Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

After saying all those words, Darus Count looked at King Armen. "Your Majesty, your loyal subjects think this kingdom is not the place for the Third Princess. We all know that the King is wise, and thus we believe that you will listen to the people of the kingdom. Anything that can bring misfortune and harm to this kingdom should be cut off right away, and it is precisely because the Third Princess is of a royal bloodline that instead of going on a public trial, she should be sent far away in exile for the sake of the safety of our people!"

Cian was done listening to his nonsense. He spoke with a cold face, "Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister Darus Count, do you and the subjects of our kingdom believe anything that brings misfortune and harm to the people has no right to be in this kingdom? Did I get it right?"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

"Harm to the kingdom," Cian repeated with a vague expression. "Pray tell, what does that mean?"

Darus Count wasn't sure what the Crown Prince was getting at, so he answered carefully, "Anything that affects the growth of the kingdom and the peace of its people, Your Highness"

"Then, the deep-rooted corruption which is rotting the strong foundation of our kingdom like a slow poison, can we consider it as a sad misfortune that brings harm to the kingdom?" Cian asked.

Hearing the sharpness in his tone, many people had their palms turn sweaty.

"Of course, that is an issue that our kingdom must address, but that is a different case requiring a different time, Prince Cian. Here we are talking about the wicked powers that should be cut off from this kingdom. We must not be distracted—"

Cian sneered as he cut him off. "Good to know the Minister is not blaming the corruption of our nobles on the so-called black magic performed by the Third Princess. Such a disappointment as I was waiting to hear you say that black magic has corrupted everyone's mind as well."

Darus Count was taken aback by this remark.

Minister Tudor, the Minister of Treasury, came forward to counter it. "What Prince Cian said makes sense. If there truly are corrupted officials in our kingdom, then they must have been influenced by black magic, bringing misfortune by twisting the minds and hearts of the loyal subjects trusted by King Armen himself!"

Cian smirked. "Is it?"

"I believe that my fellow ministers have all risen to their current positions with noblesse oblige in their hearts," Minister Tudor agreed, his expression like a child chastised by his parents for wrongdoing, not of his own making.

Minister Darus Count could see something behind that smirk on Cian's lips. Sensing something was amiss, he hurriedly spoke up to redirect the flow of conversation. "Let's us go back to the issue at hand and focus on the disaster that occurred in the palace—"

"Since we are at it, today, let us use this opportunity to bring up the misfortunes plaguing this kingdom and get rid of them at once!" Cian interrupted Darus Count and looked around to see the faces of the members of the royal court. "I believe everyone thinks the same as me."

All the ministers standing by the aristocratic faction were silent while those loyal to King Armen agreed to Cian's suggestion.

"We agree to it, Your Highness!"

"For the prosperity of Abetha!"

"Please speak up for our people, Your Highness!"

Cian turned to look at King Armen. "Your Majesty, may I?"

King Armen gave him a nod. "Proceed!"

King Armen trusted his son's abilities and waited to play his part as the judge of the argument.

'As expected, King Armen would always side with his son,' was what others thought as they waited for Cian to continue.

"Your Majesty, when I was in the northern region of the kingdom, I came across unbelievably shocking things that seemed to be going on for years, a deep-rooted corruption caused by some of the self-proclaimed loyal subjects of this kingdom," Cian informed in a low voice, eliciting gasps from the royal court.

He turned to look at Minister Tudor. "I have looked through the import of copper of the kingdom from Hatha since we restarted trade with them after their defeat in the last war. A huge part of the imported copper was missing every time, and no one had taken notice of it. Moreover, this has been happening for more than twenty-two years—it specifically started when the kingdom was not in a good state after the demise of the previous queen." Cian looked at the ministers standing at the left side of the throne room. "Do I need to further explain this terrible discovery of mine, Minister of Royal Treasury Lord Tudor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lord Count?"

"It's…an unfortunate thing," Minister Tudor said, "but I am not sure—"

"Of course, you will say that and feign ignorance," Cian said straightforwardly. "Minister Tudor should feel ashamed of himself!"

"Prince Cian should look at how he is talking to a loyal subject of the kingdom!" the Minister of Foreign Affairs countered. "We have been appointed to our positions by virtue of the king, and we have been serving your royal family for decades—"

"Eliot!" Cian called.

Cian's personal knight came to him and handed him a scroll together with record books with yellowed pages, looking like they had been buried in the archives unattended for years.

Cian looked at Minister Tudor. "All the evidence is here." He passed them to King Armen. After King Armen looked through them, they were put on a table by the foot of the elevated throne and Cian gestured for the ministers to view them. "I hope Minister Count can help vouch for the validity of this evidence."

Darus Count went through the scroll and the record books, feeling shocked since he saw the handwriting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on two record books for the same year, yet with different amounts recorded. He looked at Minister Tudor as if to say there was no way out for him with solid evidence like this.

Cian continued, "We all know, we need that copper to create the currency of our kingdom, together with silver and gold to create our coins. It just so happened that for the past years, there had been a baffling situation within the kingdom's economy, where prices of low-level goods have been rising too quickly despite no shortage of products." He looked at Minister Tudor with a doubtful look. "Being the Minister of the Royal Treasury, was Lord Tudor creating copper currency in his home and injecting it into the economy, causing that inflation? Did you know how many among the common people starved due to the rising costs of food? Did you know how many poor families were unable to support themselves because of the misfortune you have brought to the people?"

Minister Tudor looked scared. "Your Highness, I dare not—"

"Then where did all that copper you had stolen for more than twenty years gone? With the old minister normally staying in the capital, I am sure there are more people involved in it, especially among the nobles of the northern region."

Minister Tudor immediately kneeled before the king. "Your Majesty, there is a misunderstanding! Those records must be forged! Someone is trying to frame me! Please investigate this further!"

Cian chuckled as he looked at the kneeling minister. "You dare accuse an innocent girl without evidence, yet when you see ironclad evidence against you, you don't want to believe it."

Minister Tudor called out for the king. "Your Majesty…"

"Berolt, arrest Tudor right away and put him in prison!" the king ordered and Sir Berolt executed his order without question.

The old minister could only call out the king's name and plead for mercy. However, the royal knights dragged him away amidst his cries.

Once they left, King Armen looked at the leading official of the Royal Investigation Bureau. "Minister Canmore, investigate everything regardless of the status of whoever is involved with Minister Tudor."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Minister Osbert Canmore replied as he bowed. Deadly silence enveloped the throne room.

King Armen, who always lacked evidence against his brazen ministers, finally had something in his hand thanks to his son who had been sent away from the capital for that very reason.

King Armen looked at the Royal Court of Abetha, and all the high-ranking officials heard their king's anger in his voice.

"Corruption is a heavy crime against the people of our kingdom, and misappropriating royal assets is treason against the crown! The ones involved in this copper embezzlement will get the punishment that is given to the criminals guilty of treason. I hereby decree that not just Minister Tudor but his entire family will be banished from the kingdom and sent to an exile to never be able to return. His title of nobility will be stripped and the properties of the Tudor Family will be confiscated by the royal family! Anyone who commits treason against the crown, against the prestige of the Royal Family of Ilven, will have a similar punishment!"

The ministers who were confident about getting King Armen down by trapping him with his weakness, his third daughter, were all terrified of incurring the wrath of the king.

The first agenda in the royal court session ended up favoring King Armen's side, but there was another one in line that was bound to create another trouble for the royal faction.

Darus Count was waiting for it as it was the last resort of his plan to get the Third Princess kicked out of the kingdom and please the queen.

All this while, Queen Niobe was just silently sitting on her throne as if none of the issues being brought up mattered to her.

Lord Eudes picked up another scroll and handed it over to the king. The next item on the agenda—

"The Third Princess went out of the palace and harmed innocent people by colluding with an unknown  sword-wielding man."