Game of the World Tree - Chapter 890

890. Chapter 886: Empress Maria II

Early June of the Eternal Era 1073.

That is, five months after the Eternal Church launched a great holy war against the Life Church.

As the war continued, the decline of the noble coalition in the human kingdom became more and more obvious. On various battlefields, the Life Church had already launched a counterattack.

From the Death Desert to the Forest of Elves, from the Maple Moon Free Territory to the Southern Seeker Alliance, news of the defeat of the noble coalition continued to be transmitted back to the center of the human kingdom like raindrops. More and more, and more and more exaggerated, making the human nobles more panic.

At the same time, in the human kingdom, especially in the Holy Mannia Empire, which was the strongest controlled by the Eternal Church, the missionary activities of the Life Church, which were originally successfully suppressed by the Eternal Church, were also carried out in full swing again in secret as the war situation reversed…

An extremely subtle atmosphere began to spread throughout the human kingdom and the Holy Mandia Empire.

And when the time came to mid-June, another major news happened in the Holy Mandia Empire.

Since the “God of Dusk and Sunset” incident, the Imperial Empress Maria II, who had been so angry that she was bedridden, finally woke up again after being in a coma for nearly two years.

However, not long after waking up, the nearly 84-year-old Imperial Empress learned about the Great Holy War and the repeated defeats of the noble coalition, and fainted again on the spot.

This time, the condition of the Imperial Empress deteriorated sharply and she never woke up again…

The news of the Empress’s critical illness quickly spread throughout the center of the Empire, and the entire high-level of the human empire fell into chaos again.

Especially after the cardinal of the Eternal Church who was good at healing magic was invited by the central nobles to the Queen’s bedside, and after performing the healing magic, he could only shake his head helplessly, the atmosphere of the entire Imperial Cabinet and the Imperial Parliament became more subtle.

Everyone realized that the Empress who had ruled the Empire for seventy years had finally reached the point where she was running out of energy and could die at any time.

The Holy Mannia Empire was about to change.

The external war was lost and the internal political situation was unstable.

This made the Holy Mannia Empire’s noble council even more chaotic.

Especially after the news of the Empress’ critical illness spread, the nobles with their own thoughts quarreled more fiercely in the council.

About the next emperor’s candidate, about the situation of the Great Holy War, about their own interests… the nobles quarreled fiercely.

The Empress was like a stabilizing force.

Even though the Empress was seriously ill in the past two years, the Noble Council and Bishop Winster were regents, and the entire Holy Mannia Empire could operate normally under the prestige accumulated by Maria II for seventy years.

However, when the Empress was critically ill, when anyone could feel the atmosphere of the middle and high levels of the Empire that was turbulent and could change at any time, the nobles would unconsciously start to make plans for the future, start to form a group, start to stand in line…

Similarly, there were also ambitious people who began to stir in secret.

However, just like a coin always has two sides.

Perhaps because the repeated defeats in the Great Holy War severely frustrated the imperial nobles, especially the power of those great nobles who had the strength to compete for the throne, the entire Imperial Parliament had no objection to the current imperial royal family, the Tres family, continuing to inherit the imperial throne.

However, the nobles began to argue fiercely over whether to support Princess Theresa, the legitimate heir of Maria II, as the new emperor, or to choose a more experienced adult royal family member from the Tres family to be the emperor.

Among them, the great nobles tended to support the young princess as the emperor, while the small and medium nobles hoped to choose a royal family member who could turn the tide.

The two sides argued fiercely in the Imperial Parliament, and seemed to have long forgotten that although the Empress of the Empire was critically ill, she was still alive and still the master of the empire…

“The throne must and can only be inherited by Princess Theresa! According to the Holy Seal of His Majesty Karl I, Princess Theresa is the first heir to the empire! She is our future Emperor!”

In the Imperial Parliament, after learning that the Empress was seriously ill, the Elector and Speaker Duke Correns, who withdrew from the battlefield overnight, said firmly.

“Her Royal Highness Princess Theresa is too young. Although according to the Imperial Edict, she is indeed the first heir to the empire, the entire empire is now in internal and external troubles, which is not something a girl under fifteen years old can handle.”

“What we need is a more mature and powerful emperor! According to the Imperial Election Law, we have the right to choose a more suitable candidate from the Tres family!”

On the other side of the parliament, the representative of the majority of small and medium nobles, the Marquis of Weimar shook his head.

“Your Excellency the Marquis! Princess Theresa’s succession to the throne was determined by the Imperial Parliament two years ago. Have you forgotten it? Not to mention, when Her Majesty succeeded to the throne, she was only thirteen years old!”

Duke Correns refuted.

The Marquis of Weimar also sneered:

“Your Excellency, the Duke, Princess Theresa is kind and timid, far less intelligent and precocious than His Majesty. Let a child who is ignorant inherit the throne. Do you want to control the center of the empire and the parliament together with the nobles?!”

“How outrageous!”

“Shameless!”

The nobles quarreled endlessly in the parliament, and even fought each other. The whole venue was filled with smoke.

This made the regent Bishop of Winster, who was sitting on the side of the parliament and watching the farce, frown, and his eyes were full of disappointment.

“Enough! What time is it! Still arguing? Now the holy war is not favorable, the situation is unstable, and it is not the time for internal strife!”

Looking at the increasingly chaotic venue, he couldn’t help it after all, and used the power of legend to stop it on the spot.

The pressure of the legend spread, and the venue gradually quieted down. However, when the nobles headed by Duke Correns looked at Bishop Winster, their unfriendly eyes quickly turned into sneers:

“The holy war is not going well? If the Eternal Church had not forcibly declared the Great Holy War at this time and instigated the Empire to send troops to the Southern Territory and Maple Moon Free Territory, how could it have become like this today? Moreover, with the war at this point, why haven’t the Church’s Judgment Corps and Angel Corps taken action yet?”

“Watch your words! Your Excellency Duke Correns! Are you expressing your dissatisfaction with the Church?!”

On the other side, Archbishop Kasir, who represented the Eternal Church and was one of the three church electors among the seven electors of the Empire, changed his expression, stood up from the church seat, and angrily scolded.

And beside him, Archbishop Doron, the last church elector besides Archbishop Winster, also stood up and looked at Duke Correns with a gloomy look.

“Am I wrong? This holy war was originally started by the Church.”

Duke Correns snorted coldly.

In the noble seats, in addition to the former Maple Moon Territory family, the representatives of the Rosen family, which held three of the four secular electors, the representatives of the Correns family, and the representatives of the Berencia family all stood up to express their support for Duke Correns.

For a time, the noble council that was originally discussing the heir to the throne became even more chaotic and disorderly.

Bishop Winster sat in the position of the regent.

Looking at the nobles and bishops who were arguing with red faces, even cursing and fighting, his eyes were very disappointed.

He sighed lightly, no longer stopped them, but stood up gently and left the chaotic venue.

After stopping the priests and knights’ entourage, Bishop Winster came to the outside of the parliament building alone.

The June sun shone on the neat streets of the eternal holy city of Mannia, coating the white and gold buildings on both sides with a layer of sacred glory.

The faint bells of the distant church came from afar, mixed with the faint singing of the choir.

Looking at the increasingly deserted streets since the start of the Great Holy War, and the increasing number of homeless people and homeless poor people in the corners of the streets, Archbishop Winster paused for a moment and sighed.

He took a step and slowly walked towards the Eternal Cathedral of Mania.

Just like the streets, the front of the Eternal Cathedral was still deserted. It was completely unbelievable that this was once a religious holy place with people coming and going, and there were endless streams of devout believers visiting every day.

After entering the church and passing through the deserted church, Bishop Winster returned to his prayer room.

Kneeling before the sacred and eternal statue, he stretched out his hand and drew a sun sign on his chest, sighed, and murmured:

“Great and wise Lord…”

“May you protect your people and help them survive this disaster, may you protect your people and help them be reborn from the fire…”

“Your glory will always shine on the earth, and your true name will always be passed down in the world.”

Just as Bishop Winster was praying devoutly, the door of the prayer room was knocked hurriedly.

“Lord Winster! The palace guards are here! They said that His Majesty has woken up! His Majesty specifically wants to see you!”

It was the voice of the church pastor.

Winster paused slightly in his prayer.

He was silent for a moment, slowly stood up, and walked out of the prayer room.

…

When Bishop Winster came outside the church, the palace guards were already waiting in front of the gate, and there was also a luxurious carriage with the royal emblem painted on it.

“My Lord Bishop!”

Seeing Bishop Winster, the knights knelt on one knee and saluted respectfully.

Bishop Winster nodded slightly, and with the help of a knight, he stepped into the carriage.

The church is not far from the palace.

Riding in the carriage, Bishop Winster quickly entered the palace that represents the highest power of the empire.

Perhaps because today is the day when the noble council holds a grand meeting, the palace is also much quieter, and only some maids and court attendants can be seen coming and going.

When Bishop Winster came to the palace where the queen was, he still didn’t see even a noble.

“My Lord Bishop, His Majesty is waiting for you inside.”

The knight saluted and opened the gorgeous palace door for him.

Bishop Winster nodded and entered the palace.

The palace was cold and deserted. Except for the imperial queen Maria II who was lying on the bed, there was no one else.

Her Majesty, who had dominated the Holy Mania Empire for seventy years, seemed like a lonely person at this moment.

No feudal political entity could tolerate the supreme ruler’s inability to do anything for two years.

Even in the history of the Blue Star Dynasty, those emperors who did not attend court for decades still firmly controlled the government while wandering outside the court.

Not to mention, the history of the entire Holy Mania Empire is a history of constant game between nobles and emperors, and constant competition between decentralization and centralization.

After two years of intermittent coma and two years of political vacancy, although the queen’s prestige is still there, she has actually been sidelined by the noble parliament.

At this moment, she has been abandoned by the nobles.

Maria II was half lying on the bed, tilting her head and quietly looking at the scenery of the garden outside the window.

Her hair was messy and her face was withered. Her old appearance looked like a dead branch that could break at any time.

She was almost 84 years old.

Looking at the emperor of the empire who looked like a setting sun in the west mountain, Bishop Winster felt a pain in his heart.

He was also from the Tres family.

According to seniority, he should even call the majesty in front of him a cousin.

When they were young, the two even had a good relationship and were inseparable playmates.

Of course, he has entered the legend and has a much longer lifespan than ordinary people, while Maria II lacks talent in the extraordinary way.

Bishop Winster vaguely remembers the days when he played with Maria II, who was a princess at the time, in the palace when he was a child.

Thinking about it now, perhaps that was the most beautiful and carefree time.

Seventy years is very long, but it is also very short.

Bishop Winster witnessed the girl inheriting the throne from her father who died suddenly when she was young. At that time, Maria faced the condemnation of domestic opposition and the covetous eyes of four secular electors.

He witnessed the girl’s continuous efforts and learning in the shaky political situation. She went to war in person before she was sixteen, suppressed the noble rebellion again and again, and finally stabilized the situation.

He also witnessed with his own eyes that the girl started a new policy after taking the throne, injecting new vitality into the empire that had shown signs of decline decades ago, and repairing the Holy Mannia Empire, a huge ship that had sailed in the ocean of history for thousands of years and was already riddled with holes…

However, the power of one person is too small.

Even if this person is an emperor, even if this person is the ruler of an empire.

She has tried her best, but still cannot truly resolve the contradictions within the empire.

At this moment, the once innocent, beautiful and lovely girl, the witty, intelligent, decisive and brave girl, has reached the twilight of her life…

Even though she has worked hard all her life, even though she has worked hard all her life, what she left to her successors is a more chaotic and more shaky country.

Bishop Winster’s expression was very complicated, and a trace of guilt flashed in the depths of his eyes.

When she heard the sound of the door being opened, Maria II turned her head gently.

Her turbid pupils looked at Bishop Winster, and a smile appeared on her old face, and even her eyes seemed to brighten a little.

Unlike a few days ago when she looked sick, today Maria II seemed to be in good spirits, with a ruddy complexion.

“Reiner, you are here,”

she called softly.

Reiner was the nickname of Bishop Winster before he entered the Eternal Church and became a monk.

His former name was Linus von Tres.

Or, Prince Tres.

Hearing the long-lost name of Reiner, Bishop Winster’s nose was sore.

He sighed softly, leaned forward and saluted, and said respectfully and politely:

“Cardinal Archbishop Winster of the Eternal Church, I meet your majesty…”

For a moment, Maria II’s eyes seemed to dim slightly.

(End of this chapter)