The next day, there was a royal decree issued by the King of Abetha that caused an uproar within the royal court. Written in this decree, to address the strange drought on the farmlands, the entire kingdom would perform a worship ceremony to please the Goddess of Harvest, the Deity of Earth, and the Third Princess of Abetha would conduct the final step of it.
As expected, the ministers and officials opposed the King's decision.
"Your Majesty, please issue a new decree!"
"Your Majesty, we plead that you reconsider! Why would you involve an outsider, a ruler of another nation, in the matters of Abetha? She is the Queen of garis! The other kingdoms will look down on us!"
"We understand and praise your decision to conduct a ritual to lift the spirits of your subjects, but once this decree is made known, the people will not be pleased with this situation."
King Arn, while sitting in his throne, simply glanced at his ministers.
"Retracting a royal decree will harm the King's prestige," his trusted advisor, Lord Eudes, began to berate the protesting officials.
"Your subjects feel that involving the queen of another kingdom undermines the King's prestige more than retracting that decree."
"You simply don't want the Third Princess to be a part of the worship."
"She is no longer a citizen of Abetha. Not to ntion…"
"Not to ntion what?" King Arn asked, his tone severe, causing that minister to swallow his words.
Another official began to speak. "We all know the Third Princess is not ordinary…"
However, under the glare of that princess's father, he dared not openly call her a witch.
"What do you wish to say?"
"Y-Your Majesty, please forgive this lowly official. We don't want to offend you, but as you may be aware, the Third Princess' existence is ominous and her reputation…is not well-received by the people. Her participation in such a sacred ritual can bring disaster and—"
"Ominous? Disaster?"
The King of Abetha's laughter silenced the throne hall.
All the ministers were taken aback by such a reaction from the always dignified king. The mocking smirk on King Arn's face made the ministers feel humiliated, as if the King found them to be a bunch of fools.
"Have you all ever wondered why the lands of Abetha are fertile all year-round? Regardless of season, be it the hottest sumr or the bitterest winter for the rest of the continent, our kingdom is able to grow bountiful crops. My subjects, ask your parents—no, let us not go too far. My ministers in their twilight years, tell , has our land always been this blessed?
Eudes, you will be turning sixty-seven this spring. Tell , in your youth, has Abetha always been this prosperous?"
"No, Your Majesty."
King Arn continued, "Back in the days, although our land's yield was good, it was not to the point of a miracle where our people never hunger even in winter. Our sumrs were always temperate and our winters were never too cold for crops, to the extent that the people had all forgotten praying to gods. Comrce flourished, but religion was neglected.
When did the land begin to lose such a blessing of abundance? Think about it. Minister of Agriculture, tell your fellow officials."
"We received the first complaints three months ago, so it should have begun about four months ago, Your Majesty."
"And what event happened during the middle of autumn?" King Arn asked.
So officials appeared to be enlightened, while others showed expressions of confusion and disbelief.
King Arn scoffed at them. "If you have not made a connection till now, then such a muddled person should be stripped off your position. Indeed, the ominous Third Princess who you all deign a witch is in fact related to the reason why our kingdom was flourishing. You sched to send her away, and now you complain that our lands have beco barren? Your shalessness knows no bounds.
"Without her blessing the lands, with the arrival of winter, it is natural that our fertile lands have lost their protection from the cold. We will see a reduction on the yield, and farmlands will be unusable till spring. That is the aning of winter for the rest of the continent. Of course, that would also an that the kingdom will close outside trade and our economy will incur losses.
We need to preserve our granaries to safely tide over this winter, otherwise, our people will starve from lacking food supplies.
"It is already winter, yet most of the territory lords had not amassed food for winter and must already be fighting over buying supplies from other territories who prepared. Those who own farmlands, I believe the rchants have been harassing your vassals, demanding the fulfillnt of your contracts."
The truth in the King's words left many speechless and dumbfounded.
"Your Majesty, are you implying that…?"
"My daughter is not an ordinary human, but she is not a witch."
"But Your Majesty, you kept her locked…she had hurt people… If not for her being a witch …."
"I have my reasons to keep her away. Do I need to explain my family affairs to you people?" The King of Abetha glared at them. "But I am glad I kept my precious child away from you all whose greed and black hearts know no bounds."
"Your Majesty, please do not insult us! We may have the worst impression of the Third Princess, but that was also because her actions had brought harm to people! She would not be called a witch for no reason. The fire, the storms, the earthquakes—"
"My daughter is not a witch. If anyone ever dared call her that again, then pay the price of disrespecting royalty. Moreover, even if she is now a queen of another kingdom, she will always remain a mber of the Ilven Royal Family and the Third Princess of Abetha."
His voice was firm as he continued, "Know that, even after what you all had done to her, my daughter, such a good-hearted person, wishes to help our kingdom tide through this winter. That is why she is needed to be in this ceremony. Also, unless the subjects of this kingdom who criticized her sincerely apologize for their wrongdoings, then it will never be their fortune to enjoy her blessing."
All these years, Arn tolerated these brazen people as he had no ans to protect his daughter. He kept quiet for her sake and bitterly accepted the cruel words from these people. All he could do was to choose the lesser evil, to have her live in that tower till her mother finds another way to protect her.
Now, there was no need for him to worry, and so there was also no need to tolerate these ungrateful people.
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