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Chapter 163: Elizabeth I

Like Alex III, Rob also let go of everything and remained in the deep sea. However, Rob was different from Alex III.

He had a method of splitting his soul power and creating clones. His clones have been running the world for a million of years.

Through them, he knew all of the changes in the world, so naturally, he didn't need to come out and check things.

He just remained there and waited for his soul power to increase.

Now, with his soul power close to a million, he is completely matchless. He has a good chance of winning in a theoretical fight between him and Alex III.

Ghost turned out to be stronger than a vampire.

Although he is no match for Alex III when in a physical body, he can use soul power to achieve all kinds of unbelievable feats when in a ghost state.

The only shortcoming is that soul power is an exhaustible resource, so he must be careful when he uses it.

On the other hand, Alex III can move around for thousands of years with a drop of blood.

...

On the Blue Blood Kingdom's side, the nobles, frightened by all that happened, didn't dare to take risks and accepted Mark as their new king.

After a few years, things began to look normal again.

Laws regarding succession were unambiguous.

In general, any uncertainty regarding inheritors and the chain of command is extremely dangerous and can cause war or leadership disputes.

Any country that wants to be successful must take measures to clarify the chain of command.

The Blue Blood Kingdom, while not prosperous, survived for tens of thousands of years, which shows their system was solid.

Even though all the kingdom's nobles died at once by Alex III, the system managed to hold on.

The first male child would inherit the title; in the absence of the first male child, the second one would inherit.

One crucial detail is that even though nobles care a lot about blood purity when it comes to inheriting the title, the only thing that matters is the father's blood.

It means bastard children won't be excluded from the line of succession.

The main reason for this abnormality is John I, the founder of the blue blood kingdom, who was a bastard.

To legitimize himself, he ordered that bastard children be included in the line of succession.

That decree still stands today.

The recorder of the kingdom, the House of Blue Bloods's clerk, and another backup in the Royal Library all must register the birth date of every noble child.

They keep three copies to make sure no one can modify the records.

The date that counts is the one recorded by those directories. There are unambiguous rules about all kinds of situations, such as what if any of those directories have contradictory dates, what if the successor has a disease, such as being infertile, or what happens if the successor dies but is suspected of assassination.

These clear rules were widely recognized, and all abided by all without question.

For this reason, after only a few years, things returned to where they were, with one difference: the royal family.

The royal family, the Johnson family, was huge!

Nineteen dukes were all close relatives of the previous kings, and many mayors and governors of the 20% of the land controlled directly by the kings were all members of the Johnson family.

Would they all accept Mark I as the king?

The answer was complicated.

As many saw how terrifying the man in white clothes was and spread the deeds, the nobles, including the royals, didn't dare to disobey him.

At least not until they had a way to resist.

Therefore, they chose the next best choice. They married a girl from the Johnson family to Mark I and made her the queen.

Then, they accepted Mark I into the Johnson family. His name changed to Mark Johnson.

Mark, an ordinary young man, was no match for them. He fell in love at first sight with the young lady Lucy Johnson, who was indeed considered one of the most beautiful and talented girls in the whole world.

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After a year, Mark and Lucy had their first child, a boy!

It was decided to send him to the Johnson family's ancestral land for education and marry him to the Johnson family.

It was customary for noble families to marry their relatives.

Considering the Johnson family was a massive family with tens of thousands of members, even though their last names were the same, they were not genetically close, so it was okay even by modern standards.

Mark, a young man who was enjoying his life, having sex with new beautiful women, and drinking wine every day, didn't resist anything at all.

He had other children with other women, but the first child is all that matters. As long as the first child, the son of Lucy, Aaron, survives, he will become king, and the rule of the Johnson family will be restored.

The nobles and the previous royal family kept Mark busy with women and worldly enjoyment.

What happens if someone suddenly gets a vast fortune? It has already been observed many times that most would lose themselves.

If someone suddenly gets a massive sum of money in a lottery, the odds are that they would overspend so much that they would lose all their money and even go into debt within a year!

Mark won the lottery and became king.

However, he didn't think of doing great things, like improving people's lives. He did have the power; the nobles wouldn't have dared to disobey him.

But, he instead chose to spend his life in vain.

After 60 years, he died at the age of 93.

The method of extending life by precious drugs used during Alex kingdom had been lost, so now, even rich people could only live until around 100.

The next king, Aaron I, whom the Johnson family had propagandized for many years, became king at 59.

He had waited a long time for this.

Immediately, he started appointing members of the Johnson family to duke positions, and after a few decades, the rule of the Johnson family was completely restored.

Aaron I died at 81, and his son, Mark II, became king.

Mark II was what one would think of when they think of kings: a horny idiot who thinks with his lower body.

He left behind many children and died at 60 as a result of excessive alcohol consumption.

The next king, Mark III, however, was a scholar.

He was what Mark I should have been.

He pushed for a better life for ordinary people and got a few things done, like more food security for the poor.

Broader reforms such as allowing ordinary people to become nobles by studying, were blocked by the Council of Blue Bloods.

However, he managed to reduce baron families' term to two generations. Now, only after two generations the baron family loses its status.

This reform failed when it came to viscounts, counts, and marquises. Those were too powerful and resisted it.

Only barons were weak enough not to be able to resist the reform.

This has caused many more Barron vacancies to appear. Mark III used those vacancies to award noble status to competent people.

What worried Mark III was his successor.

Mark IV, his eldest son, was not worthy to be a king.

But even he, as king, couldn't change the rules unilaterally.

Well, he could, but the House of Blue Bloods will overrule him.

He could change the rules and immediately abdicate, letting Arron IV, his fourth son, become the king before the House of Blue Blood has the opportunity to overrule him.

But that may destabilize the whole world, so he decided against it; matters regarding succession are the core expertise of the Council of Blue Bloods, so not allowing them to express their opinions would lead to disasters.

It should be noted that the combined army of the Nobel faction is larger than that of the royal faction.

Worse, the royal faction would likely not support him in this matter.

But, if Mark IV became the king, he would not be able to withstand noble pressures. In that case, the king becomes a puppet again.

Mark III did all he could for his fourth son, Aaron II, to become king with the approval of the House of Blue Bloods, but he died before achieving any results.

Mark IV became king and, like his grandfather, indulged in worldly enjoyment.

Mark IV left behind a record number of 1,955 children from 1,855 women! It was the most in recorded history!

After his death, the most senior son, Mark V, became the king.

Mark V was also incompetent but at least sometimes paid attention to affairs. As a result, nobles weren't as free as in the times of Mark IV.

In his time, things mostly stayed the same.

Mark V died at the age of 99.

The next king was Mark VI.

He was a bastard, born from a prostitute.

Mark V had a liking for 'lowly' women, so in his youth, he went to the capital in casual clothes and impregnated a commoner prostitute.

It was a scandal at the time.

But, according to the laws, only the father's bloodline matters when it comes to successors.

As a result of Mark VI being the son of a prostitute, there have always been rumors about him not being the child of Mark V. But rumors are one thing, and laws are another.

In the records book, it has been written that Mark VI is the son of Mark V. So, he inherited the throne without opposition.

As a result of his suffering so much in his childhood, he was a much more mature person.

He married a commoner wife despite fierce resistance from the nobles. He pushed vigorously for more rights for commoners and managed to get many things done.

He also abolished the royal harem.

The previous kings had built a harem for their women. They collected beautiful women from all around the country for some reason.

In Mark IV's view, it was a waste of money and, all in all, one of the reasons so many of his predecessors, including Mark I, were distracted from the country's affairs.

With that many beautiful women trying day and night to get the king's bed, it's understandable that it was difficult to pay much attention to any other matter.

One thing Mark IV wanted but didn't even dare to mention was a desire for a woman to become the king.

In the Blue Blood Kingdom culture, women only accompany men.

It's a saying that women are men's clothes.

Mark IV wanted to make his daughter king, but he had a headache whenever he thought of the reaction of the nobles.

Still, he toughened up and wrote a royal order including women in the line of succession!

The reaction was the most fierce in the last 10,000 years.

It was even more compared to when Alex III killed thousands of nobles.

Every noble family protested, with many pledging not to support the royal family in any future war if the order was not withdrawn.

All of the dukes appointed by Mark VI himself also joined the protest. Even in the land directly controlled by the royal family, nearly all mayors and generals resigned.

The royal court, including the prime minister, resigned after a few days.

It was not the only result of this single order. Nobles and even the Johnson family were dissatisfied with Mark VI for a long time.

This latest royal order provided a good excuse for them to act.

Gender roles are as solid as stone in the Blue Blood Kingdom. Asking for women to become king is even unacceptable to other women, let alone men.

Many people, inflamed by nobles, protested, asking Mark VI to withdraw the order.

The situation became so bad that Mark decided to try the nuclear option.

The House of Blue Blood hasn't overruled his royal decree yet. That means that if he resigns, his most senior child, Elizabeth, would become the king!

Mark VI resigned, and with the operation of laws, Elizabeth I became the new king!