Chapter 420 - Episode 403: The Appeal
Count Auteuil drew a dagger in the middle of the banquet and glared at his liege, Anrietta.
At this impossibly dangerous sight, the attendees of the wedding feast, including Noein and Helga, were left stunned.
Several Lancel Kingdom nobles gathered around Count Auteuil, but rather than restraining the Count, they drew daggers from their own clothes in the same manner, lined up beside him, and glared at Anrietta. Their actions indicated that they were the Count's accomplices.
Meanwhile, the military officers in charge of guarding the attendees moved quickly to protect their respective lords.
"Father!"
"It's alright, Eleos."
Noein shielded Eleos, who had cried out in surprise, as if hiding him behind his own back, while Matilda and Pence, acting as guards, stood even further in front of Noein.
On Helga's side, Marquis Hakkarainen and the knight Beverstamm positioned themselves to serve as her shield if the need arose.
Oscar and Ingrid, who held the highest rank among the attendees, were completely surrounded and secured not only by their immediate attendants but also by the soldiers of the Rhodeberg Royal Guard who had been standing along the walls of the hall.
"What!?"
"What is happening!"
"What on earth is this!?"
The attendees wore expressions of bewilderment, and some voiced that confusion aloud. The guards assigned to each of them kept their hands hidden in their clothes, poised to draw their weapons the moment the gaze of Count Auteuil and his group shifted from Anrietta toward their own lords.
Pence also made a motion to draw his dagger, and Matilda shifted her center of gravity to one leg, ready to launch a kick with her combat boots at any moment.
The celebratory atmosphere vanished, and within the hall where tension surged all at once, Anrietta's aides were also moving.
Viscount Chloe Tajinette, attending by Anrietta's side, drew her sword with one hand without hesitation and glared at Count Auteuil and his group while concentrating magical power in her other hand. She prepared herself to activate magic at any moment should her liege, Anrietta, give the order.
Additionally, the Lancel Royal Guard soldiers stationed in the hall gathered, and Anrietta and her royal consort, Klaus, were instantaneously surrounded and protected by over a dozen guards.
Then, Marquis Paradir, who held an exceptionally high rank among the attending Lancel Kingdom nobles and was also the general head of military affairs, attempted to persuade those who had committed this reckless act.
"Lord Auteuil! Have you gone mad!? Drop your weapons immediately!"
As Marquis Paradir shouted and gave a hand signal, the Lancel Royal Guard, who had rushed into the hall as reinforcements, surrounded Count Auteuil and his group. They positioned themselves between the wedding attendees and their guards and the Count's faction, attempting to restrain the rebels while protecting the guests.
Regardless of what Count Auteuil and the others had been thinking when they committed this outrage, they could no longer harm anyone. Just as everyone present thought so—the Count opened his mouth.
"Beloved Queen, and to all the guests present here, as well as the lords of the guard, I first offer my sincerest apologies! To draw blades in a place that should have been a peaceful banquet, to disturb Her Majesty's heart, and to cause such chaos... I am truly sorry!"
At those words, delivered in a resonant, low voice, the people in the hall became even more utterly bewildered. Unable to grasp the situation at all, some looked around flusteredly, while others tilted their heads in suspicion, trying but failing to understand the meaning of Count Auteuil's statement. Noein was among those who tilted their head.
Helga's eyes wandered nervously, while Oscar and Ingrid showed no particular signs of panic; rather, they watched the progression of events with interest.
"However, please be at ease! We did not commit this reckless act with the intention of harming anyone here! These blades in our hands shall not be swung at anyone in this room!"
"Then why did you draw your daggers! Answer me, Lord Auteuil!"
"...For this purpose, Excellency Paradir."
When Marquis Paradir questioned him sharply, Count Auteuil and the faction surrounding him pressed the daggers they held against their own throats.
"As nobles of the Lancel Kingdom, and as subjects who sincerely love and respect Queen Anrietta Lancel, we have taken action here and now because we grieve for the future of the kingdom! Please, we ask for the time to deliver our appeal to Her Majesty's ears, and to convey the cry of our resolve to everyone gathered here!"
No one could stop Count Auteuil and the members of his faction as they declared this loudly.
If they tried to restrain them clumsily, the Count and his men would likely slit their own throats and commit suicide. If that happened, it would be impossible to judge them under the Queen's royal command, and it would also be impossible to hear the purpose of this outrage—the content of what they called their "cry of resolve."
If such a commotion occurred and ended without the cause being understood, how would the kingdom's heavyweights and the representatives of various nations present view the ability of the Lancel Royal Family and Queen Anrietta? It would undoubtedly have a negative impact domestically and abroad on her future reign. Even at this stage, where a blade-related incident had occurred in the presence of honored guests, sufficient negative effects were already conceivable.
Now that the Count and his men were not immediately trying to hurt anyone, the Lancel Kingdom soldiers, who wanted to capture them alive as much as possible, could not yet move.
It was the same for Viscount Tajinette, who could use magic. If she attempted to exercise magic in a way that directly touched a person, it would take longer than normal magic activation, no matter how much she hurried. If Count Auteuil and his men noticed the Viscount was trying to freeze them, they might simply commit suicide.
The action of Count Auteuil and his men using their own lives as a shield was the best possible move in terms of "preventing those present from interfering and buying time to shout their claims."
While choosing that best hand, Count Auteuil looked around. His eyes, meeting the gaze of those present, eventually moved to Noein, to Matilda, to Helga and Marquis Hakkarainen, then to Klaus in the front, and finally stopped at Anrietta.
"...Your Majesty! I beg you to please reconsider!"
That was the beginning of Count Auteuil's appeal.
"Because we believe that Your Majesty is the liege we should serve, we chose the path of descending to Your Majesty's side and swearing our loyalty during the previous civil war! We were prepared to cast aside our positions as military noble houses and dedicate our lives to Your Majesty! It is because we were convinced that Your Majesty—who rose up to overthrow the tyrant Cadne, who sought to devour the kingdom for his own greed, and to protect the society, culture, history, and tradition of the kingdom—is the one who should rule the Lancel Royal Family and this country!"
Listening to those words from the side, Noein guessed the general purpose of what Count Auteuil was about to appeal.
"...Ah, so that's it."
Noein muttered to themselves and gently placed a hand on the shoulders of Pence, who looked ready to draw the dagger in his clothes, and Matilda, who looked ready to deliver a flying kick at the next moment, signaling with their eyes to relax the tension and watch the situation. While holding Eleos's shoulder to protect him at any moment, Noein let him stand beside them to show him what was happening in the center of the hall.
Other attendees who seemed to be as perceptive as Noein were giving similar signals to their own guards.
While some people decided to simply watch the spectacle, Count Auteuil's appeal continued.
"Even after the civil war ended, we served Your Majesty believing that our resolve and conviction were correct... However, what is the current situation! What is this banquet today! Instead of a powerful noble from within the country, a man of royal blood from a foreign land is welcomed into the Lancel Royal Family as a royal consort, and in the banquet celebrating this, beastmen are permitted to walk about! Does Your Majesty truly believe that this will lead to the eternal peace and development of the Lancel Kingdom!"
Once the Count said that much, everyone present, including those who were slow to catch on, understood what he wanted to say.
When Noein turned their gaze toward Helga and the others, Helga gave a small sigh, and Marquis Hakkarainen and the knight Beverstamm maintained expressionless faces, yet drifted in an atmosphere that was somehow disillusioned.
"I say this once more! Your Majesty, please reconsider! In order to protect the correct way of the Lancel Kingdom and pass it on to the next generation and beyond, please dissolve this marriage! Please stop forming friendships with beastman nations or nations ruled by those who keep beastmen as attendants! We have served Your Majesty believing in you until this day! Having seen Your Majesty's decisions thus far, while sometimes tilting our heads inwardly, we served you believing that Your Majesty would grow as a monarch and one day make judgments that would truly lead to a bright future for the Lancel Kingdom... Please, Your Majesty, it is still not too late! In this place, watched over by the lords who support the kingdom and the representatives of the nations that maintain friendship with the kingdom, please declare that you will correct your thoughts to the right path!"
The "representatives of the nations" mentioned by Count Auteuil likely did not include the beastman Helga or Noein, who kept beastmen as attendants. While feeling out of place, Noein let out a small snort of laughter.
"Of course, I do not believe that I, a mere count of a military house, or the few supporters whose family rank is below mine, will be forgiven for committing such a reckless act before Your Majesty to shout our claims! We apologize once again to our beloved Queen and the dignitaries present here, and in order to take responsibility and show our resolve, we intend to commit suicide here! This is an action decided upon by us as individuals, and our families, relatives, friends, and acquaintances are not involved! With our deaths, we beg you to forgive the sin of causing this commotion!"
Shouting, Count Auteuil raised his chin and, accordingly, held up his dagger, posing so that the moment he pierced his own throat would be clearly visible to Anrietta and those around him. The several Lancel Kingdom nobles whom Count Auteuil called "supporters" took the same action.
"If we can show our thoughts and resolve to Your Majesty with these lives, it is our heart's desire! Wishing and sincerely believing that after our lives end, the Lancel Kingdom will achieve correct development under Your Majesty's reign! Now, here—"
"—Wait!"
Anrietta's sharp voice cut off Count Auteuil's self-satisfied cry at the moment of death.