Koen Daolin hunched his back, bending over on the streets of the Inner City, as if afraid of being recognized.
All around him were the pained wails and cries of nobles, and there were no demons present, because those demons who had once flooded the Inner City during the disaster were now nowhere to be seen.
Lilith adopted the simplest and most direct method—physically eliminating the opposition, and the smell of blood even wafted through the air.
This method only addressed the symptoms and not the root cause, as most of the nobles directly ousted on the Night of Cleansing were those promoted by Caudic, who only shouted for freedom, as well as active demons in the Royal Capital.
Nobles truly entrenched in deep waters would not easily show their heads.
Koen wrapped his coat tighter around himself, unable to believe that after ascending to the throne, his once obedient little daughter could become so brutal, after all, she was still his daughter.
Before he had even entered the palace, the etiquette officer had already sought out Koen and personally instructed him on the etiquette required for an audience with the king.
Certainly, ordinary nobles from the Royal Capital did not require such troublesome details to enter the palace, this was merely to give Koen a show of authority, as his current status was very sensitive—he was an outsider.
No one understood outsiders better than the Augustines, even if the Daolin Family had no power, Koen still received the most rigorous education.
In fact, it was precisely because the Daolin Family had little power that Koen faced heavy restrictions.
After completing a series of baffling rituals, Koen finally met with his daughter.
“Your Majesty.”
Koen knelt in greeting.
Lilith immediately stepped forward to help her adoptive father up.
“Father, this is the study, there’s no need for formalities.”
Seeing his daughter’s nod, Koen finally stood up with assurance.
“Father, why are you here? The Royal Capital is truly too dangerous.”
“Little Lilith, I don’t know what you plan to do, but I know you are in more danger now.”
After speaking, Koen cautiously looked around.
Surrounding them were Lilith’s close maids from when she was still a saintess.
“Father, don’t worry, everyone here is one of us.”
At this point, Koen completely relaxed.
“Little Lilith, what I’m about to say is very important.”
Koen pulled a thread from his clothing, revealing a hidden pocket in his coat, from which he took out a not-thin family tree.
“This is the real family tree. It’s no longer safe to keep it there. Little Lilith, you must keep it in a secure place, or give it to someone you can completely trust.”
Koen hesitated before saying, “If there’s truly no one you can trust, you might try contacting Judith, the Lady Marquis, or that Governor Lind from the Northern Border.”
Lilith was full of questions about her adoptive father’s actions until she flipped through this so-called real family tree.
“Our family is descended from the Old Empire?”
In an instant, Lilith even felt the impulse to burn this family tree.
If the Augustines found out that Lilith was a descendant of the Old Empire, they would probably drag her off the throne on the spot.
“I don’t know.”
Koen shook his head.
“At least that’s what the family tree says. However, there are many people on the streets claiming to be descendants of the Old Empire; most of the time, no one really pays attention.”
Indeed, small nobles in the region loved to find an illustrious ancestry for their family, and such blatantly false claims were beneath the Augustines’ concern.
At worst, some people who actually had black hair and black eyes had a slightly higher credibility.
But now, things were different; the Duchess of the Southern Border was an obvious descendant of the Old Empire, and it seemed there was also a potential descendant of the Old Empire in the Northern Border who had inherited the Lars Family, and now suddenly a queen taking the kingdom was also a descendant of the Old Empire.
The Old Empire was about to make a resurgence, and whether Lilith could still sleep after this, the Augustines likely wouldn’t be able to.
The Augustines: “Recently, there have been more and more people claiming to be loyal subjects of the Old Empire, Your Majesty, do you have any insights?”
Seeing her daughter’s bewildered expression, Koen felt a pang of pain and held Lilith’s hand, saying, “Little Lilith, maybe you should just burn it. Your life is more important than anything. We shouldn’t pursue being a queen; let’s find a chance to escape.”
“Father, there’s no turning back now.”
Lilith still accepted the family tree; some contents could be corroborated with Duchess Judith of the Southern Border. Of course, this could not serve as a reliable standard for verifying the authenticity of the family tree, after all, Judith’s story was already widely known.
The most crucial point was that because the Eastern and Northern Borders were relatively close, it was clearly recorded that the Daolin Family had come from the Ror Family in the Northern Border, and that Governor Lind in the Northern Border was not only a real descendant of the Old Empire but also Lilith’s distant cousin according to their lineage.
This family tree was compiled long before Lind Ror’s rise.
And whether it was true or false, Lilith could confirm with Judith’s brother, just by taking a look at the Southern Border Duchess’s real family tree.
Lilith believed that this adoptive father would not lie to her, especially since he even advised her to burn the family tree.
It could basically be determined as genuine.
Once this information got out, it could even explain why Graythorn Territory supported her so firmly, after all, both sides originally belonged to the same family.
Is this fate’s cruel joke? Who would have thought that Lind Ror was truly her “brother”.
In an instant, Lilith even had an absurd thought, that if only her big brother had traveled into Lind Ror’s body, everything would have been better.
But soon, Lilith woke up from this fantasy. Having dreams was a good thing, but he was still thinking of “subduing heaven and quelling the disturbances” against her.
Moreover, it was really counterintuitive for someone to die first and then travel, so Lilith merely regarded this notion as her personal whimsy.
In the end, Lilith accepted the family tree, reassured her adoptive father, and learned about the recent situation in the Eastern Border.
Once the meeting concluded, Lilith exhaustedly slumped onto the desk.
The family tree wasn’t completely useless; at least it could strengthen her ties with the Southern Border, but until the critical moment, Lilith could not reveal this trump card.
The situation was still dire, with protests pouring into the palace like snowflakes.
After the Night of Cleansing yesterday, countless nobles began to protest, citing excessive law enforcement, various wrongful accusations, and numerous attacks and conflicts with soldiers piling up on Lilith’s desk.
These nobles were very astute; they did not directly attack Lilith, even praising her to the fullest, but redirected their accusations at the new Chancellor, Nora Les.
Lilith chose to turn a blind eye to it all, even though she knew some things had indeed gone wrong; she had to persist.
The policies moving forward would be the same; even if some policies truly became flawed in execution, Lilith had to continue pushing them forward under pressure, at most making minor improvements but absolutely not nullifying them.
There were no signs of factional strife yet, but once Lilith opened a crack and relaxed her support for Nora Les, new parties would immediately stir up conflict with the old ones in the Royal Capital.
At that point, any policies or reforms would matter little; every issue would become a matter of affixing blame.
Reaffirming her resolve, Lilith picked up her pen to write a response to Governor Lind of Graythorn Territory.
The other party likely already knew she was a traveler, after all, toppling a female protagonist was too obvious, but superficially Lilith still needed to keep it under wraps to avoid anyone truly discovering her connection to the Graythorn Territory’s governor.
In the letter, Lilith directly asked Graythorn for technical support; after all, she had sensed that they must have cultivated something in their agriculture, especially with the news that the Northern Border had already begun using firearms in their military engagements.
Although reports said it might be some new magical artifacts, the moment Lilith heard it, she knew it was firearms.
The pressure on the Southwest Borders was immense, especially after Lilith had mobilized some soldiers and people to the Royal Capital, urgently needing to replenish her fighting strength.
If the Southwest Borders and the Kingdom were to collapse directly now, it would certainly not be a good thing for this traveler. So Lilith had to demand the technology boldly, as if she were asking her elder brother for living expenses in her previous life.
Overall, Lilith remained quite pessimistic; regardless of whether the other party complied, if they actually provided gunpowder technology, she would worry even more, as that would imply that their military technology had already surpassed these firearms.
