Silent Crown

Chapter 249 I Have Something to Say

"Come closer," the child-like voice urged.

Ye Qingxuan stepped within and half-knelt in greeting. "Your Highness, crown prince."

"You, look up. Let me see," the child-like voice commanded.

Ye Qingxuan looked up and could not believe his eyes. In the seat before him was a little boy wrapped in white clothing. Was this the legendary retard crown prince? He must be twenty-four years old now. But why did he look like a seven or eight-year-old?

The boy sat on the chair with a youthful face and curious eyes. The quiet girl beside him saw that Ye Qingxuan dared to look up and furrowed her brows, her eyes growing upset.

"Come closer," the prince said.

Ye Qingxuan took another step forward. He felt the boy’s eyes on him, doubtful yet focused. Then the boy reached out and touched his face, finally carefully touching his eyes.

"So pretty, like Auntie. Too bad it’s white hair." He sounded disappointed. Suddenly, he asked, "People with white hair are always bad. Are you bad?"

Ye Qingxuan froze. He did not know what to say and could only chuckle wryly. "I was born with kindness in my heart."

The boy’s eyes grew more curious but the girl beside him wrinkled her brows and said quietly, "James."

The boy instantly became dejected and waved his hand. "I know, I…go away. I shouldn’t talk with people I don’t know."

Ye Qingxuan lowered his head, turned, and left. The boy watched his silhouette from behind the curtain.

"Mary, I like his eyes," James said quietly. "His eyes are like Auntie’s. When I saw him, I remembered that Auntie hugged me before."

Mary was silent for a moment. She petted his hair and said gently, "James, did you forget again? Auntie has already left Avalon."

"She…will never come back?" James looked hesitantly at the steel knight outside the curtain. "Christine, will Auntie never come back? Can you make her come back? They all say I’m going to be King. I can forgive whatever crime she committed."

"My apologies, Your Highness." The girl’s reply under Galahad’s armor was hesitant and troubled. "She—she went somewhere far, far away. We can’t catch up to her."

James looked at her blankly. "She’s Uncle Lancelot’s sister. Can Uncle Lancelot not catch up to her either?"

"Your Highness, even Fa—Lord Lancelot has things he cannot do," Christine replied quietly, lowering her head. "Your Highness, please do not be sad. If she knows that you still remember her, she must be happy."

James’s expression darkened and did not reply.

-

Ten minutes later, the final break was over. The appraisal council began once again.

The doors opened in the silence. The council members returned to their seats emotionlessly. The gavel pounded, lifting heavy echoes as if it had fallen onto each person’s heart. This was the final voting session, but no one wanted to be the first to speak. They stared at each other. Finally, they turned toward the royal seat as if waiting for something.

After a long while, a cold feminine voice sounded. "The verification of theories will be analyzed by scholars. The academic disputes will also be managed by the academic world. Here, the Anglo Royalty has no reign and does not wish to be involved in academia." Mary’s cold voice seemed to travel from a great distance. "The result of this appraisal should be decided by the grandmasters."

The royal reply was as many had expected—they would not express their opinion easily. The royalty had a detached status here and had not participated in the appraisal. They were only here as a witness and to ensure the effectiveness of the result.

Seeing that the royalty was set on not getting into this mess, the grandmasters instantly felt a slight headache. The hot potato was once again in their hands.

Who would catch it?

It did not feel right for anyone to speak first. This was not just a simple appraisal—it held the weight of the academic world and involved the lifelong reputation and career of two scholars. A careless mistake could drag them into this as well. Even the hot-tempered Sergey who hated hypocrisy had fallen silent.

In the silence, Ye Qingxuan could not help but feel annoyed. He glared at Lola who was pretending to contemplate. Where was the support that they had agreed on? What was she waiting for? Waiting for midnight snacks?

As if perceiving his annoyance, Lola subtly raised an eyebrow toward the youth. There seemed to be ineffable resentment as they exchanged gazes. Ye Qingxuan felt his blood chill. Her eyes clearly said that she had been starved for too many days and was about to feast soon!

Ye Qingxuan subconsciously touched the base of his neck, feeling a bit pained.

"Lola, you bad woman, I’ve finally managed to recover, but all that meat I ate will go to waste if you bite my neck!"

Clenching his teeth and stomping, he quietly made a hand gesture. "Fine! You can suck as much blood as you want!"

And so Lola smiled in satisfaction.

-

"Here, I’m the lowest in both age and experience. Why don’t I go first?"

No one had expected Lola to end the silent stalemate. The others nodded after hesitating. "There is no difference between low and high before the truth, but ladies should go first to show that scholars are also refined," one said.

"In my opinion, Mr. Abraham’s achievements in classicism and interpretation of music theory cannot be denied. The appearance of the translation method has created a new path in the academic world. In comparison, Mr. Ingmar’s interpretation results have many points of doubt. It’s difficult to be self-explained. Therefore," After a pause, she said quietly, "I agree that Mr. Ingmar’s results are plagiarized."

"I disagree," someone quickly expressed before the others could speak. The audience froze and looked to the center of the judges’ seats.

Heisenberg.

Amidst the crowd’s boos, Heisenberg stated coldly, "The validity of the translation method has been proved, but there is no direct evidence of Mr. Ingmar’s plagiarism. One cannot make arbitrary judgement. In comparison, Mr. Abraham’s evidence cannot persuade me. Testimonies that did not pass the Union’s audit cannot be counted as ‘evidence.’ Therefore, I disagree with the accusation."

The room instantly fell into controlled chaos as everyone discussed in low tones. Within the chaos, the haggard Ingmar could not help but feel a bit of joy. The parliament still had not abandoned him. His sacrifice was worth it.

"Silence! Silence!" The gavel pounded thrice, shattering the chaos, and reinstating silence.

Everyone looked toward Sergey, who had a dark expression. His own gaze shifted between Abraham and Ingmar. Finally, the angry eyes weakened. "At first, I thought that Abraham had plagiarized. Then I thought that Ingmar is terrifying. Perhaps he was framed, or perhaps Abraham is the correct one. I’m sorry, I cannot remain unbiased."

Sergey was known for his strict personality and ways. Everyone knew that he could not stand any injustice. The more he understood the weight of the consequences, the more cautious he became. In the end, he was no longer sure who the true plagiarizer was.

He sighed and uttered, "I abstain."

Seeing Sergey abstain from voting, Ingmar’s expression grew excited. He practically could not stop himself from dancing. Abraham and Ye Qingxuan had done everything they could, but so what? What could they do! They were still powerless against him.

Clenching his jaw, excitement burned in his eyes once again.

Barthélémy was next.

He remained silent though expressions battled. After a long while, his expression turned bitter and complicated as if he was mocking himself. Before stating his opinion, he had held hope he might not need to do so. Now, he finally realized that he could not escape from this.

Who was this appraisal really for? Ingmar and Abraham offstage; Lola, Heisenberg, and Sergey onstage; or himself?

He looked up at Heisenberg whose expression was cold as still water. Heisenberg had voted against the claim, following his heart. Once this appraisal ended and the details were spread, his lifelong reputation would most likely be doubted.

Barthélémy knew that Heisenberg had committed a sin but he did so without hesitation or regret. Now, Barthélémy finally realized how fake he himself was.

He bitterly murmured, "Anta, I’m sorry, I cannot continue doing wrong, but I have no courage to fight back and refuse the parliament’s funds. I’ve finally realized how laughable I am." He looked up and said loudly, "I abstain!"

The room fell silent.

Ingmar’s smile froze.

No one had thought that the voting would be so unexpected. First, Lola, who had always remained neutral, voted for Abraham. Heisenberg followed closely after and voted against. Then Sergey, who never gave in, and Barthélémy, who held the highest status in the academic world, both abstained from voting.

Of the five judges, one agreed, one disagreed, two abstained…And so everyone looked toward the last man.

The Eastern man who had just been watching the show froze. The show was interesting but once it involved himself, it was not fun anymore. He raised his hand and subconsciously scratched his face.

"So it’s up to me?"

Silence.

He sighed. "To be honest, I’m only learned in Eastern runes. I don’t know much about Western music theory and took this position with many fears."

Everyone’s expressions grew stunned. "Took this position with fears? Then why did you come?! Why don’t you abstain too!"

This appraisal had turned into a joke! But Mr. Hu did not disappoint everyone.

"Since neither side can compromise, the situation now is very messy and difficult to distinguish. I have a suggestion, if you all can hear me out." Mr. Hu’s words had caused everyone to hold their breath but this *sshole was going to keep them in suspense!