The roundtable meeting did not achieve any practical progress; everyone was just pretending to discuss how to combat the Anju Kingdom. Everyone knew that the key issue now was the Northern Border.
Only Judith took the matter seriously and suggested relocating the church’s forces to the southwest to support the war efforts there.
However, this proposal did not pass either. Although the church was currently weakened, it would not easily go to war with a nation. After all, while Anju primarily worshiped the War God, there were still many followers of various goddesses, and Alberto himself was very respectful of religion. The church truly had no reason to intervene.
At most, they would allow the monks to provide some assistance.
In the end, Lilith permitted the various nobles to gather intelligence about the Northern Border on their own, subtly indicating that how to approach the two forces in the Northern Border was their own affair, as long as it did not involve the royal capital and the royal family.
I won’t interfere; you all can do as you please.
This meeting concluded amidst praises for Lilith, and the nobles, each with their own thoughts, left the royal palace.
After leaving the palace, Claire, as usual, visited the various nobles and collected their opinions for Lilith, before pretentiously initiating contact with Monroe.
“Your Highness, don’t you get tired like this? Every time we talk, you have to first chat with the other nobles.”
The charcoal in the fireplace crackled as it burned. The charcoal seemed to have been treated with alchemy, producing no smoke at all; even the smell of burning was accompanied by a hint of fragrance.
Although it looked more economical than using a warming magic circle, the specialized charcoal burned even more expensively.
“There’s no choice. Only in this way can Your Majesty rest easy about entrusting certain matters to me.”
Lilith was more cautious than Claire thought, considering that Lilith was in a weak position with not many people available to her. Therefore, even if she had doubts in her heart, she could only trust herself for the time being.
Claire set down her teacup and idly remarked, “That governor of the Northern Border really is bold; it’s already this dire, and they still want to stir things up.”
When Claire learned that the forces in Graywhite Territory had suffered a defeat on the Golden Ear Plains, she was quite agitated. By the time she found out that Lind had personally gone to the frontline, Claire began to look forward to scenes of Lind’s defeat or demise.
Yet news from the Northern Border was long overdue, and the situation lacked the expected reports. While battle reports can be misleading, frontline conditions don’t lie. It seemed impossible to Claire that something had happened to that governor.
The main reason Claire sought Monroe was that she wanted to know how the situation on the Golden Ear Plains was unfolding, as she was beginning to suspect the Demon Clan’s capacity.
“Isn’t that right? It’s already a fire at the eyebrows, and they’re still thinking about making money.”
Monroe reclined on the sofa, his body lazily sprawled out, looking very relaxed.
“Oh? Is it really that urgent?”
Claire looked out the window, which was already fogged up. In recent days, there had been intermittent light snowfall; earlier, when the Demon Clan provided intelligence to Claire, they had been full of confidence, believing that Graywhite Territory would not last until winter and advising Claire to prepare in advance. They even suggested that Lilith alter her strategy.
However, after receiving Lind’s letter, Claire began to reassess the situation, especially as the intelligence about the Demon Clan became increasingly vague.
This inevitably made Claire worry: was the Demon Clan really a worthy investment?
“There’s no need to worry; it’s all just technical adjustments.”
Monroe straightened up to explain, “Your Highness, I believe you also heard about the terrifying monsters created by the Demon Clan from the intelligence.”
“And those monsters are stronger than we can imagine. I can say directly that no human can withstand the onslaught of those monsters, not even that small Anju Kingdom to the southwest.”
Claire was somewhat unconvinced and retorted, “But didn’t Graywhite Territory hold them off?”
“That was only temporary. After all, you know that Graywhite Territory’s firearms have always been ahead of us. According to the Demon Clan’s intelligence, Graywhite Territory still has stronger cannons, and even with such Graywhite Territory, they couldn’t defeat those terrifying monsters in their first encounter either.”
This was true. According to the latest information from the royal capital, from any perspective, Graywhite Territory had been defeated. It was just about how badly they had lost.
But Claire sensed something was off because Monroe’s gaze was too fervent. Monroe should be an ally of the Demon Clan; why was he now exhibiting such a zeal reminiscent of a devout follower?
“Do you know how those monsters came to be? If you knew, you would not doubt the Demon Clan’s victory.”
The grand Duke of the Eastern Border was remarkably speaking like a fanatical heretic, preaching to Claire. Yet, Claire maintained her elegant demeanor and asked, “Oh? How did they come to be?”
Monroe calmly countered, “Your Highness, do you remember when I told you that the Demon Clan unearthed their god in the Eternal Frozen Land?”
Claire nodded. “So what?”
In Claire’s view, even if the Demon Clan was being extravagant, they probably just excavated some kind of evil cult statue and it was nothing to worry about.
“Those monsters were created by their god! Their god shed its own flesh and blood, transforming the Demon Clan into these monsters!”
Upon hearing this, Claire immediately understood why Monroe’s attitude toward the Demon Clan had changed and had become so cautious.
The implications of this statement were massive. For one, the Demon Clan’s Demon God did not need divine revelations to instruct its followers; it could directly intervene in this world. Secondly, shedding its own flesh and blood indicated that this god had a physical form, rather than being an ethereal symbol.
Yet Claire quickly found a logical flaw: if the god could directly transform the Demon Clan into those kinds of monsters, why not personally step in and destroy Graywhite Territory?
It was clear that the information the Demon Clan provided to Monroe was still being concealed.
Claire immediately thought of Lantern Dream, suspecting that the Demon Clan was likely using methods similar to Lantern Dream to siphon the god’s power, and that the so-called flesh and blood was nothing more than a medium.
After a moment of careful thought, Claire licked her lips. Unlike Monroe, who, after learning the origin of the monsters, grew even more fearful of the Demon Clan or perhaps became fanatically devoted to them, Claire, at that moment, thought only of how to leverage and control that power.
Seeing Claire’s somewhat unusual expression, Monroe mistakenly thought she was merely frightened, so he continued, “So you understand now, Your Highness, how can humans compete against gods? Unless the Goddess manifests again, Graywhite Territory is destined to lose. We should make plans early.”
Claire nodded. It was indeed wise to prepare early. Having learned the source of the Demon Clan’s power, Claire conversely felt that the Demon Clan might not be able to defeat Graywhite Territory after all.
After all, even that so-called Lantern Dream had no way to deal with this governor of the Northern Border; they had even actively sought collaboration. There might be some special power behind that governor, which would also explain the ease with which the governor mentioned in the letter could handle matters.
The more Claire thought about it, the more reasonable it became, and she quickly devised a new plan.
Now Claire was even somewhat looking forward to seeing the Demon Clan lose, for only a weakened Demon Clan could be better controlled by her.
Finally, Claire carefully analyzed the current situation in her mind. Neither the Anju Kingdom nor the Demon Clan had a friendly attitude toward the royal capital. Even the supposedly allied Graywhite Territory mainly focused on self-interest, and as for any talk of brotherhood or sisterhood, only children would believe that if something happened to Her Majesty the Queen, Governor Lind would rush over without a care for anything.
Nobles only speak of benefits.
A new plan that could balance the interests of all parties gradually took shape in Claire’s mind.
“Your Highness, have you made up your mind?”
Monroe, thinking Claire was considering whether to fully switch allegiance to the Demon Clan, frowned slightly and urged her. In Monroe’s view, this was a matter that did not require hesitation at all.
“Sir Monroe, do you remember what I told you back then? Why can’t I, as the rightful heir, take that position?”
Claire narrowed her eyes, staring intently at Monroe. “You will support me, right?”
Monroe felt a chill run down his spine as if being watched by a venomous snake, but he still replied, “Of course, Your Highness, the Cape Kingdom always needs a new leader, and no one is more suitable than you.”
