Imperial Crown.

Chapter 624 That's not my dark history, but the path I came from.

"No"

"impossible…"

"This can't be true!" "I don't believe it!!"

After hearing Raven's words, Melissa naturally displayed the behavior expected of a normal person. But more than anything, she was incredulous. She couldn't believe that her Hainhotz family, one of the eight ancient dukes of the empire, would be purged. She was even more unable to accept the fact that her parents, grandfather, and all her relatives had been murdered.

She screamed and stood up, trying to run out the door.

"stop!"

Raven roared. This was the first time he had been so stern since they met. A terrifying and awe-inspiring pressure and a chilling aura erupted from his body.

Melissa immediately stopped in her tracks, too afraid to move.

Raven strolled over to her, his furrowed brows softening slightly to prevent his expression from becoming too grim. "Where are you going? It's already night, and the entire city of Menegall is under curfew." "If you're caught by the patrolling soldiers, you'll be killed without mercy!" "Besides," "What good will it do you go back? What can you change?" To be honest, Raven disliked women like Melissa, who clearly had the temper of a spoiled princess, but since she was Vesdon's wife, he could only gently persuade her, "If you really can't give up," "Wait until tomorrow." "Tomorrow, after my meeting with Serafinu, I'll take you with me."

Right now, Raven is the safest person in the entire capital. This is because Serafinu wants Raven to live and bear the stigma of being a regicide.

If Raven hadn't been there, Vesdon and Melissa, who were alone, would definitely have been killed. That's why Raven hadn't let Thor, White Moon, and the others from outside the city come in.

Melissa burst into tears. She already knew the truth, because Raven had no reason to lie to her. She just couldn't accept it at the moment. After all, according to Raven, even King Habsburg had fallen at the hands of Seraphim. What was their Hainholz compared to that?
Melissa suddenly broke down and screamed, then fainted.

The blow seemed too great. Raven quickly had Veston carry her back to her room. Looking at Winry and Conger, who seemed completely bewildered, he sighed softly. These two poor children.

Link stayed on night watch to look after the two children. Raven and Eric slept outside, while Vesdon and Melissa stayed inside.

There's another tough negotiation tomorrow, and Raven has to force himself to rest in order to keep his mind clear.

The next morning.

Raven woke up, his hands covering his forehead. He hadn't slept well last night either. Without Melissa, the two little ones had been crying non-stop all night.

After getting up and washing up, Raven woke up Eric, who was still snoring, and then went downstairs to have someone prepare and deliver food. There wasn't much to eat so early in the morning; it was all coin-shaped burgers bigger than a face plate. The meat inside had a rather nauseating smell. It was hard to explain.

Seriously, when you're out and about, nothing feels right.

Raven told Link to stay and look after the two children, and to let Vesdon and Melissa get some more sleep. Then he went out with Eric and rode towards the Royal High Court.

The faint morning light shines through.

Raven was dressed in black and gold, with a black cloak covering the back of his warhorse. Eric wore full armor that reflected a silver gleam.

As Raven said before, the capital city is practically a chosen land. It's neither bitterly cold nor damp and sticky. It's just a bit dry. Other than that, the weather is favorable, making it far better than other places.

The two rode their warhorses without hindrance and soon arrived outside the Royal Court.

From afar, one could see countless soldiers in gleaming armor. And—armor standing in mid-air.

Yes.

It was a suit of armor that completely enveloped a person.

Its entire body was bright red, as if it were flowing with a waterfall of blood.

If Raven's guess is correct, this should be the Keynes family's prized possession, and also their national treasure—the ninth-tier armor, "Blood Reign."

In the entire continent of Middles, there is only this one ninth-tier divine weapon.

Even the Church of Light doesn't have one.

It was precisely by relying on this divine weapon that Keynes was able to occupy nearly 80% of the Central Plains on the continent of Middles!
Beneath the armor stood a man: Prime Minister Hamilton, holding a sword. It was entirely black, the blade not long, the hilt about a hand's width wide, but the tip extremely sharp, like a needle. It looked like an enlarged version of a Mitsubishi bayonet.

This should be the eighth-tier divine weapon, [Endless Weapon].

It seems that after dividing up the Keynes family property, both families gained something.

Hamilton was a sixth-order transcendent, while Seraphim was only a fifth-order transcendent.

Seraphine, clad in Bloodborne, can slay seventh-tier transcendents. Hamilton, wielding the Endless Blade, can similarly slay seventh-tier transcendents. Thus, a balance of power is established between the two.

"Little Rascal Bee!!!"

"Why did you commit regicide?!" "If you don't give us an explanation today, you will be executed immediately!"

A buzzing sound came from inside the armor.

Clearly, Seraphim deliberately donned this armor today, and used it to hover in mid-air, precisely to await Raven's arrival and give him a rude awakening. Furthermore, this posture was also intended to store the image-recording pearl, so that the world would know of Raven's crime of regicide.

Standing next to Hamilton was another man, dazed and lifeless, none other than Egihard.

On the other side stood Oculius. There was another person, a stranger to Raven, whom he didn't recognize. However, he figured Oculius was likely a descendant of Vertus. He did resemble Vertus somewhat.

Now, in the entire capital, and even the entire Keynes Empire, only five families remain out of the original eight.

"Habbs Keynes. He was a petty, incompetent, and tyrannical man."

"Externally, we suffered a defeat in the Battle of Makik City, lost a sixth-tier magic crystal mine, and paid out ten million gold coins."

"Domestically, they killed meritorious noble families, launched the Malabar Spinach Plan, and levied exorbitant taxes and levies."

"Shouldn't he have been killed?"

“I, Raven, murdered the king; I was acting on behalf of Heaven.”

Raven, mounted on his warhorse, spoke expressionlessly.

After saying this, the armored figure in the air stretched out its right hand, and several memory stones immediately flocked to it like weary birds returning to their nests. Then the armored figure fell down, slowly receding and disappearing, revealing Serafino inside.

Serafino looked at the recording stone in his hand, a playful smile on his lips, his expression quite satisfied, before turning around and leading the way into the hall.

Raven and the others followed one after another.

In the main hall.

The king's seat was empty, and Serafino and his entourage sat on the left.

Hamilton and Egihard sat on the right. Raven naturally moved to the third stone chair on the right.

"Now that the King has passed away, I intend to change the name of the country to 'The Fourth Republic of Keynes' or 'The Fourth Dynasty of Keynes'."

"What do you all think?" Serafino asked with a smile as everyone sat down.

Inside the meeting hall, everyone fell silent.

Now that the Keynes family has been purged, Serafino's next plan is naturally to gradually weaken their influence. However, this matter cannot be rushed, and Serafino can only proceed slowly.

“I agree,” Okolius, the lackey, was the first to jump in. “In my opinion, it shouldn’t be called Keynes anymore.” “This ancient and vast empire has no connection whatsoever with the Keynes family.” “It should be changed to—‘Qutheran Empire’.” Qutheran was indeed the family name of Serafino.

Everyone knew he was flattering them, so naturally no one paid him any attention. Changing it to the Quetzalland Empire would be like announcing to the world that Quetzalland was the true regicide! Would the other provinces agree to that? These nobles, though selfish and self-serving, were all, in essence, vassals of the Keynes family.

Hamilton's attitude was ambiguous, and Egihard, that white lapdog, would undoubtedly disagree. So Serafino looked at Raven, "Raven, what do you say?"

“Originally, I didn’t want to get involved in such matters of state.” “I’m here today only to hear how you gentlemen intend to deal with me.” Raven said calmly, “But since you’ve asked, I’ll tell you the truth.” “The name of the kingdom” “cannot be changed.” “If it must be changed, I will declare myself king.” “Anyway” “I am already Keynes’s kingslayer, aren’t I?”

"You!"

Raven's words infuriated Oculius.

A shadow crossed Serafino's face. He had been so eager to pin the "Kingslayer" label on Raven that he forgot the biggest difference between Raven and the others—that Raven possessed the power to become king on his own! Don't be fooled by Raven's docile demeanor; once he leaves the capital, Serafino will be powerless against him.

"Serafino"

Raven's voice turned cold. Now that things had come to a head, he was no longer bothered with pretense. "Don't be so arrogant!" "The only reason I'm still sitting here listening to your barking is out of honor for my ancestors." "Not out of fear of death." "You'd better pray this orange-yellow eggshell protects you for life." "There aren't just two dragons outside." "There's also a sixth-tier bone dragon." "I won't survive." "Neither will you."

With that, Raven stood up. "Listen to me." "I've got the three northwestern provinces all to myself." "If you agree, we'll sign an agreement." "I, Raven, am still a member of Keynes and am willing to obey your orders." "If you don't agree, I'll leave the capital now." "I'll go back and declare myself king."

"Little Bee!" "You're nothing but a lowly scoundrel!" "What are you so arrogant about?!"

Oko Liu slammed his fist on the table with a loud bang, then stood up and pointed at Raven, yelling, "You'll remember this!" "You're a lowly commoner for a day!" "You'll be a lowly commoner for a lifetime!" "A despicable scoundrel!"

Who would have thought that the cabinet meeting of the Cairns Empire, one of the two largest human empires on the continent of Middlesbrough, would be as vulgar and crude as a street brawl?

With a clang

"You're asking for death!" Eric behind him drew his greatsword and roared.

Eric, being a fifth-tier cultivator, unleashed his aura, startling Okolius into quickly lowering his finger and looking to Serafino for help.

"Eh"

Raven, however, reached out and pressed the greatsword down. "Humble origins" "are not a disgrace." "Being able to bend and stretch" "is what makes a man." "I did indeed come from a thug background, that's true." "However," "that's not my dark history, but the path I came from."

Upon hearing these words, everyone in the hall paled. They all looked up at Raven, their eyes flashing with complex and strange light.

Serafinu's face had completely darkened. He never dreamed that Raven's attitude would be so tough, and that he would have so many backup plans. If Raven really did have a sixth-tier bone dragon, then he had completely lost any means of restraining Raven.

"Hahahaha"

As expected of Serafino, in just a few seconds, a radiant smile suddenly appeared on his face, more captivating than a face-changing act. "Today is our first cabinet meeting." "Sit down." "Both of you sit down." He gestured for Raven and Oculius to sit. "We should have taken our time." "Why make it such a rushed and chaotic affair?" "The country's name won't be changed." "We'll listen to Raven."

"As for the three northwestern provinces you mentioned," "I agree in principle." "I just wonder what Lord Hamilton and Lord Egihard think?" After considering his options carefully, Serafino realized he had no "big stick" to use. He could only resort to "sweet treats." He then passed the buck to the silent Hamilton and Egihard.

Egihard scoffed. "I disagree!" In his view, this series of events was all Raven's fault. He hated Raven to the core. And Raven still had the nerve to sit here alive. How could he possibly agree? He, a duke, only controlled one province. Raven, a marquis, wanted to take over three provinces?!
Egihard seemed to have completely forgotten that it was their old school that wanted to kill Raven first!
Hamilton narrowed his eyes. "I agree."

"Okay." "Voting is over." "The Cabinet has agreed to Raven's occupation of the three northwestern provinces."

Serafino smiled faintly and immediately announced. To him, what difference did it make whether it was the three northwestern provinces or even the five northwestern provinces? They were just resource-poor border regions.

What he is about to gain is the province of Mantaien and the entire capital.

As for Ferdinand's province of Insay, it was assigned to Oculius.

Serafino continued, "Raven," "You got all the meat." "Shouldn't we talk about something else now?" "You are, after all, a regicide." "If you remain a marquis, the imperial nobles probably won't accept you." "I intend to demote you to viscount." "And have Cardinal Morenzo conduct your investiture ceremony." "Are you willing?!"

Raven's heart skipped a beat.

So, Morrenzo also joined Serafino? ​​It seems this coup against the Keynesian Empire is far more complex than it appears on the surface.

"Viscount it is."

Raven nodded in agreement. It was good that everyone had a way out. Actually, he had been bluffing the whole time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stopped Eric so immediately.

Isn't politics just about compromise?
"very good."

Seeing that Raven had agreed, Serafino finally showed a genuine smile. It seemed that Raven was well-versed in the ways of politics. He then said, "Next, we should talk about the domestic situation. With war raging across the country, let's each choose a bone to gnaw on."

“As a viscount, my voice carries little weight.” “I choose the hand of death.”

Raven said calmly.

“Then Egihard and Hamilton will remain in charge of the orcs in the southeast.” “Occleus and I will be in charge of the Insa Empire in the northeast.” Serafinu glanced around and quickly made his decision.

The tense situation was finally over. Things became much easier afterward. The atmosphere in the main hall also became more lively.

Serafino took Raven's hand and introduced him to the third person on the left, who was Wittus's nephew, Courison Melodian.

The group chatted and laughed for a short while before Morenzo entered. Accompanying him were several priests from the Church of Light.

"Those who believe are never alone; the holy flame shines eternally."

"By the light of day, by the blood of our souls"

"Lord of Light, divine decree descends."

……

Inside the main hall, a small ceremony was held to confer the title of Viscount upon Raven.

The entire human race, from the coronation of kings to the investiture of nobles, needs the blessing of the Church of Light!

Only in this way can a formal status be established.

There are three steps in total:

The first method involves a priest infusing a sacred aura into the gemstones of a nobleman's crown. This aura is believed to protect the nobleman from evil spirits. (Actually, it's mostly for show, not very useful.)
Secondly, the priests needed to record the nobles' names, families, territories, and other information, and then bring it back to the Holy See for archiving.

Thirdly, the Holy See would send priests to establish churches, propagate its doctrines, and collect tithes. (This was the real purpose.)

After the coronation ceremony, Raven declined the invitation to a Serafino banquet.

They walked towards the outside of the palace.

With everything settled, he desperately wanted to go home.

"Marquis Raven!" "Viscount!"

Hamilton's call came from behind him at an inopportune moment, and he strode up. "To my house."

Without saying another word, he dragged Raven onto the carriage and sped off towards Holy Moon Avenue.

……

(End of this chapter)