" First question - What is your name? " Max asked in a calm tone
The clone who had already practised all the answers with Max in private the previous night, confidently placed his hand on the truth orb as he said " The name given to me is Max Rajput, it is the name my parents gave me at birth and not the name that I chose for myself when I ascended to tier1 "
The truth orb glowed in a bright shade of green as it indicated that whatever the clone said was true.
The previous night, Max had experimented with the truth orb a lot and he realised that as long as you construct your sentences in a way that it is true, even if the interpreted meaning behind it is ambiguous it will be read as true.
With the clone saying that ' Max Rajput ' was the name given to him and not specifying that it was given to him by Ravan and not the real parents of Max Rajput, he let the crowd believe that it was the name assigned to him at birth.
" Have you left the walls of this palace within the last five days? " Max asked as the entire courtroom focused their attention on the truth orb under the clone's hand waiting for this reply.
If the clone had not left the palace within the last five days, then the matter of him assassinating the Aurelius official would be settled, however if he did leave the palace then the interrogation would need to be more thorough.
" No, I have not left the palace in the last five days " the clone said as the truth orb under his palm again glowed a bright shade of green much to the dismay of Regus Aurelius.
Max had brilliantly crafted his question, he and the clone did leave the palace in a way when they raided the mage tower in the ruins.
However, that event was exactly 5 days ago, and since then the clone was dead and had only been summoned the previous night.
In the timeframe of the previous night till the courtroom case he had not left the palace at all, so when the clone replied to Max's answer of whether or not he had left the palace in the last 5 days, he could say that he did not, but once again it would not be the full truth but rather a truth that everyone would misunderstand.
" Have you killed anyone in the last 5 days? " Max asked as he silently gazed towards Regus Aurelius
" I have not " The clone replied as the truth orb glowed bright green once again, causing the courtroom to break into hushed chatter.
" Have you killed any Aurelius clan member ever in your life? " Max asked with his eyebrows raised
" Never " the clone replied as the orb once again grew a shade of red.
" Good, now lie for me once deliberately. Did you answer any question I asked you here dishonesty? " Max asked
" Yes " the clone replied as the orb under him glowed red indicating that he was lying.
With this the trial proceeding came to a quick end as the clone removed his hand from over the orb and began rotating and holding his wrist as he glanced casually towards Regus Aurelius who was looking at him with hateful eyes.
" My lord, do you have any more questions for him? Or is this proof enough? " Max asked Regus in a humble tone, however, he was really just rubbing salt over Regus Aurelius's wounds.
" It's enough, the human is not the perpetrator of the event it seems. Exonerate him of all charges " Regus Aurelius said in a calm tone but the spite within his voice was hard to contain.
Not only did Max Rajput show disregard for him in this courtroom, by doing this trial over a truth orb, he made a clear mockery of the entire vampire community.
He came in charged as a murderer, provoked everyone and by the end was exonerated of all charges and was going to walk away scot free.
The countless days that Regus had spent planning this event out had been for naught, and not only could he not tighten his hold on Ravan, but he also found irrefutable evidence that the vampire with a mysterious background is definitely not the same individual as Max Rajput.
This made things difficult for Regus, as with Ravan becoming an official lord today, dealing with him in the future would be comparatively more difficult.
He could not openly issue assassination missions against Ravan, or insult him like a brat on social events.
The vampire society consisted of 36 lords and a King, and although the King was the strongest and most feared, he could not needlessly suppress a lord.
As if Vega was not enough of a headache for Regus, he would now also need to be on the lookout for Ravan Bloodfall.
" Prime minister…. Fire our intelligence bureau officers who were responsible for this horrid report gathering when we go back.
Because of their idiotic claims, we had to question honourable Lord Ravan and his human friend, a true travesty, they should pay the price for sending such bullshit reports and ruining a man's coronation ceremony " Lucius Aurelius said, breaking the awkward silence in the room as he tacitly gave his support to Ravan.
" Indeed Prince Lucius, over this matter we are the most ashamed " the prime minister who was quick witted also backtracked immediately as if they did not do so, after all the proof the Bloodfall clan had given, the Aurelius clan would appear to be bullies.
In the first place, it was not the Aurelius officials who were inept but rather it was a political play made by the monarch which was thwarted beautifully by Ravan.
The prime minister had to reassess his image of Ravan, as this military minded captain seemed to have much more political prowess than what his resume seemed to indicate.
" Enough chatter, let's move on with the coronation ceremony now that this has been settled " Regus said as he wanted to get the hell out of this courtroom at the first opportunity that presented itself.
Today, although nobody dared to directly find fault with Regus for rashly blaming an innocent individual, it was within everybody's hearts that the Aurelius clan might find blame with a clan for no apparent reason.
He had lost face because of this fiasco and with his mood reaching absolute rock bottom, he wished to be done with the coronation ceremony and get the hell out of this place.
The clone stood to a side, as he waited patiently to see the scene that was about to unfold.
Regus Aurelius personally took the crown in his hands, as he slowly walked towards Max who was seated on the throne upright with a wide smile plastered on his face.
Vega looked at the boy with a beaming smile as he wrapped a hand around Julian who was seated beside him, just to annoy him at this moment.
Stars were sparkling in the eyes of Anna, Asiva, Sebastian and Severus at this moment as Regus Aurelius climbed the stairs leading to the throne and stood beside Max with the crown in his hands.
" I Regus Aurelius, by the authority vested inside me as the KING of all vampires, declares Ravan Bloodfall, the first patriarch of the Bloodfall clan and a LORD of the vampire Monarchy.
From this day forward, upon my name, it is mandated that all vampires regardless of their rank, shall refer to him as ' Lord ' and all official records shall show the same.
I coronate him with the hopes that he would lead his people to prosperity and shall govern his territory with kindness and justice.
All hail, Ravan Bloodfall, The LORD of Dombivli "
" HAIL! "
Everyone in the hall collectively bowed from their hips once the crown was placed over Max's head as they began clapping softly for him being successfully coronated.
Regus Aurelius's hands were trembling with anger as he had placed the crown over Max's head, but there was nothing else that he could do about it.
He had lost today, and had to swallow the bitter pill as a result.
On the other hand, Max was on top of the world as he felt extremely comfortable with the crown being placed over his head.
He had worked hard for this, and today finally his moment had arrived.
He had became the founding patriarch of the Bloodfall clan and from today his occupation of the land had became official.
Now regardless of any internal revolts by the population, he could not be easily stripped of his title and his control over the territories had been legitimised.
Regus walked down the stairs after coronating Ravan, as he threw a menacing glare at the unassuming Vega who had no idea why he received the unprovoked scorn, before walking out of the small courtroom.
With Regus leaving, the suffocating pressure in the room was elevated, as the festive atmosphere returned.
The best wine in the entire universe was brought in by the waiters, and everyone was poured a glass of the exquisite drink that costed nearly 1 million gold coins a glass.
Max's friends were dancing in joy, especially Sebastian who refused to drink from a glass and directly began chugging down the whole bottle.
Even Lucius seemed to be very happy, alongside Vega and the other top lords as they seemed to be discussing how uncultured humans like Max Rajput were
However, amidst all this chaos and happiness, Max's eyes were only focused on one system notification which said
[ System notification - You have gained a new title ' Vampire Lord ' ]
He did it!
The weight of the crown over his head was proof that he did it!
He had taken the first big step towards becoming the King!