"Who can talk about it if not me, the true heir of the Throne?!"
One sentence... Just one sentence was enough to send a wave of shock to everyone in the crowd who heard it.
Avilia, who had remained expressionless all this time, finally smiled. "Interesting."
"True Heir?"
"Did the man just say he was the true heir?"
"How could that be?"
"He's lying, isn't he?"
His words were hard to believe! How could a random person be the true heir to the Throne? Was this guy bluffing again?
The Royal Knights were also stunned.
"This guy is again talking nonsense! How could he be the true heir of the throne?" One of the Royal Knights exclaimed, pointing fingers at the young man.
On the other side of the glass, Azia couldn't help but take a step back. She knew everyone in her family. The man before them wasn't from her clan. She was certain of that. Then what did he mean by being a true heir?
Was this man really lying? Did she really misunderstand a liar as an honorable Knight before? Or was he telling the truth? If he was telling the truth and believed he was the true heir while calling the current Royal Family traitors, did it mean this guy was...?
"What is your name?" The Saint Knight also thought of the same thing. This guy was certainly not from the current Royal Clan. If he still claimed his right to the throne and wasn't lying, that could only mean he was from that clan...
"My name is..." Gabriel took a deep breath before he spoke his name as loud as he could.
"Gabriel Arcadius Arecia, a true descendant of the Saint King!"
Gabriel Arcadius Arecia... Gabriel told the name, using the last names of Novius' family. He knew the power of this name. Even though the Arecia Family was called traitors, most of that was by the Nobles. For the commoners, the Arecia Family was always associated with the Saint Knight!
When telling his name, he made sure to mention the Saint Knight, who was like a god for this Empire! He indirectly claimed to be the descendant of their god!
"A descendant of the Arecia Clan?" Saint Knight's face twitched uncontrollably. This guy was from the Arecia Clan? No wonder he was that arrogant. However, how could he be alive?
Saint Knight was sure that all the descendants of the Arecia Clan were killed in the revolt. Was this guy lying about his identity to take advantage of the situation?
"How can I believe that you aren't lying? After all, we know that the entire Arecia Clan was dead. Then where did you come from?" The Saint Knight asked, frowning.
Even if this guy was a true descendant, the man couldn't accept it. In any case, he was sure that Gabriel couldn't prove it.
"Will this be enough to prove my identity?" Gabriel pulled out a pendant from his pocket. The pendant didn't look very special. It was something made of ordinary silver, but there was something inside it that only the powerful people could see. It was the Saint King's aura!
"That pendant... Isn't that the Saint King's Pendant?" Since the Empire treated every story of the Saint King as a holy text, despite the seemingly ordinary nature of this pendant, many people knew about it.
"What's this pendant?" Among the many people who knew about it, Avilia wasn't included. She could only ask the Saint Knight about it.
"The Saint King's Pendants," Saint Knight answered, frowning. This was truly bad. This thing was certainly enough to prove Gabriel's identity.
According to the story, there were only two of these pendants made by the Saint King during his time, and he passed these pendants to his two sons. From then on, these pendants were passed down to the two eldest sons of the Arecia Clan in every generation.
These pendants contained the essence of the Saint Knight, which could be used as a protection treasure. But what was more important was that these pendants were the symbol of Royal Authority during its time. These pendants couldn't be stolen. They could only be passed down. The original owner didn't want to pass it down, no one could receive it, and these were destroyed.
When the Arecia Clan was wiped out, only one such pendant was discovered, which was destroyed on its own after the Eldest Prince was killed.
The presence of this pendant in Gabriel's hand was enough to prove his identity, but still, how was it possible? Just where did this guy come from?
"If I'm not wrong, the Empire had two of these Pendants. Only one was left in the Empire after the Eldest Prince Novius left the Empire hundreds of years ago to train, taking one with him. Are you...?"
"The grandson of Novius Arcadius Arecia," Gabriel finished the sentence of the Saint Knight.
This pendant was a treasure of the Empire, passed from generation to generation. However, these people didn't know that it could also be passed to someone who didn't have the true bloodline, as long as the owner of the pendant wished.
This Pendant was one of the last few gifts that were given to him by Novius, who gave him the ownership of this pendant. This was also one of the reasons he could prove his identity. Now that he had proven his identity, only one thing was left to do... Prove the innocence of the Arecia Clan and cleanup.
"So you're from Prince Novius' lineage... The selfless Prince who wasn't greedy for the throne and let his younger brother take it. It's a pity that his descendants aren't as selfless as him. It looks like the greed of the throne brought you back." The Saint Knight sighed.
"Unfortunately, so what if you're the descendant of the Arecia Clan? What makes you think you still have the right to the throne? The Arecia Clan betrayed the Empire! They sold the Holy Treasure of our Empire! With that, they betrayed the trust of their people and their ancestors! They lost the right to rule over this Empire long ago!"
Even though the Saint Knight respected the Saint King, he still couldn't let any conflict come to the Empire. The current Royal Family had already consolidated their power. If Gabriel tried for the throne, he could only be crushed since the Saint Knight didn't want any instability in the Empire!
Moreover, throughout the years, the Saint Knight received so much respect from the Royal Clan that he started considering them as family. The current Royal Clan was what prompted him to the position of Saint Knight after all. He had never worked under any emperor before that.
The current Royal Clan had his absolute loyalty, even if it meant that he had to get his hand dirty.
"My Clan sold the Holy Treasure?" Gabriel asked, seemingly confused. "You can't be talking about this, can you?"
A powerful aura spread in the surrounding, covering the entire city. This aura was so powerful that even the Royal Family could sense this aura while sitting inside the Royal Castle.
The present Emperor was in bed with his concubine, having some personal time. As soon as he sensed this strange yet powerful aura, he stopped and stood up.
"Are we under attack?"
Even the strongest warriors of the Knight Academy sensed this aura and rushed to the place where this was coming from. Even they thought that the Empire was under attack.
"That... That sword..." The Saint Knight was shocked to his core, seeing a blazing red Sword in Gabriel's hand. Before this, he had only heard about that weapon, but it was his first time seeing the Holy Weapon personally... The weapon that was known as the King of Swords!
Just the aura of the Sword was enough to overwhelm the crowd. Everyone in the crowd went down to their knees subconsciously. Even Princess Azia couldn't control her legs and dropped to her knees.
Only the Saint Knight and Holy Priestess of Summoning were still standing straight.
