“Very well, Joshua. Your evidence seems compelling. But for formality’s sake, this matter will be brought up in tomorrow’s court before we decide what to do with the sinner. Until then, hold your actions. I don’t want to hear about the priest being killed before the verdict is passed.”

The response from the Queen was swift and favorable.

“I understand, Your Majesty,” Joshua said.

Seeing how he was able to so easily connect to the Queen and even joke with her, Val recognized his father’s true identity. ‘He must be her dog.’

The Queen’s dogs were people who had sold their loyalty to the Queen.

They acted as her eyes, relaying important information to her every now and then so that she could have an upper hand against her opposition in the court. The Queen was a woman and the case of a woman ruling the kingdom had never happened in the past. Many were against her and her rule. She needed to guard herself against them. And thus, she didn’t hesitate to interact with outlanders, giving them a chance to serve her in exchange for benefits.

‘He isn’t as simple as I thought,’ Val realized.

…..

The next morning, the matter was brought up in court.

The alleged noble, Asmadeus, was quick to distance himself from the situation, vehemently denying any involvement.

“I have no part in this scandal,” Asmadeus insisted. “This priest has falsely accused me, and for tainting the honor of a noble, I demand that he pay the price with his life!”

The Church of Light remained ominously silent throughout the proceedings, not uttering a word to protect the criminal within their ranks.

They really had no face left.

“Then it will be as you said. Let the court be adjourned!” The Queen said.

The Queen, despite her tender age, was not a pawn to be trifled with; she was astute, cunning, and full of guile.

Her objective was not to single-handedly combat the two towering factions that influenced her kingdom: the predominant religion and the Prime Minister along with his powerful allies.

Rather, she intended to carefully sow the seeds of discord, creating bad blood between these powerful entities.

She wanted to sit back and let their clashes shape the political landscape.

Her plan was shrewd!

She understood that a direct confrontation would be risky and potentially self-destructive. So, she chose the path of the puppeteer, manipulating the strings behind the scenes.

By subtly instigating a rivalry between the religious order, which was the heart and soul of the kingdom, and the politically entrenched Prime Minister with his various cliques, she aimed to benefit from their downfall.

Indeed, there was no better plan than this.

To secure her position, there was no need for her to be at the forefront of the battlefield.

She had many loyal subjects at her disposal, like the ambitious Joshua, who sought her favor, who yearned to ascend the kingdom’s hierarchy.

These individuals, eager to please and hungry for power, were more than willing to do her bidding for her despite the risks involved.

She knew that their unquestioning loyalty and ambition would serve as her weapons, her tools to influence the balance of power. Thus, she was exploiting these opportunists of the outer region of her kingdom to pit the strongest two factions of the kingdom against each other.

Through this, she was setting the stage for her own ascent to uncontested power!

News of the court’s ruling arrived at Whitemore Manor through the Queen’s assistant.

Joshua relayed the information to Val, his smile turning even more profound.

“The ball is now in your court, Val,” Joshua declared. “The priest’s fate is entirely in your hands. No matter how you choose to end him, you won’t be held accountable.”

A chilling smile spread across Val’s face as he received the news.

“Prepare for Bartholomew’s execution immediately,” he ordered. “I will behead him publicly.”

The proclamation echoed through the halls of Whitemore Manor. There was no trace of mercy in Val’s voice. His decision was final. 𝑶𝐯𝑙xt.𝗇𝓔t

Within the hour, the grounds were prepared. A platform was erected, and a crowd began to gather. At the center of it all, Bartholomew was led to the block, his body trembling, and his face pale.

The crowd fell into a hushed silence as Val appeared, his stride steady, his gaze unyielding. In his hand was a glinting blade. It was clear that he was here to execute the priest of the local church.

“You can’t do this!” A woman’s voice rang out. “A servant of God mustn’t be harmed! If you dare to make a mockery of him in public, the wrath of the divine will be upon you!”

Val’s eyes moved across the crowd and stopped on the ignorant woman.

“Tell me, what would you call a person who abuses their authority, granted by God, to hurt the very people they serve?” he asked her.

Before she could reply to Val, “Butcher,” a burly man, well-known in the village for his work in the local butcher shop, called out, “Such a person is a sinner!”

“And what would you call a man who poisons the youngest son of the very family he serves out of his own greed?”

The butcher’s face turned grave. “A devil,” he replied, “the lowest of the low. After all, A snake that bites the hand that feeds it can not be considered a human! It can only be a devil in disguise.”

“But what does that have to do with the priest being executed?” the woman asked.

“Well,” Val continued, “this priest before us, Bartholomew, is guilty of both these sins. He used his position to prey on innocent people, he even tried to poison me. By the grace of the God of Light, I was able to take the necessary steps to save my life. God helped me survive so that I can expose his wickedness to the world and punish him accordingly.”

Val believed that since he was speaking to maniacs, the only way he could get his meaning across was to speak their language, and as expected, it was working.

At Val’s announcement, a figure concealed under a thick cloak shouted out from the crowd, “Where is your proof?”

Val’s sharp gaze was immediately drawn to the outburst.

The hooded figure hastily lowered his head under the intensity of his stare.

Despite the hood concealing his face, Val could still discern the man’s identity. The timbre of Elias’s voice, the certain slump of his shoulders, the fear-laced defiance he’d always exhibited—it was unmistakable.

Elias was one of his cousins. The same one who used to follow him around like a chick trailing after its mother until the day his status as a Normie was revealed.

From that day, the cousin had abruptly cut ties, distancing himself from Val and refraining from any contact.

After not contacting him for days, he came to backstab him. What a guy!

Val couldn’t understand why Elias was making things troublesome for him. He had never wronged the guy and actually taught him quite a lot of thing during the time when he was following him.

‘Maybe this is human nature to kick someone when they are down.’ Val sighed in his heart.

“Who said there is no proof?” Val countered, as he signaled to a guard standing on the perimeter. He wasn’t a mere guard. He was one of his father’s shadow guards!

With a nod, the guard strode up onto the stage, a sealed parchment in his hands.

The seal bore the emblem of the Royal Court, a mark that was recognized and respected by all present.

If not for the kingdom, how would they survive in this harsh and unforgiving world? So the citizens of the kingdom truly respected and loved it. Anything validated by the Queen’s court was considered to be as valuable and truthful as the word of god!

Whatever was written inside it would determine whether Val was in the right or not. It would also decide the priest’s fate!