The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Linde did not choose to live in the palace. After all, according to Lilith, the palace was full of secret passages, including those built by the Augustins before they usurped the throne by virtue of their son-in-law status, as well as those built by the Augustins themselves. A palace built on a secret passage was definitely not a place to live.

As for the Grand Duke of the North's residence, to be honest, Lind wouldn't feel comfortable living in such a noble residence. There are so many secret passages in the royal palace, how could there be fewer in the Grand Duke of the North's residence? Especially since this residence has been out of the control of the Lars family for so long. Nevertheless, Lind still accompanied Lena back to the residence.

At least for now, Lena's two dreams have come true: winning the war for succession and returning to the capital. However, the way she returned to the capital was something almost no one could have imagined.

Seemingly not wanting to recall any more unpleasant memories, Lena went straight to the wedding dress she had mentioned to Lind as soon as she entered the mansion.

"I didn't expect it to actually still be there."

Lena's movements were rather casual; she simply took the wedding dress off the hanger, and Linde followed slowly behind her.

Although the fabric is very exquisite, this wedding dress still looks very simple, which is quite in line with the simple aesthetic of the North. Of course, it is also possible that this wedding dress was a half-finished product.

However, at least in Lena's opinion, she was very satisfied with the wedding dress. Lena excitedly held the dress up against herself and asked, "Does it look good, Linde?"

Lena draped the wedding dress over herself, twirled gracefully, and then muttered to herself, "It does seem a little too small..."

"Then let the craftsman make the changes."

Linde waved, and the maids stepped forward in unison to remeasure Lena's size. Although Lena had spoken very casually to Linde before, when the maids were actually measuring her, she blushed and muttered softly, "I hope it's not too different."

Although the atmosphere in the capital was jubilant, with everyone celebrating the recent victory, the demons were actually watching the capital with predatory eyes from a distance.

However, the capital city, which had only just stabilized, was already showing signs of unrest, and the nobles began to move around again.

Cliff, on the other hand, was very accommodating. He issued a decree that directly established Lind's status. The decree stipulated that Lind was exempt from bowing to Cliff and the royal family, could freely enter and leave the palace, and could bring weapons when meeting Cliff. All of these were exceptionally high-level treatments.

Because of the absence of a prime minister, Cliff specially arranged for Lind to be given the position of interim prime minister to ensure that Lind could legally control all resources in the capital, as well as military and administrative power, although these powers had been in Lind's hands from the moment the Northern Army entered the city.

But after all, everyone still has a sense of shame. You can say you're wearing the Emperor's New Clothes, but you can't say you're actually running around naked. You can pee in the swimming pool, but you can't stand on the shore and pee into the pool. So Lind didn't refuse Cliff's act of providing him with legitimacy.

However, Linde still had mixed feelings when he saw the edict. He didn't expect that the three-step plan would be arranged for him so quickly.

In contrast, Lena was overjoyed. She thought that being prime minister was the highest-ranking official, but she never expected that Linde would become prime minister, albeit temporarily. At this time, Lena did not realize how much power she actually held.

Following Clive's decree, more and more nobles in the city began to curry favor with Lind, sending him invitations. Although there was no precedent for a three-step usurpation in this world, the meaning of Clive's decree was quite clear. If it weren't for the age difference, they would probably be practically begging Lind to become their godfather.

The demons outside the city hadn't even withdrawn their troops yet, and these nobles were already thinking about holding a ball.

Many bolder nobles began to promote their daughters to Lind. Because of the capital's incompetent intelligence department, these nobles didn't know much about the situation in the North. In addition, Lind seemed to be in a bad mood when he entered the city, and these nobles and Augustines had already driven Lena away once before, so they wanted to try the same trick again.

However, these nobles were much smarter than the roughnecks of the North. Instead of directly praising their daughters' excellence, they cautiously probed whether Lind should hold a ball or something to stabilize the hearts of the nobles in the city.

These nobles also believed that if Linde intended to change the dynasty, he would surely do what the Augustine family did: win over the nobles, take care of the elites, and befriend them. So much so that even though these nobles knew Linde's attitude towards the Northern nobles, they still harbored the illusion that they were more important than those Northern nobles and could negotiate with Linde.

Looking at the flood of letters from nobles, Linde snorted coldly, a move that sent shivers down the spine of Marcel, who was sitting opposite him.

Are these the only people there?

Linde looked at the list Marcel handed him, seemingly somewhat dissatisfied, but Marcel was nearly exhausted and was barely managing to talk to Linde.

The list already included two-thirds of the nobles in the capital, and Lind still thought the list wasn't long enough.

"Yes, sir, this is how many nobles didn't attend the meeting..."

Putting aside his status as the leader of the Old Party, both Cliff and Judith acknowledged that Marcel was a conservative who hated demons, and that he was still attending meetings against demons until the very end. That was enough. Linde didn't want to exterminate all the nobles; he had to keep some useful ones and use them to the death.

Besides, Linde also considered those opportunists and fence-sitters who did not attend the meeting as unstable factors. There was no place for these insects in the new capital; their presence would only drive up food prices in the capital.

This coup will definitely not end with Claire going insane. Those who helped in the shadows will all pay the price. The darkness of the so-called capital and the forces in the shadows will all be crushed under the tank tracks.

Looking at Marcel, who was on the verge of collapse, Lind nodded and said, "You can go now."

Upon returning home, Marcel quickly secluded himself, refusing to see anyone, and even imposed martial law on the entire family, even stricter than when they were investigating the assassination of Crane.

Soon, a massive purge began, much to everyone's surprise. The governor seemed not content with just arresting those who had followed Claire's coup; those who had secretly provided assistance were also arrested one by one. Not only that, but those who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to make a profit were also all taken into custody.

The Governor of the North seemed completely unconcerned about the demons still entrenched outside the city, and launched a bloody purge against the nobles and royalty of the capital. Someone had to be held responsible for this coup. Lind could investigate the deeply entrenched noble forces later, but it was definitely the right thing to do first to wipe out all the surrenderers and opportunists.

Aside from the surrender faction, the most bewildered were the adventurers who had followed Claire in launching the coup.

Paul didn't understand what was happening until he was taken to the execution ground. He had a vague feeling that he had been deceived. Claire was not some delicate princess waiting for a knight to save her, and Lilith was not the liar that Claire had described. But Paul was still unwilling to accept reality.

These adventurers received "special treatment" from Lind. They were implicated as the culprits behind the rumors about Lilith in the capital and paraded through the outer city. The people of the outer city, seeing their respected queen being slandered by these people, angrily picked up stones from the roadside and threw them at the adventurers.

Linde took this incident as a starting point and began to formulate policies regarding adventurers. In this world where magic truly exists, it is necessary to control such acts of violence that violate the law.

Outside the capital, Antipa, still shaken, received the latest intelligence from the capital: Lind's departure this time was rather hasty, and many northern troops were still on their way, so some nobles took advantage of the chaos of the purge to escape and join the demons.

"So, does that mean now is the best time to attack the capital?"

Antipas tentatively asked the royal nobles and Monroe before him.

Monroe quickly replied, "That's right, humans are indeed so ugly. Your Majesty, it's time to bring a new order to humanity!"