book Friend 20220612102618521] for the 100 reward!

……

The Royal Court has stood in the center of the continent for a thousand years.

Anthony walked up hundreds of steps against the light, climbing up this magnificent structure step by step.

Sweat flowed down his forehead, ran down the wrinkles on his face, and then spread out on his deeply pursed lips and wet his collar, but Anthony didn't care at all.

At the end of the stairs, there is a towering statue of Cairns I that overlooks the entire city of Mingnagar. It once made Anthony feel at ease, because it meant that he could meet His Majesty again and gain higher honors and more wealth.

But now, what hovered in Anthony's heart was panic, anxiety and...

fear.

The sharp sword in the statue's hand seemed like it would chop down his head in the next second.

Since the end of the trial of Raven, Anthony has been stripped of his title of Governor of the Nord Province by His Majesty the King on the grounds of "poor performance in office".

For Anthony, who was nearly 70 years old and a court noble, this meant the end of his political life.

If it were just that, then Anthony could live a leisurely life with fine wine and beautiful women from now on.

But today, His Majesty suddenly summoned him!
This is not a good sign.

Recently, orc attacks on the southeastern border of the empire have suddenly intensified; in the northeast, Insa has sent troops to the border on the pretext of "protecting trade routes."

If I were sent to these two places because of this...

He was afraid that he could only return to the capital by lying in a coffin!

Following the guidance of the palace eunuch, I arrived at the door of His Majesty's study. Before I could stand firmly, a roar exploded from inside!

"Ninja!? You asked me to Ninja!?"

"I am the ruler of the empire. He is good at killing nobles. Do you want me to praise him for doing a good job!?"

"How many gold coins did you take from him!?"

With a bang, a vase broke through the door and fell to the ground.

Even through the layers of curtains in the hall, the roar was still terrifying, like the roar of a dragon or the howl of a tiger.

Anthony's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He couldn't tell whether this was directed at him or if it was really a "coincidence".

Soon, Pile retreated respectfully with blood on his forehead.

"Mr. Marquis." Pierre walked up to Anthony and said, "His Majesty wants you to come in."

As a dwarf, only about 1 meter tall, with a physique similar to that of a child, the wound on his head looked particularly horrible, with the skin and flesh rolled up, as if his scalp was about to be torn off, causing Anthony to feel phantom pain:
"Mr. Pillar, Your Majesty, what is this...?"

Shaking his head, Pierre lifted his sleeves and pointed to the northwest:
"Your Excellency, please come to see His Majesty."

Anthony understood.

He had heard about Raven's killing of Little Flay and occupying his territory, and he originally thought it was just a rumor, but he didn't expect it to be true.

Taking a deep breath, Anthony walked into the palace, suppressed the unconscious trembling of his hands, bowed his head and saluted respectfully:
"His Majesty!"

My scalp is tense, ready for the storm.

However, what came was the soft voice of Keynes XVI: "Sit down."

Anthony sat halfway down in the chair and looked up secretly.

The affluent life of the royal family makes the nearly 40-year-old Keynes XVI look young. At first glance, he looks to be only in his early 20s. There is a trace of red from anger on his intimidating face, but there is no trace of anger in it. Instead, he has a warmth that makes people feel like spring breeze.

This is what Anthony fears the most.

"You brought Acore out." Keynes XVI said:

"Now that he has achieved good results, you can be considered a military noble."

"I guess his outstanding performance must have something to do with his biological father, right?"

Anthony's heart tightened.

After the empire suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Insa, Keynes XVI drew lessons from the incident and decided to reorganize a new army.

Akori, who had experience in the Eivor War and was very familiar with the Eagle Army, became the best candidate.

In the past half month, the new army led by Akori has defeated the Royal Guards three times in a row in actual combat exercises involving 5000 people, and has become the most popular army in the royal capital.

It also became the new favorite of Keynes XVI.

Last night, Akori came to visit Anthony with gifts.

"Your Majesty, Acorre came to me only to express his gratitude for my care for him in his early years." Anthony carefully considered his words, not wanting to make any mistakes:

"He was promoted by His Majesty, and his achievements were also due to His Majesty's training. I know nothing about military affairs, so how dare I call myself a military noble."

"As for the relationship with Duke Ferdinand, I swear on my life that Acorei has no knowledge of it and it is impossible for him to have any communication with Duke Ferdinand!"

The air was quiet for a moment, and Anthony waited for his trial in agony.

"Well, I believe you on this point." Keynes XVI suddenly raised his voice, his tone was extremely stern:
"If you can train Akori so well, then how can Raven be so arrogant?"

"It's been two months since the incident happened. Even the beggars in the capital know what good he did. Don't you know?"

"Or do you think you can absolve yourself of responsibility by not reporting the knowledge?"

Keynes XVI's words were like huge rocks piled on Anthony's chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Although he had not yet become furious, Anthony knew that this was an attitude that was even more frightening than rage. If he handled it improperly, the consequences would be more than just a broken head.

The flowers in the Royal Court are not so prosperous for no reason.

This huge pressure of stepping into the abyss in the next second made Anthony no longer care about his noble manners. He stood up from the chair and shouted:
"Your Majesty, I absolutely wouldn't dare to do that. I've just been away from Nord for too long, and it takes time to verify the news!"

"Since the news is true, I am willing to serve as an envoy and personally arrest Raven and bring him back to the capital for trial!"

Anthony stared at his toes, waiting for the judgment of fate.

"That's not necessary." Keynes XVI stared at Anthony:
"Little Flay was a viscount, so if he died, that's fine. What's more, I gave him the title of Earl Raven but didn't give him any fiefdom, which was against the rules."

"But Raven shouldn't have dealt with Little Peeler without asking for permission or reporting to me!"

"He is one of your men. You will handle this matter on my behalf this time. You can leave the fief to him, but you must give him a good beating."

"Let him remember that in the empire, the life and death of nobles is not decided by him!"

After hearing this, Anthony's heart finally settled down and he couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Calling me over here, first beat up Piler for me to see, then used Akori to hit me, just for this? !
Is this even necessary to test?

Have you forgotten what you have done?

From the moment I followed your orders to sue Raven, any friendship between him and I was gone long ago!
But these words must not be said, Anthony said respectfully:
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will teach Earl Raven a lesson he will never forget!"

……

thump.

The memory stopped abruptly.

The driver's voice came from outside: "My Lord Marquis, we have arrived at Eagle City."

Anthony opened his eyes, straightened his clothes and walked out of the carriage. The first thing he saw was Raven who was leading people to greet him at the door.

This made Anthony, who was originally a little nervous, relax a lot.

To be honest, although Anthony boasted in front of His Majesty, he was still a little wary of Raven.

He has no position or power now, and if Raven wants to give him the cold shoulder, he will have nowhere to complain.

And Raven's subsequent performance made Anthony more optimistic about the prospects of this trip.

"Lord Marquis." Raven saluted and said, "I have prepared a banquet and am waiting for your arrival." "Lord Raven is too polite." Although he said so, Anthony still waited for Raven to finish his salute before stepping forward and saying, "I am just out for a leisurely stroll, there is no need for such a grand ceremony."

"You are the old governor of Nord Province." Raven said with a smile:
"The sun is too strong, let's go inside and talk."

Anthony smiled and followed Raven into the Eagle City Hall.

The banquet was truly sumptuous, and even considering Anthony's old age, the food was soft and tasty, showing that a lot of thought was put into it.

At the banquet, both the host and the guests were in great harmony. No political topics were discussed, only some daily gossip.

After the banquet, Raven took Anthony to the Eagle Town Arena to watch the competition performance.

The waiters in the box left, leaving only Anthony and Raven.

Anthony stared at the dancers in the middle of the stage:

"Lord Raven, actually, I came from the capital this time and brought you a gift."

As he spoke, he took out a letter from his bosom and placed it on the round table between the two of them:

"In three years, the Empire will once again send an envoy to the Elf Empire. Before I came here, I specially signed up for you. In three years, when you arrive at the capital, you can join the envoy with this letter."

The Griffith family is under a blood curse, and no one can live past 40. This is no secret to those who are interested.

The life-sap of the Elf Empire can extend the natural lifespan of the user by at least 8 years. Anthony doesn't believe that Raven won't be tempted.

After all, entering the Elf Empire through an envoy is almost the only way to obtain the sap of life.

Sure enough, Raven turned around with a hint of desire in his eyes, but he twisted the corner of the envelope with his fingers and pushed it back to Anthony: "This gift is really too valuable..."

"You should keep the valuables." Anthony sighed deeply.
"Consider this my compensation to you on behalf of the empire!"

"Compensation?" Raven tapped the table with his fingers.

"What do you mean, Marquis?"

Faced with Raven's knowing question, Anthony was not in a hurry. He stared at the dancers' legs, took out a bottle of potion to treat old injuries, tilted his head back and drank it himself.

"call……"

"Everyone has his own blood curse, kid."

Raven silently picked up the Angel's Tear and took a sip.

Anthony seemed to be really attracted by the performance in the arena. He watched it intently, nodded constantly, admired, and occasionally made a comment.

Anthony continued the topic only after the warm-up dancers left:
"The news of you killing Little Flay has spread all over the capital."

"Not only is public opinion denouncing you, but His Majesty the King is furious!"

"If I hadn't stood up against all odds and argued with His Majesty, the people who wanted to arrest you would have already blocked the gate of Eagle City."

"That is why I have displeased His Majesty, been stripped of my authority, and been sent here."

Raven was unmoved: "My Lord Marquis still cares for his subordinates as much as he did when he was the Governor. Raven is truly grateful."

As if he didn't hear the irony, Anthony said seriously:

"You don't have to thank me, you just need to know that I tried my best for you."

"You killed Little Peeler for a reason, but you did it without permission. This is a disgrace to the laws of the empire and undermines the dignity of Your Majesty."

"With my reminder, His Majesty also realized that your promotion to earl and the lack of fiefdom for you violated the imperial conventions. Your taking the Little Skinning Territory is not too out of line."

"So, your majesty means that you can take charge of Little Flay's territory, but you can't escape punishment."

"In the next five years, the Griffith family must hand over 5% of its profits to His Majesty. You must also hand over the formula for Angel's Glory and at least 80 skilled workers who can make Angel's Glory."

Of course, it is impossible to hand over all these things to Keynes XVI.

According to Anthony's calculations, of the 80% of the Griffith family's profits, 50% would be given to His Majesty, and 30% would be kept by himself; as for the Angel's Glory, that was purely his selfish desire.

After all, its hot sales in the royal capital still make people itchy when they think about it now.

Seeing that Raven's expression was getting uglier, Anthony sighed and said, "Raven, you are still young and don't understand the rules of the empire. If the little skinner provokes you, you can come to me. I have a hundred ways to kill him silently and without taking any responsibility."

"But you can't!"

"The Griffith family has a long history, but you know where you come from."

"To be honest, the 80% of the profits are not all what Your Majesty needs. I want to take 10%. For the sake of our friendship, I will take half. You only need to hand over 75%."

"I know this is very stressful for you, but the most important thing now is to appease His Majesty's anger and let him see your attitude. Otherwise, I'll say something I shouldn't...

The Fox family that was destroyed overnight six years ago is a lesson for us! "

Hearing this, Raven's frown relaxed and he kept looking at the letters on the table. He seemed to have accepted the reality but was still subconsciously weighing the pros and cons.

Anthony stopped pressing and turned his attention to the arena.

This match is between the star of the arena, the goblin Chichikake, and the SLG of 12 female mercenaries, the "Silver Ladies" mercenary group.

As swords clashed, suggestive screams rang out one after another, clothes flew everywhere, and large areas of white skin were exposed, like a stage play of "Beauty and the Beast", quite exciting and tempting.

Unexpectedly, as the performance was coming to an end, Raven still hadn't expressed his opinion, which made Anthony a little annoyed, and he decided to push Raven again.

"Lord Raven, I know you feel uncomfortable, but the Empire has always been like this."

"In the past, even though the empire had a history of aristocratic co-governance for nearly 400 years, it still failed to prevent the establishment of the Third Dynasty."

"The Griffith family has won the favor of His Majesty and is still shining after a thousand years. On the other hand, the other 23 families on the obelisk have either completely cut off their inheritance or have sunk to an unknown place."

"Let's talk about me. I was born into a royal family and worked hard for the royal family my whole life. Even though I didn't make any contributions, I still worked hard. But in the end, because I didn't meet your majesty's expectations, I was stripped of my title and retired in disgrace?"

"The punishment I've given you this time is lenient enough."

The king's authority gave Anthony unlimited confidence.

He stared at Raven with a scorching gaze and said in a resounding voice:

"I tell you this because I want to tell you a truth. In the Keynes Empire—"

"Royal power is eternity!"

锃

The sound of a sword being unsheathed suddenly rang out.

A brilliant starry sky appeared before Anthony's eyes.

As the stars flashed by, his field of vision suddenly rose and spun.

He saw Raven with blood splattered on his face, saw the sword wrapped in starlight, and saw his headless body spraying blood.

thump.

The head fell to the ground, and Anthony stared at Raven with eyes full of surprise.

He killed me?

He killed me?!
HE KILLED ME????????????????????????
Raven wiped the sword clean with the mission registration letter on the table, sheathed the sword, and a ball of fire ignited in his palm, engulfing the letter and burning it to ashes, just like Anthony's life which was coming to an end.

Looking at Anthony's head, Raven said calmly:

"Royal power is not eternal!"

The ambition revealed in his words made Anthony open his lips, and blood mixed with broken bubbles flowed out from the corners of his mouth, but he could not make any sound.

At the last moment of his life, Anthony discovered

The empire's greatest enemy is not Insa, nor the Church of Light, but...

Raven!

……

(End of this chapter)