142: first court meeting

In the days following the banquet, Arthur was busy preparing for his enthronement.

On the third day after the banquet concluded, Arthur finally finished the grand enthronement ceremony, officially becoming the King of the Lionheart Kingdom.

At this time, the golden Lion-head Flag was flying not only in the Royal Capital but also in many major cities across the Lionheart Kingdom!

This was the national flag newly designed by Arthur, and it was now flying in many corners of the Lionheart Kingdom following his ascension!

On the fourth day after the banquet, Arthur began his first true Court Session!

There were very few people present at this Court Session, just over a hundred, even including several Dukes, more than ten Marquises, and dozens of Counts.

Since Arthur had just become King and needed to announce many policies, he had allowed those high-ranking nobles to stay so that the policies could be implemented more smoothly!

Normally, there would be even fewer people, with only a few dozen core officials.

In the court, Arthur sat on the Throne above, while below him were over a hundred nobles and officials.

Among Arthur's family, only his father was present below, due to his status as a Count.

"Greetings, King Arthur!"

First came the bowing salute from everyone present.

On the Continent of Gods, subjects generally do not need to kneel before the king unless a major event is occurring.

"Rise, everyone. Now that I have taken control of the Lionheart Kingdom, there are many things that need to be done, and I will need to trouble all of you!"

"We wouldn't dare. If King Arthur has instructions, we will certainly give it our all!"

David, being Arthur's staunch supporter, was the first to step forward and agree.

As for most of the others, they looked at Arthur curiously, wanting to see how this 'new official setting three fires' would operate!

What Arthur actually wanted most was to shrink the territories of all nobles, reducing them to one-third of their original size, allowing the King to gain more power.

But that would offend too many people, so Arthur wasn't rushing it. He decided to first gain complete control over the Kingdom.

Therefore, after glancing over the crowd, Arthur spoke:

"Since I have become King, my wives should naturally become Queens. Therefore, the first thing I announce today is that Karona and Olivia shall become the Queens of the Lionheart Kingdom!"

Olivia's status was acceptable, but Karona had previously been a maid, so her becoming Queen was somewhat questionable.

However, since Arthur had just ascended the throne, no one wanted to offend him, or they might be used as an example to warn others.

Furthermore, the conferral of Queens was considered Arthur's private matter, so after exchanging glances, no one stood up to object.

Seeing that no one spoke, Arthur continued:

"Second, my adopted sister, Doria, shall be conferred as a Princess of the Lionheart Kingdom!"

Doria didn't actually care about this, as she was already a Princess of the Mermaid Kingdom.

But Arthur still conferred a status upon her for the sake of Doria's future interactions with Karona and the others in the Royal Palace.

This matter was still considered Arthur's private affair, so again, no one objected.

Arthur then continued:

"Third, although I have separated from my father, now that I am King, it is inappropriate for him to remain a mere Count, so I have decided to elevate my father, Abergh, to the rank of Duke!

Furthermore, my eldest brother, Art, and my second sister, Ya Linna, shall both be elevated to the rank of Marquis"

Titles meant land, and there were very few titles like one Duke and two Marquises throughout the entire Kingdom.

As soon as Arthur said this, the people below immediately started discussing among themselves.

After a brief exchange, Chancellor Hulian immediately spoke up on behalf of everyone:

"Your Majesty, where will the fiefdoms of Duke Abergh, Marquis Art, and Marquis Ya Nina be located?"

This was the question everyone cared about most, as the fiefdoms of one Duke and two Marquises would not be small.

Arthur had already prepared for this. The former Royal Family directly controlled two provinces: Isaac Province, where the Royal Capital was located, and the adjacent Munsstan Province.

The nobles in these two provinces were originally members of the Royal Family. Now that the Royal Family had been executed, the two provinces were naturally vacant.

So, in response to Hulian's question, Arthur replied:

"Munsstan Province is now vacant, isn't it? Using it as the fiefdom for my father, elder brother, and second sister should be sufficient!"

Munsstan Province was originally territory directly controlled by the Royal Family, and Arthur was willing to divide this land.

The crowd had no grounds for complaint; as long as he wasn't seizing their own territory, it was fine. Thus, everyone fell silent again.

However, occasional envious glances directed toward Abergh indicated that their emotions were far from calm.

After all, that was the rank of Duke, a position held by only a handful of people in the Lionheart Kingdom, and Abergh had achieved it without doing anything.

How could people not feel envious, or even jealous!

Arthur had already informed Abergh of this matter beforehand, or else Abergh would certainly be overwhelmed with excitement right now.

Since Abergh had already gotten his excitement out of the way, he merely bowed calmly and offered his thanks:

"Thank you for the bestowal, Your Majesty!"

His calm demeanor caused many people to regard him with increased respect.

With his family matters settled, Arthur was now ready to proceed with official business.

He then said:

"The previous matters were all private affairs of mine. What follows are the concrete measures concerning the Kingdom!

The large number of deaths among the former Royal Family members has resulted in many vacant positions within the Kingdom. I will arrange for people to fill those positions within a week.

Among these, the Governors of the various provinces are especially important, and my arrangement for them is..."

The Governors of the Kingdom's provinces are equivalent to the provincial administrators appointed by the Royal Family, holding administrative and recruitment powers within their respective provinces.

They also serve as the Royal Family's eyes and ears, monitoring the nobles in the various provinces.

They are extremely important figures!

Therefore, who Arthur chose to appoint as Governor was highly important to all factions of the nobility.

Facing the expectant gazes of the crowd, Arthur immediately recited the names of six provincial Governors without hesitation.

"Wilson, Petro... and so on."

These six people were the other six Sky Knights, excluding Victor.

The nobles present clearly knew this point, and the expressions of many who wished to lord it over their territories immediately darkened.

Their fears had actually come true. Arthur had truly dispatched the Sky Knights, leaving only one for flexible deployment.

With these powerful individuals acting as overseers, how could anyone dare to act recklessly!

This was truly a grand move!

However, keeping only one Sky Knight for flexible deployment might not always be enough!

In truth, they didn't know that Arthur could acquire as many Sky Knights as he wanted, provided he had the money.

This was why he assigned the powerful Sky Knights to serve as stationed personnel rather than keeping them for flexible deployment and maximum utilization.

What Arthur did was faultless, but there were many people who did not want to live under the surveillance of a Sky Knight. Soon, a Count stepped forward: