Not good...

I've been outmaneuvered!

Campbell Grand Priest did not encourage me to personally welcome Her Majesty the Queen to show the earnestness of the Parliamentary Party nobles, but rather to use my absence from Falling Star to woo other nobles!

And... they've probably already succeeded!

Damn it... how on earth did they manage that?

No, now is not the time to think about that question. The current problem is that this is likely no longer just a reception banquet but is poised to become a conspiracy banquet aimed at challenging the Queen!

It seems the Lilac Party nobles never intended to wait for the future negotiations!

At this thought, Count Stafford's expression changed.

He bit his lip, slammed the table, and feigned anger as he said,

"Enough!"

"Duke Wester, you're merely a duke, you do not represent the nobles, let alone the Falling Star Kingdom!"

"Today's banquet is a reception for Her Majesty the Queen. No politics should be discussed—let's not turn into a laughingstock for outsiders!"

Seeing the enraged Count Stafford, Duke Wester responded with a slight smile,

"Oh? Lord Chairman, are you... getting anxious?"

"Ha ha, I know you're in a hurry, but... please, don't be so flustered just yet. After all, I haven't finished speaking."

With that, Duke Wester turned to the many nobles in the hall and said loudly,

"Ladies and gentlemen, I know many of you may be angered by my previous words, but what I want to say is, those who betray the interests of the Falling Star Kingdom are neither I nor Lord Esiah."

"Many think we are vassals of the Bloodline, but what I have to say is this is nothing but slander—a slander by the Bloodline and all the more a slander by the Castel family!"

"Yes, some of us in the Lilac Party have dealings with the Bloodline, but those are individual actions. Lord Esiah has always been a noble of great integrity, righteousness, and one who abhors evil!"

"All slanders against Lord Esiah are the doings of the Bloodline—crafts of some within the Council with ulterior motives, spewing filth on Lord Esiah for the sake of clinging to power!"

The moment these words were uttered, the expressions of the nobles in the banquet hall varied, revealing surprise.

"Slander?! Humph! Duke Wester, you puppets of the Bloodline, dare to do, yet not to own up to it now?!"

Marquis Howard said angrily.

Duke Wester glanced at him, sneered coldly but did not answer.

He pulled a sheepskin scroll from his breast and tossed it into the crowd,

"My colleagues, take a look at this agreement."

"This is the pact between the Castel family and the Bloodline—entered into well before King Louis decreed that void will. The Castel family had already conspired with the Bloodline of the Falling Star Kingdom!"

"Betraying the interests of the Falling Star Kingdom? Hah, we, the nobles of the Lilac Party, are willing to stand by our actions. Our wish to renounce the Romany Duchy is solely for the kingdom's future."

"But some... are not! They are the ones who have starkly traded with the Bloodline, betraying the kingdom's interests!"

At this point, Duke Wester's expression turned furious, pointing at the composed Charlotte on the throne, he bellowed,

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

"Those who have dealings with the Bloodline have never been us but the Castel family! The puppet seated there who claims the role of Pseudo King!"

"She... has long been colluding with the Bloodline!"