The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Chapter 306 Royal Siblings

Although he was the eldest brother in the Augustinian family, Cliff had always been rather inconspicuous. Even as the former crown prince before Crane, Cliff always gave the impression of being cowardly and decadent.

Compared to Crane, Cliff is simply not a qualified successor.

But it seems everyone has forgotten that before Augustine III's attitude changed and before Crane rose to prominence, Cliff was always being groomed as the crown prince, receiving a proper crown prince education, and even being personally taught by Augustine III.

Cliff was even called a little Augustine III at the time, because Cliff was just as shrewd as Augustine III. Augustine III once said that Cliff was the most like himself of all his children, a compliment that even Crane had never received.

"Claire, why did you do this? Without Her Majesty the Queen, how are we supposed to fight the demon army?"

Cliff's question lacked authority, but it reminded Claire that the demon army was her biggest trump card. So she replied, "It's simple, I'll just make the demon army retreat. But brother, why are you sitting in this position?"

“I was just doing what my father taught me, and by the time I came to my senses, I was already sitting here.”

Cliff wrapped his coat tighter around himself and curled up in a ball.

Judith, however, dared not underestimate the middle-aged man sitting on the throne.

Cliff learned of the coup almost immediately and quickly had his men integrate the southwestern soldiers in the palace. Before long, the soldiers loyal to Lilith were no longer leaderless.

Cliff disregarded the adventurers who were constantly causing trouble, and instead very purposefully organized his men to go to the palace gates, opened the gates to let Judith in, and even sent people to summon the new party nobles.

The entire operation was swift and efficient, with a clear objective. Not only did they manage to gather a small portion of their own forces amidst the chaos of the court, but they also immediately recognized Judith as the key to breaking the deadlock. They invited Judith directly to the palace and even persuaded her that Her Majesty the Queen was in grave danger and that the greater good should be prioritized. They then asked Judith to bring Scott over.

With Judith and Scott working together, they quickly took control of the palace guards, especially the soldiers transferred from the Southwest Army, and then directly controlled the entire main hall.

Because Claire was clearly being childish, she spent too much time vandalizing the Northern Revenue Office and didn't even realize that the important main hall had been occupied.

Even if Claire had known the situation beforehand and hadn't entered the main hall directly, relying instead on the armory to continue resisting, defeat would have been only a matter of time.

Controlling the main hall means controlling the entire palace, and controlling the entire palace means controlling the capital. If just a portion of the garrison around the capital were recalled, Claire would be finished.

"Brother, since you don't seem to want to sit in this position, how about you just give it to me? I promise I'll do a better job and be more suitable than you."

Claire's fervor was no longer concealed, but before Cliff could speak, Judith beside him said, "Do you think we'd agree?"

"Claire, how dare you disregard the safety of the kingdom and attack the Queen at this time? Where is Her Majesty the Queen right now?"

Faced with Judith's questioning, Claire simply shrugged: "Who knows? Maybe they were blown up."

"you!"

Just as Judith was about to erupt in anger, Claire said, "What? Getting impatient? Duke of the South, you wouldn't still be thinking of restoring the glory of the old empire, would you? You're no better than that queen!"

It seems that Claire has already mastered two-tenths of the six arts of the Internet in later generations, leaving Judith speechless. After all, Judith really had no way to answer this sensitive topic.

Claire continued, "Brother, even if you take this position, can you make those demons retreat? If you give up the position now, will the demons still withdraw from the central region out of respect for me?"

"You've colluded with the demons?"

Cliff continued to ask in a humble voice.

"So what if it is?!" Claire didn't care. In fact, saying it out loud was even more intimidating, and her tone was even a little excited.

The Augustins on either side of the throne fell silent. No one had expected things to turn out this way. Looking at the fanaticism on Claire's face, some realized that Claire had completely gone mad. She only wanted to be queen, and she didn't care about the kingdom or the Augustinian family.

Just then, a person stumbled into the main hall. It was the subordinate that Claire had sent out to communicate with the demons, saying that she was ready.

The subordinate stumbled into the solemn hall, clutching a carrier pigeon.

Claire was somewhat surprised to receive a reply so quickly. Were the demons already so close to the capital?

But none of that mattered. Claire removed the note from the carrier pigeon's leg in front of everyone.

"Okay, okay, hahahaha!"

After reading the note, Claire, who had gone completely mad, threw it down and staggered out of the hall.

Someone immediately picked up the note and handed it to Cliff on the throne. Cliff quickly glanced at the contents of the note, but couldn't help but facepalm.

On the note, Antipa's meaning was clear: he had already reached the outskirts of the capital, and how could he possibly give up such a large piece of meat? Antipa was very grateful for Claire's contributions to the demons. The demons would take advantage of the chaos to attack the capital, and in gratitude, Antipa would marry Claire after conquering the capital, give her the title of queen, and have her govern the city.

How ridiculous it is for a queen to have a sphere of influence limited to only one city.

But Claire, already in a frenzy, couldn't care less about anything else, because she had already lost. Not only had Lilith disappeared, but she had also lost control of the situation.

Cliff was heartbroken to see his sister in her delirium. He didn't want things to turn out this way, but he did anyway. In hindsight, things might have been even worse if Claire had taken that position. The demons didn't obediently retreat as Claire had hoped; instead, they decided to continue their siege. This was probably because the demons realized that ordinary humans couldn't fight to the death like the soldiers of the North; they were easily broken.

Just as Clive opened his mouth, wanting to persuade his sister but not knowing what to say, Claire, who was staggering out of the hall, twisted her ankle and fell down the steps in front of the hall.

"Claire!"

Cliff rose hastily from his throne and stumbled toward his sister.