The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

The inner city is under complete martial law, but that doesn't mean there are no ways to get in, just like the couple who were brought to Lilith.

Augustine and the nobles' influence in the capital was already deeply entrenched. Even though Lilith used benefits and the power from the North to work miracles and win over the vast majority of people, she could not affect the forces hidden in the shadows of the capital.

Outwardly pledging allegiance to Lilith and secretly giving preferential treatment to certain individuals are not mutually exclusive; after all, this is how these nobles have operated for centuries.

Many people are betting on three sides: the demons, Lilith, and Claire all have these noble figures lurking behind the scenes.

However, the North remained remarkably quiet, not because it was weak, but because Lind's policies toward the nobility had already spread throughout the capital. No one was willing to willingly put themselves in such a predicament. Instead of betting on the North, they preferred to bet on the Queen.

With the help of their contact, these adventurers began to don the armor and clothing of the palace guards.

Claire glanced at her pocket watch, confirming that the guards on duty in the palace were her own people. After leading the group of adventurers to the palace gate, Paul stepped forward and said to the guards on duty, "Shift change."

The palace guards understood immediately and said, "His Majesty is at the Northern Tax Office. Make sure to protect His Majesty."

After both sides confirmed the code, Claire appeared and said to the palace guards, "Seal the gates!"

Coups have always been a delicate matter, even in a world where coups in small countries are as common as diarrhea and once they start, they are hard to stop. Coups still need to be treated with utmost care.

Claire had been preparing for this day for a long time. Unlike typical coup plotters, Lilith was an outsider to this royal palace.

Not to mention that Claire, as a member of the Augustinian family, knew the palace better than Lilith, an outsider. Back when Claire was still a palace guard, the guards in charge of the armory and the road leading to it had already been replaced by their own people without anyone noticing.

Those are all weapons produced by the royal palace. They were procured under Claire's strict control, so there were no inferior products at all. There were even many muskets and new weapons.

By controlling the palace's armory, Claire would control most of the palace's military force. After all, it's uncertain which side many factions within the palace would side with if a conflict broke out, especially since most of the Augustins have already sided with Claire.

Of course, Claire also admitted that Lilith did have some tricks up her sleeve. There were many people in the palace who were completely loyal to Lilith and had been drawn from the southwestern army. However, once things got chaotic, these people were actually useless and were more likely to just stand by in a daze.

Ultimately, who were the largest numbers of people in the palace? They were the servants of the Augustinian family, and it goes without saying whose side these servants would side with.

This was Claire's natural advantage in her coup, and one of the reasons why those people were willing to invest in her.

As for the garrison outside the city, as long as Claire can control Lilith, then everything will be over.

Although a coup is dangerous, no one can refuse the credit of supporting a new leader. Did the adventurers who followed her really believe Claire's story? Upon closer examination, her story doesn't make much sense, but if Claire's coup succeeds, it will become plausible.

Claire's only weakness is that, due to Lilith's constant vigilance, she has never fully controlled the palace guards. Apart from the Augustin family's secret guards, the forces she commands are scattered and disorganized. These scattered individuals can play a role in various parts of the palace, but it is difficult to unite them into a main attack force.

And those adventurers with their own agendas were preparing for this moment.

All Claire needs to do is bring these people to the armory, have them do what they usually do in the outer city, create chaos, spread rumors about Lilith while causing destruction, and declare that the true master of the palace, Princess Claire, has returned. That will be enough.

It doesn't matter how much power you have; what matters is having a loud enough voice to make most of the neutral forces in the palace understand who they should pledge allegiance to.

Claire couldn't possibly use her bodyguards for this, but these adventurers were perfectly suited for it.

......

Lilith was standing by the communicator, waiting for her brother's latest news. It would be impossible for Lilith not to be afraid. The monsters were gradually approaching the capital, and the railway connecting the capital to the North was not yet completed, and now part of it had been destroyed.

Even though Linde was prepared, the demons were easy to defend against, but the humans were hard to stop. Along the long track, the humans, commanded by the demons, only needed to blow up one point to succeed.

Of course, since it wasn't a large-scale destruction, the repairs were quick. While the engineers were working on the railway, Linde was also constantly assembling troops. Many units had already temporarily abandoned the railway and entered the central region to make their way ahead.

But just then, Nora suddenly burst in, shouting, "Your Majesty, Princess Claire has broken in with her men!"

Upon hearing this name, Lilith felt a sudden sense of unease. When she rushed outside the room, the palace was already engulfed in flames.

When it comes to causing destruction, those adventurers are professionals.

"Your Majesty, the tax office can hold them off for a while longer. Why don't you escape through the secret passage? As long as you can get out of the palace and find Sir Judith, there's still a chance!"

Thanks to the fact that the Northern Tax Bureau was an institution entirely established by Lilith, almost all of Lilith's loyal followers in the entire palace were stationed there, which allowed them to hold out for the time being. There were also secret passages for escape in case of emergencies.

Lilith quickly realized that the missing Claire had returned and launched a coup against her.

But Lilith had already appeased those Augustinians, and they were even preparing to elect the next leader of the Augustinians. Why would the Augustinians choose to release Claire at this time?

What Lilith couldn't understand was that even if the coup succeeded, the chaotic capital was on its way to attack the capital. Could it really withstand the demons' attack?

Lilith wasn't surprised by the coup d'état targeting her, which is why she wanted to take this opportunity to bring her brother's forces to the capital. However, Lilith didn't expect that the other side would launch a coup at this time.

But Lilith never imagined that someone would launch a coup at this time.

Launching a coup at this time would be tantamount to self-destruction.

In an instant, Lilith thought of her father in this life, the family tree that Coent had given her. Had that family tree leaked the secret? The Augustins realized that they were also descendants of the old empire, which was why they launched a coup at this juncture.

Lilith immediately ran back to her room and sent a message to Lind as fast as she could: Coup, danger!