The day after Queen Sophia's death.

At 7:07 a.m., the Cathedral of the Red Queen sounded the death knell.

It was a dull bell that was very different from the usual chiming clock. The tongue of the bell is padded with thick leather on both sides to muffle the sound of the death knell.

The death knell rang seventy-nine times in a row, symbolizing the seventy-nine years spent in the Queen's life.

By the time the seventy-nine death knells had been struck, Isabel was already at the top of the round table.

The round table hall is also inside the Hall of Silver and Tin, and even in the main hall.

Once upon a time, the earliest "round tables" were used by knights to feast before and after wars. At that time, the Knights of the Round Table would eat while chatting and discussing at the dinner table. Later, more and more warriors followed Arthur, and the banquet was certainly not limited to one table.

But there is no doubt that the knights who ate at the same table as Arthur were the most valiant, loyal, powerful, and of all of them.

They are also known as the "Knights of the Round Table". Many matters were discussed and decided by them together, and the other knights attending the banquet would also be listening, and if they had an idea, they could say a few words—everyone had a say. But in the end, it was up to these knights at the round table to decide.

It became a tradition for the Knights of the Round Table to discuss political affairs.

By the time the Temple of Silver and Tin was completed, the first Knights of the Round Table had already ascended to the Dream Realm. Naturally, there was no need for the heirs to gather together for dinner.

But even so, in order to cherish the memory of his former comrades-in-arms, Lancelot still transformed the most central and largest room into a round table hall in the main hall of the Silver and Tin Palace. Place the round table that used to hold twenty-two people.

In addition to the twenty founders, there is Lancelot himself, and the silver-crowned dragon that has been hidden from history. And this happens to be the number of tarot cards of the Great Arcana.

Later, more and more knights were eligible to enter the Round Table Room, and the government affairs faced by Avalon after the founding of the country became more and more complex. Far from being able to handle it with those twenty people.

But the round table, which is an antique itself, cannot be changed to become bigger and bigger.

As a result, except for the Founders family, who can sit at the round table, the other knights will gather around the sides and front of the round table, with three rows of seats of different heights, which look like lecture halls.

In other words, in fact, most of the knights and ministers who came to the round table hall were not qualified to sit at the round table at all.

In Avalon, where "authority" is emphasized, the distance to the round table has become a symbol of the status and influence of the knights. The closer you get to the round table, the higher your status. Internally, it is divided into three levels: "inner ring", "middle ring" and "outer ring".

The round table hall is met with high frequency. At its slowest time, it was two or three times a month, and at its fastest, it was more than five times a week. But the Founders family will basically only have less than half of them at each meeting, and there will always be a large lack of a large piece of the inner ring. But the knights of the outer ring will be full every time.

Today's round table room is different from usual.

All the knights did not arrive in advance of the round table room, but lined up at the door.

After the death knell is sounded, they enter through the main entrance after being summoned.

The order in which the door should be entered was decided by Isabel - of course, it was actually written by Eivers.

Once you enter through the main entrance, you will first have to go up the long glass staircase.

This is one of the reasons why it is called the "Island of Glass", because it is rich in glass. And this glass staircase was one of the royal ceremonies of the early years of Avalon. Because the glass was slippery and fragile, the knights wore heavy armor and could shatter the glass steps if they fell.

This forced the knights to move slowly and cautiously. This is a sign of loyalty and respect to the royal family and the round table hall.

Instead of sitting in their seats, they walked to Isabel's right hand, knelt on one knee and swore allegiance before kissing the silver dragon ring on Isabel's hand. But since Isabel was still unmarried, it was customary to kiss her thumb on the ring.

The first to enter the door was Regia, the deputy director of the Arbitration Hall and the Grand Arbiter, while the second was the Grand Guardian of the Knight of the Round Table and the part-time Minister of Military Affairs, the third was the Grand Inquisitor Shafia, who was the vice president of the Inspectorate, and the fourth was the old Grand Justice.

Fifth, it was the turn of Minister Camelot, who was a member of the Privy Council.

He was an old man with gray hair and green eyes. He looked to be at least sixty or seventy years old, but he was still wearing bright silver armor. Even with hand armor on his hands. He didn't carry a matching sword, even though he had the power to do so - he only carried his shield inherited from his ancestor Galahad, as a sign of his determination to protect Avalon with his life.

But when Minister Camelot entered, he was even startled.

He was first amazed that he was the fifth to enter the ...... On the other hand, he was also amazed that he was able to enter the fifth.

The Privy Council is basically the equivalent of the Star Antimony Chancellor or the Iris Chancellor, acting as the chief adviser to the king or queen, and handling many of the most important matters of government. He is the most important and highest-ranking minister in Avalon.

When Queen Sofia succeeded to the throne sixty years ago, the second allegiance was to the Privy Councillor. Of course, the Privy Councillors of that generation were certainly not him.

But Minister Camelot also considers himself loyal to Queen Sophia, and is an absolute close confidant of Queen Sofia - which is why Queen Sofia will hand over the position of Privy Council Minister to him. The Camelot family is a side line of the Durak family, and their ancestors can also be regarded as descendants of Lanstrow I, and they are related to each other.

Five years ago, Queen Sophia even secretly confessed to him...... If all of the Durak family dies or dies due to the curse, then the Camelot family can pass one of their sons to the Durak family and become the new king.

However, since Queen Sophia's death last night, the Temple of Silver and Tin has not summoned him urgently...... Minister Camelot actually had a hunch.

It wasn't until he saw the newspaper this morning that he was completely dead.

There is no doubt that he is not classified as one of the credible and reliable people by Isabel.

This actually makes sense.

After all, objectively speaking, the bloodline of the Camelot family is a threat to Isabel, who is not authoritarian. And even if the elder Camelot is loyal to Queen Isabel, his children and grandchildren may not be able to maintain this family-inherited loyalty.

…… But that's the way it is. After all, the old Camelot watched Isabel grow up, and he felt Isabel's vigilance and was still a little sad.

However, to the surprise of Minister Camelot, the young minister, who had the trust of Queen Isabel, was not the first to enter the round table.

Even when the knights were almost inside, there was no shadow of Minister Moriarty.

- Was he late?

That's what the knights thought at first.

But when all the knights entered, the round table was still empty.

At the first round table meeting after the new king succeeded to the throne, only one person was not present.

The knights whispered about the anomaly—some of them were glad, some were gloating, some were upset by the anomaly.

In the conformist Avalon, "irrationality" is the most disturbing anomaly.

Finally, in the midst of increasingly noisy discussions, Queen Isabel rang the bell beside her. The knights scrambled to their feet, their armor grinding against each other. The people who were talking were not completely silent, and the noise in the round table hall had only decreased, but it was still there, and even more harsh.

Until the Great Guardian coughed lightly, and the power of authoritarianism radiated into the room. It was then that the round table finally became quiet.

"Now for the meeting."

Following Aihuas's suggestion, Isabel declared with a straight face and coldness: "You will sit down as you are." ”

As Isabel's words fell, the two ceremonial officers guarding the door of the round table hall knocked the dragon head scepter in their hands towards the door of the round table hall that had been closed.

"Praise the Silver-crowned Dragon!"

"Praise be to Queen Isabel!"

They sang aloud in turn.

With the first strike, a silvery-white "X" appeared on the heavy silver-black gate, and then leached out of the light and completely sealed the door. The second strike, in the middle of the "X" symbol, inspires a larger, shield-like cross that is stacked on top of the "X".

The silver barrier immediately expanded, enveloping the entire round table hall. It dispels all forces in the Round Table Hall except for authority, purifies the minds and hearts of everyone present, dispels all spells that may cause charm, suggestion, etc., and completely obscures spells such as teleportation, eavesdropping, and peeping, and can also prevent attacks from the outside.

Immediately, all the knights present said in unison: "Praise the silver-crowned dragon!" Praise be to Queen Isabel! ”

After that all the knights sat down at the same time. The heavy armor fell neatly, making a sharp sound like thousands of troops brushing and stopping.

Isabel pursed her lips subconsciously, nervous at the spectacular sight in front of her.

But she remembered Ivus's request.

She even saw it as a test -

Even if she had Ivas to rely on, there were elders like Lygia who could rely on. But she is the queen of Avalon after all, and almost the only heir to the Durak family.

Except for her two-year-old brother John, and her biological father, Prince Albert, who had fled the royal family and curse a long time ago, Isabel had no relatives.

She had to be strong.

Ivas may be able to help her, but he can't help her forever - Ivas doesn't have the characteristics of an authoritarian path, which means that rule and power are not good for him. Eivas will eventually go higher, and Avalon will only be a drag on him at that point.

- Even if you can't help yourself, you must not become a burden.

This has been Isabel's philosophy from beginning to end.

She confronted the strange curse with this idea, and she also committed suicide repeatedly in nightmares with this idea.

"Your Majesty."

Minister Camelot stood up first and said respectfully, "You are all here, please take a look." ”

Then, he respectfully handed the bag with the documents in his hand to the Grand Justice. After opening it and inspecting it, and making sure there was no problem, the Grand Judge stepped forward and handed it to Isabel.

This is the Outline of the Scheme of Thumbs for the current year and the coming year, written by the Privy Councillors.

They were all written while Queen Sophia was awake and handed over to Queen Sofia for inspection and signature. Because the new monarch has basically no knowledge of various government affairs after succeeding to the throne, if he acts arbitrarily at this time with his own intuition or the advice of the minister, it may cause mistakes that cannot be made up for years or even more than ten years.

Therefore, the outline of the government for the first two years of the year was determined by the previous monarch.

Of course, Isabel knows this.

But she took the document and said in a cold and serious tone: "It's not all, Camelot.

"There's another knight I trust who hasn't arrived. His presence counts. ”

“…… Has he been loyal to you? ”

Minister Camelot asked.

Hearing this, the corners of Isabel's mouth rose slightly. But it was quickly flattened again.

But even if she tensed her face and lowered her voice, she still couldn't erase the joy in her voice: "Yes, as early as last night." Secretary Moriarty has sworn allegiance to me. And I gave him the name of a knight.

"He did not attend the first round table chaired by me today because he was not feeling well. But that's already with my permission. ”

Isabel spoke very clearly and in a slow tone. This is to avoid saying the wrong thing or accidentally stammering and detracting from majesty.

She had rehearsed those words in the mirror before. He said everything he could have said in advance, and finally found the smoothest, coldest, and most serious voice with the help of Ivus.

She will do her best to keep her every word on this voice.

For this reason, she did not sleep all night last night.

Seeing that the other knights were speechless, Isabel bowed her head and read the papers.

Most of them are about maintaining the status quo, with only a few changes worth discussing.

After Isabel had read the Outline, she handed over the document to the Grand Judiciary for archiving.

And the first to speak was the Great Guardian who was the Minister of Military Affairs.

"Your Majesty," he asked respectfully, "you said that you would increase military spending by 5 per cent and that a round of compulsory conscription should be carried out for young people over twenty-six years of age...... Does this mean that we need to be ready for war? ”

"Yes."

Isabel replied calmly.

When these words fell, the entire round table hall became noisy.

"Silence!"

The Great Guardian, who was the chief knight, suddenly raised his voice, and the invisible ripples spread, returning the round table hall to silence.

"I don't have a problem anymore."

He nodded respectfully and sat down.

And after making this start, the new trade minister got up a little uneasy and nervous: "Your Majesty, who are we going to watch out for?" Star antimony or iris? What are the odds of war? How soon is it expected to end? ”

"—Griffith, that's not a question you should ask."

Isabel replied calmly, very tough, even hostile.

She always remembered what Ewass had said—to the ministers she could trust, she would nod her head first and answer questions if they had any questions; And for those who are unsure of their position but are questioning her, or deliberately finding problems for her, it doesn't hurt to push the topic back first, and it doesn't hurt to take a tougher attitude, you can show a little hostility.

Then come back and tell Ivas how they reacted to the topics that were pushed back.

It's true that she doesn't understand politics, but Isabel knows how to act.

If she doesn't know how to be a qualified queen for the time being, then she can "play" a queen.

And the new trade secretary Griffiths noticed Isabel's gaze, and he was shocked.

What a cold gaze it was—it seemed like a warning, an unquestionable authoritative light. It was as if she was not meeting the art student Isabel, but her grandmother Sophia.

No, she is even tougher than Sophia's attitude!

The turquoise emerald eyes had the majesty of a lion king.

The Secretary of State for Trade was suddenly discouraged...... Although it did have something to do with him, he felt as if his heart had been seen through when he was stared at by that gaze.

In addition, the Great Guardian squinted at himself, and the Minister of the Navy was arrested not long ago, and the Minister of Maritime Affairs was directly executed the day before yesterday...... It made him sweat for a while. I held back all the proposals that I had just wanted to say and the drafts I had drafted in my heart.

- Is she really not gifted with an authoritarian path?

The thought crossed his mind, and he reluctantly apologized and sat down.

There was a brief silence in the round table.

After that, the palace minister, Microft Hermes, slowly got up and spoke: "Your Majesty, is the Palace of Silver and Tin going to recruit a new group of palace personnel?" ”

"Hermes, it's up to you to decide." Isabel replied without hesitation.

Immediately afterwards, other ministers also spoke. Put aside the previous disdain and troublesome thoughts for the time being, and ask about the important things first.

"Your Majesty, Queen Sophia promised to allocate funds to the Ministry of Agriculture ......"

"I'll think about it."

"Your Majesty, the list of students proposed by the Church is subject to your final confirmation."

"Put it down, I'll see later."

"Your Majesty, that's it...... There are serious shortages of griffons in the griffon department, and we haven't been able to match the front-line inspectors with griffons on time for a long time...... You see......"

"Griffons should be enough, you figure it out yourself."

Keeping in mind all of Ivus's requests, Isabel handled government affairs in an orderly manner. Performing a tough queen with majesty and thoughtfulness.

In the first round of the Roundtable, which was attended by the Queen, it was mainly responsible for determining the next main policies, and there were no bills that the knights needed to vote on.

And as Isabel gradually entered the state and her eyes became sharper and sharper, the old knights with suspicious intentions also looked at each other with strange expressions.

Eventually, in an atmosphere of exceptional harmony and calm, the first round table ended.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the silver-crowned dragon is watching Avalon."

The young queen's calm speech sounded like some kind of threat at the moment.

None of the difficulties Isabel had imagined had happened—but instead of breathing a sigh of relief, she calmly closed her eyes, held her scepter, and waited for the knights to leave.

— but in reality, she was quickly recalling the meeting and the attitude of all the ministers. She would later have to retell them to Ivus, and any memory errors could be fatal.

When the knights looked at each other, as if they wanted to say something, but they couldn't say it here......

Only the unnoticed, chubby Minister Michael Hermes in the corner seemed to see through something, his hands in his sleeves, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

I'm a little unwell today.,It's a two-in-one chapter meow.

(End of chapter)