In the main hall, a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in luxurious clothes, was sitting on pins and needles drinking tea.
He is His Highness Simon Walder, the eldest prince.
At the head of the meeting hall, King San Varro, wearing a red gilded cloak, was lying facelessly on the throne, holding a piece of parchment in his hand and looking at it, his whole expression revealing nonchalance.
But the entire meeting hall was silent, and there was an air of depression that filled the air for no reason.
Suddenly, the king at the head of the table sneered.
His Highness Simon, who was about to drink water below, shivered and almost knocked over the tea cup in his hand, so he quickly put it back on the tea table.
Then I heard the king say lazily: "The Pope of Light will set off to come to the capital to crown you soon. Simon, you must be prepared."
Upon hearing this, His Highness Simon suddenly felt lucky that he had put down the tea, otherwise this fine jade cup obtained from the Pole would have definitely fallen to the ground.
He said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, my son may not be able to assume the position of King of Saint Vallo at present. You are in good health and should be able to..."
"Do you know what I told the Holy See?" The king interrupted him directly.
His Highness Simon raised his head in confusion.
The king smiled and said: "I told the Holy See that I am critically ill and will die soon, so I will give up my throne to you and let their Pope come in person to crown you. Simon, this is the honor I have won for you."
However, after hearing these words, His Highness Simon broke into a cold sweat.
He was horrified and frightened, and even more confused.
Today was supposed to be a day like any other.
After His Highness Simon read a book with his beloved princess in the morning, he went out for a horse racing carnival with his friends. When he came back in the afternoon and was about to go to the large baths to relax - his father, King San Varo, suddenly summoned him to the palace.
After the simple greetings, before His Highness Simon could think about what his father had called him for, he heard this father, whom he had never understood clearly, saying that he would give him the throne of the San Valo Empire.
His Highness Simon was confused at that time.
He just sat blankly outside the meeting hall for most of the day. He didn't react until the maid came to replace the cooled tea.
After careful consideration, His Highness Simon felt that this was probably his father testing him.
After all, he has been a prince for thirty or forty years. An ordinary person might complain about why the king has not passed on the throne, but in fact His Highness Simon quite likes his current life.
There is no need to worry about the finances of Tantinoburg or the government of the empire. Isn't it good to eat and drink every day?
Furthermore, compared to himself, there are several other princes who are actually more suitable to be kings than him.
So what I said today is probably just a test.
His Highness Simon had already thought of the words to refuse, but this father, whom he had never understood, seemed even more difficult to understand now. He felt a sense of acupuncture-like fear for no reason.
This is not true for a father.
But to a king.
…
Until the king said the words "The Pope will come to the capital to crown you in person", His Highness Simon was really trembling and felt that his father had gone crazy.
If you weren't crazy, how could you say such crazy and delusional things?
To put it bluntly, the Saint Varro royal family is really not qualified to have the Pope of Light come to the capital in person just to crown a king.
Even if the king is so critically ill that he is about to die, he has to crawl to the City of Light if he wants to ask for help.
Even His Royal Highness is deeply convinced of the sanctity and nobility of the Pope. This is the corruption of the empire by the Holy See's theocracy.
But His Highness Simon looked at the king's half-smiling expression, and he suddenly felt that if the king was crazy, he must have been completely crazy.
So this thing is true.
He actually called the Pope over...
His Highness Simon didn't know how he walked out of the meeting hall or how he returned to the palace.
But the princess's question suddenly sounded in my ears: "Simon, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so distracted? What did your Majesty say when he called you over?"
His Highness Simon came back to his senses. He looked at his lover close at hand and trembled: "Father has gone crazy."
The bright sunlight fell on him, and he felt cold all over.
If the Pope of Light did not agree to come to the royal capital, then the king would at most go to Guangming City to plead guilty. But since the Holy See abnormally agreed to this ridiculous request.
That means that the deeds of Walder XIII will happen again.
--war.
Hundreds of years ago, the reason why Walder XIII came to plead guilty was because that king wanted to overthrow the Holy See's theocratic power in the royal capital.
However, this ridiculous move could not even close the door to the Holy See in the royal capital for a day. In the end, the king rushed all the way to Guangming City and knelt down outside the Holy See for three days as punishment.
His Highness Simon didn't know what his father had prepared, but he knew that if he really wanted to go against the Holy See.
The end result is only war.
He is not stupid, he knows that he has been pushed to the forefront by his father, becoming the one who lured the Pope to come to the royal capital, and the one who started the war.
Regardless of the outcome of this confrontation, he will definitely be infamy for eternity and be nailed to the pillar of shame to endure the ridicule of future generations.
Simon covered his face hard.
He locked himself in the study, regardless of the princess's worries, and didn't want to care about anything. In a daze, he just felt like he was going crazy.
Until it turns westward.
Suddenly, the princess's thin voice of inquiry came from outside the door: "Simon, Her Royal Highness Theresa has come to see you. She said that she is discussing important matters with His Majesty. Do you want to come out to see her?"
Teresa?
Your Majesty's business?
The latter word suddenly made Simon's mind clear. His expression changed, and finally he got up and opened the door to the study.
He saw the fear and worry on the princess's face.
He probably looks ugly now.
Simon twitched his lips: "Don't worry about me, where is Theresa?"
After the sound came out, he realized that his throat was extremely dry and hoarse, as if his throat was on fire.
The princess whispered: "Her Royal Highness Theresa is looking at paintings in the library. You should change your clothes first and then go."
"good……"
…
His Royal Highness Simon of the Saint-Varro royal family does not like government affairs. In addition to archery and horse racing, he likes to collect various works of art, and he has built his own collection into a collection that is well-known in the royal capital.
The 19th Princess Teresa was pacing in front of the painting. She was wearing a neat riding outfit, her expression was calm, and her bright green eyes reflected the painting.
When she heard the footsteps coming from behind, Princess Teresa didn't look back, she just smiled and said: "Brother Simon, this painting of yours is the most beautiful one in the collection. I don't even have one like this."
Collection.”
Feeling uneasy, Simon looked at the painting and saw a "Picture of Priests Preaching". The picture showed a bishop in white giving a sermon, with countless believers surrounding him below.
This is also the only papal painting collected by Simon.
Suddenly, he seemed to have a guess about Theresa's purpose of coming here.
His throat felt increasingly dry.
It seems that I didn’t drink the water I drank before coming here.
Simon made a swallowing motion and asked tentatively: "Teresa, what do you want to tell me?"
Teresa turned around and looked at him. The girl's eyes were bright, with a kind of flamboyant beauty. The light in the closet made her golden curly hair particularly brilliant.
Simon has not been familiar with this sister all this time.
His father, the king, was extremely romantic and left more blood than previous kings. He seemed to be afraid that the succession to the throne would not be exciting enough.
As for this younger sister, due to poor health since childhood, she was sent to a farm in the royal capital for recuperation, and was not brought back until her coming-of-age ceremony.
However, although they all live in Tantinoburg, they don't have many opportunities to meet.
So Simon didn't know Teresa at all, neither her appearance nor her personality.
"Brother Simon, the meeting hall is in chaos."
Teresa just looked at Simon for a moment, then withdrew her gaze, and while talking, she walked casually in the storage room and looked at the paintings, as if it was just a normal chat.
Simon's nerves became tense: "What's going on in the council chamber?"
Teresa smiled: "I heard that my father suddenly fell ill last night and that I would not be able to summon him in time. I didn't expect to fall ill this morning, so I called you to the bed and said that I would pass the throne to you."
Simon thought for a moment about the king's energetic appearance, and said stiffly: "Yeah, it's all spread..."
"Brother Simon, do you know how many people are eyeing father's position?" Teresa said again.
"I know..." Simon looked a little surprised.
"In addition to several brothers who are eyeing the throne, Duke William also seems to have a different idea... By the way, what do you think of my title?" Theresa said, suddenly asking a seemingly unrelated question.
.
"What title?" Simon was stunned.
"I am the nineteenth princess. It just so happens that my father is Walder XVIII." Teresa turned to look at him with a smile on her face.
"..." Simon was horrified.
There was no tradition in the San Varo royal family that women could not ascend the throne, and there had even been many female queens in history, so after Teresa's words came out, he knew what her purpose was.
However, Simon was still a little confused.
Because before Teresa said these words, he thought that this sister, who had never lived in the palace since she was a child, was from the Holy See.
But now it seems that he has misunderstood?
"Brother Simon, do you also like the throne?"
Teresa suddenly stood in front of him, staring straight at him with her green eyes, the eyes under her eyelashes being illuminated sharply by the light above her head.
Simon was directly frightened: "No, no, no! I don't like the throne at all!"
When Teresa heard this, she smiled and said: "I knew that brother Simon always ignored government affairs and only went to the auction house to rectify his works of art every day."
Simon laughed dryly.
"By the way, I like this painting very much. Can my brother give it to me?" Teresa's topic suddenly changed again.
"Ah...ok."
Simon's heart was frightened by her hidden words. Now that he saw her pointing at a colorful landscape painting, he still dared to refuse to give it to her.
He didn't want to get involved in the fight for the throne at all.
Just looking at those deeds in history, he found it shocking, and he knew that there was no such thing as blood and family ties in front of royal power.
What's more, Simon knew that the transfer was completely false.
The real crisis is the Holy See!
Teresa came here just to test Simon's ambition to seize the throne. She took a painting and left without saying anything else.
Simon watched her leave in fear.
And it is expected that before the Pope of Light arrives in the royal capital, he may experience many such things.
…
After Teresa left the castle, she turned her head and looked at the car on the other side of the palace walkway, not far away walking towards the castle, with an unknown smile on her lips.
How could she be so stupid as to win over Simon Walder?
Although Simon, who was pushed onto the pillar of death, could bewitched, the uncertainty involved was too high and his existence could easily be exposed.
So she just came here out of boredom to inquire about the news about the meeting hall.
By the way, he confirmed that Simon should not be a player, and then cast a doubt, placing his apparent purpose on the throne, in order to divert the attention of some people in the capital.
After all, it was not just her who was interested in the throne, but also the king's two, three, four, five and six princes.
She was the first person to visit His Highness Simon.
But it won't be the last.
And Teresa's plan was to make this royal turmoil more violent and turn it from a specious suspicion into a real result.
Before the Holy See Army arrives, the royal capital should be in chaos!
…
After returning to the 19th Princess's castle in Fort Tantino, Teresa handed the paintings to the servants to hang them up, and asked the servants to prepare dinner, while she locked herself in the palace on the excuse of bathing and changing clothes.
Lifting the pillow on the bed, Teresa flipped the secret button underneath, and a secret door appeared on the inside of the bed.
She rolled over directly and closed the secret door from the inside.
Teresa walked up the long and dark stairs and came to a huge underground space.
The front suddenly opened up, and there was a faint golden light here. The walls were painted with patterns of sun crowns, and a formation was carved on the ground.
Condensing the information in the royal capital into a jade tablet, Teresa threw the tablet into the formation and watched it magically disappear without a trace.
Speaking of which...
If King San Varro could be a player.
Then will their Pope also be a player?
After all, only in this way can the members of both camps be considered equally matched.
For example, there may be undercover agents in the Holy See.
…
…
And when the undercurrent in the royal capital is surging, a bloody storm caused by the succession of the kingdom is about to take place.
On the Western Continent, Guangming City is shrouded in the setting sun.
It's so harmonious here that it doesn't look like the Pope is about to leave.
Of course, it only refers to the great harmony outside the Holy See. The free people of Guangming City did not feel any urgency at all and remained harmonious and peaceful as always.
As for inside the Holy See.
After Xu Shuo left a conservative archbishop in anger, he rushed over with four conservative archbishops, but this time he couldn't even enter the Pope's Palace of Light and died before leaving.
There is no choice but to prepare for the Pope's trip.
Xu Shuo came to the church outside the Guangming Palace.
The aide who is responsible for serving the Pope usually stays here. When he saw the Pope coming, the aide quickly saluted and did not dare to take another look at the face of the Pope wearing a hood.
This church also has a light teleportation array, which is a place shared by the priests and the pope.
Since the Priests discovered that the Sun Knights were looking for Black Dragon Island, the Pope no longer secretly sent messages to the Knights himself. After all, he had to give those old guys some trust.
And no matter how sneaky he is, his true intentions can easily be exposed.
——Although it has been exposed long ago.
Xu Shuo stayed here, just wanting to wait for news from Black Dragon Island, if that didn't work.
