Throne Hall, Royal Palace, Crown's Street.
The hall's interior was lavishly designed with carved doors, stained ceilings, glittering glazed flooring tiles, chandeliers, and arts from different parts of this Faith Realm. A red carpet was laid on the floor from the entrance to the dais and appeared beautiful.
This hall was where people would meet the king, queen, and other royal family members.
A long, golden-colored throne was located with a magnificent canopy at the center of the throne hall. On this golden-colored throne, a two-meter tall man was seated. His appearance was similar to Prince Julius's, with thicker black hair, a more mature face, a larger nose, and a sharper and fiercer look. But the thing that was different with this man was that he wore a monocle on his left eye.
He looked around 30 years old, had long wavy hair, bluish eyes, and wore a silk-lined dress. A silver crown also appeared on his head, giving the aura of eeriness.
He was none other than the Crown Prince of Aetas Kingdom, Quinn Matthias Claymoore!
Currently, the young man placed his hand on his chin and appeared to be in deep thoughts.
There were also a few nobles in the throne hall, but none dared to make any noise under the young man's presence.
In front of him, there stood a middle-aged man with a robe outfit. Currently, he wore a solemn look on his face and spoke while rubbing his hands to hide away his nervousness.
"We still don't know how powerful your younger brother is, Your Majesty. I advise you to leave the Royal Palace with our elite army men-"
"Do you think Charles has the power to defeat Uncle Ismael? Nonsense." Quinn raised his hand, interrupting him, and stared coldly at the middle-aged man.
"I know Lord Ismael is an Awaken Knight, Your Majesty. But that earlier appearance of the Black Sun and its explosive power in the sky wasn't a mere illusion. Moreover, what worries me most is that the Light Church has been staying silent all this time. I feel some deep conspiracy behind their action." The middle-aged man's words were dead serious. Meanwhile, the remaining nobles also glanced at each other and nodded their heads in approval.
Quinn frowned deeply for a moment and soon shook his head.
"You guys don't have to worry too much about it. Uncle Ismael is more than enough to kill tens of Julius." The corner of his lips curled upward as he said those words, raised his left hand, and adjusted the monocle.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man let out a deep sigh in disappointment and spoke.
"At least, give us the order to kill Prince Julius's elite knights, Your Majesty."
As Quinn was about to say something, two loud metallic clangs came from the entrance, followed by a creaking noise.
He abruptly froze for a moment, shifted his attention towards the Throne Hall's entrance gate, and soon squinted his eyes.
At that moment, he saw that a grey-robed figure pushed open the metallic gate and stepped inside.
But instead of walking forward, that person turned towards the entrance gate before closing it from inside and then heaved a heavy sigh.
Then, he turned around again, glanced at the surrounding nobles and the crown prince, and walked forward with a smile.
Meanwhile, Quinn and the nobles saw the intruder's face and soon showed a confused expression on their faces.
The intruder was a middle-aged man, had multi-colored eyes, long brown hair with a mustache, rough-looking face, and he appeared to be around 175 to 180 cm high. He currently wore a grey robe, a brownish-red scarp around his neck, a sheathed long sword on his waist, and a wooden staff in his right hand.
"Who are you?" Quinn frowned and shouted at the intruder.
At that moment, the nobles and the middle-aged man unsheathed their swords and stared warily at the grey-robed man.
Some nobles even called out for the Royal Knights' help, but no response came from the outside!
Although they didn't know what was happening, everyone in the throne hall felt something was off about the situation.
Meanwhile, Irzoch, in Cardinal Smith's appearance, calmly walked forward and answered.
"I'm Cardinal Smith of the Light Church, Your Highness. After receiving an oracle from our almighty Goddess, His Holiness asked me to come here and put an end to the civil war." She deliberated for a moment as she continued to walk on the carpeted floor and then added with a smile.
"You don't have to be too vigilant around me. I'm your ally."
Quinn widened his eyes in surprise and stood up from his seat.
Then, he clapped his hands, stepped on the dais, and soon walked down from the throne canopy while letting out a burst of laughter.
"Hahaha! You guys never disappointed me. I have been waiting for Light Church's response all this time but didn't expect that the Light Church would send a powerful Awaken Knight to help us."
On the other hand, Irzoch reached the center of the throne hall and arrived in front of the crown prince.
But just as Quinn extended his hand to shake his hand, the corner of Irzoch lips curled upward and formed into a mocking smile.
At that moment, everyone in the Throne Hall realized that the person in front of them was not a Cardinal but someone else!
But before they could even blink, Irzoch took a step forward, stared into Quinn's eyes, and muttered.
"Mind Possession!"
Quinn felt that the surroundings started to turn blurry and staggered a second later. He saw that the whole area began to twist at a weird angle and got dizziness.
He felt someone was trying to take control of his body!
On the other hand, Irzoch unsheathed her sword suddenly, leaped towards Quinn, and slashed at his neck.
The next instant, a neat cut appeared on his neck area, and soon his head fell on the carpeted floor with a loud thud!
Scarlet blood splashed everywhere as the head rolled on the floor and soon stopped next to the middle-aged man's feet.
Prince Quinn's body also danced in the hall for a moment and then fell while making a loud noise.
Meanwhile, the silver crown on his head also fell on the nearby tiled floor with a clanging sound, started rolling towards the right side wall, and then disappeared!
Alas, none of them, including Irzoch, noticed its disappearance.
An eerie silence appeared in the Throne Hall.
At that moment, the nobles and the middle-aged man got frozen in shock and didn't even dare to breathe!
"Well, that ended quickly," Irzoch commented casually, stepped towards the elevated throne canopy, and soon appeared before the golden throne.
Then, she turned around, sat on the throne before crossing her legs, and ordered.
"From now on, no one is allowed to move from where you are standing." She swept her gaze all over the surrounding nobles and then added with a chuckle.
"You can breathe, though."
Saying so, she leaned her back against the golden throne and waited.
