There was a heavy rain outside, thunder roared, and lightning dazzled, giving a scene of doomsday. In the semi-circular hall, all the members of the House of Lords in Rentat had gathered, wearing white hairbands and black cloaks.
If it weren't for the extremely powerful natural lightning, the powerful men below the Golden Knight would not dare to fly in quickly in the lightning and thunder weather. I am afraid that there would be a rare scene of all members present in the Noble House, and at this time, it is only a short distance away from Feltey.
It had only been an hour since King Sri Lanka and Prince Patrick were called by the Lord.
Of course, those nobles who were unable to come also learned what happened through remote communication from their spokespersons and allies in Rentat, and conveyed their opinions.
At this moment, they were grateful as never before to the "Allinge Telephone and Telegraph Company". Although the "wired telephone" they promoted was still at a loss due to the complex and heavy infrastructure construction, it was still limited to Rentat and several other counties.
The installed capacity between the capitals is less than 500, but in this weather, it is a rare communication channel for nobles who cannot arrange and use expensive teleportation arrays. Many nobles have tasted the sweetness and decided to
Assisted promotion.
"How could His Highness be called by the Lord?" Earl Haisong took a hot bath in the lounge of the Noble House, changed his clothes and hair cover, and then got rid of the state of being shocked and unable to think, while putting on the white paper flower
On the chest, while sitting in the first row of seats, he asked James, Duke of Pephos, Russell, Duke of Wolfburg, and Viscount Harrison, who hurried over after notifying the parliament.
The four of them are the leaders of the liberal faction except Prince Patrick. At this time, they must communicate well in advance and avoid internal strife, otherwise it will be easy for the nobles on their side to lose confidence.
Duke James also wore a white hair cover in the House of Lords to cover up his bald head. He said gloomily: "I don't know. It was already like this when Russell and I rushed to Nexor Palace. We checked
No abnormality was found on the body of His Highness the Prince. It was indeed the excessive grief that caused the already weak body to collapse. I don’t think anyone will be able to assassinate him with His Excellency Ketonia’s protection.”
"Heart of Time" Ktonia is one of the two epic knights in the Kingdom of Holm. Among the knights in the entire world, there are no more than five people who can reach the third level of the legend. He and Rudolf II belong to this rank. As for reaching the level
The epic knight at the pinnacle of legend, except for "monsters" such as Prince Dracula, Prince of the Abyss, and the Lord of the First Level of Hell, there is only one among human beings, the leader of the Knights Templar, a member of the College of Cardinals, Saint Melmoth
.
It was said that under the protection of Ketonia, there would be no assassinations, but there was no trace of certainty on James' face.
"Your Excellency Ketonia is a hero in the Dawn War. He is an epic knight who worked with the late king to defeat the rule of the Magic Empire in the Holm region. But he is very old and is about to reach the end of his life. He needs to consider and make arrangements.
There will be more things than ordinary people." Duke Russell said expressionlessly, "He is not like Lord Winston of the Sollenfen family who can quietly watch the situation.
"Night Walker" Winston is another epic knight of the Kingdom of Holm. He is currently taking turns guarding the colonial countries that the Kingdom of Holm has won in several alien spaces.
Viscount Harrison sneered: "Anyway, I don't believe that His Highness the Prince would die of excessive grief for His Majesty the King."
According to Harrison, Haisong and others, Patrick has stayed in the position of prince for thirty or forty years. It is inevitable that the king will have power conflicts. The relationship between the two parties has not been harmonious for a long time, especially after their ideas were greatly different.
As strangers, if Prince Patrick was so happy that his body collapsed, they would believe it.
"Things have developed to this point. We need to put aside our sadness and do two things. One is to secretly ask the wizards of the Magic Council to investigate the truth about the prince's death and take the initiative in the future. The other is to start a backup plan and fully support Davidon.
Come to the throne." After Earl Haisong calmed down, his blue eyes became sharp again.
Patrick had been in poor health, and they, the enlightened nobles, had long been prepared for his death before the king, so they were not at a loss after a brief period of shock and panic.
David's father is the cousin of King Feltis and the nephew and student of Archmage Maurice. Although he has died in an adventure, under his influence, the great knight David is very important in daily life or territorial matters.
In the eyes of Duke James and others, he is the most suitable member of the royal family. Moreover, he is closely related by blood. According to the laws of the nobility, he is the fourth in line of succession.
"Okay." Duke James nodded heavily and kept opening and closing his mouth to convey the agreed results to other enlightened nobles.
After a while, the speaker of the House of Nobles, "King's Griffon" Rex, wearing a black cloak and a white hair cap, walked in. Next to him was a black-haired man with a gentle smile and silver-grey eyes.
Tell everyone clearly that he is a member of the Hoffenberg family.
"Gordon!" Earl Haisong and other enlightened nobles looked at each other intently.
Duke James' face was so ugly that he looked like he was about to drip water: "Didn't he declare that he would serve the Lord for life, quit the Knights of the Sword of Truth, and go to the holy city of Reims to join the Knights Templar?"
"An eighth-level knight less than fifty years old, the Sword of Tear..." Duke Russell and Viscount Harrison said to themselves solemnly.
The entire hall suddenly became noisy. Other nobles, whether liberal or conservative, couldn't help but talk to each other. This Gordon is a genius and anomaly of the Hoffenberg family. He became a knight of the sky at the age of only thirty-five.
, was appointed by King Feltis as the deputy leader of the Knights of the Sword of Truth, with high hopes. However, he was a devout believer. At the age of forty, he went to the Holy City of Reims and joined the Knights Templar.
His relationship with King Feltis is much more distant than that of David, but the rank of Sky Knight is enough to make his succession soar, almost in the first line like David, and Hoffen
Although Berg is not a prosperous one, most of them are either distantly related by blood and are not knights, making it difficult to compete with these two people, or they have already entered the path of magic and have automatically given up their qualifications.
Duke James and others initially thought that Rex would lean towards their partner. Alex, who had just inspired the bloodline of the Sword of Truth, would be able to make David inherit the throne without any doubt, no matter the riding strength or the distance of the blood relationship.
Who knew that Gordon would actually come back?
The sound of the hammer hitting the front sounded loudly, and the hall of the House of Nobles suddenly fell silent.
Rex drew a cross on his chest and said with a sad face: "Our great King Feltis and His Majesty Crown Prince Patrick were called by the Lord one hour ago. Let us mourn for them and bless them in heaven.
The mountain is favored by the Lord.”
James and others all stood up, making signs of the cross and lowering their heads. The atmosphere was quiet and sad.
Five minutes later, Rex, the speaker of the House of Nobles, motioned for everyone to sit down and his eyes hardened: "Since His Royal Highness Crown Prince Patrick, the first heir to the kingdom, was also called by the Lord and did not leave any heirs, according to the law, our nobles will
The House of Representatives selects a crown prince based on the order of succession and the blessing of the Lord."
The so-called blessing of the Lord means that a cardinal will preside over the succession ceremony.
Rex did not let the nobles speak, but pointed to Gordon next to him and said: "The Holm royal family suffered such a blow. It was at a time of crisis. Earl Gordon was determined to put his family first and withdrew from the Holy Land.
The Knights of the Palace returned through the church's teleportation array. He is an eighth-level knight in the prime of life, and he is of pure bloodline of the Sword of Truth. I propose that he inherit the throne, and I ask you to vote by a show of hands."
"Wait a minute." James stood up and said in a loud voice, "In this case, according to the law, more than two-thirds of the members must agree, and no one of the nine dukes opposes it, then the person elected can inherit the throne. Lake
Speaker Si, is that so?"
Rex looked at James with a gloomy look: "Yes and no, when no other candidate can get more than one-fifth of the votes, the remaining one does not need to meet this condition. In an emergency, he will get half.
Those with the above votes can directly obtain the right to inherit. I believe this is an emergency and the throne cannot remain vacant for a long time."
"Whether it is an emergency or not, you don't have the final say. Everyone needs to vote. Now, I recommend Earl David. He is closer to His Majesty the King. According to the order of succession, he is far ahead of Earl Gordon.
, and he is a great knight and has already inspired the power of blood." James did not go on stage to speak, but directly looked around at the other nobles on the spot, "I don't think any councilor will object to the succession, right? Whoever made the demonstration first, then he
When his son inherits the title, can other more powerful candidates in the family use this example to seize the title?"
This is the basis for the aristocratic class not to collapse. Which noble does not want to leave the title to his direct heir? If he is strong enough to steal it, then the family has long been assassinating each other and fighting among themselves!
Of course, this is one of the reasons why they are attached to the church. An independent and powerful church can ensure that no one relies on strength and ignores the law.
A conservative noble stood up and saluted everyone gracefully: "Quoting Article 7, Paragraph 6 of the inheritance part of the Code, bloodline ability is the basis of noble status, and strong strength can be used as a reference for succession.
I will not go into the specific calculation method. After adding the strength of the Sky Knight, Earl Gordon and Earl David are in the same ranking. Therefore, the selection of Earl Gordon does not violate the "Code" and will not create aristocratic order.
Crash."
"Moreover, Earl David's father is a magician. We have to consider whether he can receive the Lord's blessing."
The words were concise and concise, completely disintegrating James' attack.
Earl Haisong stood up with a quill, and also saluted gracefully first, and then said: "The father is a magician, but it does not mean that the son is not a devout believer. Earl David has never missed a service and often donates to the church. He is devout.
Everyone knows that, and I believe that the Lord will see and be tolerant, there are many repentant and converted magicians in the Night Watch, right? And Earl Gordon once joined the Knights Templar, and will be in a better position to deal with things in the future.
, it’s hard for me to believe that he would put the interests of the Kingdom of Holm and everyone’s interests first. This is not blasphemy to the Lord, but a confusion of divine authority and royal authority.”
At this time, he did not bother to be tactful and nakedly opposed the divine power and the royal power.
Gordon raised his hand and said with a smile: "Speculation is not evidence. I believe I will look at the issue of the nobility from the position of King Holm, not the status of the Templar Knights."
One by one, the liberal nobles and the conservative nobles stood up to express their opinions. Finally, Rex said: "Now, please vote. If you agree with Earl David, please raise your hands."
Sparse arms were raised, fully one-third of them. Although the liberals were smaller in number than the conservatives, they were more united. This made Rex frown, unable to use the first special clause. Then, he said
: "Please support Earl Gordon's raise of hands."
One arm was stretched out, and seeing that more than half of it was not a problem, Rex began to think about how to pass the emergency discussion.
Suddenly, the raising of the arm stopped and stopped at nearly half way. Rex looked at Duke Sollenfen and saw him shaking his head, saying that he would not support a candidate with too clear a church color, and as a conservative
A major leader of the faction, his stance directly affected a large number of nobles.
Duke James laughed: "Speaker Rex, it seems we are going to have a long discussion and negotiation."
When Duke Thorenfen hesitated, he was confident that Gordon would be eliminated through mediation.
Rex fell silent and looked at the gavel in his hand. Suddenly, he raised his head: "I will propose another candidate."
"Who? Who has a higher line of succession than Earl David and Earl Gordon?" Duke Russell expressed his objection.
Rex said calmly: "Natasha, Countess of Violet = Violet, inspired by the bloodline of the Sword of Truth, has a closer relationship with His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness than Earl David, and she is also a Sky Knight.
, who are also devout believers and can receive the blessings of the church."