The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System-Chapter 87 - The accusation

A murmur ran through the gathering of nobles that formed the audience present in the throne room.

The Duke himself doesn’t seem to be here. I would have loved to see his face.

The king doesn’t hesitate, turning to the knights who are on guard duty.

"Arrest Duke Addlington. If he isn’t in the city, send troops to his domains."

"Right away, Your Majesty."

Daniel answer the king’s command, but, before he can depart, a bishop of the Church steps in.

"Is it wise to act so hurriedly, dear King Halinard? We have only her word, and nothing more. This is a serious accusation to throw against a Duke."

"What do you mean by that, Bishop Gallagher?"

The king squints, looking at the bishop without even trying to hide his hostility.

"That we can’t be sure that her words are true. She is a known perjurer, after all."

"For the millionth time, my daughter is not a perjurer, as she married under the laws of the kingdom."

"Laws that weren’t sanctioned by the Church, which means that they are as good as nonexistent."

"The Church doesn’t hold power to decide what is law and what is not in this country. Daniel, this is a royal order. Anyone who resists it should be charged with treason against the crown and executed on the spot. Am I clear?"

"Perfectly clear, Your Majesty."

Daniel turns and leaves the throne room, along with five knights.

"The Church will not accept this, Your Majesty."

"Then send my regards to the Pontifex. You already heard my orders; disobey them at your own risk."

I’m dumbfounded, looking at the king, I mean, grandpa, with my jaw on the floor. That’s my family, and I’m so proud of it right now.

He is visibly weakened, though. After the last sentence, he is only able to stand on his foot because grandma is supporting him.

The audience is eerily silent. Nobody tried to defend the Church, but nobody said anything in favor of the king as well.

They seem to be weighing their options before taking a side. Our arrival probably put any plots that were being woven by them in disarray.

The Duke went from most influential person after the king to wanted for treason in just one phrase, after all.

Thieda helps Halinard back to his throne. After some anguishing minutes, he speaks, still trying to catch his breath.

"Lillian, my daughter, your room is still the same, and it was waiting for you all these years. Aurea, as my granddaughter, you are welcome into this family as a princess. But I need to ask something from you, and for that I’m sorry."

"What is it, Your Majesty?"

"Gundmund, please step forward."

An old man with long grayish-white hair and a beard comes to the front of the throne. He doesn’t kneel; instead, he just leans on his staff to give a light bow.

With his age, asking him to kneel would be torture, probably. He looks like the stereotypical old mage, with pointed hat, robe, and all.

"Gundmund, please appraise her to see if she has the title."

Huh? Appraise me? The title?

Oh, does he mean the bloodline title that says that I’m a candidate for the throne? Is it good or bad if he sees it?

I look at my mother, half-panicked, but she gives me a reassuring smile.

"It’s okay, Aurea. Gundmund is the court wizard who’s been working with us for decades. He will look for the royal bloodline title. You don’t need to worry, as the title is a good thing."

Okay. She knows that I have the title and that I hid it so it doesn’t appear when people appraise me. For it to appear, I have to turn the ’hidden’ toggle off.

And for that, I need to open the system screen.

I pretend to be too afraid, hanging on to my mother, so he has to spend some time ’calming’ me.

I use that time to open the screen with a mind command and then use other mind commands to navigate the interface.

I normally use my hands to navigate, as if I were using a tablet. But I knew from Lovelace that using simple mental commands was possible.

And it works. As I toggle off the hidden option on the bloodline title, I see another one that will come in handy, so I also toggle its hidden option off. When I’m done, I let myself ’calm down.’

Gundmund reassures me one more time, then activates creature analysis.

Then pales completely.

I know, I’m amazing. But don’t look at Lovelace’s stats, otherwise you will faint.

"I see. Your majesty, she has the Wesgoth Royal Bloodline. She also has a ’Runaway Slave of Duke Addlington’ title. And also ’Arcane Genius.’ I’ve never seen that title before."

"You all heard the court magician speak. Aurea Annes is a valid candidate for the throne of Wesgoth and shall be treated as such."

Murmurs again pass through the crowd. It looks like there’s been one surprise after another for them.

On my side, I’m thankful he hasn’t revealed my level and other stats.

"And you, Lovelace, will be received as a guest by the royal family. After we learn more about the circumstances, you will be handsomely rewarded."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I don’t seek any rewards. I’ve been helping Aurea with her magic studies, and being able to continue with it would already be good enough."

"We will see about that. Now, I’m getting a bit tired, and I want to be able to enjoy the company of my daughter that I missed so much. So, all hearings will be postponed to the next days."

The audience starts walking away from the room, leaving only the three of us with the king, who doesn’t get up from his throne. ƒгeewebnovёl_com

After there are no more onlookers, a knight appears with a wheeled chair and helps the king to switch to it.

Halinard’s condition seems to be worse than I expected. I was too emotionally involved with the talk and wasn’t able to investigate the mana hypothesis.

I look to the side, and Lovelace seems to be very concentrated on something as she watches the king switch chairs.

Maybe she managed to catch up to something.

"Lily... I’m so glad to see you again. I always said that you were still alive."

My grandmother finally allows herself to cry and hug her daughter.

"I’m so happy to see you again, Mom. Sometimes I thought that I would never come back, and in the end here I am. All thanks to Aurea, Lovelace, and other friends."

"Let’s go to a more appropriate place, then we can hear them tell us all, dear Thieda."

"You’re right, darling. Let’s head to the tea table."

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