"Your Majesty." Noel politely placed his hand on his chest while lowering his head.
"Grand Duke." Wendy smiled and nodded her head.
Unlike a normal visit, Wendy's visit this ti wasn't accompanied by Conrad or Evan. Then again, none of them posed any threat to Noel. If Noel wanted to do sothing, they wouldn't be able to stop him.
Hence, the only person who ca with her was the captain of the royal guard. Although the person was only a spirit grandmaster, he should be strong enough to protect the queen from any kind of threat within the kingdom.
Noel extended his hand, leading the queen to another room where they could discuss sothing even more important.
As expected, the queen actually dismissed the captain, so Noel asked Anna to leave as well. Noel already got the gist of what she wanted to say, and it didn't really concern Anna.
"I apologize for taking your ti, Grand Duke."
"I should be honored to be graced by your presence, Your Majesty." Noel shook his head. "I have seen your intention during the execution."
"As expected from the Grand Duke…" Wendy paused for a mont. "As you may have guessed, I have used the Ardagan family to make it so that we will have more credibility. With the addition of Duke Lorelei's reputation, it should be possible to minimize the damage.
"However, I have made this decision without consulting you. And I plan to take responsibility for my actions. I hope that I can compensate you."
Noel already knew this. In fact, he already had a compensation in mind, but there was sothing that confused him.
"Before answering your questions, may I ask you to indulge with two questions, Your Majesty?"
"I don't mind." Wendy nodded.
Noel's expression turned solemn. "What kind of kingdom do you wish to build, Your Majesty? Unlike other sovereigns I have seen so far, you are pretty conservative."
Wendy understood it as well. Other kings would choose a much more aggressive approach, especially for embracing the new technology from Noel. On the other hand, the queen only agreed with the road and the train. The airship was useful, but nothing else.
In fact, it would have been good if the capital city had the water tower, but the queen hadn't prepared for such a thing.
Despite knowing what kind of person she was, Noel couldn't see through what kind of kingdom she envisioned.
Wendy smiled. "Grand Duke. Because of my circumstances, I have been observing a lot of things. Why is a pig so big? Why does a cow beco like that?
"I have co to the realization that it's because they change. I'm not talking about the change in personality, but a change in physique, not related to spiritual energy or spirits.
"Just like when you train your muscles, you will continue to possess or even improve your muscles, but when you stop using them, those muscles will disappear.
"At that ti, I knew that I was also a result of that change. In our world, a lot of won have changed their lives and beco more independent, but most of the ti, they still beco the main protectors and educators for the children.
"anwhile, most n will still go to work to provide for their families. And that too is just a simple result of the change that has been going on for thousands of years, if not longer.
"This kingdom is like my child. You may call a conservative, but I'd like to protect it.
"Rather than becoming bold and embracing all the changes, I choose to protect it and stabilize it.
"I hope that you don't feel offended by what I say, but embracing the change might be good, but it might cause instability when things go south.
"And the Muivell Kingdom is already unstable. So, I wish to make the kingdom's foundation, which has cracked due to the previous rulers, recover. Once it becos a solid foundation once again, people can be more aggressive in accepting the change."
Noel paused for a mont. For so reason, her words stuck in his heart. He couldn't help but recall everything from Anna.
It was true that compared to him, Anna was much more similar to Wendy in that regard. It wasn't as simple as two different people. It turned out to be related to the difference in gender.
There were other factors, but this was the first ti he had heard sothing like this.
But he could understand Wendy more with this.
"I see. Thank you for enlightening your subject, Your Majesty."
"May I know your second question, Grand Duke?" Wendy calmly took a sip of the tea.
"It is a pretty simple question. If you have to choose between the royal family and the kingdom, which one will you choose?"
"!!!" It was a simple question, but answering it was a different matter. However, Wendy could actually answer it without hesitation. "The kingdom. Grand Duke, you should know that royal blood is nothing but a fabricated story. All royal families started from peasants.
"They only beco royalty because they sit on the throne. If you kill and the remaining mbers of the royal family, you can easily turn your family into a new royal family."
"Please don't say such a scary thing, Your Majesty. I could beco a good lord, but I won't be a good king. I have no intention of sitting on that throne."
"I can see that. You have set your sights far from this kingdom." Wendy nodded gracefully.
Noel didn't say anything about that last remark, but he confird Wendy's observation skills. Now that he got what he wanted, it was ti to reveal his request. "In that case, I would like to ask you this, Your Majesty. I believe this is fair compensation for our Ardagan family."
…
One week later.
Duke Lorelei was sitting in front of five grand judges. There were many people as witnesses.
Duke Lorelei testified, "His Majesty, King Oliver, has made a deal with the Ardagan family. To monitor the Supre Devil Organization, he asked the Ardagan family, specifically Luke Ardagan and Leysha Ezenholm, to stay by the third prince's side.
"And Laufey Ardagan had been tasked to infiltrate the Supre Devil Organization. They were not traitors at all. They were heroes."
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