The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

As Lilith's aide, one of Claire's tasks is to communicate with various nobles and balance the power in the capital.

Lilith felt that it was better to have Claire talk to the nobles than to have the other Augustines do it.

Moreover, Lilith's power was not great enough to ignore those obstacles and directly imprison the Augustins in the palace; many normal exchanges were unavoidable.

Of course, this is on the premise of normal communication.

Claire is currently at Monroe's mansion, casually lounging on the sofa with her legs crossed, enjoying tea and snacks.

"Are you satisfied with these refreshments, Your Highness?"

Monroe also leaned back on the sofa, looking at Claire with curious eyes.

"Of course, it would be even better if those old party members could come and have a taste with us."

Although she could move freely among the nobles, Claire was not without any restrictions. At least on the surface, she had to be fair and impartial. The old party members could hold balls at any time to exchange inside information, but Claire could not attend these gatherings.

Even when acting, Claire could only portray herself as an Augustinian, and could not show favoritism towards either side.

Although she and Lilith are still best friends, Claire has clearly sensed that her former best friend no longer trusts her completely as she used to.

"Haha, Your Highness is certainly outspoken."

Monroe then asked, "Isn't anyone watching?"

"Her Majesty's control is not as strong as you think. At least, if it weren't for the church, she wouldn't know exactly what we said."

"She doesn't care. I never realized it before. Our Queen is a complete pragmatist. She only cares whether you can get your job done."

Monroe nodded, then said, "But Your Highness, I'm afraid your visit this time is not something His Majesty can ignore, is it?"

After all, Claire had already made it clear that she was on the side of the old party.

The Augustinians also tended to favor the old party, because although the old forces represented by the old party had assassinated Cran, if they were to elect a king, they would definitely choose from among the Augustinians.

This is one of the reasons why Augustine and his ilk colluded with the old party.

"of course."

A sinister glint flashed in Claire's eyes.

"Sir Monroe, you still have connections with the demons, don't you?"

“I’m doing legitimate business with the demons, so even if Her Majesty the Queen came, she wouldn’t have anything to say.”

It was quite obvious that Monroe was very guilty when she said this, and even in private conversations with Claire, she didn't dare to admit the truth.

"I'm going to have a 'legitimate business deal' with the demons."

Claire rose and stared intently at Monroe, continuing, "Sir Monroe, the southwest has already submitted to Her Majesty the Queen, and the north is still Her Majesty the Queen's sworn brother."

But Claire thought for a moment and laughed, "Alright, excluding the one in the North, half of the four borders of the kingdom are already under the control of Her Majesty the Queen. Monroe, do you really think Her Majesty won't target you the way my father targeted the North in the future?"

Having participated in the siege of the North, Monroe naturally knew how Augustine III had weakened the North. As a neighbor of the North, Monroe had done a lot of dirty work back then.

It's important to understand that the North is the most historically significant and has the largest territory among the four regions, yet it was still violently dismantled. Even with the emergence of Governor Lind, the North is still embroiled in a civil war.

If this same tactic were to be repeated in the East, Monroe would break out in a cold sweat.

But Monroe wasn't naive; after calming down, he asked, "So, Your Highness, what exactly do you want to do?"

"It's nothing. I just want to do the same thing as you and have some 'legitimate business' with the demons."

"And Sir Monroe, don't you think it's inappropriate for someone from another family to sit in that position? Lilith is my friend, but she's also my sister-in-law. I think my sister-in-law should go back to being a good saint and keep vigil for my brother."

Monroe was utterly horrified. He had thought that Claire at most wanted to limit the Queen's power and reclaim the royal authority, but he never expected that Claire would actually want to replace her.

"Then, Your Highness, are there any suitable candidates within the royal family?"

Monroe glanced around warily, realizing that it was the right decision to have his trusted men guard the entire meeting.

"If Queen Lilith can do it, why can't I?"

Although surprised, Monroe was more delighted than surprised.

I originally thought that the rest of the Augustinians were a bunch of scoundrels and good-for-nothings, and Cliff was the most human-like among them. But I never expected that Claire, who was the most supportive of Her Majesty the Queen, would turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed not the right time to fight for power. Crane had just died, and putting aside his will, the capital was a mess back then. Anyone who went up would basically be a scapegoat. Now, although it is still too early, Monroe felt that it was indeed time to do some preparatory work.

If Claire were to truly ascend the throne, wouldn't the vast territories of the North be within her grasp?

“If it’s just ‘legitimate business,’ Your Highness, I do have some connections.”

Monroe enthusiastically explained to Claire the ways to contact and trade with the demons, all of which appeared to be legitimate transactions but were actually incredibly dirty.

There are also many underground black markets and smuggling routes in the capital, the scale of which shocked Claire. Even the loan sharks with compound interest, which had been regulated, were still being issued in a different form.

It's hard to imagine that the demons who controlled these things were openly expelled.

"They really are like parasites."

Claire somewhat understood why Cordick had sided with the demons back then. Although it was shameless, the demons' methods were indeed effective. As long as Claire controlled these channels, she could even do some things in the capital without anyone noticing.

As long as they didn't provoke the New Party's ire, such as the use of firearms, most lower-class nobles turned a blind eye.

"Your Highness, I have heard that the demons have unearthed their god in the Eternal Frozen Land, and they are eager to find a Promised Land to worship their god. If Your Highness can make some promises, it will be easy to gain the support of the demons."

"Oh? A god of the demon race? I've never heard of that before."

Claire became curious. Originally, the demons' faith was all borrowed from humans. If there really was a demon god, then the demons wouldn't need to change the human goddess of light into a demonic form.

"It was probably unearthed a few years ago, and I heard it has only recently begun to awaken and is already able to respond to believers. But it could also be the demons creating hype out of thin air, or it could just be a simple cult. Who knows?"

Seeing Monroe's disdainful attitude, Claire reminded him, "Sir Monroe, it seems the Demon race has quite the ambition."

"It's precisely because they have such great ambitions that they can be used by us, isn't it?"

The two exchanged a smile and began discussing more details of their collaboration.