On Lind’s desk were two letters, one from the Royal Capital and the other sent by Doug.
In the letter, Doug began by expressing his condolences as an uncle, inquiring about Lind and Lena’s recent situation, and ultimately emphasizing that he did not send an assassin.
Rather than a letter, it was more like a declaration of war against Lind, which he probably hadn’t even received yet; by the second day, copies of Doug’s letter were spreading across his territory.
This letter seemed to have been ghostwritten, and it must be said that it was rather poorly written. It not only positioned itself as if Doug were the elder of Lind, but it also insinuated that Lind orchestrated the assassination to provoke war.
It’s only been a short time since Duke Lars’s death, and Doug had searched mountains and seas for his two nephews. Now he claims he didn’t attempt to assassinate his niece and nephew-in-law; the ones willing to believe that would likely just be the real culprit.
Doug still had to clarify things in public because Lind’s declaration of war was reasoned and pointedly accused Doug of being: disloyal, unfilial, immoral, unjust, rude, foolish, and untrustworthy, all while standing on the moral high ground of having been attacked.
Doug felt like a foreigner outside a wall for the first time, hearing how people inside cursed. Even while being cursed at, he had to compliment the eloquence of the insults.
This left Doug no choice but to counterattack, even though this counterattack seemed rather feeble.
The other letter, however, was much more interesting than Doug’s. When Lind received it, he was momentarily stunned, thinking he had crossed over again.
After all, the sender’s signature was Queen Lilith.
In this era, news was generally delayed. The information Lind got through Lucanus was only that Klan had also been assassinated.
To be honest, when Lind learned that Klan “also” had been assassinated, he could roughly guess who was behind these two assassinations.
Lind truly had not thought that Augustine and the others would actually push Lilith into power.
Looking back now, there were indeed hints; there were reports before the assassination that Klan was crazily expanding the queen’s power. Regardless, the queen was still just a queen, and allowing an outsider to become queen was too… too crazy.
The only explanation could be that the situation in the Royal Capital was indeed dire; reforms had entered choppy waters and had become a double-edged sword. Rational Augustine wished to avoid taking the blame, so they decided to push an outsider to take the fall.
If Lilith could successfully lead the reforms, then Augustine and the others could reap the rewards; if the reforms failed, they would sacrifice Lilith.
Just thinking about this made Lind feel despair. This reincarnated person was having a hard time; just married and already a widow, and she had to take over a bunch of mess left by her husband.
Lilith’s letter to Lind was very interesting. Firstly, it continued Klan’s policy, acknowledging Lind’s identity as the Northern Border Governor, and openly mentioned the other “Northern Border Governor,” Doug.
Moreover, it explicitly stated that the Royal Capital was providing support to both Northern Border Governors, in both overt and covert ways. For instance, on Lind’s side, there had been no economic blockade; merchants from Graythorn and the Royal Capital continued to operate freely. Doug also received substantial military and equipment support from the Royal Capital.
Everyone knew about this situation, but it was the first time it had been so openly stated; after all, people still had their pride.
Then the newly appointed queen began to make demands: she would acknowledge Lind’s position as governor, even recognize his claim to the Dukedom of Lars, and stop the support for Doug Lars, merely requiring Lind to publicly support her as the new queen.
On the surface, it seemed generous, but in reality, it was a pile of nonsense. Lind’s position did not require acknowledgment from the Royal Capital; he became the governor because of his current strength, not the other way around.
The status of the Dukedom of Lars was similar. Lind was already the head of Lars and did not need the Royal Capital’s acknowledgment. Moreover, this queen probably also wrote a letter to Doug Lars, with content similar to what Lind received.
As for the promise of halting support, there was not much aid from the Royal Capital to either side of the Northern Border. As long as they did not send troops, the Royal Capital could not genuinely change the situation.
The contraction strategy for the Northern Border had already started during Klan’s time. Given the Royal Capital’s current self-withdrawal situation, even if Lind rejected this proposal, the Royal Capital would gradually withdraw support and ease interference.
This promise cannot be said to be completely useless, but it does not hold much value.
In other words, this newly appointed queen wanted to solicit support from the two governors of the Northern Border.
After all, “you support me, I support you,” sounds reasonable, right?
Lind recalled the letter he had once impulsively written to this reincarnated person, and it seemed that the other party had grasped the essence and had become a competent politician.
After careful thought, Lind decided to offer this newly appointed queen a face-saving gesture.
After all, even though Doug had borne this blame solidly, it was likely that the same group was behind Klan’s assassination and his own. Lind wanted this group to pay a price—tenfold, a hundredfold price.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
As long as this reincarnated queen was willing to take action, Lind would not mind helping out with some powerful materials, yes, some very powerful materials.
After finishing the letter to the queen, Lind continued attending to other matters. The newly conquered territories needed new management systems, and the original systems had to be revised along with the victory. The more victories achieved, the lesser the nobles would resist reforms.
The new “Noble Reform Regulations” and “Land Distribution Act” must be quickly implemented during this period.
“Are you really not going?”
Lind took the documents submitted by Caroline, looking at this secretary, whose heavy makeup concealed her dark circles.
This former president of the Royal Capital Academy Student Council, rumored to be a distant relative of his, now appeared somewhat fatigued—a beautiful woman with long black hair.
“If you don’t leave now, it will be too late. You will be branded as a Graywhite. No matter what family you were born into, others will only see you as a Graywhite.”
“No, I can’t.”
Caroline submitted yesterday’s production status to Lind.
“And my family fully supports me in following you.”
This was what the nobles referred to as not putting all their eggs in one basket, but Lind had heard that Caroline was originally a prominent heir; he did not know what her family had heard that made them put their largest egg in his seemingly small basket.
“Better take a break; you’ve hardly rested since this winter started.”
An outstanding leader must learn to allow subordinates to have appropriate rest, just as Lind had always done.
Caroline was already part of the initial founding team; she was a high-ranking member in Graywhite, replacing most of Lila’s responsibilities.
However, high-ranking members in Graywhite rarely got a vacation, and Caroline was a workaholic. Even though professionals were physically stronger than ordinary people, Lind felt that working overtime constantly was not a good idea.
“I’ll give you two days off. As long as you ensure production can proceed normally, and the bills can be pushed through smoothly, there’s nothing really important to deal with.”
“No, Lord Governor. The war has just begun; this is the most critical time.”
“This is an order; go take two days off. During these two days, I’ll have someone else take over your job; you are not allowed to do any work.”
“But, Lord Governor, you haven’t rested for a long time either.”
Lind frowned; Caroline was not the first person to advise him to rest.
“The war has just begun; this is…”
Lind paused in mid-sentence.
“Fine, I’ll rest too. You do the same; you can leave now.”
It seemed he really did need some rest. Once Caroline left, Lind was also ready to take a break in his bedroom while arranging someone to take over Caroline’s responsibilities. Well, Lind was still on the job.
“How long has it been since you last came?”
Lena stood in the room, hands on her hips, angrily confronting Lind, who was still working.
“Wasn’t it just last night…”
Lind had finished dealing with the remaining matters and shrunk his neck.
“Come here!”
Lena sat on the bed and patted her thighs.
Seeing Lind hesitating, Lena asked, “Aren’t you usually the one who likes this? And you should rest.”
Although looking at the maids and sisters in the room who had lowered their heads, Lind wanted to shout that it wasn’t him, it was just an experience he wanted to try, but noticing the changes in titles, Lind obediently lay down.
“Brother, did I do something wrong? Why won’t you let me work? You didn’t even tell me when you declared war.”
Lena gently stroked Lind’s hair, her expression no longer angry but filled with worry and fear, perhaps fearing that she might be left behind.
It was then that Lind realized his previous reaction had been too dramatic; the impact of Lena’s falling down had been too great on him, but now it was time for Lena to get back to her normal life.
“I’m sorry… Let’s have roast duck together tonight.”
“Yeah, let’s go check the Magic Powered Train in the lab; I just thought of a great idea. Although we can’t optimize the train any further, we can optimize the iron tracks.”
Lena continued, “Brother, don’t worry; no matter what happens, I will stand by you.”
In a daze, Lind managed to have a rare good sleep since the war began—until he was awakened by Lena’s drool.
Alright, Lena was still the same Lena. It seemed he shouldn’t indulge in such things as knee pillows anymore, but at this moment, Lind felt incredibly relaxed.
