Neither side could find any trace of Mogiana, so they attempted to seek the Divine Chosen Champion of the Lake Fairy, Laine.
Laine also remained behind closed doors, refusing to see any guests.
The nobility had no way of knowing the Lake Fairy's opinion on the matter. At this point, neither side was willing to give in.
"I should co forward and arbitrate. Both Richard and Casvan must bear responsibility for this!" said Mogiana, her beautiful face filled with anger. "Who gave Casvan the courage to start a war with the Empire alone? But Richard, as King, neither supported nor stopped him and failed in his duties as a King!"
"You can't go out. The vampires have never stopped looking for you. I've taken out several waves of vampire spies myself." Laine shook his head, holding Mogiana's small hand tightly. "At least not until you've recovered."
Mogiana's expression was sowhat conflicted; this answer was not unexpected to her. The Lake God Witch sighed lightly, "Alright, I'll listen to you."
"Mogiana, if you were to arbitrate, how would you decide?" Laine continued to ask.
"Ten thousand," Mogiana thought for a mont, then said, "Richard contributes ten thousand, and Casvan covers the rest. At the sa ti, send soone to negotiate with Carl Franz to work out more details regarding the ransom... Casvan and two thousand knights have been captured, there's no choice but to try to reduce the ransom at the negotiating table."
"Hmm, that's the best we can do." Laine knew he was not suitable to co forward.
Being the king's vassal, there was a basic monarch-subject relationship. Even though Richard had acted unscrupulously in many matters concerning him, Laine was still not suited to co forward at this ti.
Furthermore, Mogiana was also incapacitated by severe injuries and could not co forward.
Where will this great political turmoil head?
......
On February 18th, the turmoil intensified within the kingdom's court. Three etings were held in succession. Richard, neither a Holy Grail Knight nor holding significant prestige, was overwheld. Despite support from the Duke of Leonais and the Duke Boldro, he was in a weak position facing the joint impeachnt initiated by Lady Casvan and over a hundred great nobles and hundreds of knights across the kingdom.
On February 20th, the impeachnt matter against Richard reached a climax. Hundreds of knights and thousands of family mbers of captured knights blocked the gates of the Kulona Palace, demanding the King take responsibility for the matter. Many of the knights' relatives, including won and children, cried and created a commotion, pounding on the palace doors, demanding the King provide a solution to ransom the captured knights.
To appease the nobles and the families of the captured knights, Richard had no choice but to send envoys to Imperial Capital Brunswick to discuss the ransom with Emperor Carl Franz. anwhile, he dispatched royal knights to first console the families blocking the palace. He then arrested several of the more disruptive family mbers.
Richard initially thought his actions might quell the public's anger, but Lady Casvan instructed more families of the captured knights to continue blocking the gates. Marquis Taobot, responsible for the palace guards, submitted a resignation letter, asking to step down from his position as the Kulona Palace Guard Commander.
Richard refused his resignation and then sought help from Jules, the head of the Holy Grail Knight Order's Kulona Branch.
Upon learning of the severity of the situation, Jules personally led five Holy Grail Knights to the Kulona Palace to persuade the families of the captured knights to calm down, arresting a few who purposefully created disturbances.
The influence of the Holy Grail Knights was apparent as the families dispersed upon Jules's persuasion, gathering in the inns and taverns throughout Kulona, awaiting the King's explanation.
However, three days passed, and no news erged from the Kulona Palace.
Lady Casvan and the nobles beca furious, once again initiating impeachnt proceedings against the King, demanding Richard explain the matter.
Jules, the Holy Grail Knight Commander, was also furious. He wrote a resignation letter, asking to step down as head of the Kulona Branch.
Richard quickly issued an order to retain Jules, preparing once again to face the impeachnt proceedings against the King. Under imnse pressure, Richard realized the situation had changed.
Without Mogiana's arbitration, the King himself couldn't command the Holy Grail Knights, and Lady Casvan had subtly directed her criticisms at Richard personally.
If this continued, the dukes might convene at the Kulona Palace for a King Selection Council!
Richard was not one to be easily manipulated. During a later eting, he proposed that since they were dissatisfied with his handling, a Kingdom Knights' Assembly could be called. Whatever was decided at the Assembly, he would comply. How about that?
This retreat to move forward was indeed astute, earning Richard considerable sympathy from many neutral great nobles. The King had not committed any obvious wrongdoing in the matter, warranting only neglect or dereliction at most. Such an outco hardly rited the severe consequence of being forced to abdicate. Richard's handling of the matter was fairly conventional and without significant mistakes.
Moreover, even if Richard were to be forced to abdicate having the impeachnt approved, who would remove the King from the throne?
Previously, such tasks fell to the then-current Lake God Witch leading the Holy Grail Knights. However, the crux was that Mogiana was severely injured and her whereabouts unknown.
Richard's statent forced Duke of Connet, Lorne-Rio Cornwall, to intervene. The Holy Grail Knight stepped forward, urging both sides to calm down and return to the negotiation table.
Lady Casvan also realized that her continued defiance would not yield favorable results, and both sides finally returned to the negotiation table within the palace.
The prolonged negotiations still could not produce a result.
In the southern Brittania, Winford Duchy, capital Helunhilde,
Francois sat leisurely in his study, lifting a glass of wine toward the person sitting across from him. "Bohemond, you finally ca."
Duke Bohemond of Bastogne sat across from Francois. He handed a letter to Francois, "Richard is overwheld with the current situation and begs to diate the matter."
Francois nodded silently.
The Duke also felt the matter was getting out of control. Originally, when consensus couldn't be reached, the Lake God Witch should have diated, providing a compromise, which would have been accepted as she symbolized the will of the Lake Fairy.
The core problem lay precisely here; Mogiana was severely injured and was recovering in Laine's territory.
Without Mogiana, it would fall to Laine, as the Lake God Witch had made it clear to the kingdom's great nobles that Laine would act in her stead in her absence.
However, Francois believed Laine should not intervene in the matter. The main issue was that Laine, as the King's vassal, if he sided with the King, it would be seen as collusion; if he sided with Lady Casvan's faction, he would be failing in his duties as a vassal.
Furthermore, though Laine was quite prominent within the kingdom at the mont, his prestige still fell short of the Lake God Witch's revered status. Not everyone would be satisfied with his compromise, nor could he command silence through prestige.
Therefore, Laine was best to remain behind closed doors, refuse guests, and not involve himself in the matter. His excuse was perfect—Laine had contacts among several Prince-Electors and great nobles of the Empire and needed to avoid suspicion in this matter.
With Mogiana absent and Laine refusing to opine, no one in the court was able to persuade anyone else, leading to the situation spiraling out of control.
Now, the only ones capable of arbitrating were the Grand Master of the Holy Grail Knight Order, the legendary Green Knight, and the Red Dragon Duke Bohemond. Bohemond, a direct descendant of the First Knight King Arthur and a Holy Sanctuary powerhouse, enjoyed imnse prestige within the kingdom. Richard's request for him to diate was out of necessity.
Nevertheless, Bohemond wasn't particularly interested in internal affairs, which was why he had co to consult Francois on how to handle the situation.
"Regarding this matter, perhaps you should ask Laine for his opinion." Francois whispered.
"Laine? But hasn't he refused to see guests? Richard sent several envoys, yet none t him." Bohemond frowned, "I might not be able to see him either."
"I will have Surya accompany you," Francois said softly. "Surya is his fiancée. He is sure to see her. Trust , Bohemond, Laine will give you a satisfactory answer."
Bohemond breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's do it this way then."
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