NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 435
Cornell's old duke was determined not to yield even if it meant death. His blood splattered on the scene and his heroic deed shocked everyone. There was an eerie silence in the great hall for a moment.
The old duke's family members cried out and went to the old duke's side.
At this moment, even those royal family members who were in collusion with the Howard clan were moved.
Several of the elders silently mourned.
Lai En's face tightened slightly, and he couldn't help feeling a little admiration, but that was all.
He looked at his father involuntarily, but saw his father remain indifferent to this without any reaction at all, which was really cold, completely different from usual, so cold that Lai En found it strange.
"Duke Cornell ..." The pro-king members of the royal family looked at the dead old duke, feeling sad and angry.
But under the current circumstances, they were like fish on the chopping block without any power to resist. So they were also ashamed of their own cowardice and sighed at their own powerlessness.
Kala covered her mouth with tears swirling in her eyes, "Uncle Cornell..."
Karina just watched, her anger exceeded her grief.
Lafeier announced in a loud voice, his voice resounding through the hall:
“Duke Cornell passed away unfortunately due to the extreme grief over Crown Prince Chadan's regicide. Although inappropriate, for the sake of the overall situation, after Lai En Howard’s ascension ceremony is completed, he will be buried with high honors."
Numerous angry, hateful, complicated, pensive, and delighted eyes looked at the father and son.
Facing everyone's eyes, Lai En realized that they had probably already lost the hearts of the vast majority of people.
The old duke's suicide had brought them considerable negative impact. From now on, they and these people would only restrain each other out of conflicting interests. There would be few who could truly cooperate with them wholeheartedly.
So once he took the throne but failed to stabilize his position, this "tyrant" would then be ruthlessly pulled down from his horse by these people working together.
Lafeier then turned his target to Karina: “Duke Lin has just passed away. Although inappropriate, for the sake of the overall situation, Princess Karina, if you don't mind, you can become engaged to Lai En after recovering from your injury. I believe a marriage alliance between our two clans is also what many people would like to see."
Karina sneered, “A marriage alliance? Isn't it just to cover up the fact that you rebelled and conspired to usurp the throne by blocking Yuanyang’s mouth?”
Karina, whose leg wound had not healed, struggled to stand up from the wheelchair. She tried her best to straighten her back and slightly raised her head. The aura of a royal princess was revealed at this moment.
She spoke loudly and clearly:
“Let me tell you, if you think I will marry into your Howard family to whitewash you, keep dreaming!”
“You conspired to kill my fiancé, calculated against my brother to force my uncle to death, causing my father to have a stroke. Even if I, Karina Karolin, was reduced to freezing bones on the street, I would not do as you wish. Remember what my uncle said, the humiliation today, the Karolin clan will never forget for eternity. As long as there is one person from the Karolin clan alive, we will fight against your Howard clan to the death!"
Lafeier dismissively said, "Princess Karina can consider it slowly, there is no hurry. We have plenty of time for you.”
He then said, "But the new king is urgent. Lai En Howard’s ascension ceremony is tomorrow. If there is no objection, you can now go back with your families to rest, and then return home after the ceremony is completed tomorrow."
There was dead silence. No one dared to stand up in opposition.
Lafeier was very satisfied with this result.
Just as he was about to say something more, an electronic flash suddenly flashed in his eyes. Lafeier then squinted.
He heard Crown Prince Chadan's voice echoing in the hall.
And the words spoken by the Crown Prince made Lafeier feel familiar.
“Does Duke Lafeier mean to jest or has he found the wrong person when talking about helping me to the throne? Shouldn't it be you who wants that position the most?"
Lafeier instantly remembered where he had heard the crown prince’s familiar words. He slowly opened his eyes, and his eyes had already changed.
The voice continued behind him.
And this time it was himself speaking, no, it should be said that it was Lafeier: “Of course we want it. Crown Prince, if you are willing to lend us a hand, we would be endlessly grateful. But some things are not ours just because we want to compete for them.”
The members of the royal family in front of him looked behind him. Their faces had already changed. His son Lai En beside him called out, "Father..."
Lafeier's eyes were gloomy as he slowly turned around and saw a large projection being projected onto the wall behind him.
There were three people on the projected screen - Crown Prince Chadan, Lafeier, and Lai En.
This was the scene of Lafeier and his son Lai En going to meet Crown Prince Chadan to cooperate, as well as the backup that the Crown Prince had secretly recorded of Lafeier and his son.
However, after this backup drive had gone through Lai En's hands, the things in it had long ceased to exist, causing Chadan to despair.
But at this moment, this destroyed evidence appeared here, deliberately projected in the Palace Hall in front of everyone.
In the projected video, Chadan continued, “Give me a reason why I should believe you will help me to the throne?"
Lafeier: “It’s simple. First, I don't want to see C Country fall into the hands of a Hua country person, even if Lin Cheng has C Country’s nationality and signed the agreement to marry into your Karolin family. "
"Second, we have witnessed Lin Cheng’s ability. Once he inherits the throne, my Howard clan will surely suffer even more brutal crackdown. These two reasons are enough for me to stop at nothing to prevent it.”
Chadan chuckled, “Lin Cheng works for my Karolin clan. With him, your Howard clan can only be afraid of us. Duke Lafeier, why do you think I would ruin my clan’s future? I think I should go out now to expose your malicious intentions and bring your Howard clan to eternal damnation."
Lafeier: "Of course you can do that, but I wonder if you are really willing? You are the Crown Prince, the first in line to inherit the throne, yet he Lin Cheng is just an outsider. Even though he married into your Karolin clan and the royal family is still named Karolin, but the new King Lin Cheng will have an Asian face. Doesn't it annoy you to see that?"
Lafeier: “What’s more, Lin Cheng didn’t voluntarily agree to marry Princess Karina and voluntarily become king. He was even forced by you to separate from his Chinese fiancée. Crown Prince, do you really think he can govern C Country properly? Even the most loyal pet, when driven desperate, will bite its owner. Can you really rest assured?"
Chadan fell silent.
After a while, Chadan asked, "What reason do I have to believe you? You already have the ability to pull Lin Cheng down. It shouldn't be difficult for you to make whoever you want to become king, right?" He glanced at Lai En.
Lai En: “Easier said than done. If something unexpected happens to Duke Lin at such a critical juncture, the first to be suspected would be us.”
Chadan: “What are your terms?”
Lai En: “Very simple. We’ll remove the obstacles for you and help you regain what should have belonged to you. And you just need to protect our Howard clan."
Chadan murmured, “Regain what belongs to me..."
He collected his thoughts and immediately asked, "Just like that?"
Lai En: “I think this is a very good deal.”
Chadan: “Go on, what do you plan to do?”
Lai En: “Naturally, we’ll make sure the marriage doesn’t happen. Lin Cheng has already been fatally poisoned and is nearing death. Then you just need to...”
The vicious deeds of the three were made public. The pro-king party members who had previously lost hope ushered in hope again at this moment.
Who was it, who was hiding in the dark doing all this?
Everyone looked up to the second floor along the direction of the projection.