Gospel of Blood

“Y-y-y… Your Majesty?!”

Seeing Duke Aecia kneel on one knee before Charlotte to show his allegiance, the nobles in the hall were all stunned.

The nobles of the Parliament faction looked bewildered, as if they were questioning their own existence and purpose.

The neutral nobles widened their eyes, their faces almost displaying utter disbelief.

As for the Lilac faction nobles, they looked at Duke Aecia with eyes filled with shock, absurdity, and incredulity.

They rubbed their eyes hard and pinched their thighs, seemingly unable to believe the scene before them was real.

Duke West was equally dumbfounded, with a face that read, “We were ready to fight to the death, why is Your Majesty surrendering first?”

Amidst the entire banquet hall, only Charlotte, seated high on the throne, and her two knight guards behind her, remained composed.

Seeing Duke Aecia bow his head to her, Charlotte smiled slightly and nodded, saying,

“Duke, I, Charlotte de Castell, accept your loyalty.”

“Wait!”

Duke West couldn’t help but interrupt Charlotte.

He quickly stepped forward to Duke Aecia and urgently asked.

“Duke Aecia, are you being coerced by Castell?”

“No, it must be that Castell has secretly reached an agreement with the bloodborne, and the bloodborne is forcing you to bow to her, right?!”

Duke Aecia raised his head, glanced at him indifferently, and said calmly.

“Duke West, you are mistaken. My allegiance to Her Majesty is entirely voluntary.”

“Her Majesty is the Saintess of the Holy Court. Given the complex situation within the Starfall Kingdom, only Her Majesty can oppose the bloodborne, make them wary, reach agreements with them, and maintain peace and order in the kingdom.”

“Her Majesty is the daughter of Princess Anne the Devout, with a legitimate Roman bloodline. Her Majesty was even willingly recognized by the Roman Sword…”

“Her Majesty is the rightful heir to the throne. Her Majesty should be the true ruler of Starfall!”

Duke Aecia’s expression was solemn and righteous.

The surrounding nobles, however, had increasingly peculiar expressions.

Duke Aecia’s words were the main reason the Parliament faction supported Charlotte.

These words could be spoken by the Parliament faction nobles, the neutral faction nobles, or even the Lilac faction nobles without causing much issue.

But now, the one saying these words was Duke Aecia, who was competing with Charlotte for the throne as the second heir.

This made the situation very delicate.

It almost directly undermined the foundation of the Lilac faction nobles.

Realizing that Duke Aecia wasn’t joking, the Lilac faction nobles quickly became agitated.

However, despite their agitation, no one else stood up like Duke West.

Nobles are shrewd, they aren’t foolish.

Considering Duke West’s prior presentation of Castell’s agreement with the bloodborne, and Duke Aecia’s current declaration of loyalty, they quickly realized this might also be part of the agreement between Castell and the bloodborne.

No, thinking deeper, this might be part of the agreement between the Holy Court and the Starfall bloodborne.

The bloodborne supports Countess Castell to become the Queen of Starfall, accepts the constraints of the agreement, while the church must recognize the legitimate status of the bloodborne in the Starfall Kingdom and guarantee certain rights!

This is easy to deduce and highly probable.

Although Duke West vehemently denies it and Duke Aecia never admits his relationship with the bloodborne, anyone slightly aware of the situation knows that the greatest supporter behind Duke Aecia is the bloodborne.

Thus, naturally, Duke Aecia’s allegiance likely represents not just his personal attitude but possibly the attitude of the bloodborne behind him!

Seeing Duke Aecia bow to Charlotte, the various nobles quickly deduced the twists and turns within this situation. And indeed, they were almost right about the truth.

For a moment, the nobles in the hall had varied expressions.

The Parliament faction nobles turned their shock into joy, the neutral nobles seemed contemplative, and the Lilac faction nobles hesitated, subconsciously distancing themselves from Duke West.

The behind-the-scenes force that gathered the Lilac faction nobles was the bloodborne.

Even if some Lilac nobles didn’t want the throne to fall into the hands of another family, they had to admit that now… no one could compete with the young Countess Castell for the throne of Starfall.

“No! This is betrayal! It’s betrayal!”

Duke West quickly realized this and looked at Duke Aecia angrily, his expression furious.

Duke Aecia sighed, looked at him with pity, and said,

“Duke West, who really is the traitor here?”

After speaking, he turned again, bowed to Charlotte on the throne, and respectfully said,

“Your Majesty, I have discovered that Duke West colluded with extremist bloodbornes, smearing deep-sea devil squid ichor on the bottom of your warship, intending to harm you…”

“Moreover, those involved include Viscount Camden, the head of the Royal Knights, and Bishop Campbell of the Holy Court’s Starfall branch. Bishop Campbell has close ties with extremist bloodbornes and personally participated in and designed the plot against you.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the nobles were stunned and soon fell into an uproar.

Duke West, Viscount Camden, and Bishop Campbell’s expressions changed simultaneously.

“Sir Aecia, you dare to slander! I am a church clergyman, a staunch supporter of the Saintess! I would never associate with those blood demons!”

Bishop Campbell said angrily.

Duke Aecia paused and said,

“Whether it’s slander, you know better than I do.”

Then, he took out a stack of parchment from his arms and respectfully presented it.

“Your Majesty, these are the relevant evidences, please review them.”

Charlotte took it, glanced through it, sighed, and handed it to the knight beside her.

“Everyone… take a look as well.”

The knight passed the parchment to the nobles, who couldn’t help but step forward, vying to read it.

And when they saw the records on the parchment, they widened their eyes.

“This… this… the plot to harm Her Majesty is real?”

“Duke West? Viscount Camden? And Bishop Campbell?”

“The Bishop is indeed associated with the Bloodborne?!”

“But… isn’t Her Majesty the Saintess of the Holy Court? Why would Bishop Campbell…”

“What else could it be? He’s fallen. Look, here are records of his interactions with the bloodborne, there’s even a contract he signed with them!”

“He probably feared exposure of his fall, so he acted first to assassinate Her Majesty!”

Seeing the contents of the parchment, the nobles were in an uproar and quickly descended into chaos.

Although they both had dealings with the Bloodborne, there was a significant difference in the nature of these dealings.

In Charlotte’s case, her agreement with the Bloodborne was one of mutual restraint and balance. However, the evidence brought by Duke Aecia showed that Duke West and Bishop Campbell’s cooperation with the bloodborne was a blatant conspiracy to use their power to eliminate rivals.

This was far more unacceptable to the nobles than Charlotte’s agreement.

Of course, even so, the fact that the evidence came from Duke Aecia, a contender for the throne supported by the bloodborne, seemed a bit peculiar.

But after some consideration, the nobles quickly came to some conclusions…

Clearly, it appeared that there was disunity within the bloodbornes themselves, as well as within the Holy Court. This was not just a power struggle between the bloodborne and the Holy Court but also between their internal factions.

By now, the issue of right and wrong was likely less important. What was clear, however, was that Duke West was a sacrificial pawn, abandoned by the victorious factions within both the bloodborne and the Holy Court. The same probably applied to Bishop Campbell.

As for why the Holy Court, and not the Castell, that was cooperating with the bloodborne…that was a foolish question. No one believed that a mere count’s family could contend with the deeply entrenched bloodborne forces in the Starfall Kingdom.

The bloodborne’s willingness to compromise meant they had encountered a stronger force.

Considering the identity of Countess Castell, it was evident that this stronger force was the covert support of the Holy Court.

With this realization, the nobles’ eyes sparkled, and they fell into deep thought.

Unconsciously, they began referring to Charlotte as “Her Majesty the Queen.”

If they hadn’t underestimated Charlotte’s true identity, their guesses would have been quite close to the truth.

Seeing the nobles gradually distance themselves, Duke West, Viscount Camden, and Bishop Campbell turned pale.

“No! This is slander! Slander by the bloodborne and Castell against us!”

Duke West said, trembling.

However, no one was listening to him anymore.

The nobles of the Parliament faction looked on with mocking expressions, the neutral nobles with pity, and even the nobles of the Lilac faction averted their gazes, distancing themselves from him.

Seeing the nobles’ reactions, Duke West’s eyes widened, and he grew even paler.

Charlotte, seated on the throne, had already put away her smile.

She sat up straight, her gaze cold as she looked at Duke West, Viscount Camden, and Bishop Campbell in the center, and commanded.

“Upon investigation, Duke West, Viscount Camden, and Bishop Campbell have willingly fallen, colluding with evil, plotting against the royal family. The evidence is conclusive…”

“Royal guards, seize them!”

She ordered the two “knights” beside her to arrest them.

The two “knights” bowed respectfully and then swiftly charged towards the three.

Duke West’s expression changed.

“Don’t you dare! You are merely a Crescent noble! You are a fake saintess, not recognized by the Theocracy! You have no right to arrest us! No right to judge us!”

Duke West roared, his extraordinary power surging, unleashing his formidable Blazing Sun strength, his powerful aura sweeping across the hall.

Flames burst forth, spreading from Duke West, and enveloping the surroundings. At this moment, he directly unleashed his Spiritual Force Field!

Feeling that overwhelming power, the nobles’ expressions changed, and they scattered, causing chaos in the hall.

However, the next moment, Charlotte’s knight reached Duke West.

Ignoring Duke West’s Spiritual Force Field, the knight effortlessly passed through and, in an instant, subdued Duke West, who was preparing to unleash his power.

The nobles didn’t even see what happened. Duke West’s formidable power was suppressed, and when they looked again, he was already bound with anti-magic chains by the knight.

The knight remained composed throughout, as if subduing an ordinary person rather than a powerful Blazing Sun.

The nobles were stunned.

They couldn’t help but look at the unfamiliar knight, their hearts shaken.

A Legendary being…

The Queen’s knight was likely a Legendary!

Of course, they didn’t know that this “knight” also went by another name: Albrecht.

As for the other “knight”, he was also known as Yurst.

Viscount Camden, the head of the knightly order, was in shock.

He gritted his teeth, attempting to flee, but the knight who had subdued Duke West stopped him.

“Captain, where do you think you’re going?”

Bishop Campbell looked solemn.

As the second knight approached him, he brandished his staff, launching an attack.

The two clashed, and surprisingly, they were evenly matched.

Seeing this, the nobles breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Queen’s other knight was not a Legendary.

Otherwise, having two Legendary as royal guards would be terrifying.

Even so, they dared not underestimate the second knight. Although Bishop Campbell was not skilled in combat, he was still a Blazing Sun, and being able to fight him to a standstill meant the knight was at least on the same level.

However, although he blocked the knight’s attack, Bishop Campbell felt even more anxious.

Even if the opponent wasn’t a Legendary, he sensed a power far exceeding Blazing Sun.

Moreover, he felt an unsettling familiarity with the power, as if it were in a special augmented state.

His gaze fell on the knight, and upon seeing the slightly red pupils, he realized the knight’s true identity…

A bloodborne!

The knight was a bloodborne!

Bishop Campbell became even more solemn.

He gritted his teeth, holy light surging from his body, and his staff emitted a dazzling glow.

He raised his staff high and shouted.

“May the holy light have mercy on us all, let everything return to the divine…”

“God said…let there be light!”

With those words, a blinding holy light descended, exploding in a radiant display.

At that moment, Bishop Campbell used the only Legendary spell in his staff, specifically for “purifying evil”!

The platinum holy light descended, poised to engulf the knight, but the next moment, the nobles heard a calm denial from the throne.

“No, God did not say that.”

With those words, the holy light on Bishop Campbell’s staff quickly dissipated, returning to calm.

He couldn’t help but look up at the girl on the throne, his expression one of shock, fear, and disbelief.

“The Holy Word Decree?”

“You…you are truly the Saintess of the Divine Lord?!”