Tessvelan noticed that there was something off about Livyat today, because she actually gave 100 grosso in a grand gesture to a girl begging on the street for school fees, and even encouraged her to study hard.
Clearly, Livyat had almost been trained by her to embody the dignified aura of a queenly noblewoman.
If she truly wanted to show mercy, she should have simply announced the establishment of a foundation as a noble, or donated to another foundation.
Besides, this girl might not even be a real student—she could just be a disguised swindler.
This gave Tessvelan a huge sense of crisis.
She keenly judged that this situation was definitely not caused by Julia, who was also a noble.
Which meant there was someone else influencing things.
She watched Livyat, who still maintained her elegant manner while tasting afternoon tea, and nearly bit through her own fork in frustration.
“Tes, is there something on my face?”
Livyat asked curiously.
Tessvelan quickly pretended nothing was wrong and changed the subject: “This morning’s news. The Dawn Gold Guard didn’t withdraw to the east bank of the river as originally planned.”
The cheese sandwich in Livyat’s hand nearly fell; she choked on a crumb and coughed continuously.
Clearly, the topic shift was a bit too abrupt.
“What do you mean, didn’t withdraw as planned? Are you saying they fought with the prairie cavalry?”
“Because of the upstream flood, they couldn’t withdraw. But after the prairie cavalry camped at a distance, they didn’t advance any further. Instead, they just watched as the water gradually calmed, and only then did the Dawn Gold Guard withdraw to the east bank.”
Livyat took a small bite of the sandwich, already understanding in her heart.
It seemed that King Wadiswav had suffered a complete defeat this time.
The Republic and the Elven Kingdom would now know that though he wildly waved his big stick around, he never dared to actually strike.
“Looks like Julia and the others can really mock the Northern Faction at the council meeting. I wonder what kind of joke the King’s brother, Jagellon, will make when he gives his speech at the council.”
“Prince Jagellon? Liv, haven’t you felt a sense of crisis at all? If you ask me, you should give a speech at the council too. It might be more useful than anything else you’re doing now.”
Livyat felt deeply wounded.
She wasn’t even a rubber stamp—was there any queen in the world as pitiful as her?
And yet she was still expected to be useful—how harsh!
“In the end, it’s because your mother doesn’t want to announce my name, right?”
“If it really was announced, would you agree?”
Tessvelan suddenly grew serious.
Yes, she already knew the answer.
Of course she wouldn’t want that. In the end, she just wanted to be an ordinary office worker in Landingset.
Like a middle schooler during the last few days of summer vacation, with most of the homework left undone, still pretending nothing was wrong and playing games.
But eventually, it would have to be announced.
Tess had said that the only reason it hadn’t been was because the ancient tree hadn’t revealed her surname.
She really wished Tess’s mother could serve as regent for a lifetime.
Suddenly, she felt something at the corner of her mouth and jumped up in shock.
Turned out Tessvelan had scraped the cream from her lips with a fork.
Tessvelan grinned mischievously: “So sensitive. Does that mean you want me to kiss you? Or do you want to be kissed by me?”
Such sly mischief… Truly sly.
Livyat turned her face away and wiped the corner of her mouth with her finger, her face turning even redder.
At that moment, a maid entered and said, “Your Majesty the Queen, Her Highness Tessvelan. The Chief Steward of the Shipbuilding Bureau, Lady Julia Laguance, requests an audience.”
Julia?
It was the first time she had taken the initiative to visit the consulate.
Livyat rushed out of the dining room to greet Julia, leaving a puffed-up Tessvelan behind.
Julia was standing at the main entrance.
Outside, a patrol of armored soldiers passed by.
How strange—Landingset had never had fully armored soldiers patrolling before.
In the reception room, Lady Julia sat with a face so dark it could drip water, her head bowed over her tea.
She saw Tessvelan pressed closely to Liv, holding her hand, and looked over with a provocative gaze.
Julia knew Tessvelan would make a move on Liv, but she hadn’t expected it to be so brazen.
Clearly, being close to the water’s edge, Tessvelan was taking every advantage.
Liv must have been suffering her harassment ever since moving into the consulate.
How far had Tessvelan’s harassment gone?
She didn’t dare dwell on the thought.
The more she did, the more it gnawed at her.
Her expression grew increasingly twisted and unnatural as she forced herself to calm down.
Of course, Livyat noticed that something was off with Julia and quickly asked, “Julia, what’s wrong? Did something happen today?”
Hah, such a little minx, pretending not to know.
But as a career woman, it wasn’t just one thing putting her in such a foul mood.
Julia drained her hot tea in one gulp and began to tell them about today’s council meeting.
“This morning at the council, Mrs. Bauer and her supporters finally couldn’t hold back any longer and lashed out at Governor Carlos, demanding that anyone harboring unrealistic illusions about the elves be expelled.”
That person was her own father, Domenico.
Livyat asked curiously, “Your father would object, right? And the governor…”
“The governor didn’t compromise, of course. Instead, he told them plainly that if they wanted to re-elect or reorganize the Council of Ten, they should submit a proposal. If it passed by half, the Council of Ten could be dissolved, and under the supervision of the High Court, a new council would be elected.”
Tessvelan sneered.
“Mrs. Bauer would never buy that.”
“Of course not. Everyone knows that if they re-elected, it would just be Domenico or his proxy back in charge. So things got even more intense. Eventually, the chairman couldn’t keep order, and it turned into an outright brawl.”
Julia looked up, her frosty gaze freezing the room.
“My father was shoved and fell, injuring himself. The governor was punched in the face during the chaos. After making further threats, Mrs. Bauer and her supporters left without even voting on the morning’s agenda items.”
Now that things had come to this, even the usually smooth and conciliatory governor couldn’t pretend nothing had happened.
After an internal meeting, the Council of Ten jointly signed an order, demanding that the Republican Guard stationed outside Landingset immediately enter the capital for patrol.
Like the sandpile effect, unstoppable, the governor and the Council of Ten continued to sign orders, requiring the Carl Mercenary Group, originally stationed at the border, to immediately cross into the country and garrison in the town of Areo, not far from the capital.
As for the warships in nearby waters—all were forbidden from returning to port.
If more than were needed for the capital’s security, the rest of the warships needing resupply had to go to the port of Qioran, east of Landingset.
But even now, the governor still refused to arrest the Northern Faction first.
He seemed to always think he was just supporting the Elven Faction, not that he was actually part of it.
He thought he could just force the Northern Faction to yield.
On the other hand, the Northern Faction truly hadn’t done anything clearly treasonous.
Arresting them would cause a terrible impact in Landingset.
But how could things end like this?
Julia was more and more dissatisfied with the weak governor.
She even had a sense of urgency: Bauer had to be arrested immediately.
If not tonight, then tomorrow.
Otherwise, come the day after, it would be her own father being arrested.
Because, Prince Jagellon was about to arrive in Hobrike.
The governor was still allowing Prince Jagellon to give a speech at the council and allowing Mrs. Bauer to organize the prince’s speech.
She didn’t understand how the governor could be so confident, still trying to balance both sides.
Unless, the governor had other plans.
Thinking of this, Julia solemnly said to Tessvelan, “If Prince Jagellon is going to speak at the council, then Your Highness Tessvelan must say something as well. Please, we cannot just do nothing in response to the Northern Faction’s blatant challenge.”
Then she set down her teacup, placed her hands on her knees, and said to Livyat, “I know this request sounds rude. But if Her Highness Tessvelan cannot defeat Prince Jagellon in her speech, I beg you to do something in the name of the Queen. The navy cannot be stationed in Areo forever. Mrs. Bauer cannot just pretend nothing happened today. Please, Liv. I beg you.”
It was the first time she had ever seen Julia so lacking in confidence, so vulnerable.
Livyat nodded vigorously and said, “Julia, I’ll do everything I can to support you. Don’t be so gloomy all the time.”
Tessvelan also agreed, though mostly for Livyat’s sake.
“But compared to giving speeches, I’m much better at other things. What a pity.”