The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

When the girl in front of him claimed to be the missing Princess Claire, Paul felt his heart skip a beat.

But upon closer inspection of the girl's face and demeanor, Paul quickly came to believe that he, having lived in the capital for a long time, had once had the privilege of seeing Claire from afar when Her Majesty the Queen attended an event.

But this led to even more questions: why would the missing princess appear in the outer city and be chased by someone?

"Don't you believe it?"

Seeing Claire's tearful eyes, Paul immediately knelt down and said, "No, this humble subject naturally believes you, but Your Highness, weren't you missing? How come you're still in the outer city and being chased?"

Claire helped Paul up and said, "I'm not a princess anymore, you can just call me Claire."

"That's a long story."

Claire took out a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped her tears as she said, "I was being hunted down by His Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Paul felt his mind go blank. He had never doubted Claire before, but His Majesty's reputation was indeed very good, which made Paul find it hard to believe. Sure enough, just as Claire said, there was a risk even in knowing about this.

"See? I knew no one would believe me..."

Looking at the frail Claire, Paul immediately said, "Your Highness, I naturally want to believe you, but what exactly happened?"

Claire's eyes were glistening with tears, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her whole body seemed to be curled up due to tension, giving people a feeling of fragility and helplessness.

“My friend, my sister-in-law, my Majesty, she has deceived everyone.”

A hint of smugness flashed in Claire's eyes, as if she was very satisfied with her acting skills so far.

“She was the one who started it all. She killed my father and murdered my brother Crane.”

At this point, Claire was already sobbing uncontrollably, leaving Paul speechless.

His Majesty has killed his father-in-law and his husband.

“My father and brother died under suspicious circumstances, so I have been investigating in secret. But I never expected that the investigation would lead to His Majesty. I wanted to confront His Majesty face to face, but I never expected that His Majesty would actually take my life.”

In just a few words, Claire portrayed Lilith as ruthless, treacherous, and vicious, while she herself was fearless and even a bit foolish, confronting Lilith after finding a clue. This only fueled Paul's protective instincts and made him feel that Claire was even more credible.

"Fortunately, I had the protection of my family, which allowed me to finally escape from the palace. I didn't expect His Majesty to still be so relentless in pursuing me. I had already escaped, but recently His Majesty has colluded with the Northern Territory and the Demon Clan to try to overthrow our country. I must stop His Majesty."

"I didn't expect to be discovered by His Majesty so soon after arriving in the capital. Luckily you were there, otherwise I would have been able to escape the pursuit."

Paul sensed a massive conspiracy vortex from Claire's words, a vortex from which a moment's carelessness could lead to utter destruction.

But what story could be more epic than the tale of a princess's revenge?

However, Claire's explanation was not without flaws. Paul asked, "But Her Majesty is also a saintess, and can even use holy words. Could it be that the goddess has also been deceived by Her Majesty?"

"No, that's all a lie."

Claire, who was prepared, said, "That was a play put on by His Majesty and Lilith to consolidate her position. Otherwise, why would that ordinary couple have been able to overcome so many obstacles to come before His Majesty?"

Claire urged Paul to think carefully, but in reality, she was guiding him to imagine the situation she herself had described: "Moreover, Her Majesty's magical skills have always been lacking, as everyone in the capital knows. So why did she suddenly learn the Holy Word? This was all meticulously planned by Her Majesty in collusion with some fallen figures in the church. They even planted curses on innocent children to make it seem more real."

After speaking, Claire lowered her eyes again, whether she was praying for the innocent child or crying, it was unclear, as if Claire was a saint who cared deeply for her country and its people.

Upon hearing this, Paul became increasingly convinced and furious. He never imagined that His Majesty was such a person, with such a deep and scheming mind.

"And what about the collusion between the Northern Territory and the Demon Clan?"

Paul was completely convinced by Claire's story and was ready to devote himself wholeheartedly to the tale of the princess's revenge.

Seeing Paul's worried and concerned expression, Claire, who had been looking down, couldn't help but grin and took the bait.

It wasn't for nothing that I sent out so many spies to observe so many adventurers; I've finally found a fool who is both powerful and influential.

But you can't laugh yet, Claire, you can't laugh out loud yet. You have to wait until you personally pull your best friend's short legs off the throne.

"After I escaped the capital, I investigated Her Majesty's hometown and discovered that Her Majesty and the Governor of the North knew each other for a long time. The one who killed my father was the evil cult Lantern Dream, and Lantern Dream is now in the North, under the command of the Governor of the North. Lilith, she, she's even too lazy to hide it now."

Claire's tone was erratic, and she was trying hard to suppress her laughter, but to Paul it sounded like she was crying because she couldn't bear the fact that her father had been killed by Lilith.

Paul immediately began brainstorming. He had only heard about this incident occasionally from people in the Adventurers' Guild, but now everything connected, and Paul began to believe that he had the truth and was convinced of what Claire had said.

"Not only that, Lilith has also secretly colluded with the demons. The Eastern Territory has already fallen, and next, Lilith plans to sell the central region and the capital to the demons!"

Her Majesty the Queen is betraying the country!?

Paul, increasingly bewildered, grew angrier the more he thought about it, never imagining that His Majesty the Queen, whom he had once wanted to serve, was such a scoundrel.

"Paul, are you willing to be my blade and my shield?"

At this moment, Claire extended an invitation, and Paul's anger instantly turned into excitement. His chest heaved violently, and he knelt on one knee, excitedly saying, "Your Highness, I am willing to be your blade, your shield, your last knight. I swear to protect you with my life."

Claire stood before Paul, gently helped him up, and said, "Get up, my knight, we will fight for this kingdom."

Paul rose with Claire's gentle strength, completely unaware of the scheming and lies behind that gentleness.

"For the sake of this kingdom, I need you, I need the strength of those adventurers. Find some reliable adventurers, we must save this kingdom!"

Upon hearing Claire's words, Paul felt that his dream had come true and immediately nodded in agreement.

After Paul left, Claire said to the person behind her, "Pass on my explanation."

Claire's bodyguards obeyed and left.