The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

The palace was not yet completed, and the imperial city was constantly expanding. His Majesty the Emperor did not seem to be in a hurry or care where he lived. So when Connor was brought to the former governor’s mansion, he was a little doubtful that he had gone to the wrong place. After all, this place looked even worse than the former Lars family mansion.

Linde had already received the news and was waiting at the mansion with Lena's family. When Ruby saw that unfamiliar yet familiar figure, she couldn't help but rush over. Sean and Colin, on the other hand, were much calmer. Sean was the first to say to his father, who had not been home for a long time, "Welcome back."

Connor's eyes were no longer bright. He opened his mouth but could not make a sound, as if something hot was stuck in his throat.

"They've all grown up."

Connor hugged Ruby tightly and nodded to Sean and Colin. Sean looked much more mature now, after all, he was in charge of the Empire's transportation and often had to go on field missions. Moreover, he had rushed back from the Eastern Harbor after receiving the news, and there were even traces of the sea breeze on his face.

Connor wanted to say that Sean had the same spirit he had in his youth, but seeing the weariness and maturity on Sean's face, he swallowed his words. Connor understood that after his disappearance, besides his father and Lena, the person under the most pressure was probably Sean, and Sean had always held himself to the standards of an heir.

Colin, standing to the side, seemed to have a stronger sense of hostility. Even in this situation, it couldn't completely dispel Colin's hostility. However, seeing that the once arrogant and wicked Colin could stand on his own, Connor couldn't help but sigh quietly.

This is only because I left early and failed to properly educate Colin.

"Father... Father."

With the help of her maid, Lena gave her father a poor bow. Lena was pregnant, but Connor could still sense that his daughter's etiquette lessons were as terrible as ever, and she was making the same mistakes as before. It was impossible to tell that she was now a queen.

Connor subconsciously nodded silently to Lena. It wasn't that he had any issues with Lena, but among his siblings, Lena had changed the least. Apart from going from a girl to a wife, she still didn't show any signs of maturity.

If Lena weren't already a married woman and pregnant, Connor might even have hallucinated the time when he and his father would sigh as they taught Lena court etiquette.

The change is not in appearance, but in temperament. Lena is still the same as before... just as innocent and carefree.

However, recalling what the saintess had said—that Lena had briefly taken control of the entire Cape when the emperor was away—Connor knew that his daughter, whose temperament had changed the least, was probably not so simple after all.

But to be honest, Connor was more interested in his son-in-law, who had unified two kingdoms, than in the queen's daughter.

How exactly did the other person take a liking to Lena?

When Connor's gaze turned to Lind beside Lena, he instinctively wanted to kneel down in respect, but Lind gave him a meaningful look. Connor quickly understood and gently stroked Ruby in his arms while saying to the other children, "I'm back. I'm sorry, I'm back."

A gentle breeze caressed everyone, as if composing a silent elegy for this belated reunion; the scene was as beautiful as a fairytale ending.

Connor then took the children to pay respects to his father, and afterwards had a conversation with Lind about father-in-law and son-in-law.

Lena and the other children were originally present, but Connor wanted to speak with his son-in-law alone, so he asked the children to leave first. Ruby aside, Colin was in charge of the Inquisition, and Sean had to go to welcome the dragon from the continent of Soren. The children were all very busy, and Connor could no longer talk to them as simply as a father as before.

Connor had originally intended to joke about how Emperor Linde had taken a liking to his good-for-nothing daughter, since Linde hadn't given Connor a particularly serious impression before, and had even seemed rather warm.

However, after Lena left, Lind's aura underwent a subtle change. Connor, who had been educated to be the heir since childhood, keenly noticed this. His son-in-law became calm and rational after his daughter left, like a decision-making machine. Even when talking to Connor, his tone became unconsciously cold. This change was not even noticed by the emperor himself.

This reminded Connor of some rumors he had heard on the road about his son-in-law. His Majesty the Emperor was good, but he was too ruthless to those nobles. Connor even heard from Lars, who was greeting him, that His Majesty the Emperor planned to dismantle the Lars family. Lars hoped that Connor could try to persuade His Majesty the Emperor from the perspective of a father-in-law.

Lars has always been utterly loyal to the patriarch, His Majesty the Emperor, and will continue to be loyal to the Empire.

Since Lena is now pregnant, it proves that the Emperor and Empress are both healthy. Even amidst the many nobles with numerous wives and concubines, His Majesty the Emperor still strictly adheres to the monogamous rule of the Goddess Cult and has no intention of remarrying.

This means that the future heir to the empire will only be chosen from Lena's children. And Lena's children are family members of the Lars family, aren't they? His Majesty the Emperor has no need to dismantle the Lars family now.

Perhaps the son-in-law's peaceful demeanor around his daughter made Lars and his men forget some things, but Connor had seen quite a few hanging corpses along the way.

It seemed that His Majesty the Emperor had entrusted all his tenderness and humanity to Lena. Once separated from Lena, he would become a humanoid machine that would make the empire function better. Even His Majesty the Emperor himself did not realize this. So in the end, Connor did not say much. He understood that Lena was no longer just his daughter, but had become two sides of the same empire with His Majesty the Emperor.

The Lind Destruction Clan was mainly focused on cleaning up those who hadn't contributed anything but had done wrong by claiming kinship, and warning some of the increasingly arrogant Lars. They didn't actually intend to completely dismantle the Lars family.

So after learning about it, Connor not only didn't object, but also chose to distance himself from the situation and not become the so-called opinion leader of the Lars people. He had been groomed as the successor for a long time. To put it bluntly, even the late Grand Duke of Lars might not have had as keen a political sense as Connor.

For this reason, Connor even married Prima at an extremely fast pace. Although this marriage, which was somewhat purposeful, made Connor feel a little sorry for Prima, Prima had no objection at all. Prima was quite calm and didn't even feel like she was dreaming. After all, she had become the mother-in-law of the Empire in an instant. Prima felt that she couldn't possibly have such an outrageous dream.

Although Connor chose to distance himself from politics, some basic social skills were still necessary, especially for Prima. A stepmother of the Queen could be from a rural background, but she couldn't actually be just a rural girl. Although Prima said she would stay at home and not cause Connor any trouble, Connor still planned to teach Prima some basic social etiquette.

For this reason, Connor specially invited Ruby to instruct Prima, since Connor had already seen that he still couldn't rely on Lena in terms of etiquette, even though Lena herself was now an etiquette expert.

"Dad, how many years ago are these things?"

Seeing her missing father bring out court etiquette passed down for generations, even Ruby, his sweet little darling, couldn't help but complain.

Connor was somewhat prepared for Ruby's complaints. After all, a new empire would definitely have new etiquette. Connor was even prepared to face abstract etiquette, because even if His Majesty the Emperor were to establish etiquette, he would definitely use Lena as a model and do whatever made Lena comfortable. And after so long, Lena's level of etiquette could only be described as appalling.

Seeing her nervous stepmother, Ruby took out a set of workbooks from her little backpack and said, "Let's start with some basic math."

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