Chapter 569: 442 Chapter 569: 442 Under the gaze of the onlookers, the Chamberlain first snapped his white staff in two.
“Farewell, Your Majesty,” he said solemnly.
Minister Hermes respectfully placed the broken staff atop the queen’s coffin and bowed deeply before it.
This signified that Mycroft’s loyalty to Her Majesty in this life had come to an end and effectively marked his resignation from his position as Chamberlain.
He felt a tinge of regret and, like a weight had been lifted, turned and walked away from the coffin.
Standing behind him, the Minister of Justice Carter stepped forward, tearing his shoulder strap in half and laying it on the coffin, too.
“Farewell, Your Majesty,” Carter said softly, his eyes closed, a look of wistful resignation on his face.
He was not speaking to the queen’s soul, but rather to his former self.
After all, the queen did not ascend to the Dream Realm at the end of the funeral like ordinary people did.
At the moment of her death, the Crown Lord’s Knights had already ushered her into the Crown Lord’s domain.
Only her physical shell remained in the Material Realm.
Each minister was to destroy the symbol of authority given to them by Queen Sofia at the funeral, thereby relinquishing their ministerial roles.
The new list of ministers would be decided at the Round Table meeting the day after the state funeral.
And, without doubt, another matter would be announced at this Round Table meeting.
That would be the declaration of war against Star Antimony.
Aiwass stood behind Isabel in a solemn and respectful black priest’s robe, his hands tucked into the sleeves in front of him, in quiet repose.
Logically, Aiwass should be worried about the war.
After all, Avalon had previously been destroyed by Star Antimony, not to mention that Aiwass was about to leave for the Holy Nation soon.
Could Isabel truly withstand such pressure on her own?
Clearly, this concern, or perhaps excitement, was shared among the ministers.
Those who were aware of Star Antimony’s advancements were somewhat preoccupied—unlike the common folk who only knew anger, they were more cognizant of the fact that Avalon was on the brink of destruction; whether it declared war or not, it might invite ruin.
—But Aiwass was not the least bit anxious now.
Because there was a piece of secret intelligence—a secret known only to those who had stayed in the Hall of Silver and Tin the previous night, besides Isabel.
The fact that Emma attempted to assassinate Isabel had even alarmed the Holy Nation.
Perhaps realizing that he had been charmed, Bishop Mathers urgently made contact with the Holy Nation through the channels of the Church—so that very night, Mathers himself came to the Hall of Silver and Tin.
After inquiring whether Aiwass and Isabel were in any danger and if they needed purification and treatment, he offered a profoundly sincere apology for being charmed.
Afterwards, he acted as a messenger, conveying the stance of the Holy Nation.
—The Holy Nation acknowledged that Avalon was on the side of justice and permitted it to wage a limited war of revenge against Star Antimony.
It meant that Avalonians could call a halt to the war whenever they wished; Star Antimony would need to dethrone “Valentine VII” and make reparations satisfactory to Avalon before the war of revenge could be mediated to a conclusion.
Once the war began, the people of Star Antimony could only defend within their own borders and not counterattack within Avalonian territory, otherwise, the Holy Nation would intervene and stop them.
Having learned the Holy Nation’s attitude, Aiwass breathed a sigh of relief.
In the original timeline, the Holy Nation faced very tricky troubles in the summer of 1899—the year Avalon was destroyed—which was why when Avalon was invaded by the people of Star Antimony in the fall of 1899, the Holy Nation remained silent and unable to help.
And now it was only January 1899.
The catastrophic event that nearly collapsed the order of the Holy Nation and wasn’t resolved by the players until 1900 had not yet occurred.
The relationship between the Holy Nation and Avalon was very close…
in a sense, Avalon was even one of the protectorates of the Holy Nation.
After all, Isabel herself had a quarter Elf lineage, and this time there was no doubt that Star Antimony was entirely at fault.
Thus, the Holy Nation firmly stood by the Avalonians.
The attitude of the Holy Nation was a clear case of taking sides.
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The Papal Guard, also known as “Elf Butlers” from the Founding Families, were tasked solely with ensuring the preservation of the Founding Families’ lineages.
The protection from Elves meant direct guardianship to the death, for certainly, Isabel’s lifespan could not match theirs.
The weakest among them possessed strength equivalent to the pinnacle of the Fourth Power Level, and outstanding protectors like Butler Oswald were even comparable to the Fifth Power Level in combat prowess.
This time, the Holy Nation was sending elite members of the Papal Guard, all of Oswald’s caliber and sufficiently young, unlike the current “Elf Butlers” who were advancing in age.
—Nine Queen’s Guards equivalent to the Fifth Power Level!
As the nation with the most top-class warriors currently, the Holy Nation had just over fifty warriors of this caliber.
Now they had dispatched nearly a fifth of them to Avalon.
The attitude of the Eternal Pope was quite evident.
He saw that the people of Star Antimony were taking advantage of the fact that Avalon’s generation had too few top-class warriors…
so the deep-pocketed Holy Nation made up the difference directly.