“How outrageous! This is too much!”
The roundtable meeting was in chaos, with both the new party and the old party, as well as the Augustines, expressing their anger.
After all, even though the internal strife was still intense, everyone acknowledged Queen Lilith’s status. Lilith’s prestige remained unparalleled.
For the Augustines, Lilith was Klan’s daughter-in-law, and their daughter-in-law was being teased by the king of a neighboring country. Even if it was just on the surface, they had to show their anger.
Judith and Scott stood up simultaneously and shouted, “Your Majesty, we will fight to the death!”
Lilith shook her head and said, “This matter requires careful deliberation. In the face of such obvious provocation, we must remain rational.”
Only Lilith, as the monarch, could say such a thing.
Judith and Scott exchanged glances and reluctantly sat down; many people in the royal capital had already heard about this incident.
The nobles, who had just calmed down, began to curse the incompetence of the nobles in the Southwest Borders, but neither could counter because they indeed could not win.
Nora said, “But we can’t just sit idly by. Even if it’s just in words, we must respond.”
Claire nodded and continued, “Your Majesty, if an offensive is to be launched, the royal family will fully support you.”
However, Claire’s heart was a bit hopeful; if war really broke out, the kingdom would plunge into chaos again.
The queen’s power was not as stable as imagined. A single defeat could expose all of Lilith’s weaknesses.
Thinking of this, Claire secretly glanced at Duke Monroe of the Eastern Border; if this incident didn’t involve Her Majesty the Queen, Monroe would likely have jumped out to mock the dukes of the Southwest Borders again.
The relationship between the Eastern Border and Lilith had always been delicate. Logically, Monroe should be the duke who supported the queen the most, given that Her Majesty came from the Eastern Border.
But Monroe had always resisted the queen’s new policies. The Southwest Borders had already begun piloting reforms, yet the Eastern Border repeatedly found excuses to delay implementation.
Even knowing that Lilith disliked the Demon Clan, he had privately contacted them.
If the Southwest Borders were merely seeking stability for the royal capital and the new policies as a half-new party, then the Eastern Border was firmly a hardcore old party, with Monroe refusing any changes without any external pressure, and his relationship with the two dukes of the Southwest Borders was not good at all.
Even so, Lilith had silently permitted Monroe to take action against the Northern Border in the civil war.
Yet even though Doug was being beaten back in the Northern Border civil war, he still managed to suppress Monroe in the East with firearms, to the point where, with the royal capital turning a blind eye, Monroe couldn’t even seize a small piece of land from the Northern Border.
Monroe continuously explained that it was because Doug had concentrated the elite of the Northern Border to deal with him, and for some reason, those elites were particularly spirited when confronting the Eastern Border, but the Eastern Border remained the topic of nobles’ gossip in the royal capital.
Nevertheless, the Eastern Border was the most intact of the four territories in the kingdom; it wasn’t engaged in a civil war like its neighbors nor facing the enormous pressure from the Anju Kingdom like the Southwest Borders.
It seemed that Monroe noticed Claire’s gaze and glanced back at her.
Both sides nodded tacitly, confirming that they were on the same side.
Although Monroe’s battle results were poor, the situation in the Northern Border was complicated. Doug managed to get hold of Graywhite Territory’s firearms through back channels, but he was ahead in research concerning firearms, so it was hard to say whether it was Monroe who was too weak or Doug who truly had some capabilities, although Graywhite’s strength was just too overwhelming.
However, regardless of how weak Monroe was, he was still the duke of the Eastern Border, not to mention the support from the Demon Clan behind him, which was undeniably a powerful backing.
After pondering internally, Claire continued to listen to Lilith’s speech.
“The Southwest should remain still; do not let this matter disturb our ranks.”
After Lilith said this, she fell silent for a long time before continuing, “I will write to discuss this matter further. Let’s discuss the next issue.”
Concerning such provocation, the more one cares, the more the other party enjoys it. Moreover, Capes’ national strength was even weaker now. Although the Southwest had artillery, they still couldn’t take action; a weak nation has no external support, and even the queen could only endure the insult.
Nora, having composed herself again, continued to hold the meeting: “On the Northern Border, White Frost Fortress has already been breached due to the Laurent Family’s surrender, and many nobles in the Northern Border seem to have changed their positions.”
This change did not mean that those Northern Border nobles genuinely supported Lind but rather that they did not want to back Doug, nor did they want to accept Lind’s new policies; they wanted Lind to act like Duke Lars once did in the Northern Border.
“Although your brother-in-law’s campaign has been very smooth, Doug had previously amassed most of the Northern Border’s population. If a decisive battle begins, the result is still uncertain.”
“We should prepare for both scenarios. If the situation tilts towards Doug, we should help Graywhite Territory stabilize the territory it has already taken. If the situation leans toward Governor Lind, we should arrange for Her Majesty the Queen to meet with Governor Lind to further strengthen the relationship with the Northern Border.”
The last scenario that Nora didn’t mention was something everyone present understood; if both sides were to suffer heavy losses, the royal capital would have to intervene personally.
At this time, Claire suddenly spoke up, “Can we contact Graywhite Territory, to report this matter concerning the King of Anju to Governor Lind, seeking more support?”
Family scandals shouldn’t be aired publicly, but Claire’s request was essentially bringing this matter to the attention of the Northern Border, and this process could easily make it widely known among them.
Although the Northern Border’s intelligence network likely already knew about this matter, saying it and requesting intelligence from the other party were fundamentally different.
Lilith hesitated for a moment and said, “Okay, let Chancellor Nora handle this matter.”
Nora nodded. Although everyone present doubted whether the governor of Graywhite Territory would take action, after all, Her Majesty was not really his sister. Would that governor, who was currently at war, really fight to the death for the royal capital over the distant Anju Kingdom in the Southwest Borders?
“Next topic.”
Lilith felt that her emotions were being stripped away, becoming a cold political machine. If it were in her previous life, she would have shaken her brother and his friends to give those yellow-term miscreants a lesson, but now she could only endure it, at most cursing them lightly in a letter.
Once the meeting was over, Judith returned to her residence, and after removing the heavy and fancy cloak, she asked, “What’s the situation outside now?”
The maid serving Judith responded, “My lord, it’s not good; those guys’ mouths have started to get dirty again.”
Judith shook her head and sighed. The old party still enjoyed manipulating public opinion, and even after the queen had warned them, these guys remained stubborn. However, Judith could not refute them this time because they indeed could not win against the Southwest Borders; holding their ground was already thanks to the support from her distant relatives.
“Prepare; I need to write a secret letter to the governor of the Northern Border.”
