Chapter 725: Protest
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Boom!
Lilian slammed the table furiously and her palm tingled. But she wasn’t in the mood to mind such small details. She stared at all the parliament members fiercely.
“What do you mean by this!?”
“We have no intentions of offending you, Your Majesty.”
A middle-aged man stood up, swept a glance to the elderly parliament chairman who had shut his eyes to rest, and said with a smile.
“We’re asking on behalf of the people. These are their concerns and uncertainties. Of course, we refused to believe. But, perhaps you aren’t aware, Your Majesty, similar rumors have spread throughout the entire Country of Light, so it isn’t surprising to see our people panicking. The Country of Darkness’s ambush came so sudden that our troops by the border have crumbled. But, Munn Kingdom has suffered minimally. The Undead Army has even failed to break down their first defensive line. Isn’t this strange, Your Majesty? Why is Munn Kingdom, who is totally unrelated to Country of Darkness, able to defend the attacks? According to our intelligence received, the Munn Kingdom mobilized their defenses before the Country of Darkness attacked. But they didn’t inform us about that. So…”
“So you think that the Munn Kingdom and Country of Darkness are colluding?!”
“No, Your Majesty. We don’t see it this way. But this is what the people say.”
“…”
Lilian gritted her teeth and glared at the man. However, the latter smiled and lowered his head respectfully, seemingly to be completely convinced. But,even so, Lilian sensed the evil intentions in him, which left her fuming. She forced the wrath down and said.
“Lydia is one of the three Archangels. It is impossible for her to be entangled with the Undead Creatures. I think this is just nonsense from some people. Now, we should focus on the problem in the front line. After the previous attack, many territories have fallen and occupied by the Country of Darkness, isn’t it? I think this is more crucial than the speculations by some people.”
“Of course, Your Majesty. This is naturally the most essential for us to discuss.”
Another parliament member stood up, bowed slightly, and said.
“But, the people are most concerned about the ties between the Munn Kingdom and Country of Darkness. Of course, we believe your judgment as the Light Dragon Soul, but our people need a peace of mind. Frankly speaking, the rumors have not only affected the people, but also affected the front line army. They can’t face the Undead Army with a peace of mind, which resulted in repeated crus.h.i.+ng defeats. This is why we have to act upon it to appease our people.”
Lilian clenched her fists, bit her lip, and stared at the parliament members in dissatisfaction. They kept using the name of the people to pressurize her, which was hard for her to ward off. Even though she intervened with political issues after the Dragon Soul Ceremony, she saw little success because the Light Parliament often used the people to push their weight about. Lilian was young, after all, and even though she was clever, she couldn’t rely solely on wisdom and knowledge in terms of political confrontations. Even if she had the determination to change the state of this country, at the deepest level, she wished to give her people good lives. This was why she had always been hesitant whenever the Light Parliament mentioned about their suffering people. Not only that, but she was also resentful and such a thought even emerged in her head.
Those foolish people…
“Huh?”
Lilian was stunned. The thoughts weren’t clear, but she instinctively felt frightened. She returned to her senses and clenched her fists. The stinging pain spreading from her palm counteracted the hazy thoughts in her head. Then, she realized that she was drenched in cold sweat.
At this moment, one of the parliament members’ voices sounded in her ears.
“Your Majesty, please make a decision.”
“… What exactly do you people want?”
Lilian hung her arms down on her knees, stood up, and gazed at everyone sternly. Her hands were ice-cold and filled with sweat. She hurriedly readjusted her emotions.
“It’s simple, Your Highness. We hope that Royal Highness Lydia can come to Casabianca and a.s.sist in our investigations. Once we’ve proven her innocence before our people, we will not have anymore unfounded rumors and concerns.”
“What you people are doing isn’t right. Lydia is the ruler of the Munn Kingdom and one of the three Archangels. Y-You can’t do this based on some rumors. Besides, the situation by the front line is critical. Safety is most important with the Munn Kingdom as our protective barrier. Who will handle the problems If Lydia left leaves the Munn Kingdom?”
“Your Majesty. We understand your concerns.”
Another parliament member stood to his feet. He simply nodded as a greeting. Which was basically equivalent to perfunctory.
“But, if this continues, no one knows what will become of the people’s rumors. They have affected our army and we think that the people have the right to know the truth. As long as we can make them understand this point, they will lay down the burden in their minds and we can defeat the Undead Army! Whereas for the problem in the front line…”
The parliament member smiled and Lilian hated it.
“Didn’t the Undead Army stop attacking? The Munn Kingdom stopped their attacks, so they won’t launch another anytime soon. I think we should use this opportunity to invite Royal Highness Lydia to Casabianca for the investigation, Your Majesty. If we can prove that Royal Highness Lydia and the Munn Kingdom are innocent, it will be advantageous for us to work together in getting rid of the Undead Army.”
“…”
Lilian puckered her brows as she knew why the Country of Light was routed. It was because their army didn’t resist at all. Moreover, most of them were instantly devastated as soon as they saw the Undead Army arriving at their doorstep. As a result, they put up a short fight and crumbled almost immediately. Lilian was extremely dissatisfied because she thought that the soldiers didn’t fulfill their duties and she didn’t expect that the Light Parliament would push the blame of their army’s failure to the Munn Kingdom…
Lilian scanned the surrounding while hoping for someone to speak up for her. But, she couldn’t find any. The other two Archangels had gone to the front line to stabilize the situation. Logically speaking, they didn’t have to take actions into their own hands. But no one expected the Country of Light to crumble that quickly. They couldn’t possibly allow the Undead Army to invade their way to Casabianca.
But deep down, Lilian also knew that even the two Archangels were around, perhaps they wouldn’t speak up for her because they didn’t usually communicate with each other. Unless it was a formal occasion, Archangel Boulder wouldn’t be around her and Lilian was afraid of this Archangel who never smiled. Even though Archangel Serene taught her a lot, she knew that this was just a relations.h.i.+p between teacher and student and apart from that Archangel Serene wasn’t too concerned about her. Lilian had always felt lonely. She couldn’t find anyone to talk to in this imperial palace and even if she wished to make friends with the Battle Angels, the Battle Angels were worried about the differences in their ident.i.ties.
Until Lydia appeared.
Lilian remembered fondly the scene when Lydia was appointed as an Archangel and that was their first meeting. Back then, Lilian was as curious as a cat and she gazed at the young lady in antic.i.p.ation. Lydia appeared to be older than her by a few years, but Lilian didn’t feel the detached and indifferent vibe from her. On the contrary, Lydia was full of life and vigor and wasn’t fearful of Lilian.
When Lilian looked at Lydia, the latter had even winked playfully and that was when Lilian knew that she finally had a close friend. Thereafter, just as Lilian expected, Lydia didn’t keep a distance away from her like the other two Archangels. Lilian and Lydia occasionally chatted and spent time intimately and even harmlessly exceeded their master and servant relations.h.i.+p. Although these interactions were minor, it made Lilian happy. Ever since she was born, she had never felt this delighted. It was due to this that the annual Dragon Soul Ceremony became Lilian’s only festival, where she didn’t neglect authority and political position because it was only during the ceremony that it was perfectly justifiable for her to meet Lydia.
But for unknown reasons, the person that came to her mind wasn’t Lydia. Instead, it was another young man with long, black hair, and deep colored eyes. At this moment, one of the parliament members disrupted her thoughts.
“There’s another person worthy of an investigation.”
“Who?”
Lilian held down her dissatisfaction. Then, the name shook her.
“Rhode Alander.”
“Why?”
“According to our intelligence gathered, some regions within the Munn Kingdom crumbled to the Undead Army, but not only did Grenbell, in the sovereignty of this young overlord, resist the attacks, but they had also done so twice. He seems to be aware of this attack and is mentally prepared for them. We think that this is problematic. If he holds information in this regard, why didn’t he provide it to us? Also, he became the overlord of Grenbell for only half a year and it was originally uninhabited territory. Yet, he defended against the enemies which even the Munn Kingdom’s two largest armies and Eastern Plains couldn’t do. We believe that there’s a high possibility that this man is the key person to this entire incident.”
“I’ve heard about this too.”
Lilian clutched her hands, lifted her head forcefully and stared at everyone.
“Paphield-Grenbell is Munn Kingdom’s main front line. If it weren’t for their hard work in defending against the Undead Army, perhaps the Munn Kingdom is in a complete mess now…”
It was impossible that Lilian didn’t have any doubts about this. It was mentioned earlier that even though Lilian was naive, it was simply a personality and not an intelligence issue. Even the group of idiots in the Light Parliament had raised such doubts, so how was it possible that she wasn’t aware of it? However, also due to her personality, she didn’t think of the situation negatively. Even though she also hoped that Lydia could give them an explanation, she wished to privately grumble, communicate, and understand the situation from her as friends, instead of investigating and probing in a solemn court.
“We suspect that he has secret connections with the Country of Darkness. In fact, we have evidence to prove our point.”
“Huh?!”
Lilian was baffled. She bit her lips and frowned.
“Evidence?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. According to our intelligence, this overlord has once appeared in Soraka Mountain and interacted with a Vampire n.o.ble from Country of Darkness. Moreover, his territory was damaged the least in that battle. It is hard for anyone to not relate him with the Undead Creatures.”
“…”
“Your Majesty!”
The remaining parliament members stood up and Lilian shrunk to their imposing manner. But she stood firmly and gazed at them with an unwavering expression.
“The enemies are approaching. We don’t have much time to hesitate. We sincerely beg your permission. The people are hoping for an answer. Our neighboring territories and nations are waiting for us to seek justice, freedom, and truth. We have to ensure that our people aren’t stained and tempted by darkness before we deal with our external enemies!”
“…”
Lilian sucked in a deep breath. She subconsciously s.h.i.+fted her gaze to the silent elderly chairman as though he was her last hope.
“Chairman, what do you think of this?”
Lilian asked. The elderly chairman lifted his head. He looked as haggard as a 90 years old man and a flickering flame in the lamp that was about to extinguish. He stood up calmly, s.h.i.+fted his gaze between Lilian and the others. Then, he shook his head and let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I… I don’t have any thoughts on this. Since everyone has made their decision, I think… their stand is firm.”
Lilian felt her limbs freezing as though one had thrown her into an ice cave. She stared at the elderly chairman while the latter looked at the ground blankly.
After a few moments, Lilian broke the silence.
“I… I understand. But… This is a major matter. I-I must consider it carefully.”
“Please make an early decision. This is for the lives of all humans in the Light Mainland. You should know this, Your Majesty.”
“I…!”
Lilian lifted her head in a reflex action and glowered at the man who said that. But after a few moments, she looked down again.
“I… understand. I will consider it.”
The bells rang and announced the end of this meeting. The parliament members stood up, bowed, and left. Shortly after, the crowded room instantly became cold and cheerless. The elderly chairman gazed at Lilian in silence before leaving his seat.
Boom…
The heavy door closed and Lilian was alone in the s.p.a.cious room.
“Grr… Grr…”
She clenched her tiny fists. Tears flowed down her cheeks and fell on the back of her hands. She didn’t even realize that she had bitten her lips tightly and her eyes were red and bloodshot. She lowered her head and allowed the surging sorrow and pain to overwhelm her. After a few moments, she wiped her tears and sobbed as she picked up the pen beside her. She paused, but eventually inked the spotlessly white piece of paper while crystal clear tears dripped from her chin.