The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

If future generations were to judge this conference, it would likely be one that changed the course of human history.

But Lilith has already come to this realization.

The meeting passed a large number of resolutions, and these resolutions were quite extreme, some even making a complete 180-degree turn.

For example, although the demons in the capital were not directly driven out, loan sharks will be severely punished, foreigners' businesses in the capital will be thoroughly investigated, and foreigners will be strictly prohibited from engaging in certain jobs. At the same time, an investigation will be launched into the cause of death of the previous two kings.

The bill refers to foreign races, but anyone with eyes can see that it is entirely aimed at the demon race.

At the same time, it is also necessary to set things right and control speech in the capital.

Although the outcome was simply a shift from one extreme to another, Lilith had to, and could only, do this.

The most troublesome family is the Lars family. If the demons are the enemy, will the Lars family, who have been resisting them, have to turn against them? Are the treaties that Cordick signed still valid? What about the two Lars families currently at war?

Lilith chose to distance herself from the matter, as it was all internal to the Lars family and had nothing to do with the capital. This was tantamount to directly relinquishing the king's control over the North, but the North had long only nominally obeyed the king. Lilith had simply torn away this fig leaf.

Just as Lilith had predicted, even after Cordick fell, there were still fearless nobles who continued to rise up and attack Lilith at the meeting.

These are mostly liberal nobles, and the majority are from the Eastern Territory, because the Eastern Territory is the only one of the four territories that does not need to fight. In addition to Doug's territory, the demons have also begun to cooperate with the Eastern Territory.

The reasons for the opposition are simple: Lilith's policies are too extreme. The demons and the kingdom do have normal trade relations. Don't forget, the demons also occupy the largest mining area in the north, and the southwest desperately needs these raw materials.

If it were a normal king, he would have followed the broken windows theory and negotiated with these people properly.

But Lilith is different. If Lilith turns back, it will be an abyss. The reformists that Lilith organized were already very loose. If Lilith shows even the slightest hesitation, the compromise policies may end up being reduced to trivial matters.

Fortunately, the other male protagonists had very high favorability ratings, which helped Lilith implement these policies despite the immense pressure.

“These are things that I should have been the one to make these statements.”

After the meeting, Lilith looked wearily at the report on her desk.

But Nora Less, the newly appointed prime minister, said, "Your Majesty, this will damage your reputation."

The newly appointed prime minister took all the blame. From the outside, it seemed that the queen was just nodding at all the policies, while the real person who issued and implemented them was this prime minister.

Just like Augustine III and Cordick back then.

“Nora, you are not Cordick. You could have had better options. I will eventually step down and I don’t care about the criticism. But you are different. This country needs you.”

Lilith was serious. She knew the consequences of implementing these policies, and she was even carrying them out with a do-or-die mentality. But Lilith didn't want the country that Kran left her to become truly riddled with problems.

"Your Majesty, you have always known my feelings."

Nora bowed.

"We will protect you."

After saying that, Nora left.

Even Lilith didn't expect that these other male leads would actually do something. Was it really worth it for her, a conman, an actor, and a thief who stole the female lead's position?

A distressed Lilith reopened the letter the governor of the gray-collar workers had sent her.

Because of the strange things that gradually spread from the Gray and White Collars, Lilith had some suspicions that the governor of the Gray and White Collars was a time traveler, especially after confirming that the female protagonist was no longer in their territory.

Perhaps this world truly possesses some kind of self-repair mechanism, which, after seizing the female lead's plot and position, conjured up a transmigrator out of thin air to help her.

However, this time traveler only made the original plot more and more chaotic. Moreover, this time traveler did not have any romantic relationship with the female lead, but instead actually married that Lena Lars.

In fact, Lilith herself arranged this marriage, simply because the transmigrator, or rather the NPC, had the same name as her older brother from her previous life, which gave Lilith a moment of wicked amusement.

Okay, Lilith admits she's messed up the plot.

Meeting someone from my hometown in another world wasn't as exciting as I'd imagined; in fact, this person even seemed to have some ill intentions.

Why was Lilith certain that it was someone from her hometown and not some other foreigner? Why did she say the other person had ill intentions?

If an outsider saw this letter, they might think that this son-in-law of the Lars family, like the Grand Duke of Lars, had a die-hard loyalty to the royal family, since he openly stated that he would make anyone who wanted the current queen to step down step down.

If there are treacherous ministers who oppose the goddess, the gray-collar workers will follow the goddess's will, raise the banner of resistance, and help Her Majesty the Queen eliminate the treacherous ministers and sycophants around her.

No matter how you look at it, he's a die-hard royalist.

That's right, that's how it appears to outsiders. Isn't this the Second Grand Duke of Lars? Even though the royal family directly caused the split in the Lars family, and even though he was still at war, he was thinking about protecting the royal family. He's so loyal, so touching.

But in another letter, the governor’s wording was actually simpler.

"To quell the rebellion in accordance with Heaven's will and to purge the court of corrupt officials."

Although it was written in the ancient common language of this world, the person even went to great lengths to write it in neat and parallel structures, as if afraid that Lilith wouldn't understand it. Lilith was almost 100% certain that this person was from the same hometown, and that they had quite a bit of ambition.

Lilith found it hard to describe how she felt when she saw those eight characters, especially since it was signed with her older brother's name.

Should we be glad that the signature is my older brother's name instead of my uncle's? Lilith couldn't laugh at this joke. If the other side really pacified the North one day, wouldn't they actually shout "I'm entrusting the Heaven to quell the rebellion"—oh, I mean "I'm entrusting the Goddess to quell the rebellion"—that there were treacherous ministers attacking the Queen?

After careful consideration, it wasn't impossible, but she couldn't afford to turn against them yet. Lilith still needed their help to exaggerate her abilities, and they had indeed done so, but the exaggeration was a bit too much, almost engulfing Lilith.

"If only my brother were here."

Lilith leaned back in her chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her older brother had always been there to clean up her messes since she was a child, but now she had to rely on herself.

Just as Lilith leaned back in her chair, lost in thought, the night in the royal capital was anything but peaceful.

Everything comes at a price, and the army Lilith brought into the city was no exception.

Some troops claimed to have received orders from the Queen and the new Chancellor to begin a large-scale capture of demons and nobles associated with them within the city.

There were even cases where people ransacked homes and killed people without direct interrogation. The army that had gained power began to show its fangs. Even though the male protagonists were very loyal to Lilith, they could not completely control every soldier. In fact, many violent law enforcement actions were carried out with the tacit approval of these people.

All Lilith could do was contain the riots and unrest within the inner city.

Lilith, with her eyes closed, knew that many people would probably be unable to sleep tonight, but there was nothing she could do. It was all their own doing. Even if they were later punished by the Emperor, purged of their inner circle, or disappeared in the burning palace, Lilith would not regret it.

The liquidation has begun.