Chapter 239

Even if Arthas's succession was legitimate, Elsa could use the cards in her hand to turn Arthas into a "usurper".

Therefore, Arthas had only this low-chance path to choose from the beginning.

This was also a move that Orson had planned long ago.

Orson first contacted the two duchies of Antica and Prussia through himself, and then, while cutting off one of Naples' arms, he persuaded Arthas to agree not to compete with him for the ownership of the Naples region.

In this way, one side gained while the other lost, and there was one less local force controlled by Alsace.

In addition, the Duke of Orleans was killed in Saint Laurent City before, which made the Orleans side, which might have turned to Alsace, completely neutral, and a group of nobles who supported Alsace also lost a lot of confidence in him during the false accusation against him, and changed from original support to neutrality.

As for Rosaline, who insisted on going to Alsace, Orson had his own purpose in promoting the relationship between Rosaline and Alsace.

In this way, by winning over some and disintegrating some, the absolute advantage that Alsace originally maintained over Elsa has been reversed at this moment.

The righteous have many supporters, and the unrighteous have few supporters.

This sentence is very correct, but it can also be understood in reverse.

The "many supporters" are the "righteous", and the "few supporters" are the "unrighteous".

In the current situation, as long as public opinion turns to Elsa's side, it won't take long for citizens in Saint Laurent to march and demand Emperor Alsace to step down.

However, Alsace did not do nothing.

He concentrated the limited cards in his hand.

The first to bear the brunt is the most elite army of the empire under his control, the Royal Knights.

Alsace has controlled all government agencies in Saint Laurent through the Royal Knights, and also strictly guarded the palace, prohibiting anyone in the palace from entering and leaving the palace without permission.

Then the army outside the city began to enter the city to take over the city defense, strictly control the entry and exit of Saint Laurent, and implement a curfew system.

The entire Saint Laurent City, except for the Imperial Academy, was strictly controlled by Arthas.

As for the recapture of Elsa's territory, it was also proceeding in an orderly manner, but the territories originally allocated to Elsa all received intelligence at the same time, preferring armed resistance rather than surrender, so conflicts had to break out.

At this moment, Arthas was in the church.

He came to discuss the coronation.

There are generally three orders of succession to the throne.

The first is the death of the original emperor.

After that, the will is made public and the heir is announced.

Then, under the coronation of the Pope, the heir to the throne is crowned as the new emperor of the empire, and then a tour is carried out.

"Why can't I be crowned? The last emperor's will has been announced, and you have confirmed that there is no problem. Why don't you crown me?"

Arthas looked at Pope Levi in ​​front of him and asked puzzledly.

"I know that the church and the emperor have a close cooperative relationship."

Levi was not in a hurry at this moment.

"Now, the late emperor has just passed away not long ago, and the funeral has not even been held yet, and you want me to crown you. Your Highness, are you a little too anxious?"

"Anxious?" Arthas frowned, and then said:

"Don't you know what time it is now? If you don't crown me, it means that I haven't ascended the throne yet, and my sister is still eyeing the throne."

"That's the reason." Levi smiled.

"If the late emperor's will is true, then you will definitely be the next emperor. No matter how anxious you are, the throne is yours and it cannot change."

"And you also said that it was Her Highness Elsa who murdered the late emperor. If this is true, Her Highness Elsa will never be able to become the emperor."

"In this case, the last procedure of the coronation should be waited until the late emperor is buried and his soul enters heaven, right? Otherwise, I'm afraid that the late emperor's soul will be uneasy."

Levi began to fool Arthas with theology, and Arthas certainly understood.

This is not a matter of heaven or not. It is obvious that Levi, the old fox, is unwilling to take sides. He wants to wait until the result between him and Elsa is completely determined before agreeing to crown one of them.

But time is not on his side now.

"Okay."

Arthas nodded.

"I will go to deal with my father's funeral. I hope you can crown me as soon as possible after the funeral."

"Definitely."

Levi smiled and nodded, then sent Arthas out of the church.

After sending Arthas away, Levi returned to the church and saw the priests and nuns who were still working in the church, and said loudly:

"Everyone, you can have a holiday in the next few days. This is a gift from the goddess. Cheer!"

Then, the church saint Lilia came to Levi.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?"

"Let's take it one step at a time." Levi said.

"After all, we don't know the truth of the matter. We can only wait until the winner comes to write history before looking for it."

Lilia nodded when she heard this.

...

When Arthas returned to the palace, he immediately arranged the funeral of Odysseus, which was two days later.

And tomorrow, he had another plan.

That was the trial of the case in which Orson bribed Sherlock, a public official at the police station, to cover up a crime.

Everything had been arranged, and he didn't even need to care what Orson said. As long as he handed over the confession that he had given to Phil in advance and asked her to record, he could charge Orson with murdering the duke and assassinating the emperor.

He wanted to pay back what Orson had done to him.

Yes, although the framer had not yet been found, Arthas had already tacitly accepted that the target of the frame-up was Orson.

So many coincidences added together, it was no longer a simple coincidence.

This move made by Orson was obviously planned for a long time.

But it didn't matter. After tomorrow, he would be doomed.

Chapter 50: Retrial on a different day (3.1K)

Chapter 49: Completely falling out, becoming strangers (5.2K)

Sitting in the carriage to the Imperial Court, Sherlock looked at Phil in front of him and asked, "Miss Phil, didn't you say before that you were the prince's man? Why are you helping me now?"

"Well, because the prince is now the emperor, I have no one to be loyal to."

Phil joked, and then explained, "Alas, in fact, it doesn't matter who I am loyal to. I only know that we are both getting what we need now. You need to tell the truth to the judge of the court, and I am also entrusted to keep Orson, that's all."

Hearing Fei'er's words, Sherlock nodded and stopped talking.

On the other side, the Imperial Court.

Today, a very important trial is underway in the Imperial Court.

This is the first case that the new emperor Alsace has asked the Imperial Court to pay attention to after he ascended the throne. At the same time, Alsace also conveyed his views to the Imperial Court.

Even so, the judges still dare not judge casually.

After all, the person he was going to judge was Orson!

Orson, the great hero of the empire.

Now everyone with eyes could see that Arthas wanted to eliminate his political enemies through this method, but no one dared to say anything.

The supremacy of imperial power was the only unchanging truth of the empire.

If they disobeyed the emperor's order, their lives would be in danger.

"Suspect Orson, do you plead guilty?"

At the court magician's residence, the court magicians who were originally loyal to the royal family were concentrating.

The white-bearded chief judge sat on the bench, looking at Orson under the stage, and asked seriously.

They had been confronting the imperial guards outside for two days.

Just now, the recorded confessions of many witnesses were presented, and many "false evidences" made for this case were also displayed one by one.

Ever since Elsa entered the court magician's residence that night, they had been ready to turn against Arthas.

When Orson saw these evidences, he just laughed at the low level of Arthas's methods in his heart, but he shook his head firmly on the surface.

Odysseus died too suddenly and too strangely. During the whole process, the court magician only saw Odysseus once when he just fell into a coma. After that, he was obstructed for various reasons. Therefore, the commander-in-chief of the court magician, the eighth-level magician Vals, guessed the possibility of a coup.

"Sorry, Grand Justice, I still think I am not guilty. These are all groundless accusations. None of them has solid evidence and can stand up."

The court magician, like the imperial guards, is considered a part of the royal guard. It is reasonable to be loyal to the emperor, but now, Vals has twice refused Alsace's order to hand over Elsa.

"So, you just suspect that these evidences are false evidence?" The Grand Justice said this in a bad tone.

In the room of the residence, Elsa looked at Vals next to her and showed a grateful expression.

"Of course."

"I'll have to trouble you, Grandpa Vals, these days."

At this moment, there were only a few people sitting in the audience, all of whom were Arthas's confidants. The reason they came here was not only to monitor Orson, but also to go through the process, so that they could go out and help Arthas to say that there was no problem with the trial process.

Beside her, the old man with a white beard shook his head.

As for neutral people and pro-Orson people, they couldn't get in at all.

Of course, Orson knew their purpose, and he laughed disdainfully.

"It doesn't matter, Elsa, I have watched you grow up since you were a child, and I also taught you magic. I know you can't do anything to murder His Majesty."

Even though Arthas has now ascended the throne according to the will and called himself the emperor, Vals still called Odysseus His Majesty.

Owen watched the trial process progress step by step, and his heart was burning with anxiety.

He did not recognize the legitimacy of Arthas.

Orson could have postponed the trial today, but he insisted on coming.

Yes, the reason why Elsa came to the palace magician's residence at the first time was not only to win this elite force, but also because Vals could guarantee her safety.

If I had known this earlier, I should have stopped Orson in the police station and waited for the Imperial Court to pick him up before releasing him.

Elsa and Arthas have taken different paths since childhood. Arthas practiced swordsmanship, while Elsa took magic.

Seeing that the next step was to enter the process of conviction and sentencing, Owen wanted to interrupt the trial, but at this moment, a footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

So, Arthas naturally came into contact with many military officers in the army and became the backbone of the new generation of military leadership, while Elsa came into contact with a large number of magicians.

"Hey, what are you doing? The prisoner is being tried here now, you can't go in!"

In the entire empire, the number of magicians is not much compared to that of warriors, especially in the middle-level combat power of levels four to six, the proportion of magicians is even rarer.

Then, the door was pushed open, and Sherlock and Phil appeared at the door.

Therefore,

Although magicians play a great role in war, their total strength is not as good as that of normal troops.

The people who were present to serve as a guarantor for Arthas were stunned for a moment.

But even so, in the heavily guarded palace magician guards, it is quite difficult to break through the defensive magic array they prepared in advance.

His Majesty the Emperor did not say that there would be more people coming later.

That is why Arthas has not taken the means of strong attack until now.

"According to the provisions of the imperial law, the public has the right to attend all trials of the imperial court. Why, am I not a member of the public?" Sherlock said this, refuting the guards at the door, and then looked at the chief judge on the bench.

Talking about Odysseus again, Elsa was obviously very depressed.

"Am I right, Your Honor?"

She certainly knew that her father liked both her and her brother, but there could only be one heir to the empire. It was normal for him to favor his brother before and then slowly turn to support her. She did not think her father had done anything wrong.