The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress-Chapter 233: Legalities of the crown

"I...am...going....to...kill...you!" Roland thundered.

He lunged at Benjamin but the Lord mage pulled him back. If the man had no magic, he would have failed at that task because Roland was in a sinister mood. He had taken one look at his father’s pale body and listening to the recounting of events from the knights that had gone with the king and then rage had taken a hold of him.

The Lord mage pulled him all the way back to the side of the king’s sick bed. "Hold on, wait a moment."

Roland growled, raised his arm and elbowed the Lord mage on the nose. The Lord mage yelped in pain and the surprise caught him off guard that he ended up letting go of Roland.

The Lord mage’s nose was busted and bleeding. Not that anyone rushed back to his aid as they all looked on helplessly as Roland lunged at Benjamin aiming for his neck.

"Stop him." The Lord mage yelled.

The red knights looked the other way, they had no intention to stop the crown prince, he could do what they could not. Many of them had longed to give Prince Benjamin a beating but they were afraid of the consequences.

"Uncuff him." Roland ordered Sir Cornelius who was one of his white knights, the third in command of his army.

Princess Romilda strolled into the room, she was barking orders as if she was in charge, sending all of the knights out. She jabbed her finger at Roland’s chest, looking at him with an expression of authority in her eyes.

"Do not touch your brother, now is not the time for madness or your uncontrollable temper. In case you have missed it, the king is unconscious. Whispers are already traveling in the family about the status of his health.

Do you know when the royal family is most vulnerable? It is when a king is on his deathbed and there is infighting in the royal family. People know that the king is back and everyone knows that we have just conquered Nemoris. The people are waiting to hear from their king. As the king cannot speak to them, you need to do it on his behalf. From now on, I will be in charge of everything you say, eat, drink..."

Roland waved his hand, pushing his aunt away. She fell into the arms of Sir Cornelius and he pushed her into the arms of another night. She was shuffled around until they pushed her out of the room completely.

"Open the door and listen to me, I demand that you hear me out this second." she banged and screamed. "Roland, Roland, Sigrid, open this door right now."

None of the knights moved, not the ones outside or the ones inside. Inside, Benjamin’s handcuffs were removed.

"Give him a sword and open the doors." Roland ordered. "We are taking this outside." he growled.

Benjamin was shoved out by the red knights, he was trembling and uneasy, obviously unwilling to follow an enraged Roland. He had never once beaten Roland in a fight and he had no hope of doing so now more than ever because the mages had found a way of training their magic and improving it. As a sword mage, Roland was now more powerful than he had ever been.

As the fight was taken outside, the Lord mage turned to Sigrid who had yet to say a word. She was sitting next to Elarin, calmly munching on an apple and watching everything as if it was none of her concern.

"Well...." The Lord mage said to her in a frustrated and urgent voice.

Sigrid shrugged, "Well what?"

"Aren’t you going to stop him?" He asked.

Sigrid looked up, it seemed like she was considering it for a moment and then she shook her head. "No, I think I will let my husband work out his problems with his brother as he wishes. Family is complicated, sometimes older brothers must teach younger ones a lesson."

"He will kill him." The Lord mage said, exasperation in his voice.

"Eeh!" Again, she just shrugged. "Let’s be honest, if Benjamin was not a prince and he was any other ordinary knight, he would not be here right now. He would be in prison, on death row awaiting a beheading or hanging."

"But he is not any other knight, he is a prince. When the crown prince starts killing his brothers, no matter what the reason is, things become complicated your highness. Alliances start to shift, sword smiths become much busier and people start fleeing the capital city." The Lord mage reminded her.

"Just say the word war, for heaven sake!" Sigrid rolled her eyes. "And this is not what that is. It is not a war, it is brothers working out their differences."

"That is not how people will see it." Princess Elarin jumped in. She gave Sigrid an apologetic look first and then continued. "Think about it this way your highness, the crown prince has just returned from war, victorious. Eldoria is now an empire and titles are going to be changed, territories expanded.

The king is unconscious, we have no idea when he will be opening his eyes. At this time, the crown prince just happens to kill his brother, the third prince who is known by all to be the king’s favorite son and biggest competitor for the throne.

Nobody will look at it as an elder brother teaching a younger one a lesson. What they will see is a new emperor eliminating competitors for the throne."

"And then they will begin to wonder..." The Lord mage joined in.

"Was Benjamin killed because he was the true heir to the throne? Is Roland’s succession legal?" Elarin asked.

Sigrid scoffed. "The crown is Roland’s birthright, he is the legal heir and killing the prince that is responsible for putting the king in this condition is not a crime, it is justice. If anyone questions Roland’s succession they are fools."

It was his right as the kings first born son. Not even ten Benjamin’s could change that fact. Only the king’s bastard son could make Roland’s shake.

"It is not a cemented fact." The Lord mage said. "If Roland is found to be unfit the king has the right to announce another heir."

"And that would be Galen." Sigrid stood up. "If Roland kills Galen too then we can ring the bells and sound the alarms but I highly doubt that he is going to that."

Brolin dashed into the room, shouting, "Galen has joined the fight too. Hurry, they will kill him."