Dealing with Prince Edward, it's not a matter that can be handled through direct capture.

Even Her Majesty the Empress is very cautious about this matter, even convening a small secret meeting for it.

Besides Eldest Princess Annie, the Duke of Gloucester, military representatives, and the Speaker of the elected parliament, all powerful ministers of the Empire were summoned by the Empress to ask their opinions on the matter.

"Her Majesty the Empress, it would be best to end this matter here. The weight of His Highness Justinian is already heavy enough, and if we add Prince Edward to it, it will be extremely difficult to manage. It will cause serious turmoil for the Empire," said the Duke of Gloucester, speaking first. He had no intention of making excuses for Prince Edward but clearly expressed an attitude to maintain the stability of the Empire.

The reason for this is because, after several meetings with Perfikot, the Duke of Gloucester understood that only when the Empire's society was stable enough could they have enough leeway to deal with the end of the world.

Otherwise, if everyone focused on political struggle or on maintaining the law and order of the Empire's society, they wouldn't have the energy and time to deal with the matters of facing the end of the world.

With such an understanding and awareness, the Duke of Gloucester displaying such an attitude is unsurprising.

As for the military, aside from hoping to save some young officers who were not deeply involved and indeed had enough talent, they didn't express clear support for any person or any side's opinion or attitude in this matter.

This is understandable, after all, the military holds the power of violence, and once they are involved in political strife, who knows whether those holding the guns would eliminate their enemies physically in some emotionally charged circumstances.

As for who the military's enemy is, it's entirely up for interpretation.

Just like the proverb goes, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail you want to pound.

So, no one truly wishes to let the beast of military intervention in politics loose, thus everyone understood and felt relieved by the military's stance of not supporting anyone.

No one wants to be the next one thrown into prison.

However, while the military wishes to stay out of it, the Speaker of the elected parliament is eager to participate in this matter, actively suggesting to the Empress that a special court should be established, and then summoning Prince Edward for a private King's trial.

The term King's trial, as the name implies, is a trial process initiated by the King, who personally serves as the judge.

This system was born when the Empire was still a kingdom.

At that time, the Empire didn't have as many affairs to manage as it does now, and the King of the Kingdom, as the highest ruler, had the right and duty to adjudicate or judge everything that happened within the kingdom.

Thus, the King's trial emerged, with the King deciding whether someone was guilty.

However, for the Empire, although this system is indeed inscribed in legal statutes, the Empire hasn't conducted a King's trial in a long time.

Even Her Majesty the Empress has never done this; the last King's trial in the Empire was during the time when the current Empress's father was alive.

One can imagine how shocking this suggestion from the Speaker of the elected parliament is to other powerful ministers of the Empire.

"This cannot be done, especially not to conduct a King's trial on Prince Edward. Doing so brings no benefit to the Empire; Prince Edward's influence alone is enough to make the people question the fairness of the King's trial, and may even impact the legitimacy of Her Majesty the Empress herself. Who could take responsibility for such a significant matter?" The Duke of Gloucester again showed his position and attitude, insisting that social stability should be the top priority.

Her Majesty the Empress herself seemed to show little interest in the King's trial, yet she did not express her viewpoint.

She merely turned to Eldest Princess Annie and asked, "Annie, what is your opinion?"

Over time, as the Empress gradually inclined towards and cultivated Eldest Princess Annie, now anyone with discernment in the Empire knows Eldest Princess Annie is the true future successor of the Empire.

Coupled with her close relationship with Perfikot, Eldest Princess Annie's influence in the Empire is growing day by day.

No one can ignore her opinion because behind her is the most prominent Lord of the Northern Territory in the Empire today. If that Count also decides to join the political struggle, who can guarantee Perfikot won't physically eliminate his opponents?

So when the Empress asked the question, all eyes turned to Eldest Princess Annie.

However, the Eldest Princess merely stated to the Empress, "Mother, we should clear away all the destabilizing factors within the Empire, whether it is my brother or your brother that we have to face. No matter how important they are, they are insignificant compared to the future of the Empire."

After hearing Eldest Princess Annie's speech, the Empress fell into thought, but she soon looked back to the military representative and asked, "If the Empire indeed proceeds to capture Prince Edward, can the military ensure assistance to Annie in maintaining the current stability of the Empire?"

Undoubtedly, the view of Eldest Princess Annie already influenced the Empress, whose starting point is to legally handle the aftermath of suppressing this matter.

Regarding this question, the military representative merely stated reservedly, "Your will, Your Majesty the Empress, as soon as you give an order, the military has enough confidence to handle this matter for Eldest Princess Annie and you."

The attitude of the military is clear; they do not participate in any political struggle and only obey the one sitting on the throne.

"Then let's control Prince Edward first, no matter what, he must not run away before any capture or action," said Her Majesty the Empress about her current decision.

In previous capture operations, because there were just too many people to catch and many had already been caught, some people managed to escape the trial thanks to foresight.

Thus, Her Majesty the Empress does not want these things to happen to Prince Edward.

It's important to note that Prince Edward's identity and status are quite different from Justinian's, and coupled with his past influence, should he escape from the Empire, neighboring countries would never easily forgo such an opportunity to affect the Empire's political stability.

So the first priority is to control Prince Edward.

Understanding this point, the remaining matters are easier to discuss.

So, the subsequent discourse revolved around capturing Prince Edward and how to determine his culpability in this matter.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.