Tall, severe black spires towered all around, like a mysterious forest firmly rooted in this hard land.
After several days of repairs, the royal city had recovered a portion of itself.
However, the shattered decay of the royal city could not be quickly restored to its original state through ordinary repairs.
Passing through this iron-cast forest, a palace as imposing as a steel beast stood majestically at the center.
Inside the spacious yet desolate palace, two strips of silk, bright red like blood, hung down slowly.
Like blood-colored waterfalls suspended in the air, their ends gently brushed against the cold ground.
Rows upon rows of seats filled the palace, luxurious yet cold.
The nobles, dressed in lead-gray robes, sat among them with solemn expressions.
Their gazes swept across the circle of noble seats, and as they looked at the many empty chairs, a dim gloom surfaced on their faces.
The nobles gripped the armrests tightly, their eyes full of disappointment and confusion.
Their gazes were fixed firmly on the empty throne.
August, who should have been sitting on the throne, had now vanished without a trace.
Only one day had passed since the death of Count Laurien.
The nobles had only rested for a short day as well.
After receiving the order to assemble, they had no choice but to hurry back to the royal city.
The command from Grand Duke Barlow left them not daring to delay in the slightest.
So they hadn't even had time to tell their trusted subordinates in their territories about this shocking event.
Now that they had returned to the royal palace again, looking at the empty throne before them, every person's heart was surging like waves.
The Cant Kingdom had gone through more than ten generations of rule by the Samuel royal family. Perhaps this time, it was about to change drastically.
A heavy and uneasy atmosphere filled the palace.
Until a crisp sound of footsteps broke the silence, entering the sight of the gloomy nobles.
The nobles all raised their heads to look, and a figure in an all-too-familiar black coat appeared in their view.
"Lord Viktor!"
"Lord Viktor, you've arrived."
Viktor's arrival made everyone present reveal expressions of surprise and awe.
They all stood up one after another, their faces solemn as they bowed in respect.
All eyes gathered on Viktor, watching as he slowly took his seat in the guest seat that August had prepared for him from the beginning.
Uncertainty and doubt filled the hearts of the nobles present.
Why had only Viktor come?
Where was Princess Aurelian?
As part of the imperial diplomatic delegation, Princess Aurelian should have always been inseparable from Viktor.
But this time, Aurelian had not come along.
Under normal circumstances, diplomatic delegations from other countries must follow their assigned teams and move through pre-arranged areas.
And the reason a diplomatic delegation could not appear might be related to privately handling sensitive matters involving royal authority or territorial transfers.
After all, as outsiders, they had no right to interfere in another country's politics.
Thinking about the recent events, and today's summons from the Grand Duke, perhaps there were countless connections between them.
But then again, wasn't Viktor also an outsider?
Although many of the nobles present had acknowledged Viktor, that did not mean he had become a member of the Cant Kingdom.
He was still an imperial count and a member of the Mage Council.
The nobles in the palace had already begun whispering among themselves, making guesses one after another.
Amid the noisy murmurs, Grand Duke Barlow walked out.
Wearing a lead-gray robe and leaning on a cane, his somewhat hunched figure appeared in the sight of the nobles.
His cloudy eyes swept across everyone, pausing for a moment when he saw the empty noble seats.
Then, he shifted his gaze to the seat beside the throne.
The nobles had just sat down, but upon the Grand Duke's arrival, they immediately stood up again in respect.
But when they clearly saw the person slowly following behind Grand Duke Barlow, all the nobles were stunned.
"A-August?"
"It really is August!"
"So he really was captured and brought back…"
August dragged his slow steps as he followed behind Grand Duke Barlow.
His eyes were empty, like a puppet, as he slowly walked to stand before everyone.
All the nobles present were frozen, their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open.
But beyond the shock...
Excitement, anger, resentment… a flood of emotions surged toward this king guilty of monstrous crimes.
And when they blankly saw that August was still wearing the crown that symbolized the king on his head...
Someone could no longer suppress their emotions, slammed the armrest hard, and cursed loudly, "August! What right do you still have to wear that crown?"
The other nobles were equally furious, but they restrained themselves and did not shout.
After all, what August had done was utterly inhuman.
Just bringing demi-humans to attack the city and causing the deaths of innocent civilians alone was enough to make him unworthy of continuing to sit as king.
However, the angry shout did not make August react in the slightest.
His expression remained calm, his eyes empty.
Only Grand Duke Barlow's extremely cloudy eyes calmly glanced at the noble who had shouted.
Seeing the Grand Duke's gaze, that noble let out a heavy breath, said nothing more, and sat back down.
The others followed and sat down as well.
But every person's mood was shrouded in gloom.
Because August's body had once again taken its seat upon the throne.
This was something the people present found hard to accept.
And there was also Grand Duke Barlow's reaction.
No one knew what this legendary duke, revered by countless people, intended to do.
At this moment, the Grand Duke simply swept his gaze over everyone and said in an extremely calm tone, "If he doesn't continue sitting there, then should one of you take that position?"
After hearing this, the anger rushing to their heads instantly dissipated, and cold sweat broke out all over their bodies.
Their anger had almost made them forget this fact.
No matter what August had done, he was still the king of this country, the only bloodline of the Samuel royal family.
Several years ago, after a shocking upheaval struck the kingdom, the former king and all princes of the Samuel royal family, along with all their bloodlines, had perished.
The entire Samuel royal family was left with only the former king's sole son.
Back then, August, who was still studying at the Starlight Academy, had escaped that terrifying disaster.
But this also caused a gap in both the kingdom's strength and its power.
Aside from the Grand Duke, every generation of the royal family had possessed the strongest power, serving as the kingdom's top-tier force.
This was also why the Cant Kingdom had always been strong enough to contend with the empire.
However, when the Samuel royal family was nearly wiped out and only August remained...
The kingdom's high-end combat power clearly declined, to the point where only Grand Duke Barlow was left to hold everything together.
No matter how unworthy August was, he was still the only bloodline of the Samuel royal family.
He had to sit in that position.
Otherwise, it would be disrespect toward the Samuel royal family and the great kings of the past.
Most importantly, aside from the Grand Duke, there was no one else who could gain the recognition of all the nobles like Barlow could.
Anyone who wanted to sit on the throne had better consider how many heads they had.
But what the nobles could not accept was that their country still had to continue being led by such a criminal.
Fortunately, at this moment, Grand Duke Barlow gave them a reasonable answer.
His cloudy gaze swept over the solemn and unwilling faces of the crowd, and his hoarse voice slowly sounded, "However, August's crimes cannot be forgiven."
At this moment, the entire hall fell silent.
Everyone's eyes once again focused on the Grand Duke.
"In a few days, we will arrange a marriage for August and a queen."
"The child born at that time will be raised by the queen's younger sister."
Everyone looked at each other, feeling a bit surprised.
At the same time, they also had some guesses in their hearts about the candidate for the queen.
At this moment, the Grand Duke said decisively, "The bloodline of the Samuel royal family must continue."
After hearing Grand Duke Barlow's arrangement, the nobles all let out long breaths they had been holding, the heavy pressure in their hearts swept away.
They found the Grand Duke's arrangement very reasonable.
In the future, the descendants of Samuel must not be raised by August.
Otherwise, if the father was already like this, what kind of person would the son become?
Handing the child to someone else to raise, to correct the new king's nature, was something they were naturally willing to support.
They only needed to wait for the new king to grow up. Then August, this puppet who could only produce children, would no longer need to sit on the throne.
However, next, the Grand Duke raised another issue that drew everyone's attention, "Next is the matter of Shulben's inheritance."
"Everyone, do you have any suitable candidates?"
At the mention of this matter, the nobles present were all stirred with interest.
They straightened their bodies one after another.
Because of what August had done, quite a few lords had died.
Those territories were fine...they would be inherited by the lords' descendants as the first in line.
But Shulben was different.
Because all the crimes were committed by Shulben's lord, Laurien, alone.
So after his death, Shulben could not possibly be inherited by his descendants.
Simply put, Laurien's crimes were passed onto his heirs. Moreover, his daughter was also a vampire.
How could a vampire lead humans?
This couldn't help but spark everyone's interest.
Although they each had their own territories, Shulben could be considered a land of great fortune within the Cant Kingdom.
While they themselves could not directly take it, they could recommend subordinate nobles to compete for it.
The problem was...
Although they were tempted, the issue of governing Shulben made them feel troubled.
Because Shulben had introduced the Church of the Goddess of Abundance, causing most of the residents to believe in that faith.
This would undoubtedly affect the rule of the new lord.
No one knew what methods Laurien had used to make these people love him so much.
Even though before his death, Laurien had even wanted to drain their blood.
But this problem also had solutions. At least, they could first secure the territory in front of them and discuss the rest later.
The nobles were already making calculations in their hearts, each lost in their own thoughts...
When a figure slowly walked in from the entrance of the palace.
"Apologies, Grand Duke Barlow.", A gentle voice, like a clear stream passing through their ears, interrupted the nobles' thoughts.
They couldn't help but all turn to look toward the source of the voice.
It was a nun, her eyes covered with a thin veil, dressed in a black robe.
Her weathered hands were placed over her lower abdomen, a faint smile resting on her lips as she stood quietly at the entrance.
Sunlight from outside the palace passed through the steel towers and shone upon the nun, reflecting into the hall.
Standing in the light, the black robe on her body seemed to be draped with a faint layer of golden clothing, making her appear sacred beyond measure.
Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, she wore a gentle smile and softly asked them, "May I offer a suggestion?"
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