When Judith returned to the Royal Capital, the whole appearance of the Royal Capital had undergone a transformation. It wasn’t that the city’s landscape had suddenly improved much, but rather that the overall spirit of the citizens in the capital felt a bit different.
Especially in the Outer District, where the citizens had benefited from Lilith’s grace, they spontaneously began organizing celebrations after this victory.
In light of this victory, Judith actively requested to go to the Southern Border to maintain order. Under Augustus’s policy, a duke of a territory was not allowed to leave the Royal Capital at will, but it was not so absolute either. At least, this time, Lilith didn’t refuse Judith’s request.
There was no reason to refuse, and judging by her current performance, although Judith couldn’t be considered a partisan, she was undoubtedly a strong supporter of Lilith.
However, Judith’s return to the Southern Border was not just to maintain order; there was a more important mission.
That mission was to investigate the lineage of the old empire’s royal family.
Although rumors about the queen were rampant, and whether her Majesty was a descendant of the old empire became a hot topic, especially as it had recently resurfaced.
But rumors are, after all, just rumors; fundamentally, they cannot be verified. Even the most authoritative descendant of the old empire on the surface, the Duchess of the Southern Border, Judith, knows that the Weil family behind her doesn’t even bother to dispel these rumors, which shows that these rumors have no real influence; everyone just treats it as a topic for casual conversation.
It is said that the verification is impossible, but there are actually ways. Judith is actually just a branch of the Weil family, but later, due to her rise, she became the Duke of the Southern Border in the Cape Kingdom, thus becoming the main family in the eyes of outsiders.
In reality, the true main family of the Weil family is still quietly lying in the Southern Border.
Judith discovered that there indeed existed a branch that went to the Northern Border, but that’s all. However, the main family can trace the branch, as each branch is supposed to report to the Weil family.
It’s just that this rule has gradually been disregarded with the history of the old empire, and very few people still follow it. The identity of the descendant of the old empire has become a burden in many cases.
The repository of the Weil family’s main family, or rather the archives, can only be accessed by individuals of a certain status. Even Judith must apply to the elders in the family to gain access.
Among the sea of documents, it was difficult to find any clues Judith wanted, and it had been a long time since anyone managed it. After all, it was just a branch, and in today’s era, who would still care about whether or not you were a descendant of the old empire?
But to validate her suspicions, Judith still went to look for the documents.
Although Judith was searching with a clear objective and suspicions, making her very efficient, this place was different from ordinary locations; even Judith’s closest maid couldn’t accompany her inside, so she had to search alone the entire time.
And now, Judith had found what she was looking for.
“Congratulations, Lady Judith! After this battle, Anju should no longer dare to act recklessly.”
At the celebration banquet held in the Royal Palace, Judith was surrounded by many enthusiastic nobles, both partisans and old party members, all wanting to align themselves with Judith.
However, Judith seemed a bit distracted; the nobles did not think much of it, considering she was just tired from returning from battle, which was understandable. Even her old partner Scott advised her not to exhaust herself too much.
Looking at this Duke of the Western Border, Judith managed to force a faint smile. She realized she was indeed very tired, but it wasn’t just from going to maintain order.
It seemed she had discovered a shocking secret; Her Majesty the Queen’s Daolin family was a branch of Governor Lind’s Ror family. This meant that Governor Lind and Her Majesty truly had a blood relationship, even closer than Judith’s relationship with Governor Lind.
Not long after her discovery, it seemed that those so-called descendants of the old empire gradually stopped reporting to the Weil family, likely because their development was poor, and they could no longer afford the long journeys, or perhaps they felt this identity was no longer significant.
Although at that moment, Judith’s prior speculation turned out to be correct, as Governor Lind and Her Majesty looked very much alike, Judith did not expect them to truly have a blood relationship.
This sparked even more conjectures in Judith’s mind, but she dismissed them all because neither party seemed to be aware of this at all.
The idea of soothing the Northern Border in a sibling-like manner was also Chancellor Nora’s suggestion, which Judith was aware of. If it truly was Her Majesty’s intention, and if there were indeed some schemes behind it, the current collaboration between the Royal Capital and the Northern Border should not be limited to this level.
In fact, it could not even be considered cooperation, merely a loose alliance.
Judith felt that she was overthinking everything and continuously reassured herself that these were merely coincidences.
Especially during the latter half of the banquet when Lilith personally recognized Judith, she became even more certain that everything was just happenstance.
If there really were any plots in existence, for example, a restoration of the old empire that Judith had once pondered, then Lilith should have long been upfront with Judith and sought her help.
After all, Judith was the largest force of the old empire publicly.
And it wasn’t like now, where Judith merely leaned more toward the new party from her own standpoint, and the other side was satisfied with that.
Once Judith calmed her feelings, she prepared to find an opportune moment to discuss her discoveries with Her Majesty.
But before she could find a suitable time, on the fifth day’s round table meeting, Chancellor Nora announced a shocking piece of news that left Judith stunned.
This time, for the Graythorn Territory’s settlement, the Royal Capital would extensively use raw materials for settlement.
The reason was simple: raw material settlements come with discounts. The new party was quite pleased with this and expressed that they would actively cooperate, selling the raw materials they had under cheap prices to Lilith.
The old party, on the other hand, felt somewhat regretful, but they still acted cooperative on the surface, all stating that they would help Lilith shoulder part of the burden.
Some worthless raw materials were overwhelming.
If Graythorn Territory insisted on using monetary settlement, Lilith would likely suffer a significant loss this time, and may even have to sell off some recently acquired industries.
Some in the old party were already prepared to start operations, but unfortunately, what the old party expected did not happen.
If it had been the former Judith, her biggest feeling might have been that since raw materials could be exchanged for weapons, then the Southern Border should gather more of the materials required by the other side to equip more soldiers.
But now, Judith felt that the clues all aligned, and a complete conspiracy chain was slowly forming in her mind.
Her Majesty the Queen provided the Northern Border governor with materials; the Northern Border governor provided Lilith with weapons and prestige. Wasn’t that mutual support?
Even though both parties had previously operated normal trades with cash for goods, this time, it felt as if the materials from Her Majesty had been prepared long in advance; the governor of the Northern Border reached out, and Her Majesty immediately presented everything.
Judith, who was closer to the new party, knew that Lilith once specifically acquired some industries, and many of those industries were related to these materials.
How did Her Majesty foresee which materials the Northern Border needed?
Could it be that both sides not only knew each other’s identities beforehand but had already been cooperating? This was a plan to restore the old empire!
Moreover, they hadn’t excluded her from the plan; this was precisely passing the rationale of resisting the Anju Kingdom to deliver modern firearms into her hands. This was clearly a hint directed at her.
Judith looked up in shock at Lilith, who was bargaining with the nobles, not expecting Her Majesty to be so petite and adorable while possessing such deep cunning.
Noticing Judith’s gaze, Lilith looked over in confusion, and upon recognizing Judith, smiled and nodded, affirming Judith’s contribution this time.
But with conspiracy theories swirling in her mind, seeing Lilith’s nod and smile further solidified Judith’s suspicions. She immediately broke out in a cold sweat, yet felt somewhat excited, giving Lilith a look that said, “I completely understand.”
It seemed that Her Majesty and the Northern Border governor truly wanted to recreate the glory of the old empire. Judith was in the South, the Northern governor was in the North, and Her Majesty was stationed in the Royal Capital, all equipped with modern firearms.
A great enterprise was about to be realized!
Quickly, Judith suppressed her excitement; it was still necessary to be patient now, and not sabotage Her Majesty’s grand design.
