Claire continued to reminisce with Lilith about the good old days, but ultimately got down to business.
“Your Majesty, you have been working tirelessly for the kingdom recently, but there are still some beasts within the Augustine family who are dissatisfied with you and want to pull you down.”
Claire slammed her hand on the table with righteous indignation, causing the tea and snacks on the table to shake. It was evident that Claire was genuinely furious, but it was hard to say what exactly she was upset about.
“They saw Your Majesty’s reforms starting and immediately wanted to take the throne themselves to enjoy the fruits of those reforms. They have no idea of the effort you’ve put into the reforms.”
Claire clenched her fists, nearly moved to tears, and Lilith instead began to comfort Claire.
“However, please rest assured, Your Majesty, I’ve already dealt with those guys in yesterday’s meeting. But Your Majesty, some of your recent actions have indeed made the Grand Elder and others in the family quite displeased.”
Hearing this, Lilith finally nodded. Claire’s earlier behavior was too exaggerated, but she believed this statement. Given Claire’s previous actions, the Grand Elders of Augustine must be infuriated by now.
“Although my brother and I have already defended you, it is still problematic that the soldiers from the Southwest Borders can enter the Inner City again while Your Majesty has gone into the church, allowing those soldiers to roam the streets and capture nobles at will. I know you want to quickly identify the assassin of my brother, but some ill-intentioned people have already started to attack Your Majesty over these matters.”
All of this had been orchestrated behind the scenes by Claire. After all, those brainless Augustines only shouted about the queen trampling on the honor of the nobles without realizing where Lilith’s greatest threat lay.
Furthermore, if the queen didn’t even reside in the royal palace and her attendants were all loyal to her, how could the Augustines control this queen who had come into their family?
That was what the Elders of Augustine feared the most, especially as Lilith constantly allied with other external forces.
Lilith, at a momentary loss for words, knew she couldn’t say that she fundamentally didn’t trust those people in the palace.
Claire seemed to sense Lilith’s predicament, and said, “I know this situation is not sustainable. Lilith, you are my friend and also my sister-in-law, so I consulted with others and came up with a plan for you.”
The change in address immediately brought them closer. Lilith nodded, realizing the main event was about to unfold.
“First of all, I have discussed with the Grand Elders. Lilith… Your Majesty, you cannot leave the palace on your own like this anymore. We must establish laws regarding the queen and the king. Any actions that involve leaving the palace must be explained in advance; otherwise, even you cannot leave at will.”
Claire instinctively twisted her fingers together, frowning, her eyes betraying a hint of concern as she continued, “Your Majesty, we are also worried about what might happen to you. Your current status is no longer the same as before, and every trip must be accompanied by sufficient guards. We need regulations for this, and I feel some rules are indeed necessary.”
Seeing that Claire genuinely seemed to be worried about her, Lilith nodded, but she still wasn’t very inclined to accept this idea, especially when it came to setting laws to restrict herself.
Leaving aside the system of constitutional monarchy itself, if such a situation truly made its way into a constitutional monarchy, then the reform proposals they had prepared would be immediately rendered worthless.
“Moreover, regarding the church, Your Majesty, I know you have recently become a Saintess, and the weekly prayers are a must. Although some people oppose it, I discussed it with the Grand Elders, and they expressed a hope that Your Majesty could fix a weekly prayer day for the prayers. This is also to better facilitate Your Majesty’s outings from the palace.”
Claire then revealed some of the legal contents drafted by the Grand Elders and other Augustines. The regulations were somewhat disorganized but mostly flexible.
Lilith could tell that the Augustines wanted to limit her but didn’t dare to cut off her hands and feet completely; they wanted to use her to push forward their reforms.
Most of the laws merely laid out a set of guidelines regarding Lilith’s daily behavior and imposed some standards on her, many of which were genuinely aimed at ensuring her safety.
This level didn’t even qualify as a constitutional monarchy; it was merely a looser restriction on Lilith.
This made Lilith temporarily relax; it seemed the Augustines had some reservations and didn’t dare to act too urgently.
But one point that Claire mentioned next made Lilith become alert.
A person from Augustine managing the city guards and the royal guards and being responsible for communication between Lilith and the Augustine family.
As for those soldiers from the Southwest, they would either be incorporated into the guards or sent to the border.
Even though Lilith’s situation seemed very favorable now, once those western border troops fully left the royal capital, how much authority would Lilith still have?
Just as Claire said, keeping the border troops permanently in the royal capital was absolutely impossible; if the church and Graywhite Territory’s support stirred the sensitive nerves of the Augustines, then the military in the royal capital was essentially dancing on those sensitive nerves.
While Lilith was hesitating, Claire proudly said, “Your Majesty, you don’t need to worry because I can also be the guardian for Your Majesty, facilitating communication.”
“Even though there are still people opposing it, as long as Your Majesty supports me, I’m confident I can convince others to let me take this position.”
Unconsciously, Claire tightened her grip on Lilith’s hand and said, “Please trust me, we have always been allies, haven’t we?”
“Sorry, I still need to think about it some more.”
“Hmm, Your Majesty can discuss it with someone you trust. What I said above reflects the royal family’s demands. If Your Majesty refuses, it might be quite difficult.”
Seeing the concern reflected in Claire’s eyes, Lilith nodded.
After Lilith left, Claire revealed a cold smile, believing that in weighing the options, Lilith would have no choice but to choose her among the Augustines.
After entering her study, Lilith immediately summoned Nora to discuss what Claire had just mentioned.
“Your Majesty, after our last discussion, I visited and gathered some information. If we cannot stabilize our relationship with the royal family, our reforms will indeed struggle to progress.”
Nora reported a not-so-good piece of news right away; it might not reflect the entire royal family’s wishes, but many among the royal family were indeed privately befriending some nobles to obstruct the reforms.
The Old Party and the royal family already had signs of collusion, and it was as if both sides had no intention of concealing this.
Lilith had no way to restrain these royals. She wanted to discuss matters in detail with the Augustines but had no suitable candidates to assist her. Right now, she needed a representative to help communicate with the royal family.
Ideally, someone who could keep the Augustines in check.
“So I think some of Claire’s suggestions are feasible, although in some areas we cannot completely compromise.”
Nora pondered and said, “At least the royal guards and the city guards cannot be completely managed by one person. The city guards are much easier to handle; I believe Your Majesty has quite a few people you can rely on there.”
“But what about the palace’s royal guards? Does Your Majesty have anyone you can trust, and who the royal family won’t resent? It would be best if they are also female.”
Lilith mentally filtered through everyone she knew. The most suitable candidate would undoubtedly be Duchess Judith from the Southern Border, but Judith would never agree to take on the position of head of the palace’s royal guards. Thinking further, it really did seem that Claire was the most appropriate choice.
“Claire cannot be wholly trusted either.”
Nora quickly added, “Sorry, Your Majesty, what I meant was that the palace’s royal guards cannot be solely controlled by one person. If we talk about who is most suitable to act as the intermediary between Your Majesty and the royal family, I also believe that Claire is the best fit.”
One has to say, while there might be some very abstract proposals from time to time, Nora was reliable most of the time. She quickly compiled a document for Lilith listing the points she needed to negotiate with the royal family.
However, the only certainty now was that Claire would replace the entire royal family in communicating with Lilith.
Upon learning this news, Claire revealed a twisted smile.
“Just as I expected.”
