At Castle Reinhard, there was a large hall. Its ceiling was so high that people could barely see it, and yet beautiful engravings and paintings decorated it. Pictures of gods and goddesses, demons and devils, and peasants and kings, it seemed to depict the vastness of the world! It seemed frozen in time, created a thousand years ago, but it did not fade one bit. It looked as perfect as the day it was made! Tall white pearly marble pillars held up the empty hall, with braziers placed in strategic locations. The light reflected and refracted in ingenious ways, giving a holy and untouchable air! A massive window spanned the furthest wall, designed like the Twin Goddesses of the official crown religion! They shined their divine light on a single golden throne! This was the throne room of the Castle Reinhard, the heart of the Alzar Kingdom!
Currently, Queen Bethnal sat there with an overwhelming aura. She might not be a martial artist or an Arcanist who could command auras, but her status was far above even Sir Winstin! She was a true overlord of the world! Her mere presence was enough to bring everyone to heel! This was the former queen of the kingdom, the mother of King Harth, the matriarch of the Royal Family, and ruler of half the world! Beside her, Prince Dannark and Princess Millisandren were present. Behind them were Sir Winstin, Sir Sebastian, Lady Valentina, and Princess Millisandren's own Protector. Thirty Royal Guards stood at the side with nearly a hundred Grand Knights! Every one of them were famous warriors with countless victories under their belt. They were powerful enough to rampage throughout the world! This was by far the most powerful lineup the Royal Family could display, a symbol of their unfathomable foundations!
The Grand Nobility were standing in the middle of the hall with pale faces. They were huddled together like a pack of sheep being eyed by wolves. Their sheltered ignorance and arrogance were shattered! They felt their world view crumbling down. Many of them collapsed to the pressure! Still, that applied to the younger generation only. The true leaders of the families kept their cool and stood strong. Although they were shaken inside, they never showed it. Because they knew one thing: Queen Bethnal was putting on a show! She might be the monarch of the kingdom now, but that was temporary. These Grand Nobility Households had enormous foundations as well. If the Royal Family were as unshakable as a thousand-year-old tree, then they would be as solid as a hundred-year-old tree!
After all, the matter with Princess Elizabeth was too big. For the heir apparent and the next monarch to be assaulted just outside Castle Reinhard, it was too humiliating to the Royal Family. They had to re-establish their supremacy that they were not to be trifled with! Whether the nobility was related to Elizabeth's attack was irrelevant. Queen Bethnal just wanted to whip a family down, a case of killing the monkey to warn the forest! This would help pave the road forward for the next generation of the Royal Family! Therefore, many looked to the Ovarr, Dewshard, and Lannisail Households with gloating expressions. Some wanted to fan the flames further and laughed mischievously inside. All of them were ruthless! Otherwise, how could they rise to become the heads of nobility?
Although the Royal Family would never go as far as exterminating a family, they could not be too light either. If the punishment were too light, then no one would take them seriously. It had to be serious enough to hurt the family! But it could never cripple their foundations because that would be drawing past their bottom line. The Alzar Kingdom was already in a precarious situation. It was better than the Xingyuu Empire, which was on the verge of civil war, but that balance was fragile. Queen Bethnal might be scary now, but she was no idiot. If a Grand Nobility Household was pushed too far, then they would retaliate with fearsome power. Everyone else understood that so they were not truly despairing yet. The kingdom needed them!
Thinking this, the Ovarr patriarch and the Dewshard matriarch stepped forward fearlessly. Seeing Queen Bethnal's attitude was enough. They knew whatever words they could say would be wasted. Her Majesty was looking to beat the Grand Nobility Households back into submission and the grand display inside the throne room validated their thoughts. They could only curse their bad luck for standing out now. Lord Fredrick and Lady Kalasena was right behind them, along with a few other family members.
But on the Lannisail side, things were awkward. Lord Wenmord was nowhere to be found and his son, Lord Archibon, had to step up. A flurry of murmurs emerged from the nobles as everyone raised an eyebrow and wondered. What was the Lannisail Household thinking? The Royal Family was looking for a scapegoat right now. Everyone knew that the tallest tree would face the strongest wind, so it was undoubtedly unwise to stand out now. They had to put on fawning smiles and heap praises onto the Royal Family. Lord Wenmord was clearly present in Algard and many saw him a few hours prior at the Daemon Household for Elizabeth's party. By not showing up, it was blatant disrespect for the crown!
As expected, Prince Dannark, Princess Millisandren, Sir Winstin, Sir Sebastian, Lady Valentina, and all the Royal Guards simultaneously frowned. This was openly slapping them in the face! Queen Bethnal's face similarly turned frosty. Lord Archibon paled and dared not to look her in the eye. He might be one of the three rising stars of his generation, but Queen Bethnal was the real deal! Even if he reached his full potential, she would still be far above him! That was the power of the queen!
Prince Dannark spoke first and asked, "We summoned all the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Grand Nobility Households. Where is the Lannisail Household patriarch, Lord Wenmord Lannisail?"
Archibon shivered. "My father is… unavailable to attend right now so please forgive him! The Lannisail Household means no disrespect! We have nothing to do with Princess Elizabeth's plight!"
"Is that so?" the prince wondered with a sharp gaze and turned silent. This made Archibon nervous to the point of a breakdown!
After a silent half a minute, Queen Bethnal retracted her gaze from Archibon and glanced over everyone. Everyone's expressions changed as the intensity of the aura surged to newfound heights! If the Royal Family and Royal Guards were like crouching tigers before, they were like flying dragons now! The oppression in the hall grew ten times immediately. The air felt as heavy as lead when the combined Martial Auras of so many Perception Realms combined. It was not something anyone could resist! The leaders of the Grand Nobility had to step back out of fear. They realized that… they were terribly misunderstood! Something bad must have happened!
Queen Bethnal announced coldly, "Princess Elizabeth has disappeared."
"What?" the Grand Nobles jumped in fright.
All along, Queen Bethnal kept this fact hidden because it was too embarrassing to publicise it. Even if they let the Whispering Shadow attack day and night for months, it might not squeeze through one brigade, much less all three. Anyone with a brain could see that. So, for Princess Elizabeth to disappear under the watchful eye of the entire Royal Guard and fifteen thousand soldiers in the heart of Castle Reinhard… That was a really bad joke! Being that incompetent required a special talent! A talent at being useless! Queen Bethnal might have thick skin, except this elevated it to another level. Should the news be leaked, the Royal Family would be mocked for generations to come! They would be known as the most useless family in history!
This gave the Grand Nobles a large misunderstanding. They thought this abrupt summons was related to Princess Elizabeth's ambush with the Second Hand. Because of this, they were slightly upset. A mandatory summons demanded the most urgent of attention. Anything that required a summons dictated the fate of the kingdom. For example, it was used just three times in the last ten years. The first was eight years ago during the outbreak of the Second Great Kingdom War! The second was two years ago when King Harth was defeated in the Battle of the Millennium, forcing Lord Korogin to become the new temporary monarch. The last was a few months ago, at the beginning of the new year, to proclaim Princess Elizabeth's legitimacy for the throne! Every event had unimaginable aftershocks and changed the kingdom entirely!
However, Queen Bethnal's revelation was like a hammer striking their hearts. This so-called simple summons was in fact hiding this massive secret! Princess Elizabeth was the heir apparent of the Alzar Kingdom and the hope for the next generation. She was the rising star of the Royal Family! To have her snatched away went beyond merely slapping the Royal Family. It was practically stomping on them! These Grand Nobles could finally see why Queen Bethnal issued a summons. This was an issue that demanded the full attention of the kingdom! And because of that, their expressions turned bitter. To put it plainly, the Royal Family was really pissed now!