Lind maintained correspondence with some important powers, such as the king of An Zhu.
The more he conversed, the more Lind felt that this king of An Zhu was extraordinary. If Lind were a time traveler, then this king of An Zhu was like a child of destiny; not only did he happen to arrive at a critical point in history, but he was also quite capable, with many ideas that were quite advanced.
If Lind is said to be standing on the shoulders of giants, then this king of An Zhu is gradually growing into a little giant.
After deeper communication, the king’s charisma was also quite outstanding. If he were merely a pen pal, Lind felt he could become good buddies with him.
This king of An Zhu also explained in his letters why he chose to use the proposal of marrying the queen as a way to constantly provoke Lind.
Because, if conditions allowed, he would indeed do so.
If An Zhu wanted to restore the territory of the Old Empire, the best way aside from conquering Cape would be through marriage, but Alberto obviously did not like the Augustine royal family, as the Augustines were originally a large family, and their influence, after becoming the royal family, was even more tangled.
Alberto felt that the political situation between the two countries after the Old Empire turned out to be a chaotic mess of marriages; it appeared to be a strong alliance but would actually lead to continuous internal strife within the kingdoms, and the marriage lineage among the nobles was more complicated than the recipes left by the Old Empire.
For Alberto, Lilith was simply a perfect marriage partner. Although she was a member of the Augustine family, as a queen she had a certain prestige, and most importantly, this prestige was independent of the Augustine family.
In contrast, being a widow was a small problem since the marital ties among nobles were far more chaotic.
As long as Alberto could win Lilith, he could truly rely on her for legitimacy.
Most crucially, Lilith came from a small family, with almost no family power behind her, relying solely on personal charisma to cultivate her own system. This saved Alberto a lot of trouble.
Alberto did not hide his ambition at all; he even roughly shared this plan with Lind, and Lind was more than willing to strategize with Alberto. Although both sides did not conceal their ambitions, it did not hinder their mutual communication on how to maximize their respective interests.
Desires are born from contradictions, and Lind and Alberto were a sort of mutual understanding despite their differences, after all, An Zhu and the Northern Border were far apart.
As for this queen, Lind actually did not think too much, since even if they were from the same hometown, they could not be considered allies. They were just pursuing their own interests.
Hometown? A hometown that needs to be squeezed dry.
But after taking another look at this queen, Lind could only say that the taste of people from other worlds really is… If his younger sister were to cross over, she would probably be very popular due to a similar physique to this queen.
Although he understood that the queen’s popularity largely stemmed from political factors, everyone was a passionate young person, and it was impossible not to have their own preferences within.
Alberto probably also had some doubts about Klan and understood him to a certain degree.
After simple pleasantries, Lind led this old acquaintance toward the negotiation site.
Anyone could see that the building where the negotiation was held was a temporary structure, but no one raised objections. In fact, being able to construct such a building in a short time was already incredible.
Looking at the white walls in front of her, Nora felt that this was something the governor had deliberately done. After all, the oppressive feeling from this wall was equally terrifying.
Nora stepped up to the high wall and knocked, feeling it was not inferior to the walls of the royal capital. Was this truly built in such a short time?
In contrast to Nora and Judith’s curiosity about the tall walls of this building, Lilith was much calmer; after all, the other party was also a time traveler and had achieved this level in a short time. Having laser guns and melting swords was no surprise, so steel reinforced concrete would be no exception.
After confirming that the governor’s attitude was relatively friendly, at least there was a minimum level of respect when facing the queen, Nora also relaxed, and the knights around Lilith kept a relatively polite distance. Nora and Judith stayed beside Lilith, while Lind and Lena walked ahead to personally lead the way for Lilith.
“I remember there wasn’t a building like this here originally. I presume that Lord Governor put in a lot of effort to build this place?”
On the way, Nora took the initiative to ask, since he wanted to grasp anything beneficial to the kingdom. Since Her Majesty the Queen was unwilling to raise questions out of face-saving, this was the time for the chancellor to take action.
Lind glanced back at Lilith; this old acquaintance probably knew how to work with steel-reinforced concrete, but it seemed he no longer had the energy to experiment with formulas, so he said, “Yeah, this building is much sturdier than the walls even without any magic attached. Do you want it?”
Nora did not expect the governor to be so blunt. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say and merely nodded. But seeing that the other party did not turn back, she felt a little embarrassed.
However, Lind seemed to have guessed Nora’s response and said, “All of this can be negotiated; that’s exactly why we are here, isn’t it?”
Judith looked at Nora, her expression somewhat dark. Nora was still too naïve; she exposed her desires so quickly, placing herself at a disadvantage in the negotiation as soon as she spoke.
In contrast to Lind, Lena was much more enthusiastic. Even though Lilith had kicked Lena out before and taken Klan, it was apparent that Lena was very satisfied with her current life, occasionally turning back to chat with Lilith about past events.
“I sincerely apologize for what happened back at the academy, Your Majesty. I truly didn’t mean it; I might have just been confused at the time. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I also want to thank you, Your Majesty, for marrying me to Lind. I feel very happy now.”
“I also felt very sorry about what happened with Klan, but the past is already gone. I hope Your Majesty can focus on the future. Lind and I will definitely assist you well.”
Lena’s tone was cheerful, but each sentence seemed to sprinkle salt on Lilith’s wounds.
Especially when she kept mentioning Lind, hearing that name made Lilith feel an indescribable strangeness in her heart.
Judith listened with a face full of black lines. Lena was still the same as before, utterly oblivious to social etiquette and interpersonal relationships. Her Majesty only politely responded a couple of times, not expecting Lena to genuinely chatter away.
And Nora wanted to step forward and reprimand Lena, who still had no manners, saying that Lilith was now the queen; how could anyone talk to Her Majesty like that?
But just as Nora took a step forward, Lind suddenly turned around sharply and fixed his gaze on Nora, along with the ceremonial guards on both sides of the road, as if they would take action at any moment if Nora dared to speak out.
Cold sweat broke out; Nora’s criticism was stuck in her throat, and she finally paused and obediently returned behind Lilith.
Lena probably hadn’t seen familiar faces from the royal capital in a long time, and chatted with Lilith and Nora about past events that occurred back in the royal capital.
Lilith could only respond with an expression of “Isn’t it good?” awkwardly engaging with Lena’s topics.
Who would have thought that after Lena was kicked out, she would marry a time traveler, while her situation was taking a nosedive, not only having to manage an unstable kingdom in place of her deceased husband but also having to sit here listening to this original secondary character chatter away and pick at old wounds, with no chance to respond.
In the end, Lena was living the life she wanted. Had she known it would be like this, she might as well have floundered in the academy.
The passageway to the negotiation room was neither long nor short. Nora understood that this Northern Border Governor was putting pressure on someone from the royal capital, but the negotiation room was relatively comfortable, with a classic Northern Border style.
The walls inside were decorated with dark wood panels, and the solid floor was covered with animal skin carpets. The seats were made of pine wood, with double-headed lion flags and Northern Wind Bear flags inserted on both sides, looking quite stable and solemn.
In contrast to the solemn atmosphere inside the room was Lena, who appeared very happy.
From Lena’s perspective, the high-and-mighty king had actually come to the Northern Border for a detailed discussion; her brother indeed had the demeanor of a chancellor.
But if Lind truly became a chancellor, what would happen to the Northern Border? Perhaps she could ask the queen later if Lind could serve as chancellor while governing the Northern Border; it would be even better if he could stay as chancellor in the Northern Border.
On the other hand, the atmosphere on Lilith’s side felt somewhat dead. Without realizing it, Lena had broken through Lilith’s defenses, so much so that it wasn’t until she sat directly at the negotiation table that Lilith came back to her senses.
“I’m truly envious…”
Lilith looked at Lena, who had a beaming smile while sitting next to the governor.
And this governor, to be honest, despite looking quite similar, the longer Lilith observed, the more she felt that this governor was completely different from her brother.
In her impression, her brother was far too gentle, lacking the oppressive aura of this governor.
