Holy Kingdom,
Royal Capital Hoburns.
Inside the Royal Library, which should have been quiet, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out. "Caspond, you will destroy the Holy Kingdom like this!"
Holy Queen Calca's chest heaved violently as she pointed at her royal brother, Caspond. The large movement caused the shackles on her limbs to rattle loudly.
Caspond, being pointed at by the Holy Queen, narrowed his eyes and admired his sister's furious expression. After a moment, he sneered. "Calca, the Holy Kingdom has never been a kingdom for commoners. It is a kingdom for nobles. You never understood that from the very beginning. That is why the nobles refuse to submit to you."
Caspond was extremely smug at this moment. The entire Holy Kingdom was finally about to fall into his hands.
This sister of his was simply too naive. If not for the military support of Remedios and Kelart, how could she have bypassed him to inherit the throne?
He tapped the magic shackles on the Holy Queen's body with satisfaction, his voice filled with the complacency of a victor. "Be a good prisoner, my dear sister. I will let you see with your own eyes that the Holy Kingdom will be governed far better without you."
"Then you should have the Southern Nobles send troops to support the front lines instead of using the army to amass wealth!" Hearing Caspond's words, Calca roared, completely disregarding her image as a queen.
"Listen to me, Caspond! The entire southern region of the Holy Kingdom is engulfed in the flames of the demi-human war. If you truly want to govern this country well, you should immediately take action against those nobles and seize military power!"
Why was her brother so incredibly stupid?
Why were the Southern Nobles willing to support him?
Wasn't it precisely because he was easy to control?
The sudden arrival of the demi-human army at the border had almost completely disrupted the Holy Queen's pace in consolidating power.
The Southern Nobles seized the opportunity to ignore the front-line battles and remained where they were, forcing the Holy Queen to dispatch her most elite forces to the front in order to save the kingdom's people.
Everyone knew this was an open scheme aimed at the Holy Queen. Calca was too idealistic. She always placed too much importance on commoners.
Thus, as the Southern Nobles sent report after report of front-line tragedies to the capital, even though she clearly understood their objective, she still resolutely sent all her elite forces to reinforce the devastated front lines and rescue innocent civilians.
"To govern this country well, one must rely on the nobles. It's only natural to let them squeeze some profit out of those commoners." Caspond was dismissive. When his gaze fell upon the shackles restraining Calca, mockery surfaced in his eyes. "The magic shackles binding you are the price of your disregard for the nobles."
How could a mere woman understand the meaning of "nobility is power"?
If the border fell, so be it. As long as the interests of the nobles were protected, he would always be the King of the Holy Kingdom.
But if he acted like Calca, desperately sharing benefits with commoners, then in the eyes of the nobles, he would not be a king at all.
In the end, she was simply too naive.
Caspond turned his head to look at the darkened library, a cold smile curling at the corners of his lips. "My dear sister, stay here and watch carefully as I make the Holy Kingdom strong and prosperous, step by step."
Finally, he cast one last glance at the sturdy shackles on the Holy Queen's limbs and left the library in satisfaction.
These shackles had been specially obtained by the Southern Nobles, an item capable of sealing even a powerhouse like the Holy Queen, who could wield fourth-tier faith-based magic.
It ensured that the Holy Queen would never again possess power or strength.
Watching Caspond's retreating back, Calca bit her lip and desperately tried to mobilize the mana within her body, wanting to strike her useless brother with a spell to wake him up.
The heavy shackles on her limbs left her without even the slightest extra strength.
All she could do was take a few heavy steps and sink to the floor, leaning against a bookshelf.
"Remedios and Kelart are both gone, and my magic is sealed… Is the Holy Kingdom truly finished…"
She thought of the people of the Holy Kingdom. In the past, when she walked the streets, commoners would always smile and greet her. Children would offer her flowers with their dirty little hands, and under her policies, people had gradually grown happier.
Leaning against the bookshelf, her gaze swept over the books lining the library. As a child, she had once aspired to build an "ideal nation where no one cries." For that goal, she had devoted herself to practicing magic and studying statecraft, almost never setting foot in this Royal Library.
Most of what was stored here were ancient relics and books collected by the previous king, unrelated to governance or magic.
The entire library was filled with a thick scent of ink.
She randomly pulled a book from behind her, hoping to use it to force herself to calm down.
This was her habit. Reading something logical helped her organize her chaotic thoughts.
Calca opened the ancient book. A faint earthy smell drifted into her nose, followed by an illustration of a majestic figure that immediately caught her eye.
Beneath it was her father's handwriting.
"Holy Domain God Lord."
Calca furrowed her brows. The name "Holy Domain God Lord" felt strangely familiar.
Since it was her father's handwriting, had he mentioned it before?
With that doubt in mind, she continued turning the pages.
The contents of the ancient book were written in hieroglyphs, making them exceptionally difficult to understand.
However, her father had once added simple translations and annotations to the text.
"Holy Domain God Lord, human supremacy… a god of benevolence and justice?"
"Sorcerer King, Jaldabaoth, evil and sin…"
"Seal? World Item? Dragon shadow?"
The Holy Queen stared at the handwriting left behind by her father's translations and conjectures for a long time. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her, and she remembered where she had seen the name "Holy Domain God Lord" before.
Yesterday, before being ambushed by the Southern Nobles, a document had been delivered to her by the kingdom's intelligence network.
It contained information about the Holy Domain God Lord descending into the mortal world and exterminating the Lich King.
Because the front-line war was critical, she had been busy doing everything possible to gather food and military supplies at the time, so she had only given it a brief glance.
Thinking again of the front-line war and her people suffering in dire straits, Calca felt a sharp pain in her heart and murmured softly,
"Holy Domain God Lord… if only a god truly descended into the world…"
A look of exhaustion appeared on her delicate face. The faint dark circles beneath her eyes acted like weights pulling her eyelids down, and she gradually fell into a deep sleep.
Suddenly, a flash of light pierced through her eyelids, causing Calca to awaken abruptly.
A majestic figure stood before her.
Although she could not clearly see His face, Calca could distinctly feel that He was gazing at her with gentle eyes.
"Kami Sama?"
As if responding to her voice, the god slowly raised a hand, and a warm light flowed into her body.
Waaa~♫~ "Go find Helant. He will help you."
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