Chapter 444
Ministers Take Their Seats As Dictated
Under the gaze of the mourners, the Minister of Palace Affairs was the first to snap his white cane in two.
“Farewell, Her Majesty the Queen.”
Minister Hermes respectfully placed the broken cane upon the Queen’s catafalque and bowed.
This signified Mycroft’s end of loyalty to Her Majesty, and also meant his removal from the position of Minister of Palace Affairs.
He felt a trace of regret, yet also a sense of relief. He turned away from the catafalque.
Minister of Law Enforcement Carter, standing behind him, tore his own shoulder strap into two sections and placed it upon the catafalque as well.
“Farewell, Her Majesty the Queen.”
Minister Carter closed his eyes and said in a low voice, a sense of melancholy washing over him.
This was not spoken to the Queen’s soul, but rather as if to his past self.
After all, the Queen was not like an ordinary person; her soul would not formally ascend to the Dream Realm upon the completion of her funeral. At the moment of her death, the Crown Lord’s Knight had already ushered her into the Crown Lord’s domain. What remained in the Material Realm was merely her mortal shell.
Each minister was required to destroy the token of power bestowed upon them by Queen Sophia during the funeral, thus relinquishing their ministerial positions. The list of new ministers would be decided at the Round Table Conference held the day after the state funeral.
And undoubtedly, another matter would be announced at this Round Table Conference.
That would be the declaration of war against Star Antimony.
Eivass, clad in a solemn black clerical robe, kept his hands clasped within his sleeves. He stood quietly behind Isabel.
Logically, Eivass should have been concerned about the war.
After all, Avalon had already been conquered by Star Antimony, and Eivass would soon be leaving Avalon for the Holy See. Could Isabel truly withstand such pressure on her own?
Evidently, the ministers also felt a mixture of anxiety and excitement because of this.
Those who understood the advanced nature of Star Antimony were also clearly distracted—compared to the ordinary people who only knew anger, they understood that Avalon now stood on the brink of a precipice. At this juncture, whether Avalon initiated war or not, destruction was a possible outcome.
—Yet Eivass was not nervous at all.
This was because he possessed a piece of secret intelligence—known only to those who stayed at the Silver and Tin Hall last night, besides Isabel.
Emma’s assassination attempt on Isabel had even alerted the Holy See.
Perhaps Bishop Mathers had realized he was charmed, and through the Church’s channels, he urgently contacted the Holy See—that very night, Bishop Mathers personally came to the Silver and Tin Hall.
After inquiring whether Eivass and Isabel were still in danger and if they required purification and healing, he offered them a profuse apology for having been charmed.
Subsequently, he acted as a messenger, conveying the Holy See’s stance.
—The Holy See acknowledged that Avalon stood on the side of justice and permitted Avalon to wage a limited revenge war against Star Antimony.
In other words, Avalon could end this war whenever they decided to stop; however, Star Antimony would have to depose King Valentine VII and provide compensation to Avalon that satisfied them before the revenge war could be mediated and concluded. Furthermore, once the war began, the Star Antimony people could only defend their own territory and were forbidden from counter-attacking into Avalon’s territory; otherwise, the Holy See would intervene to stop them.
Eivass breathed a sigh of relief upon learning of the Holy See’s attitude.
In the original timeline, in the summer of 1899—the year Avalon was destroyed—the Holy See encountered extremely troublesome issues. It was precisely because of this that when Star Antimony invaded Avalon in the autumn of 1899, the Holy See remained silent and unable to offer any assistance.
But it was only January of 1899 now.
That catastrophic event, which nearly caused the collapse of the Holy See’s order and was only resolved by the Players in 1900, had not yet occurred.
The relationship between the Holy See and Avalon was exceptionally close… in a sense, Avalon could even be considered one of the Holy See’s vassal states. After all, Isabel herself possessed a quarter Elven bloodline. And this time, the responsibility unequivocally lay with Star Antimony. Therefore, the Holy See firmly sided with Avalon.
Hence, the Holy See’s stance was one of overt favoritism.
Not only did they support Avalon in launching a revenge war… but the Eternal Pope himself had issued a decree dispatching nine Pope’s Guards to personally protect Isabel.
The Pope’s Guards, meaning those from the Founder’s family who were solely responsible for ensuring the Founder’s line did not go extinct; these were the “Elven Stewards.”
And the protection from the Elves was absolute, lasting until death. After all, Isabel’s lifespan was certainly shorter than theirs.
The weakest among them possessed strength equivalent to the peak of Fourth Tier, while outstanding powerhouses like Steward Oswald had combat capabilities equivalent to Fifth Tier.
The Pope’s Guards dispatched this time were all elites from within the Pope’s Guard, all at Oswald’s level of strength. And they were all young, unlike the current “Elven Stewards” who were all elderly.
—A total of nine Queen’s Guards, equivalent to Fifth Tier!
As the nation with the most top-tier powerhouses currently, the Holy See possessed only a little over fifty such qualified individuals. This time, nearly one-fifth of them were allocated to Avalon.
The Eternal Pope’s attitude was thus unmistakable.
He believed that Star Antimony was taking advantage of the scarcity of top-tier powerhouses in Avalon’s current generation… so the immensely wealthy Holy See was directly compensating for the deficit.
Star Antimony had a total of seventeen Fifth Tier powerhouses. Excluding Star Antimony’s aged monarch, those from the Red Phase and Black Phase whom he could not command, and the deceased Emma, there were thirteen remaining.
On Avalon’s side, Janis had departed, leaving four “Great Generation” Extraordinary individuals. Including these nine, the total would be thirteen.
—What, do you like bullying? Then show us all you’ve got if you dare?
Clearly, the Eternal Pope was also angered.
Because when the Avalon Royal Family was previously cursed, the Holy See had also advised against war. This was because they had not yet directly attacked a monarch—and directly acting against another nation’s ruler was explicitly forbidden by the Holy See’s established rules. The rulers of each nation could only be overthrown by their own people, and intervention by other nations was not permitted.
Even in the original timeline, when the Holy See was in a state of near paralysis and Star Antimony, fully armed and prepared for war, had to wait for Minister of Trade Dross to poison the Queen before they dared to initiate hostilities.
However, Star Antimony had become increasingly audacious, even directly attacking Isabel herself.
This had enraged the Holy See.
—What, you don’t know when to quit?
If the Holy See were not a Permanent Neutrality nation, they might have personally gone to teach Star Antimony a lesson this time.
Although Avalon could not deploy them for offensive warfare, this would at least thwart Star Antimony’s decapitation strategy. It could even allow them to track down spies, which fell under the scope of “maintaining the safety of their living space.” Or rather, the Holy See hoped that Isabel would find ways to utilize them more, causing trouble for Star Antimony.
And this would greatly boost the morale of the Avalon people, letting them know that the Holy See stood firmly with Avalon!
However, Star Antimony could not really complain.
Because this was indeed Emma’s doing.
When they received this news, they were also greatly alarmed. Star Antimony was not at all prepared for war at this time; Emma had been sent to cooperate with Avalon. Her actions against Yulia were not at the behest of Valentine VII, but a personal request from one of the higher ranks.
As a result, no matter how the Star Antimony Prophet divined, at best they could only get the answer, “The Succubus indeed attacked Isabel.”
Not long after Bishop Mathers had left, the Star Antimony Royal Family telephoned the Silver and Tin Hall.
By protocol, this should not have happened. Such a significant matter required a formal diplomatic letter, ensuring each conversation was documented and witnessed by three parties. But due to their urgent need to explain, the Star Antimony side immediately called that night.
It was Valentine VII himself who called.
After inquiring Eivass’s opinion, Isabel chose not to take the call.
As the “attacked young Queen,” she was expected to be angry, especially since the Grand Guardian had “nearly lost his life” because of it. Now that the Holy See had generously offered assistance, her refusal to take the call was perfectly normal.
When the telephone rang a second time, Eivass answered it on Isabel’s behalf. Isabel quietly listened in nearby.
Valentine VII, known for his cold decisiveness, sounded unusually gentle and even humble over the phone.
He paid no mind to Eivass answering instead of Isabel, immediately offering formal apologies to Isabel and all those injured or killed in the incident, and pledging to provide “sufficient compensation.”
His explanation, in essence, could be summarized as: “This was the doing of the demon within Emma; Emma herself is also a victim, this incident is unrelated to her, and therefore unrelated to Star Antimony’s political stance.”
Valentine VII verbally promised many benefits. He also stated that Star Antimony would immediately dispatch a diplomatic delegation of the highest caliber, and that his eldest son would personally visit Avalon, hoping only that Avalon would remain calm for the time being.
Clearly, he planned to cede significant interests in subsequent negotiations, merely hoping to avoid war.
—What was he afraid of?
Eivass keenly sensed something.
A problem seemed to have suddenly emerged within Star Antimony… a problem that had not appeared in the original timeline, which had robbed Star Antimony of the courage to go to war with Avalon.
So Eivass refused him without hesitation—he was about to finalize an agreement with Grandet and no longer needed Star Antimony’s resources. Not to mention, Grandet’s insider information had revealed to Eivass that Star Antimony was already at a dead end and could not offer any substantial benefits.
Avalon now needed a victory, an enemy, to reawaken the spirit of the entire nation.
With such a powerful casus belli and the Holy See as backing—if they missed this opportunity, the Holy See might not be so supportive of Avalon next time. This kind of support couldn’t be “saved for later use.”
Valentine VII clearly captured Eivass’s full confidence from his tone.
He immediately realized that negotiations were no longer possible.
Yet, even so, Valentine VII maintained a polite and friendly demeanor as he ended the conversation.
During the viewing for the state funeral, all personnel from the Star Antimony Embassy in Avalon had not received invitations. Those with keen senses could already perceive the atmosphere of war.
Although Avalon had not yet expelled them, both sides now knew that war could break out at any moment.
The winds of change were upon them.
This oppressive atmosphere continued into the Round Table Conference on the second day of the state funeral.
January 3, 1899.
Perhaps it could be called the most important Round Table Conference after the new monarch’s accession.
When all the Knights were seated, only the Minister of Affairs had yet to arrive.
But this time, the Knights dared not discuss Eivass anymore.
There was no boisterous discussion; only a profound silence, like that of the late night, enveloped the entire Round Table Hall. It was as if the somber mood of yesterday’s funeral had carried over to today.
But just as the Knights assumed that Eivass, like Queen Isabel’s shadow, would not be present again…
Someone slowly emerged from the grand doors.
It was Eivass.
There was no crow perched on his shoulder, but a Flame Butterfly dancing gracefully.
The Queen’s Guards sent by the Holy See had already arrived in Avalon; Eivass no longer needed the Night Demon on twenty-four-hour alert. He could finally bring out the Flame Butterfly and use the Shepherd’s Method to feed it experience.
When the crow departed, the butterfly returned.
This signaled that Glass Island had once again become safe.
Eivass was not wearing the Moriarty Family’s knightly armor this time, but his own clerical robe, trousers, and white cloth shoes.
—That was none other than Minister Moriarty, now renowned throughout the nation!
He was not wearing armor… did this mean he would be seated as a Spiritual Council member?
The Knights whispered among themselves, breaking the deathly silence.
But just then, Eivass, who had just entered, suddenly removed his outermost ceremonial robe.
He casually handed the robe to the ceremonial officer guarding the entrance.
Eivass’s inner pure white shirt also had a pure white clerical collar, and at the neckline were two embossed carvings of golden thorns with roses. But the clothes he wore underneath appeared regal, akin to Star Antimony nobility.
A pure white shirt, pure white trousers, pure white cloth shoes.
Coupled with Eivass’s platinum-blonde long hair, he appeared to be shining under the morning sun.
With his hands behind his back, he slowly ascended the shattered glass steps.
He walked past the armored Knights, past the colossal Round Table that could accommodate twenty-two people.
Eivass gently reached out and touched each armored Knight seated around the table.
The butterfly flitted between his fingers, and a faint, elegant aroma, a blend of sandalwood and jasmine, bloomed outwards.
Under the stunned yet silent gaze of the Knights, Eivass calmly took his seat.
It was the position closest to Isabel, to her left.
Undoubtedly, Eivass was the first non-armored Knight of the Round Table since Avalon’s founding.
Just as the glass steps, unbroken since the nation’s founding, represented Avalon’s enduring, though hollow and meaningless, old traditions, so too had Eivass shattered them.
But now, not a single person dared to question this.
Eivass rested his head on his left hand, looking up and surveying the room.
Some met his gaze fearlessly, while others looked down or averted their eyes.
Eivass let out a light laugh. With his right hand, he picked up the small gavel placed before Isabel and struck the bell placed before the Queen.
“—The meeting is now in session.”
With his left hand supporting his chin, Eivass calmly looked at the Knights as they stood.
He remained seated and leisurely declared:
“Ministers… take your seats as dictated.”
(Volume I · The Glass Steps, concluded)
An update of over eight thousand characters, this volume concludes!
There will be Author’s Notes later~
