CHAPTER 447: CHAPTER 292 CONTINUE

Elizabeth stood silently at the edge of the crowd, wearing a court gown, her silver-white hair draped over her shoulders, close to the throne yet seemingly separated by an invisible chasm.

As a member of the royal family, she theoretically had the right to inherit the throne, but this remained only at the theoretical level.

Reality was cold and cruel; none of the factions present would choose her.

The great nobles would not choose her; the Union she controlled and vigorously developed had already impacted the fundamental interests of too many nobles who accumulated wealth by exploiting workers.

If not for their fear of the unfathomable Lu Yan behind her, the noble class would likely have long since united against the Union.

Keeping her away from the center of power was precisely what they were happy to see.

The royal family also would not choose her because she had weak foundations and lacked the support of a powerful maternal family. In the eyes of those seasoned in power struggles, she was just a pretty face with a little wit.

Using Charles to force the old King Charlie to abdicate, and letting Charles, the first in line, lose his chance to sit on the throne, then actively connecting with Lu Yan to borrow his influence to pursue the throne?

Elizabeth’s little schemes were nothing significant to the royal family veterans.

The fact that they tacitly accepted Elizabeth’s plan to force the old king to abdicate was also for their own interests. When Elizabeth attempted to approach the throne, they would cut off any of her illusions mercilessly.

This change of king was a manifestation of Lu Yan’s will; the royal family and nobles had to swallow their pride and accept this humiliating reality to reclaim the Scepter of Royal Authority, a symbol of power.

But this was already the limit of what they could tolerate; they would never allow Lu Yan, whom they secretly regarded as a major enemy, to further intervene in the core power changes of the Victoria Kingdom by supporting Elizabeth.

Making her the new king? That would be an open challenge to the entire royal family and noble class, a bottom line they could never accept.

Therefore, Elizabeth could only stand here, like an outsider, silently watching the division of power that would determine the kingdom’s future.

"Who do you think is the winner?"

The voice of old King Charlie was deep and slow, carrying a barely discernible fatigue, yet it clearly reached Elizabeth’s ears.

Elizabeth turned her head, looking at her father beside her, the once august king whose abdication was now inevitable.

Even though he was forced to shore away in the stormy waves of power, beneath his slightly aged and weakened appearance, his eyes still shone with the brilliance of worldly wisdom.

Elizabeth’s gaze did not respond immediately but slowly swept across the hall.

Her eyes first landed on Prince Charles not far away, the once-first in line now with a livid face, his tightly pressed lips forming stiff lines.

The glances he occasionally cast in Elizabeth’s direction were filled with undisguised resentment and unwillingness.

Elizabeth understood in her heart that Charles probably already knew by now that he had been pushed to the forefront by various forces, serving merely as the most cutting blade to force his father to abdicate.

From the result, he seemed to have succeeded; the conservatives collapsed, and the king ceded the throne.

However, the price of this success was that he himself completely lost the qualification to inherit the throne.

Overseeing overseas colonies that were multiple times larger than the Victoria Kingdom?

These words sounded grand, as if it were a position of supreme glory and power.

But who in the hall didn’t know that the greatest value of those vast yet impoverished lands lay in continually supplying resources and wealth to the kingdom’s homeland?

For the middle and lower class people eager to achieve something, those lands might be full of challenges and opportunities, but for Charles, who was once just a step away from the throne, it was tantamount to an honorable exile.

Elizabeth gently moved her gaze, her eyes then landing on Prince Ford on the other side.

At this moment, Prince Ford was spiritedly surrounded by a group of jubilant nobles.

He raised his crystal glass filled with rich red wine, chatting warmly with those around him, occasionally letting out hearty laughter, as if already discussing the grand blueprint for the nation’s future.

Prince Ford inherited the throne; logically, he should be the ultimate victor in this power struggle.

However, as Elizabeth saw clearly, the value of this victory was quite questionable.

Charles took control of the overseas colonies, and Diana held the power of the noble council; the kingdom’s power was clearly divided.

Moreover, Prince Ford’s own foundation and influence were far inferior to Charles’s long-cultivated ones.

It is foreseeable that for a long time to come, this new king would likely be merely a nominal symbol, constrained by various forces and unable to truly stretch his hands.

Elizabeth’s gaze finally rested on Princess Diana.

This princess, renowned for her beauty and pride, was standing elegantly among a group of princes and great nobles who supported her.

She had a powerful maternal family as her backing and had gained the clear support of several prestigious royal princes. Now, she justifiably wielded the ever-expanding power of the noble council.

On the surface, she appeared to be the deepest hidden and greatest beneficiary winner in this complex game.

However, Elizabeth’s heart held a different judgment.

Everyone seemed to consciously overlook a key point: no matter how talented Diana was, how skillfully she handled things, she was, after all, just a princess, not a queen.