As Lilith’s aide, balancing the powers of the Royal Capital by engaging in talks with various nobles is also one of Claire’s responsibilities.
Lilith believed that it was better for Claire to talk to those nobles than to let other Augustines do so.
Moreover, Lilith’s power was not strong enough to ignore those resistances entirely and directly imprison the Augustines in the Royal Palace; many normal interactions were inevitable.
Of course, this presumes normal interactions.
Claire was currently in Monroe’s residence, nonchalantly propping her feet up on the sofa and enjoying refreshments.
“Are you satisfied with these refreshments, Your Highness?” Monroe asked, reclining on the sofa and looking at Claire with curiosity.
“Of course, it would be even better if those Old Party members came over to taste them together.”
Although she could move freely among the nobles, Claire was not entirely without restrictions. At least on the surface, she had to maintain impartiality; the Old Party could hold balls at any time to exchange internal information, but Claire could not participate in such gatherings.
Even if acting, Claire could only pretend to be aligned with the Augustines and could not show favoritism towards either side.
Although Claire was still close to Lilith, she could already sense that her former best friend no longer fully trusted her.
“Hahaha, Your Highness, you really are straightforward.”
Then Monroe continued to ask, “Is there no one watching?”
“The Queen’s control is not as strong as you think. At least unless it involves the Church, she can’t know precisely what we talked about.”
“I didn’t know that before; I never realized our Queen is a thorough pragmatist. She only concerns herself with whether you can accomplish your tasks.”
Monroe nodded and then said, “But Your Highness, the matter you are here to discuss with me is probably not something Her Majesty can ignore, right?”
After all, Claire had clearly shown her stance; she stood with the Old Party.
The Augustines also leaned towards the Old Party because although the Old Party represented the old power that assassinated Klan, if given the choice for a king, they would definitely still want to re-elect an Augustine.
This was also the reason the Augustines initially colluded with the Old Party.
“Of course.”
A glint of malice flashed in Claire’s eyes.
“Sir Monroe, you still have connections with the Demon Clan, right?”
“I only engage in legitimate business with the Demon Clan, and there’s nothing Her Majesty can say about it.”
It was evident that Monroe felt quite guilty when he said this; even in a private conversation with Claire, he did not dare admit this fact.
“What I want to discuss with the Demon Clan is also ‘legitimate business.’”
Claire stood up and stared at Monroe, continuing, “Sir Monroe, the Southwest Borders have already submitted to Her Majesty, and the Northern Border still belongs to Her Majesty’s brother-in-law.”
But after thinking, Claire laughed and said, “Alright, we won’t count the one from the Northern Border. Half of the territories of the Kingdom are already under the control of this Queen. Monroe, do you really think that in the future Her Majesty won’t target you like my Father King did against the Northern Border?”
Monroe, who had previously participated in the encirclement of the Northern Border, naturally knew how the three Augustines weakened the Northern Border. Being a neighbor to the Northern Border, Monroe had also done many dirty jobs at that time.
The Northern Border was known for its deep foundation and the largest territorial area among the four borders; it couldn’t be easily dismantled by violence. Even with the emergence of that Governor Lind, it was still in a civil war.
If the same tactic were applied to the Eastern Border, Monroe would break out in cold sweat.
Monroe wasn’t inexperienced, and after calming down, he asked, “So Your Highness, what exactly do you intend to do?”
“Nothing much, I just want to, like you, talk about ‘legitimate business’ with the Demon Clan.”
“And Sir Monroe, don’t you think it’s inappropriate for an outsider to sit in that position? Lilith is my friend, and she is also my sister-in-law. I think my sister-in-law should honestly go back and fulfill her duties as a Saintess and guard my brother’s spirit.”
At this moment, Monroe felt an overwhelming shock. Originally, he thought Claire only wanted to impose some limitations on the Queen’s power and reclaim royal authority, but he didn’t expect Claire intended to replace the person directly.
“Then Your Highness, is there a suitable candidate within the royal family right now?”
Monroe cautiously looked around, realizing that arranging for his trusted ones to guard this meeting was indeed the right choice.
“If Queen Lilith can do it, why can’t I?”
Although surprised, Monroe felt more delight in his heart.
He initially thought that the remaining Augustines were all a group of misfits, but Cliff had already been the most personable among them. He never expected that the most supportive of Her Majesty’s Queen, Claire, turned out to be a deep-water wolf.
Upon reconsideration, it indeed wasn’t appropriate to fight for power back then. Klan had just died, so aside from the will, that chaotic Royal Capital would mean taking the blame for anyone stepping up. Yet now, although it was still too early, Monroe felt that it was indeed time to start laying some groundwork.
If Claire truly ascended to the throne, wouldn’t the vast territories of the Northern Border be easily obtained?
“If it’s just ‘legitimate business,’ then Your Highness, I actually do have some connections here.”
Monroe enthusiastically began to introduce Claire to the ways of connecting and trading with the Demon Clan; these were all seemingly legitimate dealings but were shockingly dirty in reality.
There were also many underground black markets in the Royal Capital and smuggling routes, the scale of which shocked Claire. Even cleaned-up loan sharks were still operating under a different guise.
It was hard to imagine that the demons who controlled all this were publicly expelled.
“Truly like parasites,” Claire thought. She began to understand why Caudic had simultaneously fallen with the Demon Clan. Despite being shameless, the methods of these demons were indeed effective, and as long as Claire mastered these channels, she could discreetly do various things within the Royal Capital.
As long as she didn’t touch the reversed scales of the New Party, such as firearms, most lower-ranking nobles would still turn a blind eye.
“Your Highness, I’ve heard that the Demon Clan has dug up their god in the Eternal Frozen Land, and they are eager to find a promised land to worship their God. If you could make some promises, it would be easy to gain the Demon Clan’s support.”
“Oh? The Demon Clan’s deity? I’ve never heard of it before.”
Claire became curious. Originally, the demon’s faith had all been borrowed from humans; if there truly was a demon god, then the Demon Clan wouldn’t need to modify the human goddess of light into a demon’s appearance.
“It was probably unearthed a few years ago. I heard it has slowly started to awaken recently and can now respond to its followers. But it could also just be the demons making an empty show, or simply a pure cult; who knows?”
Seeing Monroe’s disdainful attitude, Claire reminded him, “Sir Monroe, it seems that the demon’s ambitions are not small.”
“Precisely because their ambitions are not small can we make use of them, right?”
The two exchanged smiles and began discussing more cooperation details.
