The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Although the North is still nominally part of the Kingdom, and even the title of Governor was originally given to it by Crane.

But everyone knows that once the North is unified, given the Kingdom's current state, independence is only a matter of time.

If Lind becomes Lilith's sworn brother, things won't get too ugly between them, and at worst, the North and the Kingdom will remain allies.

Thinking about it carefully, if calling someone "brother" could make the North at least nominally submit to the Kingdom of Capet, it doesn't seem so unacceptable.

If the Augustins were to force Lilith to step down under these circumstances, they would have to carefully consider the attitude of the North, and this action could even become the fuse for the North to wage war against the Kingdom.

After all, this delicate alliance was with Lilith personally, not with the entire capital, and had nothing to do with the Augustins.

From now on, Lilith's position will be even more secure.

But what good would it do for a white-collar worker to adopt this sister? It seems a bit too casual to do it just to annoy those old aristocratic families.

Ultimately, this matter is a power struggle over the balance of power in the capital. Each party has its own demands for balance, while the demands of the gray-collar workers are that the Queen must not fall before the unification of the North, the capital must not be in turmoil, and the southwest must at least be stabilized.

At the same time, the gray and white-collar workers do not want the Queen's power to be too great, or rather, apart from the Church and the New Party, probably no one wants the Queen to really restore the glory of the kingdom.

Taking all factors into consideration, Linde still intends to refuse. After all, Linde feels that simply providing the capital with some military aid would be enough, and forming a real alliance would only restrict his actions in the future.

There are many ways to politely decline, after all, this proposal is somewhat abstract. The North has not officially seceded yet, so to acknowledge the Governor of the North as an elder brother is, Your Majesty, quite improper.

Just as Linde was about to write a reply, Lena came to him to approve the latest batch of experimental funding.

While Lind was reviewing the documents, Lena curiously picked up the letter from the capital and began to read it. Lena was the only one in the entire territory who was allowed to freely look at the documents on Lind's desk.

Seeing that Lena was interested, Linde also introduced the current situation in the capital to Lena, intending to consult her opinion. After all, Lena, who had been to the palace, was probably the person in the territory who knew the royal family best.

Although Lena didn't seem to understand the political relationships Linde was talking about, Linde also said that whether she accepted or rejected the alliance, Linde had a way to handle it, and Lena just needed to express her opinion.

After a moment of difficult thought, Lena asked in bewilderment, "Why not accept it? Her Majesty the Queen is going to be our sister."

To be honest, Lena had long since let go of Lilith, the woman who stole her former fiancé and kicked her into a white-collar job. If it weren't for Lilith, she wouldn't have met Lind.

Upon hearing this answer, Lind slapped his forehead. Sure enough, Lena hadn't understood a single word he'd said, except that Lilith, the current queen, wanted to be Lind's sister.

Lena had no idea how high her status was compared to that of the gray-collar workers. She still retained the mindset of a traditional aristocrat. Just as Lena thought that the prime minister was the highest official position, the king was a higher position than the prime minister.

Tia, who was engrossed in reading a history book on the sofa, couldn't help but chuckle.

But Lena continued, "Linde, think about it. Her Majesty the Queen is in such a high position now, and she still wants to be your sister. How hard must it be for her in the capital? I never really liked the royal family. They were always talking behind your back, being so sarcastic and mean. There were only a few good people among them."

“Those people in the royal family must not like Her Majesty very much now, so Her Majesty came to us for help. Anyway, we don’t really need to do anything, so we should help Her Majesty more.”

Upon hearing this, Linde suddenly realized something.

Indeed, Lilith's power is growing and her position is becoming more secure, so it should be the Augustins who are anxious, not the others. Why should I be anxious too?

Augustine will definitely try every means to bring Lilith down, while the gray-collar workers can just watch from the sidelines. Not to mention that agreeing to this request would only make them feel like they are stirring up trouble.

Just as Lilith regained her sainthood, seemingly expanding her power, she was actually provoking the sensitive nerves of the Augustins.

Lilith's legitimacy is entirely in the hands of the Augustins. Although Lilith seems to have great power now, she cannot even completely eliminate those old nobles, let alone eliminate the royal Augustinians. The queen's power is completely in the air, which is why she resorts to such absurd methods to seek help from the outside world.

Lind realized he was overthinking things. He thought he was on the fifth level, but in the end, he discovered that Lilith and her prime minister might be on the first level. She might have just realized that she couldn't do anything to the royal family, so she urgently needed some means to consolidate her throne.

The fact that such an abstract and somewhat outrageous proposal could be written in a diplomatic letter speaks volumes; Lilith's situation in the capital may not be as optimistic as it seems.

Perhaps Lilith's suggestion was too abstract, reminding Lind of his younger sister, so he was momentarily confused.

It's better to believe that Lena gave Lind this advice after she knew everything than to believe that the Augustins could tolerate it for a lifetime and let Lilith become the Wu Zetian.

Even if all the Augustins transformed into Xuanwu (a mythical tortoise), as long as they subtly sowed discord and downplayed their relationship with the Queen, they wouldn't have to worry about anyone falling for their tricks.

Unless Lilith dares to take action against the royal family, but if she does, Lind can cut off his own hand on the spot and pretend to be a loyal subject.

In the end, no matter which side wins, Linde can directly use the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials" to justify purging which court of corrupt officials. Just tell me whether the gray and white collars are loyal or not.

What Linde needs to do now is to escalate the conflict without letting it explode. Forming an alliance with Lilith would give him some initiative, and the attitudes of the gray and white-collar workers would directly influence the decisions of the Augustines.

The only variable is religion, but would the Church of Light really break with Lilith and Augustine for their sake? Moreover, the Church is no longer as glorious as it once was, and with increasing secularization, it can't even muster a single Crusader army.

Now, it is the Church of Goddess that is relying on Lilith's power, or rather, supporting each other with Lilith.

"I see, Lena, you really are a genius!" Lind, having sorted out his thoughts, excitedly hugged Lena.

"Since you've put it that way, we should take good care of Her Majesty the Queen in the capital."

After Lena left, Linde picked up his pen and began writing a reply to his "adopted sister".

Tia, standing nearby, asked curiously, "Didn't you want to rebel? Now that the Queen is your sister, how will you rebel in the future?"

"It is precisely because the Queen is my sister that I will be able to rebel without any psychological burden in the future."

As Linde carefully considered the wording of his reply, he said, "Someone in the capital is bullying my sister, so it's reasonable for me to go over and beat them up, right?"

"If the capital sends troops to stop us, it would further prove that someone is trying to sow discord between us siblings, wouldn't that be alright?"

"Then, after capturing the capital, I..."

Before Linde could finish speaking, Tia interrupted, "Fine, fine, I know what you're thinking. You humans are even more shameless than I imagined."

"Do not."

Linde said with a serious expression, "These things will most likely really happen."

Thinking of this, Lin De thought of his younger sister from his previous life. He wondered if she was married yet, and hoped that she hadn't been kidnapped by some blond-haired bastard.