Free Web NovelChapter 268: The Letter
Since Celestina first used a Wind Messenger to notify the capital of the disaster in the South-West Province, King Nathanial Rockwell had met with his Royal Council almost every day, engaging in an endless back-and-forth debate over what to do about the situation.
Ordinarily, when a crisis of this scale happened within the Rockwell Kingdom, the Royal Council would respond relatively quickly.
That wasn’t to say that certain parties wouldn’t try to use the situation to their political or financial advantage, or that some individuals wouldn’t argue over the scope and scale of the aid and assistance necessary; however, at least some action would be taken to deal with the situation.
None of the ministers or nobles who made up the Council were saints who would willingly sacrifice their lives to protect the common people, but they at least understood that when your neighbours house is on fire, it was in your own best interest to help put it out, lest the flames spread and burn your home down too.
This time, however, there was a significant complicating factor, one that caused many on the Royal Council to hesitate and delay.
"Your Majesty! We cannot let things continue on like this!" Spymaster Dan protested in a far more forceful manner than many had ever seen the normally silent man act before.
"My sources in the southern half of the South-West Province have all ceased sending information to the capital! For all we know, everyone from the Baker, Moore, and Carlson Family domains may already be dead! We must deploy our forces to address the situation and secure the region immediately!" Dan demanded.
"Hmph! You dare use such alarmist language inside the Royal Council Chambers?!" Minister of Traditions Mace cut in, "Hundreds of thousands of dead, you say? What evidence do you have that anything remotely that catastrophic has occurred? I say the situation is still well in hand and we should not act rashly!"
"The very fact that we have lost contact is proof enough!"
"Nonsense! This Council does not make such important decisions on mere hearsay and rumour, spy!"
"I don’t remember this Council becoming lapdogs to foreign interests either, sellout!"
"You accuse me of treason!?"
"You heard me!"
Had this been a month ago, when Nathanial was still trying to gather his wits and figure out what was happening, he would have stepped in long ago to silence the bickering ministers before him; but now, he simply let them scream at each other, not bothering to intervene at all.
The King knew that the truth couldn’t be as bad as his Spymaster was saying, or as good as his Minister of Traditions was proposing. It had to be somewhere in between the two, but none of that really mattered; nor did it matter what any of the others gathered in the council chambers said.
Hell, it didn’t even matter what he, Nathanial Rockwell, Eighth and current King of the Rockwell Kingdom, said.
The only opinion that mattered was that of Lord Jeremiah, Imperial Overseer of the South-Central Region of the Blue Sky Continent, and up until now, the Rising Sun Empire’s representative had been content to eat, sleep, and fuck the days away while the Rockwell Kingdom burned.
No one on the Royal Council understood why Lord Jeremiah, moments after he landed in the Royal Palace, had decreed that no action was to be taken to investigate the matters in the South-West Province without his approval, but their understanding was also not required.
All they needed to know was that the Imperial Overseer had given an order, and they were to follow it, no questions asked.
Thankfully, Marquess Celestina Balfour had taken independent action to protect the kingdom and its citizens, mitigating some of the damage to the South-West Province and opening up a channel for information to reach the capital. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Reports came in from the front-lines over the first few days of the crisis, allowing Nathanial and his advisors to get a better idea of what the situation really was, but with the shadow of the Empire looming over them, they still remained paralyzed.
To be fair, Lord Jeremiah never objected to the Rockwell Kingdom sending assistance to the South-West Province, but he also didn’t give explicit permission to do so.
This, inevitably, lead to a rift forming among the Royal Council.
Half of the council, including the three Queens who held the important positions of Minster of War, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Diplomacy, were all in favour of mobilizing as many troops and supplies as possible and flooding them into South-West Province.
The other half felt that taking any large-scale action without first receiving approval from Lord Jeremiah would only cause more damage to the kingdom.
It was rare for the council to be split this evenly as, most of the time, with its outsized influence among the members, the Royal Family got its way, but these weren’t ordinary circumstances so despite personally agreeing with his 3 wives, King Nathanial Rockwell was forced to consider the opposing faction’s argument seriously.
Both sides had valid reasons for believing what they did, and over many days of debate, the arguments for and against taking action intensified until it reached the point where the normally calm and composed minsters were engaging in shouting matches, hurling accusations back and forth at one another.
Complicating matters was the fact that the head of the opposing faction was none-other than Duke Gregory Roth.
While Duke Roth was technically his subject, Nathanial knew that this old fox wielded considerable influence thanks to his many long years navigating the noble circles of the kingdom.
Nathanial was a good leader, but he wasn’t an ideal ruler.
He knew how to inspire and charm people, and how to take charge in the heat of the moment, but while he wasn’t bad at strategy and politics, he also wasn’t the best. He was also somewhat lacking when it came to ruthlessness. This resulted in Nathanial Rockwell being a well-liked King, even a well respected one, but those with power didn’t fear him.
In good times, that was fine, but in times like these...
Now, Gregory Roth would never openly disparage or insult the King, he was far too smart for that, but he could easily sway enough nobles to his side and make significant trouble for the younger ruler.
On top of all that, Nathanial genuinely wasn’t certain what the best course of action to take was. He had a preference, of course, but as a monarch, he couldn’t just go with his gut and hope for the best.
Ignoring a festering calamity in his backyard was a foolish thing to do, but so was challenging the authority of an Imperial Overseer.
Nathanial Rockwell had no doubt that if he displeased Lord Jeremiah, the latter could purge everyone in his family, do whatever he wanted in the South-West Province, then leave the Rockwell Kingdom in a state of total disarray, all without suffering the slightest consequences.
It was this concern more than anything else that kept Christina’s normally decisive father from acting.
Just as Nathanial and the rest of the Royal Council were thinking that it would be another day where nothing was decided and nothing got done, the council chamber’s doors were flung open and a breathless messenger rushed inside.
Immediately, the Minister of Traditions, who was responsible for enforcing order and etiquette among the royal and noble houses, stood up and began shouting, "What is the meaning of this!? When the Royal Council is in session, no one is allowed..."
"Wait," Nathanial, who had been silent since opening this meeting over an hour ago, spoke up at that moment, silencing the over-zealous man.
Minister Mace was naturally displeased with being interrupted, but since it was the King who had cut him off, he reluctantly took his seat again. He was already standing in the camp opposing Nathanial regarding the situation in the south-west, so there was no reason to further antagonize the King over rather minor infractions of the court’s rules.
Signaling for the messenger to approach, Nathanial accepted a letter as well as a sealed box from the man before motioning for him to stand back.
Seeing the familiar seal of his old commanding officer on the letter, Nathanial’s lips curled up ever so slightly before opening it.
As a Low-Rank Spirit and Martial Adept, and a Peak-Rank Soul Initiate, Nathanial Rockwell could have read the 6-page letter in a couple minutes if he really wanted to, but after enduring the bickering of the council for the last hour, the King was more than happy to take his sweet time to absorb this update from Marquess Balfour.
At least, that’s what he thought he would do at first.
After getting a few sentences into the letter, the pleased look on Nathanial’s face sank, and his brow scrunched up noticeably. freēwēbnovel.com
No longer wasting time, Nathanial rapidly scanned the letter’s contents, his expression growing darker with every paragraph he processed.
By the time he reached the final note which had been haphazardly tagged onto the end of the report, the King’s hands were trembling as they tightly gripped the papers, his brow twitching furiously as his teeth ground together audibly.
Seeing the look on their King’s face, the Royal Council members had a variety of reactions.
Those who had rivalries or grudges with Celestina didn’t openly celebrate, but there was a certain twinkle of amusement and schadenfreude in their eyes.
The neutral party, which made up the majority, were curious about what it was that the Balfour Marquess had written in her letter.
As for those who supported or were friendly with the Balfours, they were trying to hide their nervousness.
This group was the most familiar with Celestina and the way she did things, so they knew just how crazy some of the stunts she could pull were and were worried that this time she had done something to truly enrage the King.
Time ticked by as Nathanial seemed to be having an internal struggle over whether the laugh or curse out loud; eventually, though, he just let out a sigh and passed the letter to his trusty First Minister.
At the same time, not caring for his image at all, the King slumped back into his chair and began massaging his temples.
