Tome of Blood

Chapter 380 -36- The King's Wrist

"Great master! Good morning! Today is Wednesday, the weather is fine, and it is also the first day Lutetia is unblocked."

"Your breakfast is ready today, a Siunette cheese sandwich, a fairy nectar salad, and a glass of avocado yoghurt imported from the Grand Duchy of the North."

"Would you like to get up and eat now, or rest a little longer?"

In the early morning, Sebastian's familiar voice came from outside the curtain, waking Charlotte up from sleep.

Although she has no problem even if she doesn't sleep now, long-term living habits have long been formed, and daily sleep is still Charlotte's way of rest and relaxation.

Yawning comfortably, she sat up slowly, and lazily said:

"Get up."

After finishing speaking, Shirley, who had already prepared, walked in with a maidservant holding all kinds of exquisite clothes.

Charlotte glanced at it, and randomly picked out a family-style aristocratic dress mainly in white.

Soon, the maids moved into action, serving her to change clothes respectfully and carefully.

"Is there any news today?"

Charlotte asked lazily and curiously while letting the maid operate like a dress-up doll.

Outside the curtain, Sebastian's voice was much lighter:

"Yes, there is news from the palace that the central meeting will be held tomorrow, and I have sent the invitation letter to your study."

Charlotte paused slightly, a little surprised:

"tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow, the commotion was so loud this time that even the nobles staying behind were alarmed. As soon as the seal was lifted, a large number of noble carriages went straight into the inner city from the city gate, and went straight to the palace and Lutetia. The cathedral is gone."

Charlotte sneered:

"Are you going to beg for mercy?"

Sebastian outside the curtain shook his head:

"Not only that, many of them saw opportunities. After all...there are quite a few titles that have been deprived this time."

Charlotte clicked her tongue:

"Then they will be disappointed. Our Majesty the king wants to strengthen the centralization of power. It is not easy to spit out the titles that have been withdrawn."

As she spoke, she asked with great interest:

"They should have other actions, right?"

"Yes, I heard that nobles from outside the city have taken advantage of the closure of Lutetia to jointly request a new proposal on the distribution of titles at the central meeting."

Charlotte understood immediately.

The full name of the Central Conference is the Central Joint Conference of the Nobles and the Royal Family of the Crescent Moon. In essence, it is a platform for dialogue between the nobles and the royal family, a battlefield for the nobles and the royal family to compete for power, and a weapon for the nobles to limit the royal power.

In principle, even the king cannot veto the proposal passed by a high vote at the meeting, otherwise it will be regarded as a violation of the "Holy Code" and the "Contract of Kingship".

Although a large number of nobles were dealt with in this investigation, it was only a small part of the noble group, and the vast majority of nobles did not want the royal power to be too strong.

Especially after this "cleaning", the conflict between the nobles and the royal family will only deepen, and the proposal to re-entrust titles is very likely to be passed with a high number of votes.

And once the proposal is passed, even if Louis V is unwilling, he has to pinch his nose and spit out all the titles that have been withdrawn.

However, the reporting of the proposal requires a process and time, and the holding of the central meeting also has a "cooling off period".

In addition to the fixed time every four years, temporary meetings like today can only be held once in four years. This is also a limitation and balance of power for the central meeting.

The last fixed central meeting was a year ago, that is to say, after this meeting, the next meeting will be a fixed meeting three years later at the earliest.

So... as long as Louis V starts the meeting directly before the nobles who are greedy for titles submit their proposals, the nobles can no longer put pressure on the king through the parliament to reassign the titles.

Thinking of this, Charlotte also admired this His Majesty of the New Moon Kingdom.

It can only be said that he is indeed a great monarch recognized by the New Moon Kingdom. Not only is he strong in personal strength, he has excellent military capabilities, and his political skills are also outstanding.

As far as Charlotte knows, although the king nominally holds the power of when the central meeting should be convened, the time to hold it can only be decided by the cabinet vote.

In principle, such a hasty meeting time is definitely impossible to pass the cabinet's deliberation, but as far as Charlotte knows, five of the ten cabinet members of the New Moon Kingdom have been affected by this investigation, and two of them The members were executed directly, and three others were also deposed.

When Charlotte was eating melons, she deliberately compared the list she reported to the Holy Royal Court.

The two executed cabinet members were indeed on the roll, but the three deposed were not.

However, as far as Charlotte knew, the three cabinet members were nobles who were dissatisfied with the centralization policy.

Obviously, it was Louis V who used this purge to eliminate dissidents, and directly found an excuse to kick the three unlucky people out of the cabinet.

This was done silently, and no one raised objections during the investigation process. It is estimated that "evidence" of collusion with the Blood Demon Cult has been found.

Not only that, there are many similar situations among other nobles who were investigated and tried.

Every time Sebastian brings back information about the capture of a nobleman, Charlotte will correspond to the list once. Except for the real nobles who are on the roster, more than one-third of all the nobles who are tried are not on the roster. nobleman.

And... mostly the opposition.

Obviously, these unlucky people are the royal family taking the opportunity to eliminate dissidents.

The new cabinet members have not yet been appointed, and most of the remaining cabinet members are royalists. When the central meeting wants to be held, it is the king who has the final say.

The end result was that the central meeting, which was supposed to be a meeting where the nobles restricted the power of the king, turned into a meeting where the king restricted the proposals of the nobles.

As for whether those deprived title assignments will be mentioned again at the next meeting...

That's all three years away.

By that time, I am afraid that the royal family has already completely controlled these territories.

As for the nobles... Pulling a group, fighting a group, with Louis V's wrist, I am afraid that there are ways to make the proposal continue to go bankrupt, and even directly pass the recognition proposal directly under the royal family.

Looking at it now, the operations of the royal family these days seem to be linked together.

Louis V probably planned to do this a long time ago, but Charlotte handed him another knife by mistake, which made everything ahead of schedule.

After a cleansing, the nobles suffered heavy losses. Although the church cleaned up a lot of dregs and destroyed the infiltration of the Gorefiend Sect, its reputation was affected.

Only the royal family made a lot of money, which further strengthened the centralization of power.

This is really dramatic.

You know, at the beginning, everyone thought that this central meeting was a joint pressure on the royal power by the nobles and the church.

As a result, before the meeting was held, the nobles who danced the most were all disposed of, and the name was still impeccable "judgment of the fallen", which was in line with the political correctness of the New Moon Kingdom against the Blood Demon Cult.

Thinking of this, Charlotte's evaluation of Louis V has risen a bit.

...

Lutetia was unsealed, and a large number of nobles who heard the news, as well as long-awaited caravans and travelers poured into the royal capital, and the deserted streets became lively again.

If it hadn't been for the "big cleansing" a few days ago, it would be hard to imagine that the capital was still in panic a few days ago.

The fact is exactly the same, the world goes on without anyone. Although the investigation and trial lasted for more than ten days, the number of people who were really affected was limited.

With a population of nearly one million, the church and the royal family can't really go through it thoroughly. The main thing is to expand the scope of the roster reported by Charlotte.

The most affected and the most troubled are the nobles, but the nobles are only a very small number of the population.

For ordinary people, the purge against these people is just a talk after drinking, and maybe they will spit after the talk, praising His Majesty the king for his fine punishment.

After all... the reputation of the nobility has never been very good, but Louis V has a very high reputation among the common people.

After breakfast was served reluctantly by the dragon maid Eudocia, Charlotte continued to nest in the study and browse Albrecht's memories.

The meeting is going to be held tomorrow, and she doesn't plan to run back and forth anymore, so as not to be overwhelmed by being seen.

After all, after all, she is considered a great nobleman of the kingdom, and her every move will attract the attention of many parties.

Of course, an interest in Albrecht's memory was one of the reasons Charlotte stayed home.

Not to mention, when this guy rubbed his memory, he was really realistic. He really stuffed all the memories about the "blood race" into it, and even included a lot of gossip and anecdotes about the blood race. Lotter relished it, right when the novel and the story would have been.

It's just that Charlotte's personal time didn't last long.

In the afternoon, Sebastian knocked on her door again:

"Master, Earl Gaston has come to the capital. He just sent an envoy to visit you at the manor."

Earl Gaston?

Charlotte frowned.

Before the central meeting, gatherings of nobles were prohibited.

Although one-on-one visits by nobles are relatively inconspicuous, if Charlotte, the Earl of the Northlands, and Gaston, the Regent of the Duchy of Boulder, meet at this time, it is inevitable that rumors will spread. what come.

However, after a little thought, Charlotte agreed.

Since Earl Gaston wants to find her at this time, he must have something important to ask her to make up his mind. After all, the other party is her blood servant who forced the contract, and he has helped her a lot, and he has taken a lot of blame. It still satisfies her, so let's see each other.

As for what it was... Charlotte probably had some guesses in her mind.

"Understood, let him come over."

she said.

About fifteen minutes later, Earl Gaston arrived at Charlotte's manor.

He was dusty, with worry in his eyes.

"Let's go back first."

Charlotte glanced at the maids and waiters in the hall and said.

The maid and waiter saluted respectfully, and then slowly left, leaving only Charlotte, Earl Gaston, and Sebas the elf steward standing behind Charlotte.

After the others retreated, Charlotte's face also paled, and said coldly:

"Your Excellency Gaston, I should have said that after arriving in the capital, try not to look for me."

Earl Gaston looked ashamed:

"Master, I'm very sorry..."

"Tell me, what can you do with me?"

Charlotte asked directly.

Earl Gaston glanced at Sebas with a hesitant expression.

But in the end, he gritted his teeth and bowed to Charlotte:

"Master, please... save the Gaston family!"