A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

123. Chapter 123

Since returning from meeting Heimos, Garlan has been pondering a question.

It was a question that had always puzzled him and troubled him for a long time.

Is this really the first time Heimos has fallen in love?

It doesn’t feel like the first time at all!

As a guy who has not had any emotional experience in more than 20 years, Heimos should be an innocent virgin.

He should be like himself who has never been in love in several lifetimes. This is only logical!

But why is Heimos so skilled at seducing people?

Even though it was just such a simple sentence, even though he didn't have that kind of feelings for Heimos, at that moment he still felt like his heart was stabbed by something.

There was a strange feeling that could not be explained.

...Perhaps it's because that person is simply confessing his feelings.

The understatement sounded like it was a matter of course.

Only words that truly come from the heart can touch people's hearts the most.

Garlan sighed. He raised his hand and pressed his temples. He felt a headache.

This is just great.

The plan to leave the royal city can only be postponed.

Even if he didn't intend to accept Heimos's feelings, no matter how slow and heartless he was, he couldn't do anything like running away regardless of Heimos.

After returning to his palace, he began to discuss with his subordinates.

"There is indeed something fishy going on."

Gallan said, "We all thought that Heimos would not do something stupid like killing the royal knight, and that was indeed the case. Heimos told me that he did take the talisman, but only secretly. Stealing is not murder and grabbing a talisman.”

"Moreover, he also said that when he stole the military symbols and left, the two royal knights guarding the door were still standing there fine."

Cayjos nodded.

"In other words, someone was secretly watching, and after Prince Heimos left, he killed the two royal knights and put the blame on Prince Heimos."

The little fat man quickly said: "I secretly... No, I heard it accidentally. There is a separate stone room behind King Camos's palace, which is guarded by knights of the Royal Knights all year round. It is said that Aaron Landi The valuables passed down by the kings of Sri Lanka are stored in it, and the military talismans have also been kept in it."

"Then, according to common sense, Prince Heimos received the message from Anu who flew to the royal city in the evening, and then immediately summoned the main ministers and official generals."

Caihos said, "He took out the military talisman during the meeting, which means that he stole the military talisman between the time when everyone was summoned and when they arrived at the palace."

"Then he led his troops to leave the royal city in the early hours of the night."

"And the knights guarding the talisman must be on duty. I estimate that their exchange time is probably between early morning and sunrise. The team of knights who came to rotate discovered the bodies of their companions and discovered that the talisman had been stolen."

"After dawn, they learned about Prince Heimos using the military talisman to mobilize the army. Knowing that the military talisman was in his hands, they naturally identified the murderer as Prince Heimos."

"It can be guessed that in the eyes of the royal knights, the reason why Prince Heimos was so eager to set off in the early morning is a sign of guilt and worry about what will happen."

Kayhos pondered for a long time. He looked at Garlan and seemed hesitant to speak.

And Garlan also noticed the demeanor of his guardian knight.

He asked strangely: "Kayhos, is there anything you can't say?"

"...Your Highness, the key to the matter now is not actually who wants to frame Prince Heimos, but rather, that person's purpose."

"Purpose?"

"Yes, Prince Heimos is a prince after all, with a distinguished status. Even if he is convicted, it is impossible to impose punishment on him and really do anything to him. The most he can do is to let him leave the army and stay in the palace. It’s just among them.”

"However, one thing is for sure. Once this crime is convicted, then Prince Heimos will definitely be..."

Having said this, the One-Eyed Knight paused.

He looked at Garlan and spoke word for word.

"Disinherited from the throne."

Garlan was startled for a moment, then heard Caihos repeat it in an aggravated tone.

"In other words, the purpose of that person's framing of Prince Heimos was not to do anything to him, but to make him lose the right to inherit the throne."

Garlan thought for a while and said, "In other words, we can start from this aspect and find the person who framed Heimos, right?"

Garlan's words made all his subordinates choke for a moment, and even the female official of Tapti looked dumbfounded.

She understood what Caihos said so carefully and the deep meaning behind his words.

But the prince didn't hear it at all.

Tapti couldn't help but smiled bitterly and shook his head.

However, in this way, both she and Caijos could see it.

That kind of thought... The prince's heart never moved at all, so he was completely unaware of it.

Cayjos stood up.

"I can't figure it out for a while, so I'll go and investigate more carefully." He warned, "Prince, in order to cope with tomorrow's events, you must have a good rest and keep yourself energetic."

Caihos stood up and left, and Lady Tapti also left with him. She was going to prepare the prince's dinner and the soup for tonight.

Only Tal seemed reluctant to leave. After everyone else left, he came over with a mysterious look.

"Prince." He leaned close to Gallan and whispered: "Even if Prince Heimos is convicted, the worst result is that he will be deprived of the right to inherit the throne."

He paused and continued to lower his voice.

"If he loses the right to inherit, wouldn't it be... very good for you?"

"ah?"

"I mean, let's just leave it like this. Prince Heimos is so powerful. In the future... the throne... well, it will definitely bring you a lot of trouble. So, now that you have such a good opportunity, you might as well... …”

The little fat man said a few words vaguely, winked at Garlan a few times, and then ran away without waiting for Garlan to answer.

Garlan stared blankly as the round but very flexible figure disappeared in front of his eyes.

When he came back to his senses, he suddenly realized.

yes!

He finally changed his mind.

Heimos no longer has the right to inherit the throne, so the throne is definitely his!

Garlan sat and thought deeply.

The reason why he has been anxious to leave the palace is because he knows that he cannot win against Heimos in the battle for the throne, and he does not want to make the same mistake again and end up miserable. That's why he decided to give up the fight for the throne. He didn't bother to worry about whether he would be cursed by the gods after reincarnation. He just wanted to live well in this life.

However, now there was an excellent opportunity in front of him.

This thing about Heimos...

As Kayhos said, Heymos is the prince after all. No one dares to do anything to him. Only King Camos has the power to judge him.

Naturally, King Camos would not really do anything to Heimos.

In other words, for Heimos, the worst outcome is to be disinherited, and there is no other danger at all.

The sky gradually darkened, and the light falling on the side face of the young man sitting by the window also gradually dimmed.

Garlan lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.

His hands on the table clenched into fists little by little.

This is the best opportunity.

Or maybe it's his only chance.

Scenes from the past kept flashing through his mind.

My life in the original world...

The hesitation when I first came to this world...

Also, the scenes of death again and again...

…………

One night passed, and the bright sunshine shone on the prosperous royal city of Aaron Landis.

The huge golden palace stands on the ground, shining in the sun, overlooking the entire city.

Seen from below, the high stairs make the entire huge palace appear to be towering in the clouds, majestic and magnificent.

At this moment, in the chamber inside this glorious palace, an extremely important discussion was taking place.

There were not many people involved, only about ten people, but they were all important dignitaries in Aaron Landis.

It can be said that the people here at this moment are all the central figures who have great power in the Aaron Landis regime, as well as several cavalry commanders from the military and navy generals.

On the high platform at the top of the spacious council chamber is a malachite-carved throne, which is naturally empty at the moment.

Under the high platform, there is a seat on each side, which is carved from obsidian.

Further down, there are rows of seats carved from white stone on each side. The noble ministers and generals who participated in the discussion were sitting on their own white stone chairs according to their status, talking with the people around them with their heads down.

On one side of the forum, there was a small hall in which two teams of priests wearing different priestly attire stood.

They were the priests of Shamash, the sun god, and the priests of Nanna, the night god.

The God of the Sun and the God of Night were enshrined as the main gods by the royal family of Aaron Landis, and the priests who served them naturally also held a very high status in Aaron Landis.

However, as servants of God, neither temple force will participate in such a thing.

Therefore, the two old chief priests of the temple did not come, but each symbolically sent a high priest to bring people to witness.

Footsteps sounded from outside, and the rustling chatter in the meeting room stopped instantly, and everyone looked up.

The long flowing golden hair of the young prince who walked towards the crowd was extremely dazzling in the sun, as if it was glowing. A crown of emerald green olive leaves carved from malachite was tied around it.

When the wind blew the golden forehead hair, the Shamash rune exposed on the white forehead was crimson.

When he stepped forward, the light blue cloak flew up behind him.

A one-eyed knight in silver armor followed closely behind with a group of personal guards.

When Garlan arrived with his subordinates, everyone present stood up and bowed to him no matter what their thoughts were.

Garlan's eyes swept over everyone, nodded slightly, then walked through the crowd and sat down on the left seat under the throne platform.

As he sat down, everyone also sat back again.

At first, no one spoke first.

After a moment of silence, someone looked around and then stood up.

"About Prince Heimos...how do you plan to deal with it?"

As soon as someone started talking, it was like turning on a faucet, and then someone started talking one after another.

"The royal knight has retrieved the missing military talisman from Prince Heimos. It can be confirmed that that person did steal the military talisman."

"Yes, the royal knights have already said that they did not receive an order from the king to transfer the talisman to Prince Heimos."

"Prince Huymos lied to us."

"Yes, he stole the military symbols and mobilized the army without the permission of King Camos. This is an indisputable fact."

A military general said with a cold face.

"The military talisman obtained from Prince Heimos is the evidence. He fooled us. Even if he is a prince, he should not be like this."

One of the ministers shook his head with a look of worry on his face.

"Even if he is a prince and does such a thing, he cannot be forgiven."

Garlan couldn't help but frown after listening to these people's words. He glanced at Caihos who was standing aside and raised his head slightly to signal.

Kehos nodded.

Then he took a step forward.

"Please wait a moment."

He interrupted everyone.

"Although Prince Heimos did steal military symbols and mobilize the army without authorization, it is excusable. He did this to save the city of Tozes, Prince Gallan and us."

Then, Kehos turned to the side of the military generals.

"Soldiers need to be quick. If the reinforcements had not arrived in time, Tozes City might have fallen into the hands of pirates." He said, "The military situation is urgent and there is no room for any delay. As soldiers, you should understand this best."

"For us, the result of the war means everything. Even if Prince Heimos stole the military symbols and deceived everyone into mobilizing the army, the fact that he defeated the pirates and defended the city of Tozes is still significant. It should be possible to offset the merits.”

The military generals looked at each other, said nothing, and fell into silence.

All the generals in Aaron Landis's army were promoted based on their military exploits. It can be said that they were all fought on the battlefield, so they could actually understand Prince Heimos' behavior to a certain extent.

However, understanding is understanding, and they must express their position to avoid being caught by others as evidence that they are not loyal to King Camos.

Therefore, after clearly expressing their attitude on the matter, they followed Caihos's words and chose to keep silent.

However, after the military side fell silent, the noble ministers obviously refused to give up easily.

"Putting merit against crime? No, the guilt of provoking the royal power cannot be offset by any merit."

Someone immediately spoke to retort.

"In order to steal the military talisman, he actually killed two royal knights. This is a naked offense to King Camos."

"If this sets a precedent, then if someone uses similar reasons to do the same thing in the future, can they be forgiven?"

"In this case, where will the king's majesty remain?"

While everyone was talking about it, an old man with white hair spoke slowly.

"Everyone, Prince Heimos killed the royal knights, stole the military symbols, and mobilized the army without authorization. The evidence is conclusive."

The speaker's face was full of wrinkles, and his gray hair fell down on his cheeks.

He looked old and aged, but his slightly narrowed eyes were full of light.

The old aristocratic minister was sitting on the chair, holding a reddish-brown cane in both hands. His big hands covered the head of the cane with a hollow pattern integrated into gold.

"However, he is a prince, and we have no right to deal with him." He said, "So, we should wait for King Camos to come back and inform King Camos of his guilt, and the king will make a decision on him. judgment."

"Please wait a moment, Chief Secretary, what do you mean..."

The old man ignored Kaihos. He turned his head and smiled at Garlan.

"Prince Gallan, I know you are worried about Prince Heimos. After all, you grew up together and have a good relationship. And Prince Heimos did this to save you. You can't abandon him."

"However, you are the future king of Aaron Landis. When dealing with various matters, it is best not to put personal emotions into it."

He said to Garlan with a kind expression, and added another sentence.

"You don't have to worry too much. King Camos will be back soon. He shouldn't impose too severe punishment on Prince Heimos."

Although the old minister had a gentle tone and a gentle tone, and the words he said seemed to be for the sake of Heimus, the subtext inside and outside the words was insidiously meant for Heimos and Garland. A big hole was dug.

With one word, Heimos was convicted.

He directly combined the killing of royal knights and stealing soldiers into the same thing, and concluded the crime.

At the same time, he also saw that Kayhos spoke for Heimos under Garlan's instructions, so he hinted both inside and outside of his words that Garlan was showing favoritism in helping Heimos.

He even said at the end that Garlan was the future king, which seemed to be teaching him sincerely, but in fact he was hinting to Garlan that if Heimos was convicted, the beneficiary would be Garlan himself.

Chief Secretary.

Garlan looked at the old minister and clenched his hand a little tighter.

…

If Huymos was disinherited, there would be no doubt that he would ascend to the throne.

Fulfill the will of the gods.

Be free from that curse of lifetimes.

…………

The chief director narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Garlan with a kind smile on his wrinkled face.

Then, he slowly moved his gaze away with satisfaction and glanced at everyone.

He said with a smile: "If you have no objections, then it is decided. When King Camos comes back, let the king make a judgment against Prince Heimos."

The meeting room was quiet, no one spoke.

The right secretary sitting above the chief secretary also squinted his eyes. The old man seemed to be dozing off, as if he didn't hear what the chief secretary next to him said.

And everyone fell silent.

There are no fools here.

They all knew that it was certain that Heimos' crime of killing the royal knight was unchangeable.

And in this way, when King Camos returns, Prince Heimos will definitely be deprived of his right to inherit the throne.

In this silence, in the small hall next to the meeting hall, a priest of the God of Night, wearing a black and blue priest uniform, raised the corner of his mouth, as if he was mocking something.

Then, he lifted his feet as if to step forward.

However, that step has not been taken yet.

The sudden sound that rang out in the silent chamber caused him to retract his feet that he had almost stepped out.

The priest turned his head and showed a surprised look.

Prince Garlan?

At this moment of silence, Garlan stood up.

He stood up from the obsidian seat, and his golden eyes slowly swept over everyone.

The light in his eyes seemed to be condensed with sunlight in the sky, extremely bright.

At this moment, only his voice echoed in the silent chamber.

He said: "As Prince Aaron Landis, I veto the Grand Secretary's proposal."

…

This is his best chance, and perhaps his only chance.