The residence that Brando arranged for Prince Lenarette was located on the east side of Valhalla, in a palace formed by hollowing out the trunk of a tree. This was one of Valhalla's abilities. As long as one paid a certain amount of Mana in the Town Hall, the Tree Fortress would be able to create an unlimited number of caverns. Of course, to turn these caverns into rooms, one would need to decorate and decorate them. Brendel asked Amandina and Odum to design a palace that was modeled after Coldwood Castle to serve as Valhalla's guest rooms. Now this luxurious guest room was exclusively occupied by the eldest prince of the Cruz people. Outside the guest room, day or night, there were Cruz's Folded Sword Knights guarding it in shifts.
Most of these Folded Sword Knights knew Brando, and after notifying him and getting Lenarette's approval, they respectfully led him in. The entrance to the palace was cleverly arranged. It was located on a terrace connected by a vine path; the other end of the path connected to the second level of the treetop square above. The entrance was very remote and guarded by Tree Elf Archers. Right in front of the terrace was the main branch of the giant tree that extended upward. In that direction, there were Tree Elf Archers' outposts and treehouses hidden between the branches, but through the lush shade on both sides of the branches, one could still see the scenery of the mountains in the clouds to the east. It could be said that both safety and the owner of the place could enjoy the wonderful scenery. It was an excellent design.
At the entrance, there were vines full of green leaves hanging down from the tree wall, as if forming a curtain. Behind it was the main hall of the palace. This main hall was also half-open. There was a giant crystal above the hall that could filter the light from the outside, allowing sunlight or moonlight to pour on the magic fountain in the center of the hall, allowing the sparkling spring water to gush over the pebbles. When Brando and Amandina walked into the hall, they happened to see the eldest prince of the Cruz people standing by the spring, looking down at the sparkling golden water flow, thinking about something.
"Your Highness Lenarette, are you satisfied with your stay?" Brando walked to a place not far from him and stopped to greet him.
Lenarette looked back at them and nodded, but did not answer, only waiting for them to speak.
This guy is still as boring as ever, Bu thought. He took the initiative to speak, "Your Highness Lenarette, the Wind Elves have started a war in the Wilderness of the Four Realms, and the Golden Mane Lionmen are also gathering an army. The Holy War can be said to have begun. I wonder what Your Highness thinks about this?"
Since the start of the Holy War, the Silver Queen had no choice but to rely heavily on the military nobles in the Empire, and most of these nobles supported the eldest son of the Emperor. Lenarette nodded silently and asked, "According to the usual practice, the Holy Cathedral of Fire should have summoned the envoys of various countries to Rushta. I haven't had the time to congratulate Mr. Count on being appointed as the head of the envoy group."
"His Highness Lenarette has also lived in Tónigel for some time. He wouldn't not want to return to the Empire, would he?"
The eldest son of the Cruz people raised his head and looked at him with light blue eyes. That indifferent gaze seemed to say, could it be that you, a little Count of Tónigel, also want to intervene in the battle for the throne of the Empire?
Brando spread his hands and smiled slightly, "Your Highness, it's not that I want to pull chestnuts out of the fire, but I have no choice. I have no intention of intervening in the internal affairs of the Cruz people, especially the most troublesome battle for the throne. But now that things have come to this, I have to think of a way to protect myself. This matter is good for you, and good for me, so I would like to get some advice from you. "
"What advice?" Lenarette asked.
"First of all, I want to know, in the Empire, who will spare no effort to support you."
Lenarette frowned slightly, as if considering the value of this meeting. After a moment of consideration, he gestured to Brando. The gesture meant, 'Please come inside and talk', and then turned and walked in the direction of the study. Brendel seemed to have expected this, and he brought Amandina along to follow them. They went all the way to the study. There were a few light spirits in the study waiting for the eldest son's instructions. Lenarette asked them to set up the room and put black tea and snacks. Although these light spirits also listened to Brando's orders, Brando was good-natured and waited for the eldest son of the Cruz people to exercise his authority, although his authority was also limited to this palace.
A moment later, when a few light spirits flew out of the room, the eldest son of the Cruz people solemnly replied, "Mr. Count, the Octavier family is my wife's family, and Duke Ludwig will spare no effort to support me."
Brando really did not expect the eldest son of the Emperor to already have a wife at such a young age. However, this kind of political marriage in Wohnde was equivalent to taking sides. The Octavier family could be said to be tied to Lenarette for good or ill, so Duke Ludwig in the Cruz Empire could be regarded as the kind of person that the eldest son of the Emperor could completely trust. "What else?" He continued to ask.
"The Nona family is my ally."
"What's going on?" Brando asked.
"Old Marquis Enoen had publicly opposed the succession of the late king to my mother, so he had a grudge with my mother. This kind of hatred will not be resolved with the passage of time, so the most eager to have my mother abdicate is the Nona family. I have a secret agreement with the Nona family, and Marquis Enoen promised to give me a portion of Enoen's mining shares and unreservedly support me in seizing the throne. "Lenarette replied calmly.
Brando suddenly understood, no wonder Mangrove was in such a hurry to come from the empire to Tónigel. The empire's army was divided into four, and the current Marquis Enoen Mangrove was the commander of the Black Legion. In addition, the Azure Legion was in the hands of the Arihik family behind Veronica. The Nigel family, which was related to the royal family by blood, controlled the White Legion on the border of Hazel and the Red Legion on the border of Saint-ausol. These three families were the typical representatives of the military aristocracy in the north. The attitude of these military aristocrats was generally biased towards the eldest son of the Emperor's succession, but this only represented one attitude. According to Lenarette's words, the only one who was really willing to contribute should be the Nona family.
Brando noted this point and continued to ask, "Anything else?"
"The old Prime Minister Nidevan."
"Prime Minister Nidevan?" Brando was shocked and asked again almost in disbelief. The old Prime Minister of the Cruz Empire, Nidevan, was not an ordinary person. He should be more than 150 years old now, and was an elder of the empire for three generations. A hundred years ago, it was with his help that the emperor of Cruz regained power from the Holy Cathedral. If there was any legend of the people of Cruz in this era, it should be the Prime Minister.
And with his identity and wisdom, or to put it bluntly, such an old fox, how could he easily choose a side?
Brando looked at the eldest son of the Cruz Empire suspiciously, and Lenarette replied slowly, "Mother's favor to the Palut family is actually to use the power of the local aristocrats to suppress other forces in the court. The military aristocrats in the north rarely intervene in government affairs, so her purpose is known to the world — nothing more than the Prime Minister and the Holy Cathedral. The Prime Minister understands that mother has no good feelings for him, so naturally he will not stand on that side. "
"But he may not stand on your side either." Brando thought to himself that the empire had plenty of princes and princesses, and it was not to the extent that there would be no heir just because of the loss of the eldest son. However, the eldest son was at least right about one thing, and that was that no matter which prince or princess was chosen to inherit the empire, the old Prime Minister would not stand on the side of the Silver Queen.
That was enough.
He silently calculated that the three forces mentioned by Lenarette came from the distant relatives of the royal family, the military aristocrats, and the general aristocrats. The most hardcore of them should be Duke Ludwig of the Octavier family, followed by the Nona family. The old Prime Minister Nidevan could only be regarded as a potential ally, or rather, an enemy. Brando still remembered that he had offended the daughter of the Prime Minister of the empire, the precious granddaughter of the old Prime Minister, so he would try not to provoke her if he could.
On the surface, there were several forces in the Cruz Empire, the royal family, the military aristocrats, the local aristocrats, and the Holy Sanctum.
These four forces basically controlled most of the empire's land, population, resources, and army. The empire's land, population, and resources were of little significance to Brando. The most important thing for his plan was the army. In the empire's army, the four traditional legions were controlled by the military aristocrats, and the royal family controlled two of them through marriage. The patrolling cavalry and local garrison forces in various areas had always been the traditional sphere of influence of the local aristocrats, including the newly risen navy. However, the local aristocrats were divided into two, with the royal family and the Holy Sanctum each occupying one of them. The royal family was more closely related to the autonomous grand duchies in the north, while the Holy Sanctum mainly influenced the small and large lords in the south. Finally, the Holy Sanctum itself also had a military force that could not be underestimated, including the most elite part of the Cruz army, such as the Bishops and the Flame Family Knights.
Brando thought about it and suddenly realized that he had missed something. "What about Veronica? Shouldn't she also support His Royal Highness? "He raised his head and asked Lenarette this question somewhat strangely.
The eldest prince of the Cruz Empire glanced at him and shook his head, "Mr. Count, the teacher supports me because of the honor and sense of justice of the military, but the Arizik family behind the teacher may not stand on my side."
Brando understood what was going on after hearing this, and he could not help but be in awe. The names mentioned by Lenarette before, including the military aristocrats in the north, could at most be called qualified politicians, but this female legion commander was a real soldier and Knight of the empire.
He tapped his knuckles and began to analyze while replying to Lenarette, "I have probably understood, Your Royal Highness. Let's now determine what our goal is."
In Brando's heart, what he most wanted to see was of course, the prince returning directly to the empire and pulling his supporters to fight against Her Royal Highness. The slightest result of this would be a coup, but the more likely result would be a civil war. Of course, this idea was just a thought. The eldest prince was not a fool, and his supporters had not been affected by the halo of retardation.
The ultimate goal of a plan depended on the power they had now. A beggar would not rashly dream of becoming a king. A farmer's long-term plan was mostly to buy a few more acres of land, not to become a wealthy merchant who could traverse the four seas. And the goal Brando set for Lenarette was self-preservation.
"Self-preservation?" The eldest prince of the Cruz people chewed on the word carefully, "Self-preservation, first ensure that my supporters in the empire will not be swept away by my mother, is that what you mean?"
Damn, this is a monster, Brando could not help but curse in his heart. Although he had heard about the wisdom and strength of the eldest prince in history, but when he really faced him, he could not help but feel that his IQ was crushed by the other party by several levels. He, Amandina, and Carglise had discussed this plan several times, and finally decided on the details one by one. He did not expect the other party to guess what they meant just by hearing the name.
The Silver Queen had set such a grand goal of unifying Wohnde, and what she had to do was to gather the army first. It was conceivable that she would definitely start with the Nona family first, and she had previously suppressed the northern nobles in preparation for this day. The military nobles were not fools, and naturally understood the principle that if one were to prosper, all would prosper, and if one were to suffer, all would suffer. The only way Her Majesty could deal with them was to use the peaceful period to reduce the army and the power in the hands of these nobles. But the early arrival of the Holy War forced the Silver Queen to let go of the restraints on the northern nobles, because she knew very well that she still had many opponents in the empire. If she lost in the Holy War, then these opponents hiding in the dark would jump out together to force her to abdicate.
She had been in the empire for forty years, and according to the previous agreement, she should have abdicated long ago. If she wanted to continue to rule this huge empire, she had to increase her prestige and give herself a legitimate reason not to leave.
The best reason was that she could lead the people of Cruz to victory.
And this was the opportunity for Brando and the eldest son of the emperor. But at this time, not only could they not stand up against the Supreme One, but they also had to restrain themselves and try not to give her a chance to make mistakes. On the surface, the only army that Lenarette could control was the Black Legion, plus the local noble forces that Duke Dewegweg could influence in the north. But in fact, the Silver Queen could not control too many troops, only the Red and White Legions.
But compared to the eldest son of the emperor, she had more potential enemies. She was on bad terms with the Kirk family, the Holy Cathedral, and the Prime Minister. The Ariziko family was said to be very close to the Flower Leaf Territory, so they would not be determined to support Her Majesty. On the contrary, although they were not loyal allies of the eldest son of the emperor, there was no shortage of opportunities to turn enemies into friends — because at least they had a common enemy.
Brando's proposal to Lenarette was to first secretly connect his forces in the country in his name to help each other, and then hide deep in the dark. This was a means of self-protection. Self-protection itself was a kind of defense, but defense was also for counterattack. This Holy War was an indescribable whirlpool for the Cruz Empire. The Holy Cathedral wanted to win, and the Silver Queen also wanted to win, but the Holy Cathedral was not willing to make a wedding dress for the Silver Queen, and presumably the Supreme One of the empire had the same idea.
And the local nobles also had their own ulterior motives. There were hardcore supporters of the queen, and there were also supporters of the Holy Cathedral. When the two sides wrestled with each other, the power owned by the eldest son of the emperor became a decisive force. If he chose to remain silent, then the Silver Queen's plan to integrate the power of the empire to achieve military victory in the Holy War could be said to have failed by half.
In the face of this situation, it was not surprising that the old Prime Minister, Nidevan, would look on coldly, and the attitude of the local nobles would change over time.
Because of a very simple principle.
A newly ascended emperor and an iron-blooded queen who had ruled the empire for forty years had a completely different power in terms of governing ability. No local nobles would like an overly powerful emperor. This was a universal truth in Wohnde, so it was self-evident who they would eventually side with. When the prestige of Her Majesty the Queen weakened day by day with the deepening of the war, then the voices forcing her to abdicate would one day reach a consensus among all the nobles.
At that time, Lenarette could justifiably return to the empire and receive the support of the nobles.
This was the final counterattack.
Of course, self-protection at this stage was also good for Brando. He wanted to go to the empire to take back the Azure Lance and Scarlet, and it was conceivable that his enemies should be Her Majesty the Queen and the Holy Cathedral of Fire. Therefore, the last thing he wanted to see was a completely unified empire, whether under the name of the Silver Queen or the Holy Cathedral. Therefore, what he had to do was to maintain the chaotic status quo of the empire and seek opportunities for himself with the help of the opposition from many sides. At the same time, Lenarette's allies in the north could also provide him with the necessary protection, such as arranging a safe channel for him to escape the empire.
In this regard, he and the eldest son of the Kirrlutzians had common interests.
Lenarette listened carefully to Amandina's analysis and nodded silently. He finally looked at Brando, and his gaze was no longer so cold. He thought for a moment before he replied, "Count, thank you for your frank proposal. I think I can trust you completely. If one day I ascend the throne, then your friendship with me today will become a precious witness."
Brando smiled slightly and finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, "Then it's a pleasure to work with you, Your Highness." He replied.
Lenarette nodded slightly to him as a sign of acknowledgment, but his stern face did not loosen in the slightest. He thought for a moment and suddenly said, "As a friend, I have some personal advice that I can tell you, Count."
Brando was slightly taken aback and asked, "What advice?"
"I know my mother's character and conduct very well. Your subordinate is in her hands, and she will definitely use you and Erouine to coerce her into submission. I think, Count, if your subordinate's inner world is not very indestructible, you'd better do something to give her some confidence. "The eldest prince replied faintly.
Sure enough, His Royal Highness already knew the real reason why he came here. Brando thought in his heart, but he immediately realized that the information provided by Prince Lenarette was very deceptive. He thought for a moment and felt that with Her Majesty's character of not giving up until she achieved her goal, she would most likely do so. Thinking of this, he suddenly felt that his trip was not a loss. He hurriedly nodded to the eldest prince of the Cruz people, "I understand what to do, thank you very much."
… …
Correction, yesterday's scene fifty-five should be scene fifty-six. Today, I will release the first chapter, scene fifty-seven, and there will be another one later. I hope everyone will enjoy it, and I also hope everyone will support me and spend more monthly votes.
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