In the Name of the Queen

Hansa City, Queen's Palace.

Athos walked towards the Queen's office on the top floor with steady steps.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, his magnetic voice remained elegant and calm.

"Your Majesty, I, your servant Athos, have been summoned."

"Come in." The voice in the room was very casual.

Athos tidied his appearance again and made sure there was no flaw before taking a step.

The Queen can be casual, but he can't.

Since the Queen came to Hansa, she has been more of a count and rarely played the Queen herself, even if she did, it was in public.

This was the first time that the Queen summoned him alone in her name.

Athos couldn't remember how long he hadn't been so nervous.

Damn, he thought he would never be tempted by fame and fortune again, but he was wrong.

Trying to suppress the excitement in his heart, Athos saluted the Queen calmly and carefully observed Sylph with his peripheral vision.

He had a clear feeling that this was the real queen, not a fake one. Although they looked almost the same, he just knew it, without any reason.

If you want to find a reason, it's not that there is no reason, that is temperament and soul.

Although the substitute queen is as beautiful as the original queen, she lacks the elegant and graceful temperament of an elf, and she is eager to get off work every second.

How could Athos not see this kind of worker's mentality? He was like this in the past few years.

The appearance of the queen changed everything.

Maybe he didn't need to be so excited about the title of baron, but he would be happy for the queen's decision.

Looking at Athos's somewhat uneasy expression, Sif smiled and pointed her right hand to the guest chair.

"Sir Athos, don't be restrained. We have worked together for a long time."

This sentence almost made it clear that the queen was the earl.

Although Athos already knew, Sif also knew that Athos knew, and Athos also knew that Sif knew that he knew, but this statement was a kind of grace and trust.

He quickly bowed to the Queen and returned to his seat.

"Your Majesty, do you have any instructions for me?"

Although it was a favor to be summoned by the Queen alone, Athos decided to enjoy it for a while and asked directly.

"There are some things I want to know from you. The latest intelligence is on your hand, please read it carefully first."

Athos had already noticed that there was organized intelligence on the table. After getting the Queen's permission, he quickly picked it up and read it carefully.

He had already read the simplified version of this intelligence, which was the recent dynamics of the Golden Kite Kingdom compiled by Raikkonen.

Seeing the information that Alina and Roland were in conflict, the Fourth Fleet was withdrawing, and Alina was marching towards Xidai, the corners of his lips could not help but rise slightly.

"Sir Athos, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know Miss Alina very well, but based on my understanding of the Governor-General, he would never be so reckless, so this is probably a double act."

It was not surprising that Athos could see through this.

Sylph didn't think that this calm and capable minister had any worse political literacy than herself. If she could understand it, then Athos could certainly do the same.

Her biggest doubt was. Would Marco see through it?

Perhaps it was because of the long distance to prevent leaks, or more likely to be the ultimate test for her. Roland had not written her a personal letter since he went to sea, nor had he sent a secret envoy to report the situation.

Sylph had to judge for herself how to cooperate with Roland.

Whether to launch a feint attack to contain the enemy, or to send troops directly into the Kingdom of Golden Kite, she had to make the decision herself.

Thinking that this was an important decision that would determine the fate of herself and Roland, Sylph was not impulsive, but chose to listen to the opinions of professionals.

"Sir Athos, the part of your resume before the age of 25"

"It's fabricated." Athos admitted frankly.

This kind of thing is not difficult to verify. Since the Queen asked, it was a chance for him to confess.

This was a test from the Queen to him, but it was also a test from him to the Queen.

"I was once the Count of Lafite of the Golden Kite Kingdom. I came to the three overseas provinces due to family changes. Becoming a high-ranking official in Hansa was the result of a series of accidents."

Athos, who was well-informed, could cover up deception with such an elegant fabrication.

Sif nodded with satisfaction.

She hinted at her true identity, just to exchange sincerity for sincerity.

If Athos admitted it, he would be trustworthy. If he still wanted to hide it now, he could not be reused no matter how many difficulties he had.

"Sir Athos, don't mind. Everyone has a past that they don't want to share with others. I have no intention of prying into your past. Since you were once a noble of the Golden Kite Kingdom, you must have a deep understanding of the Golden Kite Kingdom. I need your advice on some things."

Athos breathed a sigh of relief.

He easily passed the Queen's loyalty test, and the Queen also easily passed his test of capacity.

The choice is two-way.

If Queen Sif can't tolerate this little secret, then there is no need for him to offer his wisdom. He can just continue to pretend to be busy every day like the Queen's substitute.

After a brief mutual probing, the atmosphere became much more harmonious, but Athos was still very humble in front of the Queen.

"Your Majesty, the situation in the Golden Kite Kingdom is complicated, and no one dares to say that they understand the Golden Kite."

He pondered for a moment and briefly introduced the complexity of the Golden Kite Kingdom.

It took him nearly an hour to give a brief introduction to the political structure of the Golden Kite Kingdom.

Sif smiled and listened with relish.

Athos was the second best storyteller after Roland, and he explained the chaotic political structure of the Golden Kite very clearly.

After Alina left, the intelligence system that had been basically built was handed over to Raikkonen. Some intelligence personnel also left Golden Kite with Alina's tacit consent, obtained Sussex citizenship, and became the backbone of the new intelligence system.

Most of these people lost their families under Marco's tyranny and were full of hatred for Golden Kite. Their loyalty was self-evident, but they were just intelligence personnel who could collect and analyze intelligence but could not dig deep into the deep information behind the intelligence.

Athos could, he knew Golden Kite too well.

Facing Sif's question "Will Marco see through it?", he decisively gave the answer.

"It doesn't matter whether Marco sees through it or not. Even if he can see through it, what does it matter? When all his men think that Alina is here to die, he can't suppress the army's desire to fight."

"In politics, what you think is not important, what matters is what you can do and what you have done."

Perhaps because he felt that this was a bit preachy, Athos quickly patched it up, "Although Marco is far less wise than Your Majesty, he is at least the head of a country, so he naturally knows."

Looking at Athos's cautious look, Sif smiled and interrupted him.

"Sir Athos, please don't flatter me, I don't like it."

Sif still knows whether she is wise or not.

Of course there is, but it works sometimes and not sometimes.

"I need a calm wise man to help me with advice, not a bard singing praises for me. It's better to leave this matter to Mr. Adam."

Athos just smiled and said nothing.

If the queen doesn't let him flatter, he will listen. But normal praise is definitely not flattery.

Skipping this topic, Athos continued to analyze for Sif.

"After the Golden Kite Kingdom overthrew the monarchy, countless factions were formed within it. The strongest among them were the Bud Moon Faction, which represented the bourgeoisie, where Marco was, the Thermidor Faction, which represented the urban civilians, and the Flower Moon Faction, which represented the interests of the old nobles and soldiers."

"Among them, the Flower Moon Faction was originally the strongest, but lost its leader after Carlo's death. The Thermidor Faction had the loudest voice and controlled public opinion, but had no real power. After the Bud Moon Faction was purged by Marco, its strength declined on the surface, but in fact its cohesion increased."

"Killing so many people can also improve cohesion?"

Sif was stunned, and the question came out of her mouth, but she figured it out quickly.

"I know, kill all the opponents, and only the supporters will be left."

"But I still disagree. If you can't tolerate fierce opposition, the mild opposition will become particularly harsh. The Bud Moon Faction is not a monolithic entity."

This time it was Athos' turn to be surprised.

Of course he had thought about what the queen said. He wanted to go around in circles to explain it to Sif, but he didn't expect her to figure it out herself.

"Your Majesty is wise. There are also undercurrents within the Crescent Moon Cult. The guillotine can only chop off heads, but it cannot eliminate differences. Whether Marco sees through it or not, he must fight and cannot shrink in the city of Cite."

"If he is trapped in the capital, his legitimacy as president will be gone. Just a little spark can ignite the giant powder keg of Cite."

"Giant powder keg?"

Sif murmured and repeated it several times, smiling and teasing: "What an apt metaphor. In this case, the time for us to send troops is when Alina and Marco are about to start a decisive battle in the wild."

Athos did not continue to flatter, but looked at Queen Sylph with admiration.

Actions are more effective than words. Although she said not to flatter, the approval of the wise still made Sif secretly happy.

If Roland were here, what would he say?

He would definitely let her figure it out herself.

Sif's dimples were full of smiles, as if Roland was standing there, right beside Athos, quietly watching her, waiting for her to hand in her answer sheet.

The time to send troops has come, and the next thing is the scale and name of the troops.

The number of people cannot be too many, otherwise it will be easy to be exposed. But it cannot be too few, otherwise it will be meaningless.

The name of fame must not be the reinforcements of the Sussex Empire.

According to Athos's description, the Golden Kite people are proud, and they will never accept charity from the Sussex people unless they have no choice.

This is also the reason why Roland has always avoided suspicion.

After despising the arrogance of the Golden Kite people who are down and out but want to put on airs, Sif made a decision.

"Sir Athos, when they fight a decisive battle, I will lead the troops myself, and I will leave this to you."

"Your Majesty, actually..."

Athos wanted to say that he knew a little about military affairs and could do it for him, but he vaguely thought of the real reason why Sif led the army personally, and shut up instantly.

There are rumors that Miss Alina is also Roland's secret lover.

It was a very outrageous rumor, but it was not impossible.

Although Alina was of noble status, she had nothing now. How could she bribe Governor Roland?

Even if it was just an additional part of a political deal, Governor Roland probably wouldn't let go of her beautiful, delicate and pure body, right?

He was a man, and so was Governor Roland.

He understood too well.