Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Chapter 912- Simon's Call and the Unknown Enemy (2)

"Sir Chancellor, what are the punishments for such crimes against the crown in the old law?"…

The chancellor read out the charges for each crime.

 "For smuggling weapons out of the kingdom, those found guilty are to be stripped of their wealth and sent to the mine to serve for at least twenty years. For trafficking substances in and out of the country, the minimum punishment is at least fifty years in the mine as well as the seizure of all wealth and land"

"As for colluding with enemy nations and leaking classified state intel the punishment is… removal of all titles, land and authority. The guilty is to be sent to the prison for life".

At the end, the chancellor added, his eyes darting towards the queen "Of course these are the old rules".

The kingdom was different now. It had welcomed its first ever queen as the monarch. She wasn't like her father the former king whose authority had completely dwindled.

The time when the noble's factions whose strength had surpassed the crown and whose mechanisation decided the ruling here. Her father would have been forced to show mercy perhaps even offer some leniency against the worse of crimes.

But now, things have changed. In here, her ruling was absolute. Nobles, knights, politics, nothing towered over her influence.

"The old rules cannot be followed anymore. The times have changed and so should the rules, lest something like this occurs again"

 Saying that, Cynthia passed her ruling "Baron Lucius Martin, for your crimes against the crown and the kingdom, I hereby strip you of your titles, lands, and authority. Your lands and wealth will be redistributed to those who have remained loyal to the crown, to those who have fought for this kingdom's survival"

"Those who are related to you will also be ceased of half of their wealth. As for you and your accomplices, you all will be sent to the dungeon".

Cold and ruthless, her voice was unwavering.

!!!

The audience gasped but none dared to raise their voice. From their subdued attitude, one could tell that this wasn't the first time such a ruling was given.

Send to the dungeon, knowing what kind of place it was, it was no different than a death sentence for nobles like them who rarely possessed any fighting experience despite being higher level than the commoners.

Cynthia's eyes calmly swept over the crowd, her methods were authoritarian, but they were effective. She consolidated power with a ruthlessness that left no room for dissent. Her rulings were swift and decisive, designed to centralize authority under the crown.

Just like this, one by one the noble houses, with their own armies and allegiances, were forcibly brought to heel. The private armies and their soldiers were absorbed into the royal military or dispersed.

"Your Majesty, I swear to you—" The baron opened his mouth to protest in a last bit of desperation, but the queen's steely gaze silenced him.

He knew that any further attempts to argue his case would be futile. His power, his influence—everything he had amassed over the years—was being torn away in an instant.

Appealing to the crowd was no use either since all of them were in the same boat as him. The queen appointed her own loyalists to key positions within the government, ensuring that the kingdom's administration was firmly under her control.

The chancellor, the ministers, for example were all people on her side. The nobles murmured among themselves in fear as Lucius was led away by the guards.

Cynthia had made it clear that betrayal would not be tolerated, that the old ways of leniency and forgiveness were over. The kingdom was entering a new era, one where loyalty was paramount.

 The ruling passed but the hall hadn't settled down yet. The reason for that was because today was different than your usual tribunal.

The queen had promised reward as well as punishment, and she intended to keep that promise. Today she had announced that she would be rewarding some of the people of the realm who had gained merits in the war.

"Ahem," The chancellor gave a dry cough before announcing "Now we shall begin the noble ceremony. Those who I call out step forward".

"Sir Talbryn"…

"Sir Fitzwilliam"…

"Sir Declan"

And so, one by one those who were called out, stepped forward. The queen rewarded them for their bravery and loyalty, assigning key positions in the new kingdom to them.

The ceremony continued and before long it was his turn. Cynthia's attention to the side where she saw one of her most trusted warriors, a man who had fought bravely at her side during the war, who had proven his loyalty time and time again.

"Step forward, Sir Blake" Cynthia commanded, her voice carrying across the hall. A warrior, clad in full armor, stepped forward and knelt before her, his head bowed in respect.

He had frizzy crimson hair, a build of a warrior and exuded a pressure that overwhelmed all the others in the hall. The man was none other than Blake Gunvald.

"For your bravery on the battlefield and for your service to the kingdom in its darkest hour, I hereby knight you," Cynthia declared, her voice strong and resolute.

"From this day forward, you shall bear the title of Knight-Commander of the Royal Guard, and you shall hold lands and authority befitting your new station." n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 She placed a ceremonial sword on Marcus's shoulders, officially bestowing upon him his new title. The hall erupted into applause, a stark contrast to the silence that had followed Lucius's sentencing.

Blake, now newly knighted as Knight-Commander of the Royal Guard, rose from his kneeling position, his heart heavy with a mix of pride and sorrow.

The cheers of the nobles and the weight of the ceremonial sword on his shoulder filled him with a sense of purpose he had long been searching for.

"From this day forth, I swear on my life and my blade that I will protect this kingdom with all my strength. I will uphold the values of loyalty, justice, and honor that you have set forth, and I will not falter in my duty."