The treasurer who arrived in front of the audience could find the knights guarding the door. They were wearing different patterns and colors of armor, meaning that they all belonged differently.
The treasurer looked at them one by one, but again, there were no knights belonging to the imperial family.
“Hello, Count Robert. Are you in the meeting?”
“…that’s right.”
“All right.”
The knights confirmed that there was no weapon hidden from Robert, and let him into the audience room.
The inside of the audience room was filled with ministers and court nobles who managed the royal palace, and the nobles of the territories outside and the knights who escorted them.
Read from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Naturally, the knights were also knights brought from their own families by nobles not belonging to the imperial family.
As the treasurer was holding his breath in the dizzying situation, a middle-aged man came to his side with a knight.
Count Pike, who served as the magistrate of the imperial palace, was close friends with Robert.
“Robert. Are you a little late today?”
“I got caught twice on the way.”
“It must have been a story about eating out the budget again. Didn’t you just ignore me as usual?”
“I wanted to, but one of them is a duke. I couldn’t ignore it.”
“Hey, if it was a duke, I must have had a hard time rejecting it. In any case, as soon as the imperial family weakens, it’s like the seungnyangs rushing in. What on earth is it about bringing a knight to His Majesty’s palace on the pretext of safety?”
Count Pike looked at the nobles who had the knights by their side with a disgruntled look.
Robert let out a laugh.
“You who say that, do you also have a knight by your side?”
“Oh, I only brought one. Who will help me if other bastards turn their eyes and have an accident? I have to take care of my body. In that sense, you also take at least one escort knight with you.”
“I am done. If it were me, who would Empress Mama trust and entrust her with?”
“Anyway, that stubborn one… Hook that way.”
It was when the two were talking as usual.
The door to the banquet hall opened with the sound of a trumpet.
“Come on, Empress Mama!”
Aristocrats and knights got out of the way and bowed their backs lightly to take ceremonies. The Empress, who walked between them, climbed the stairs and sat on the throne.
Then, as if waiting, the nobles spread their backs.
Even though the Empress didn’t say anything.
It was their own expression that they would have respect for the imperial family, but did not recognize her as the emperor.
As soon as she got used to such an attitude, she was the empress. There was nothing to cry about, so the meeting started immediately.
Requests packed with advice from nobles poured in.
“majesty. In the vicinity of the gorge in the southern part of the Yellow Island, the damage caused by monsters is getting more and more serious. If Your Majesty permits, I will dispatch my knights to subdue the demons and protect the people near the canyon.”
“Marquis Kite! That’s the appeal I raised to His Majesty at the last meeting. No! Keep your order!”
“Count Memento. Your offer was rejected by the High Majesty. Why would His Majesty who cares for the people do that? Isn’t it because you judged that your troops would not be enough to protect the people there?”
“Are you insulting my knights now?!”
“It’s an insult. I was just stating the facts. Isn’t it a fact that everyone here knows that my army is stronger than the Count’s army?”
“Ugh..! majesty! Do you think so too?”
Count Memento’s choice, pushed back in the debate, was to defer the decision to the Empress. Even if they talk about this and that, it is the Empress who ultimately decides on matters within the emperor.
“Yes. We do not need the help of Count Memento.”
However, even the Empress did not take the side of Count Memento.
“Likewise, we do not need the help of the Marquis.”
To be precise, neither of the nobles supported either of them.
“The imperial estate will be managed by the imperial family.”
Because she wasn’t stupid enough to not notice the remodeling that pretended to protect the territories and stationed troops and secretly incorporated them into their territory or plundered the protection costs.
But even if she noticed the dirty tricks of the nobles, nothing particularly changed.
“What do you mean? Do you mean that your Majesty will tolerate the suffering of the people?”
“Sir, please reconsider. If His Majesty had been there, it would have been for the people.”
The reality is that if you do not have as much power as you have, you will be taken away by those who have the power.
The Marquis and the Count, who were biting each other, united and exposed their teeth to the Empress.
“Isn’t our noble association in charge of policing within the imperial capital and subjugating monsters outside? What do you mean by the imperial family, who does not even have the power to protect the imperial capital, the center of the empire?”
Other aristocrats who were planning to rip off various interests from the imperial family, which remained only in authority, also helped.
“The imperial family still has money!”
The Empress cried out.
As she said, no matter how much damage the imperial family suffered, there was still enough power to protect the city and territory from monsters.
The problem was that there was no room left to restrain the other nobles.
“no. There is not.”
“Sir Ekin..!”
The Empress looked at Duke Ekin with a look full of betrayal. It was because he did not think that one of the five great duke families with the long history of the empire would hit the back of the head so openly, even if other nobles did not know.
In fact, other duke families either stayed quietly or had already left for their estates.
However, the situation with the Duke of Leonard was different from that of other dukes.
Because the territory of the Leonard family was attacked directly by the vampires and suffered a different level of damage than other duke families.
Although it was a rather obscene method, it was necessary to make up for the damage in this way so that it could not fall behind in competition with other duke families.
“Your Majesty may be hard to admit, but the Imperial Knights have lost their power. Please stop admitting it now, even if it is to prevent harm to the innocent people.”
– Admit it!
Other nobles received Ekin’s words. They forced the empress to comply with their demands, and the empress bit her lips in resentment.
‘You’re acting like you’re really an Ahn Ha-muin..!’
For the purpose of protection, the knights were stationed in the ecliptic, and they pressured her, and now they are asking her to give up the land.
It was a dreadful act of daring to threaten the imperial family, but she had no power to punish it.
Taking away their demands at each meeting is now slowly reaching its limit.
‘Isn’t there a way?’
Is the imperial family with hundreds of years of history collapsing like this?
It was a time when the empress’s sorrow deepened at the cries of the nobles.
A commotion was heard from the entrance to the audience. The nobles also stopped talking and looked around the entrance.
“What fuss is this!”
At Ekin’s shouts, a knight approached, bewildered.
“Duke, that’s-“
– Whoa!
Before the knight’s explanation continued, the auditorium door flashed open with a scream, and a knight flew in and rolled over the floor.
“S, is this an attack?!”
“It’s an attack. This is the Imperial Palace. What fearless bastard dares to invade this place?”
“It could be that the vampire remains!!”
The aristocrats roared in confusion.
Their escort knights stepped forward and drew their swords. If a suspicious person appears, I plan to cut it down immediately. But what appeared before them was an unexpected figure.
“Are these going out of their minds as a group… Why don’t you put your sword in right now?!”
Captain of the Platinum Knights, Bennett.
He was walking into the audience room, frowned.
The nobles looked at him with bewildered eyes.
“Bae, why is the Platinum Knight Commander here…?”
“Have you already returned from subjugating the Demon King?”
While they were confused, Bennett knelt down in front of the Empress.
“Platinum Knight Commander Bennett. You have just returned with the Platinum Knights.”
“…raise your head.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The nobles’ impressions were frowned upon at the words of His Majesty. Doesn’t that mean that the Platinum Knights Commander would recognize the Empress as emperor?
Conversely, the empress’s expression brightened with an ally who was more reliable than anyone else.
Before she could say anything, Ekin spoke first.
“The Platinum Knights Commander. Aside from the previous rudeness… Have you finished your mission and returned?”
“If you are talking about the mission to eliminate the Demon King, no. The Platinum Knights returned after defeating the last remaining Four Heavenly Kings under the command of the brave, Cloud-sama.”
The murmur of the nobles grew stronger.
“Are you back in the military? Isn’t that the story of a slurred speech and eventually retreating?”
“Brave, since when did Cloud have command over the Platinum Knights?”
“Is this the story of returning to the Demon Realm, leaving behind only two heroes?”
Ignoring the mountain of reprimands, Bennett waited for the Empress’s words. The Empress nodded her head and raised her voice.
“stop! The right to dispose of the Platinum Knights Commander rests with the imperial family. Everyone who is not involved, keep your mouth shut!”
“However, my lord…”
“Your Majesty!”
The Empress opened her eyes.
“I am the rightful Emperor of the Empire after the coronation ceremony. Be formal!”
The expression of the nobleman who told me to tell him hardened. But soon after feeling the gaze of the Platinum Knights Commander, Bennett, he bowed his head and said in a crawling voice.
“Yes. your majesty.”
The Empress smiled satisfied and gave the order to the Platinum Knights Commander.
“The commotion outside is probably because of the other knights, right? Ask them to come into the audience.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Bennett bowed his head and shouted, turning his head back.
“The Platinum Knights!”
Coogong!
The door of the audience room, which had been closed, opened again, revealing the knights guarding the door and the Platinum Knights chasing after them.
Upon receiving Bennet’s order, they slammed the knights on the floor, and dignifiedly entered the audience and knelt in front of the Empress.
The Platinum Knights shouted.
“Long live Your Majesty!!”