The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

At this time, the family meeting within the Augustine family in the capital was in complete chaos.

One of the Augustinians shouted radically, "If this continues, people will soon forget what the Kingdom of Capet really means!"

“We must unite and get our dear Queen off that position as soon as possible, and replace her with one of our own.”

Only Augustine's people were present at the meeting; even Lilith was not qualified to attend.

Rather, this meeting was convened precisely to prevent Lilith from attending.

Claire looked at Augustine with satisfaction. She had only stirred things up a little, and sure enough, countless people in the royal family had stepped forward to volunteer as cannon fodder.

The weak-willed Cliff waved his hands helplessly, signaling for silence in the meeting room.

But this did nothing to stop the increasingly excited Augustines.

"The cannons from the North are almost here, and the reforms are nearly complete. We should let Her Majesty return to being the saint she loves most, and let those soldiers from the Southwest go back to where they belong—let them keep an eye on our neighbors on the southwestern border, instead of keeping an eye on us in the capital!"

This statement immediately garnered a larger response.

“That’s right. Her Majesty the Queen had stopped living in the palace altogether and allowed those peasant soldiers into the inner city, and even into the palace itself. Is there no law left? Is there no justice left?”

“Her Majesty has done enough. We should now put the rightful Augustine on the throne so that we can both maintain the dignity of the royal family.”

The Augustins still had some respect for Lilith; at least the situation in the capital and the borders was constantly improving under her leadership. If things continued like this, it seemed that returning to the kingdom's former glory was not entirely impossible.

But it is precisely because of this that the Augustins are even more afraid of Lilith, and some of them have even thought that they could do it themselves, wanting Lilith to step down early so they can take the credit.

Only Cliff, sitting in his seat, weakly shouted:

"No... Her Majesty the Queen cannot step down yet. If the reforms are abandoned now, things will immediately revert to the way they were..."

Cliff's rebuttal seemed utterly powerless; no one cared what he said anymore. After all, Cliff had previously tacitly approved of Augustine's obstruction of Lilith's purge of the old nobles, and he also felt that the Queen's power was now too great.

"Furthermore, the governor of the North has said that whoever forces Her Majesty the Queen to step down will also be forced to step down, and we still need his muskets and cannons to maintain stability on the border..."

The other Augustines calmed down a bit after hearing what Cliff said.

But the radical Augustine continued, “So Her Majesty the Queen wrote a letter hoping that the governor could become her brother. Can you imagine a queen of a country calling a regional governor ‘brother’? A governor of a remote border region has inexplicably risen in status above us. Can you accept that?”

Lilith's return to sainthood was already unacceptable to many, but her alliance with the gray-collar workers crossed the line for most people. Even if the alliance was one thing, what did it mean to address each other as brother and sister?

It's obvious to everyone that this alliance isn't between the capital and the gray-collar workers, returning to their previous relationship. Rather, it's a personal alliance between Her Majesty the Queen and the gray-collar workers, which is why they address each other as brother and sister.

After this news spread, rumors even began to circulate in the capital that Governor Linde and Queen Lilith were indeed siblings, and even biological siblings.

The man even swore that it was calculated by an astrologer in the tower, but because it was so outrageous, no one believed him.

Not to mention that Lilith's life trajectory and family structure are very clear, one was born into a small family in the East and the other was born in the northern border. Their parents' generation had never even left the East and the North. How could they be siblings?

Of course, there are also rumors that Queen Lilith is also a descendant of the old empire and is related to Governor Linde by blood, but the discussion is not as heated as the rumors that the two are siblings, since it is obvious that the two are siblings, which is more suitable as a topic of conversation among nobles.

Soon, there were even melodramatic stories like Lilith's father going to the North as a mercenary in his youth and then meeting Lind's mother.

No one listens to the rumors about whether the two families have a historical connection, since such speculation is not only unlikely, but also not entertaining.

As the late King Crane once said, "My fiancée has black hair and black eyes, could she also be a descendant of the empire?"

There are many people with black hair and black eyes, so this speculation has long lost its appeal in the capital.

"At least the gray-collar and white-collar workers provide us with weapons..."

Before Cliff could finish speaking, Claire stood up and said, "Everyone, arguing like this isn't going to work. I have a suggestion, you can take a look and see what I think."

Claire's confident and composed tone immediately brought the situation under control.

It was as if Claire, not Clive, was the one chairing the meeting.

“First of all, Her Majesty the Queen certainly cannot step down now. After all, as my elder brother said, both reforms and maintaining relations with the North require Her Majesty the Queen.”

Before the radical Augustinians could retort, Claire continued, "But if a non-Augustine becomes king, his power should be limited. Why should someone else have the throne that belongs to us Augustines?"

Upon hearing this, the Augustins present all nodded in agreement.

Many people didn't actually expect to directly dethrone Lilith, but rather wanted to limit her power.

"I propose legislation to impose legal restrictions on future kings who are not Augustine, and to elect a person to control the capital's guards and the king's personal guard. This person must be one of us, Augustine."

"At the same time, those troops who remained in the capital were either incorporated into the capital's guard or returned to the southwestern border."

"Her Majesty should also go to church to pray on the fixed days of prayer, instead of going out at will as before, not knowing when she will return. Especially now that Her Majesty has been reinstated as a saint, this matter must be governed by rules."

These are some of the pain points that Augustines are currently facing, and after listening, the Augustines all nodded in agreement.

But the radicals felt that this was not enough and wanted to make further demands. At this point, Claire said, "At the same time, we also need to be more united internally. Now that Lilith has become Queen, we must fully support her. We should also establish rules within the royal family, outlining what is permissible and what is not. Our royal family also needs a leader."

The elders of Augustine all showed expressions of approval, completely ignoring Cliff's aggrieved look, after all, he was nominally the current leader of Augustine.

Claire's proposal made sense to both radicals and conservatives, and the ensuing meeting revolved entirely around it.

Claire had completely taken control of the meeting.