Chapter 350: Sovereignty

Seated on the throne, the silver-haired king's face twisted in pain, looking ghastly as he gasped for breath like an aged bellows. He then lifted a hand, feebly covering his mouth.

"Cough, cough!" Harsh coughs erupted, and with them, foul-smelling, dark blood splattered onto his palm. Due to the volume of tainted blood coughed up, droplets stained his robe and the throne, painting a grim picture.

"Father!" A cry filled with sobs rang out. A young girl, splendidly dressed and under ten years old, her eyes red with impending tears, stared at the coughing king.

"Do not cry, Remilia, you are the heir to the Rockman Kingdom." Seeing his worried daughter, the king, in both physical and spiritual agony, struggled to maintain a calm demeanor, trying to appear somewhat better.

But his current state, evident to anyone, even this naive young princess, signaled that he wouldn't last long, perhaps not even through the day.

"I don't want to inherit the throne, I just want father." The blue-haired princess rushed forward, attempting to embrace her father as she had in her younger years, believing his arms to be the safest place in the world.

"Remilia, stop right there, you are soon to inherit the throne, you must not lose your composure," the high-seated King Beladian reprimanded sternly as he saw his daughter approaching for an embrace.

"Father." Seeing the once-vigorous but now gaunt and authoritative middle-aged man on the throne, Remilia stopped, standing only a few steps away from her father.

"Step back." Seeing his beloved youngest daughter, his only remaining offspring, the nearly spent king withdrew his hand into his robe, clenching it tightly to suppress his emotions.

He couldn't let his daughter touch him, touch his body which was merely upheld by his robe, drained of vitality. He couldn't bear for his young daughter to worry about him.

"Just stand there, I need to discuss some matters with you."

"Father, can't you hold me while we talk?"

"No." The king, his nails digging into his flesh from the grip, denied his daughter's request. "Remilia, as the soon-to-be queen, you can no longer afford to be willful."

"I don't want to be queen," the princess said, tears welling up.

"But you have no choice," sighed the dying King Beladian. "Your brothers and sisters were all killed by rebels, you are my only remaining heir. You are the sole inheritor of the throne."

King Beladian did not bother with platitudes about how to be a great ruler; he considered himself a failed king and felt unqualified to instruct his offspring. He had already made plans, so there was little need for extensive instructions; everything that needed to be arranged had been arranged.

Just before the end of his life, the king sought out his daughter, fulfilling his duty as a father. After speaking with her for a considerable time, he used his ring to summon a court servant.

"Notify all the ministers of the capital, nobles of at least the rank of earl, to come to the palace to meet the next ruler of Rockman Kingdom."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The servant glanced at Princess Remilia standing in the center of the hall, his expression complex, filled with various emotions. Inheriting the throne of Rockman Kingdom was not a blessing but a burden fraught with unimaginable pressures and perils.

Soon, one by one, high-ranking nobles and ministers arrived in the hall, the symbol of supreme authority in Rockman Kingdom. They bowed and waited humbly for the king's final orders.

At this moment, no one dared to delay or challenge the king's authority. A dying king was still a king, and none wished to provoke him.

King Beladian, a failed monarch, watched his ostensibly obedient subjects gather in the hall and did one thing—he had his daughter Remilia stand by his side and coldly observed these outwardly respectful individuals.

He knew that among these seemingly respectful nobles were those who wished for his immediate death. The current state of Rockman Kingdom was such that many ambitious figures coveted his throne.

His current condition was the best proof. Normally in his prime, he now depended on potions to sustain his life, and even then, he did not have long to live.

Moreover, in recent years, nearly ten of his children had died one after another under "accidental" circumstances. Now, only Remilia, who had never left the palace, remained alive.

This situation angered him, yet he was powerless to change it. The kingdom now had fourteen legends, of whom only five were loyal to the royal family. The rest were powerful nobles who, in these times of a weakening monarchy, had grown increasingly independent.

Fortunately, the royal family, with its five legends, remained the most powerful force in Rock

man Kingdom, so no noble dared openly rebel.

But even this did not soothe the king's anger. The royal family, though still the strongest in terms of military might, no longer held the absolute influence it had at the nation's founding.

He no longer had the confidence to overturn the table, so even as his own children died one by one, the king could only endure, unable to act on his desires.

"Your Majesty, everyone has arrived," announced the servant after the hall was filled with nearly fifty influential figures.

King Beladian waved the servant away, then looked down at his seemingly respectful subjects and announced his decision:

"From today, Remilia Scaret is the Queen of Rockman Kingdom."

"Your Majesty, isn't this too hasty?" a court earl protested upon hearing King Beladian's straightforward proclamation of Remilia's ascension.

"It is not an official ascension. Remilia is too young; she may be crowned queen but cannot wield the royal authority. She lacks the capability to govern Rockman Kingdom.

Therefore, until she has the ability to govern, I need someone who can temporarily manage Rockman Kingdom for my daughter."

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