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Lukas Ackermann was suspected to be one of the Savior’s worshipers; this was no secret on the eastern border. It should go without saying that the united army’s upper echelons wouldn’t turn a blind eye to something as major as this. In fact, the Genesis Goddess Church had been secretly investigating and taking countermeasures against him.

Had Lukas Ackermann been a king of a minor country, the church would have leaped in and captured him… but that was not an option here.

The Austine Empire was a powerful country boasting the greatest land mass and tremendous military power, after all. To recklessly make a move on its ruler would be truly unwise.

To make things worse, the Austine Empire was politically unstable.

It was known for its tradition of fratricide, which would happen once every few decades or a century when the throne was up for grabs. It could be mild instability as the successor tried to consolidate their power, or an all-out internal war where the noble houses picked their sides and fought to ensure their clan’s continued prosperity.

This internal strife made good drama fodder for other countries.

In the Theocracy, which was at loggerheads with the Austine Empire, there were even betting houses that accepted bets on it. Some even claimed that the Austine Empire was carrying the Theocracy’s gambling industry on its shoulders.

In a way, Emperor Lukas had stoked this family tradition of his by allowing his children to form their own factions, resulting in a three-sided rivalry. Without a doubt, chaos would swiftly befall the Austine Empire as soon as something happened to him.

That was a situation the united army absolutely wanted to avoid, but there was only so much they could do as an external party. And Paul’s words proved that what they had been worrying about all this while had come to fruition.

“My imperial sister has waged war on Lukas, and Lukas’ target is the Abyss!”

Roel was dumbstruck to hear Paul’s words. He had a talk with Lilian about the Austine Empire prior to his departure from the eastern border, and the conclusion they had come to was for her not to move her troops no matter what happened.

It was not to say that Lilian was not interested in the throne, but there was currently something far more important to her that she needed to protect now—the child she had with Roel.

Those oblivious to Lilian’s condition would not have found anything weird about her decision, but Roel, who knew how much she cherished their child, found it inconceivable. This prompted him to get to the bottom of the matter.

“You said Lilian waged war against Lukas? That’s impossible! Did Lukas make the first move?”

“Actually, it was my imperial sister who made the first move.”

“Ah?”

“Lilian was the one who launched the attack. She claimed that her reason for doing so was to rescue the incarcerated Paul, but things are definitely not as simple as that,” Antonio added on, clearly perplexed by Lilian’s behavior.

However, Roel breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that.

He was the person who knew Lilian the best after her personal maid, Audrey. Lilian could have been in danger if she were the one being attacked, but if she was the one on the offense, it was unlikely anything bad would happen to her.

Lilian isn’t the type to do anything rash…

“I would have never expected my imperial sister to have an audience with Lukas all alone. That’s too dangerous!” Paul suddenly exclaimed.

…What did he just say? Roel widened his eyes in shock.

He lurched forward to grab Paul by his collar and anxiously asked, “Wait a moment, Paul. You said Lilian had an audience with Lukas all alone? What the hell happened?”

“She mentioned in our correspondence that she was covering my retreat…”

“What?”

“Calm down, Roel. Lilian is safe,” Astrid said, patting Roel’s shoulder. “She did meet Lukas alone and the two of them had a fight, but she had already reached Origin Level 1 by then, so she didn’t incur any injuries.”

“Lilian had her army stationed right outside the secondary palace, and the Austine Empire’s Military God Layton Seze was there to support her too,” Antonio added. “The battle didn’t last too long. Lilian was able to safely retreat.”

“…I see.”

Roel heaved a sigh of relief before finally releasing Paul.

The group proceeded to share with him the happenings in the Austine Empire during the time he was away. Slowly, a frown formed on Roel’s forehead.

…

The Austine Empire was already in civil war.

Even though Lilian and Lukas were the triggers behind it, there were four factions competing for supremacy here. As a matter of fact, Lilian wasn’t acting out of recklessness, as she did have a plan in mind.

To claim that she had attacked Lukas’ secondary palace to save the incarcerated Paul was simply too weak a justification. Paul was an illegitimate son without any support whatsoever. Lukas, as his father in name, had the right to incarcerate Paul as he wished, and the others couldn’t say a thing about it, as it was their internal family affair.

It was definitely not a valid reason to justify attacking the emperor’s secondary palace.

But the situation was different now, as both Lilian and Layton had produced many documents and reports to accuse Emperor Lukas of colluding with the evil cultists. While Emperor Lukas had denied all allegations, another power stepped in to support Lilian’s claim: the Genesis Goddess Church.

It was not just for a day or two that the Genesis Goddess Church had suspected Lukas and categorized him as an unstable element. Thus, it swiftly stepped in when Lilian announced her evidence and offered tremendous support.

The church’s mandate placed Lilian in the position of moral superiority, thus bringing public opinion to her side.

When news regarding Lilian and Lukas’ armed conflict got back to the country, the two princes, who had been lying low in the empire, jumped out and proclaimed that they couldn’t allow an immoral emperor to lead the empire down a wrong path, thus joining the civil war too.

This resulted in two main battlefields for the civil war—one at the eastern border, and the other one within the empire.

“The eastern border was mostly peaceful when we came here. The united army wishes to preserve humankind’s prowess as much as possible, so they have been trying to convince the armies supporting Lukas to surrender. At the same time, Lilian has received support from the other countries too.

“Meanwhile, in the Austine Empire, the two princes are deploying their troops toward the capital. Their military prowess is significant, but rivalry between the two of them is tripping them up. The nobles supporting Lilian have been quietly rallying under the Sezes’ flag, patiently awaiting their chance to strike.”

“I see…” Roel nodded in realization. He was a little surprised by the turn of events.

He knew that while he was away in the Witness State, much had happened among Nora, Charlotte, Lilian, and Wilhelmina that greatly alleviated their animosity toward one another, but he hadn’t expected them to be so united.

There was no doubt that Nora and the others had a hand behind the other countries’ swift support for Lilian. Even the Rosa Merchant Confederacy, which harbored a deep grudge against the Austine Empire, had provided financial help for Lilian’s faction.

However, the one that surprised Roel the most was Layton and the Seze House.

“I thought Layton was already preparing to retire. Who could have thought that he has been secretly conducting investigations over the years…”

He hadn’t expected Lilian to be able to secure Layton’s support. This was tremendous, as Layton commanded great prestige in the Austine Empire’s military as the Military God. He was probably the reason the Sezes had chosen to side with Lilian.

With such strong support, Lilian was pretty much in a safe position.