Pirate Kingship

Chapter 379 - 317: The Seven Sacred Regalia of Authority and the Baron of Torrentfort

Chapter 379: Chapter 317: The Seven Sacred Regalia of Authority and the Baron of Torrentfort

Capital Kingston of the Kingdom of Hightens, Ganquan Palace.

Night had fallen, yet various alchemical lamps bathed the palace in a brilliance as bright as day, resplendent and magnificent.

Pointed tower roofs in Georgian style, exquisite porticos carved from white marble, and pillars flanked by absolutely symmetrical auxiliary buildings.

These elements together formed a vast complex consisting of more than six hundred rooms.

Complemented by orderly arrays of six-by-six pane glass windows, they were transparent and bright, with lines undulating in a neat and orderly fashion.

Surrounded by the solemn "Pomp and Circumstance Marches," the palace looked tidy, graceful, dignified, and noble from any angle, filled with a timeless sense of order and beauty.

But for Byron, who was invited here to participate in the victory banquet after seeing the white roses that bloomed all over the Royal Palace come May, it was an eyesore.

Returning to the old place, it’s truly the Lancaster’s red roses that complement Ganquan Palace the best.

Unfortunately, he had no current means to deal with the York Dynasty of white roses.

To celebrate the Kingdom of Hightens’ emergence among the nations and obtaining the "exemption" to maintain religious independence, he, a great loyalist and major contributor, considered it fortunate enough to be invited to the banquet.

The projection access to the Royal Palace, granted to him by the [Sovereign Orb], allowed him sensory and tactile experiences similar to those of a real person, yet it did not lend him the ability to summon a gust of wind to vent his frustrations.

Of course, he was not about to do something as foolish and meaningless as a hotheaded youth would.

With the Seven Sacred Regalia of Authority, which connect to the Public Willpower of the entire Kingdom, concentrated here, Ganquan Palace is the most fortified stronghold in the Kingdom of Hightens. A violent siege is absolutely the worst of bad strategies. Stirring internal strife, undermining public sentiment, sowing discord among the nobility, or even outright poisoning them would be more effective than a siege.

In his immaculate general’s uniform, while following a servant to the banquet hall, Byron looked up at the sky above Ganquan Palace.

Only as one of the legitimate heirs of the Royal Iron Rule - Great Charter and a "shareholder" of the Kingdom could he see in his Spirit Vision the seven luminous columns reaching up to the heavens from within the entire palace.

They wove an intricate Law Network in the sky, carrying the full texts of the Great Charter and clusters of White Rose crests, radiating in all directions.

These were the seven treasures every King of Hethens would need for their coronation.

Byron knew them like the back of his hand; no, they were originally his family’s treasures:

The core of the law, [The Great Charter (Original Law Document)]; the [Sovereign Orb], symbolizing divine right; the Cross Scepter, symbolizing power and justice, and the Dove Scepter, symbolizing fairness and mercy—these two scepters, one long and one short, collectively known as the [Sovereign’s Scepter]; the [Hertings Wedding Ring], symbolizing responsibility and commitment, which during the coronation was placed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest standing in the Kingdom, on the ring finger of the monarch’s right hand, signifying that the sovereign is "married" to the country.

Truth be told, Byron felt some sympathy for the national will of the Kingdom of Hightens. It had been "married" to all the Kings in the entire dynasty’s lineage, from his great-grandfathers down to his great-grandsons. He wondered who came up with such an absurd ritual. Luckily, the national will hadn’t become personified, or there would have been quite a spectacle to witness.

Additionally, there was the [Sword of Dedication], symbolizing the monarch’s exhaustive efforts in governing the nation; the [Saint Edward’s Crown], forged of 2.23 kilograms of pure gold; and the [Coronation Throne], composed of both the "Stone of Destiny" and "Saint Edward’s Throne."

As children, he and his cousin Edward had secretly sat on this chair, mockingly bowing to each other. When the two brothers tried to coax Catherine to kneel before them, they were all beaten up by the child King. And the beating was in vain. When they complained to the adults, they were each severely beaten again by their uncle and father. The fact that the two brothers didn’t end up being marched to the guillotine shoulder-to-shoulder was a stroke of great luck, a testament to their status as only sons in their respective families.

Each of these seven treasures is a renowned First-Class Sacred Relic, accumulated over hundreds of years of long history, together forming a great net that covered all the territories of the Kingdom. Any schemers who came here would feel as if thorns were in their backs, likely too afraid even to breathe heavily.

Yet Mr. Byron, the great rebel, was entirely unaffected; numerous divine lights of detection landed on him like a gentle spring breeze, and he even had the leisure to critically appraise each of these treasures.

Although these Seven Sacred Regalia of Authority are formidable, even their combined power doesn’t compare to the eighth. The last treasure, while not in the Royal Capital, is the only Zero-Level Sacred Relic among all the treasures of the Kingdom of Hightens. The Sword in the Stone, also known as the Sword of Selection, which no one has been able to pull out since the Mythological Era! If I could pull that thing out, the Royal Iron Law would likely switch allegiance to me on the spot; there’d be no need to fight at all.

At that thought, Byron couldn’t help but shake his head internally, casting aside the unrealistic fantasies.

The Sword of Selection was an unparalleled holy sword made of all the precious metals one could think of in the world. It rested on a square block of stone beside the sacred Lake Lángos, with Sprite inscriptions saying, "Whoever pulls this sword from the stone, he shall be king over all the land."

Legend has it that the Sword in the Stone not only symbolizes kingly power but also represents one of the earliest forms of metallurgy on the Old Continent. Considering that the Strait Islands of Hightens are rich in iron ore and coal deposits (Chapter 183), this is not entirely without basis.