Chapter 256: 256. Proof Against Daniel

8 days before Elion’s arrival.

Riverdale throne hall…

Aurelius sat on the throne with a cold expression on his face.

Today, the atmosphere was not similar to a regular day.

All the ministers and dukes and nobles were present, and everyone gulped nervously. They still remembered the Brutal scene they had witnessed in the capital this morning.

They had Witnessed a parade, unregal, ungraceful, disgusting, and gut-wrenching, a type of march that had turned the winds of opposition against the emperor quite cold.

A march where heads of cultists were on public display as a sign of revenge for the people of Riverdale on the emperor’s behalf, not only on the demonic cults but also on everyone who questioned his capabilities.

The news about erasing a cult from the ground up had caused waves across the whole continent.

In a matter of a few hours, the Riverdale Empire had seen letters arriving from across the continent, carrying warnings of wars from other cults.

The blatant way the warnings were written painted a grim picture of how severely these cults had rooted themselves in the continent, as if they now thought they had a say over an empire’s actions.

The ones who used to whisper about Riverdale’s fall were now shivering, fearing that the emperor was in no mood to joke.

The throne hall specifically reflected the mood of the whole empire right now.

“Your actions have been perceived as a direct declaration of war against Demon Lord Clayman. Riverdale should be prepared for hard times ahead.”

A man held a scroll with shivering hands, and demonic energy danced around the scroll. A letter from the abyss itself had arrived with just one line written on the whole parchment.

The skin from which the parchment was made itself belonged to a human.

The man reading the message aloud in the throne room was now worried that the emperor would not behead him in rage.

“You are dismissed,” a cold voice escaped Aurelius’s lips as he dismissed the speaker.

He then looked at his prime minister, whose face was filled with an expression of worry. With a cold tone, he spoke, “Start today’s court session.”

The prime minister nodded and declared it loudly across the hall. Several officials entered the hall and took positions for the court.

Suddenly, the most unexpected person stood up to address the emperor; no official stopped him. They could not; this man was a duke.

Duke Winter stepped forward and stood in the center of the hall; he bowed, “Congratulations, His Majesty Aurelius, for his decisive success in eradicating a cult.”

Aurelius nodded at his greeting; although his expression did not change, he knew what the Patriarch of the Winter House was here to say.

“Your majesty, it is so unfortunate that when this empire is celebrating your glorious win, there is a certain group of people who are conspiring against our motherland behind your back.”

Duke Winter’s words landed heavily, making the crowd raise their brows. The ministers present felt something seriously unspoken in those words, and all their attention, which had been diverted to other matters in their minds, was now directed towards the sole figure of Duke Winter standing in the center of the hall.

“What do you intend to say, Duke Winter?” Aurelius spoke in a cold expression, his posture relaxed, and one of his hands rested on the armrest of the throne, supporting his face lightly as if finding his words quite interesting.

“Your Majesty, your brother—your own blood, Prince Daniel—has been kidnapped.”

As soon as the words left Winter’s mouth, the whole throne room got restless; many people couldn’t believe what they were hearing. The kidnapping of an imperial family member was not something small; in fact, it was massive news.

Many officials shivered just thinking about the instability this news was about to bring across the empire if it were not resolved soon.

Several murmurs had now erupted across the hall among the observers; only 2 people were quiet, and they were Aurelius and Duke Rizwell.

The prime minister, flabbergasted by such a declaration, warned Duke Winter, “Lord Winter, you should think before you speak. Are you sure your claims are true?” he asked.

Winter looked at everyone lightly; he had gotten the exact reaction he wanted from everyone.

He suddenly turned and pointed at someone. “Your majesty!!! The house of Draconis is a traitor.” His voice rang across the whole court, elevating tensions to an unprecedented level.

Before the noises in the throne hall could rise and turn into chaos, Aurelius raised his hands to turn everyone quiet; his eyes then turned to look at Rizwell’s figure briefly.

The last day, he had been shocked by the disappearance of Daniel. He had wanted to imprison him and run him through a trial in the court. His advisors had advised him that the evidence was too low of his collusion with the demonic cults, but Aurelius had seen no choice; he had to do something about Daniel before that man could swallow him whole.

However, when the hounds arrived, they informed him of Daniel’s absence; he assumed Daniel had escaped from the empire.

But suddenly, a letter arrived from the Draconis house. The letter told him that Daniel was in their custody, and if he wanted to see Daniel judged fairly in the court, he needed to somehow make this fact reach the ears of Duke Winter without exposing his own involvement.

Aurelius had no idea about what Draconis wanted to do, but he still complied since the words spoken were in his favor. He ordered the hounds to use the same channels that his butler used to relay information to Duke Winter’s house.

Right now, he looked at Aurelius standing calmly beside Lord Winter as if the accusations made no difference to him.

“Your majesty, may I have your permission to present my case in front of the court?” he asked without flinching.

Duke Winter sneered and wanted to interrupt, but Aurelius spoke first and louder, “You may.”

Rizwell nodded; he clapped his hands, and a shift happened in the throne room.

Sounds of chains clinking sounded, and several knights of the house of Draconia entered the throne halls, with a figure wrapped in tight mana-restricting chains.

It was Daniel Dalton, looking at his chained figure; almost half of the court stood up in shock.

“How dare you!!!” Lord Winter shouted and almost ended up attacking the men dragging Daniel, but suddenly a force tugged at his hands; he felt his movements being restricted by an aura.

He turned around and looked at the subtle smile on the emperor’s face that was not apparent to the rest of the court. A bad premonition entered his mind.

Before he could frame any more conclusions, another figure was dragged in, also wrapped by tight chains.

The face of this being made many present in the throne room frown; Duke Winter looked at the rat-faced individual, confused as to why he was being presented in front of the court.

“Your Majesty!! This beastfolk here goes by the name of Wanix. He was one of the 12 main elders of the Clayman cult. He was found lurking around by my men in the imperial capital.”

“When we arrested him, he confessed that he was here to meet Prince Dalton. He has confessed to Daniel’s collusion with the clayman cult and his involvement in the kidnapping of countless humans from our empire.”

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