Chapter 335: Chapter 286: Brigadier General! Acting Governor!
Royal Capital of Kingston.
BANG!
With his hair grizzled, Warwick, dressed in a Naval Marshal’s uniform, returned to his residence from Parliament and casually tossed his sidearm sword onto his desk with a heavy THUD. The impact scattered the documents on the table all over the floor. It also made the servants, who were about to help him change his clothes, tremble with fear.
Even a fool could tell that their master, whose power rivaled the King’s and even slightly overshadowed him, was in a very foul mood.
"Get out."
Hearing their master’s rebuke, they collectively sighed in relief, fleeing the study as if granted amnesty.
This left Warwick alone on the sofa, pinching the bridge of his nose, yet unable to stop the vein throbbing insistently on his forehead.
His anger was entirely due to the Royalist Party’s sudden attack during today’s Parliament meeting, which had thoroughly incensed him.
The accusatory voices still echoed in his mind.
"The report from the Star Chamber Court has been submitted to the Privy Council."
"With conclusive evidence, what more does Warwick have to say?"
"Byron Tudor, the Sea Hunter, under the Governor’s orders, risked his life leading his team out of port."
"Upon receiving the distress signal, he unhesitatingly activated the trump card seized from the Barbary Pirates—the ’Barnacle Crab’—to return and assist."
"The fleet was prepared in a mere ten-odd minutes."
"During that brief time, it was your subordinates who conspired with the Lancaster Party to assassinate the Newman Family!"
"Still dare to argue? There wasn’t just one eyewitness; many spies loyal to you were caught red-handed!"
"Do you swear by the Magna Carta that these weren’t your men?"
"You sent so many people to Port Royal—for what purpose? Surely not out of concern for the Newman Family’s health?"
"In the Kingdom, besides His Majesty, only you have the ability to block the Law Network..."
"What a joke! If you didn’t kill them, could it have been your ’loyally devoted’ Sea Hunter?"
"I move to impeach the Earl for treason!"
"Seconded!"
"Seconded..."
This barrage of accusations from the Royalist Party, while not enough to cripple him, left him flustered and on the defensive.
Moreover, he did indeed have a contingency plan to make an example of someone.
Now, it’s like mud flung onto my crotch—even if it isn’t shit, it might as well be.
Beyond his anger, Warwick was also puzzled:
How on earth did the Lancaster Party achieve this? If I wasn’t so clear-headed and didn’t distinctly remember that I absolutely did not block the Law Network of the colonies, then facing that evidence and those consistent testimonies, I might have even believed I did it myself.
He couldn’t figure it out; he just couldn’t.
Having this ’weakness’ seized by the Royalist Party, he was relentlessly pursued and forced to initiate the appointment process in Parliament for a new Governor.
Even with relentless obstruction from the Earl’s Party, they could only delay, not deny it.
Furthermore, a series of catchy maxims and slogans, glimpsed in the Sea Hunter’s subconscious during the Star Chamber Court’s investigation:
"If loyalty isn’t absolute, then it’s absolutely not loyalty!"
"Through toil and hardship, nothing is insurmountable!"
"Loyal to His Majesty!"
...had become the watchwords of all Royalists, uniting them as never before.
They would often shout these maxims during parliamentary debates.
It was a resounding slap in the face to the Earl’s Party, who, despite also belonging to the York Party, clearly harbored dissent.
These grating maxims seemed tailor-made for them, leaving the latter speechless and unable to argue.
As everyone knew, the subconscious could not lie.
No party doubted that if Byron Tudor were ever elevated to the nobility, his family motto would be one of these.
Even Edward IV had publicly praised this "great loyalist"—a man of unwavering loyalty—on public occasions.
During this difficult time of disunity within the York Party, there was a strong push to portray him as a moral paragon.
Byron Tudor, the Sea Hunter—a man with no illustrious family background who had never appeared in the corridors of power—had clearly become a rising political star in Kingston!
The legendary status of his title was also increasing linearly.
Caught in the vortex of the struggle between the two factions, the Sea Hunter had become so well-known among the Kingdom’s upper echelons that there was hardly anyone who didn’t know of him.
It began to steadily advance towards the next critical threshold of 25 points.
Thinking of the dark horse who had unexpectedly burst onto the scene, Warwick closed his eyes, massaged the bridge of his nose forcefully, and grew more and more agitated.
Just then, he felt a pair of cool, soft small hands touch his forehead, gently kneading it.
Opening his eyes, he saw a pretty young girl with chestnut hair standing behind him.
Though not yet old, she already showed signs of a heart-stirring, exquisite beauty.
Upon seeing the girl, the gloom on Warwick’s face largely vanished, and a smile touched his lips.
"Isabel, you’re back. How was it, did you enjoy the spring outing today?"
The girl cocked her head and blinked her emerald-green eyes at her father.
"It was alright," she said, "but his brother George is a bit clumsy. He kept staring at me on the road, which was really annoying."
The "his brother George" the girl mentioned was none other than George, Duke of Clarence, the second of Edward IV’s three brothers (as mentioned in Chapter 95).
This middle brother among the three had no notable achievements to speak of and was often jokingly referred to as "his (Edward’s) brother George."
He often made surprising moves, and now, unexpectedly, he had grown quite close to his own brother’s political rival.
Upon hearing his daughter’s complaint, Warwick did not get angry but burst into laughter instead.
"Hahaha, my precious, that young man is simply fond of you. What do you think of him?"
His words made the girl blush profusely.
"Ah! Father, what are you talking about? I’m not talking to you anymore."
With a cry, she covered her face and ran out, leaving Warwick behind.
The Earl watched his daughter’s incredibly lovely retreating figure, one that could captivate any young man, his gaze gradually growing profound.
A momentary victory means nothing; only he who laughs last, laughs best. Edward, your wings have hardened, and you no longer listen to me. But I will show you, since I could make one king, I can make... a second!
His title alone indicated how dominant the Earl was.
Being a powerful minister who aided a king’s ascension was not his ultimate ambition.
Unfortunately, since the founding of the Kingdom by the ancestors of Lancaster and York, the bloodline had been passed down directly. Neither he nor any other powerful minister could gain recognition under the Royal Iron Law of succession.
It was also impossible for him to take the throne himself.
But with the almost dream-like ability of his "Kingmaker" title, he had the potential to become someone even more powerful than the King.
His gaze inadvertently fell upon a scattered document on the floor. Seeing a name there that was appearing before him for the first time, his expression darkened once more.
To be tricked once by those Lancastrians, who are surely hiding some secret, is one thing. But for a lowly flea of common birth to dare climb the ranks by stepping on the great Kingmaker? Didn’t you all say I was involved in assassinating the Governor? Didn’t you say I should take this fellow as an example and be a loyalist? Fine, this time I’ll really kill a Governor for all of you to see! Otherwise, people might think I, Warwick the Kingmaker, truly have no temper.
「To the south, thousands of kilometers away.」
In stark contrast to the gloomy moods of the Kingmaker and the Earl’s Party, Port Royal was festooned with lights and decorations. Countless residents flooded the streets, enjoying the fine wine and food freely supplied by the Pioneer Guiding Colonial Trading Company, all the while praising the greatness and generosity of the new Governor.
"To our distinguished Governor!"
"Byron Tudor!"
Just moments ago, a special envoy of the King from the Privy Council had descended upon Port Royal in the form of a Law Projection.
He publicly conferred honors upon Byron Tudor, the Sea Hunter.
An "Order of the King in Council," directly bypassing Parliament and recognized by the Magna Carta, enacted the administrative command.
"Appoint Byron Tudor as Commodore of the Royal Navy and Commander of the Seventh Fleet stationed in the colony."
Although the main warships of the colonial Seventh Fleet were, in fact, his own privateer fleet, with an official commission, he could now openly recruit soldiers in the Kingdom’s name and draw military funding from the national treasury.
"Furthermore, appoint Byron Tudor as Acting Governor of Port Royal, representing His Majesty the King, vested with all administrative powers, the authority to appoint and dismiss officials, and supreme military command."
The moment the appointments were decreed, Byron’s name appeared in the Kingdom’s Law Network.
His personal "Anchoring" simultaneously surged in strength, significantly weakening the pull from Greed Worm Mammon on the other side of the World Rift.
This world’s official appointments represented not just literal stability, but also true spiritual stability and the very foundation of one’s existence and position!
Clad in a general’s uniform, Byron donned the Governor’s Seal Ring, the symbol of supreme authority in the colony.
The vast Willing Power and Power of Law from the entire colony surged towards him, and the Storm Sigil Ring, symbolizing the royal authority of Lancaster, also lit up.
This signified that he had finally taken the first step in reclaiming the lost authority of the Lancaster Dynasty.
What falls into my hands is mine, and no one will ever take it from me. And everything Lancaster lost, I will reclaim, bit by bit. Acting or permanent, it makes no difference. If a tax inspection team can meet with an ’accident,’ who’s to say the next Governor, or even Edward IV himself, won’t also have an ’accident’? After all, a Sea Hunter is always loyal.
After he had received the officials for an audience, a messenger suddenly arrived with news.
"Your Excellency, the Governor, the first exploration ship to return from the Celestial Orbital Belt... the ’Raven’... has come back."