Throne of the North.

Chapter 748 Hilder's Plan
Lord Gardner.

The Shadow Vanguard had followed Ryan all the way, and even in the Hot Spring Province, they had not been sent out to do anything. Of course, they would not rummage through the carriage of a member of the royal family, especially an elderly member of the royal family of high status, without a reason.

Ryan made this decision because of a little guidance from Earl Gardner.

So, strictly speaking, it wasn't Ryan who found the magic crystal cannon out of boredom, but rather this native count.

Count Gardner is a remarkable man. He is quite daring in certain matters. As an earl, he is far more adept at playing the victim in the capital than Viscount Landa. Moreover, his ancient historical lineage earns him considerable respect within the circles of the great nobility.

At the same time, because of Columbus III’s goodwill and friendliness toward Count Gardner, Count Gardner was a clear Columbus follower between Columbus and Henry the Navigator.

While others considered Henry the Conqueror and Christopher Columbus to be members of the royal family with little difference between them, Count Gardner had already submitted to the authority of Christopher Columbus III.

The problem is that, after several years of war, Twilight Province has been devastated, and Count Gardner's strength has not yet recovered.

Under rational circumstances, the Earl of Gardner had no right to meddle in the affairs of the royal family.

The nobles could say that the emperor was the emperor of the empire and point fingers at everything he did, but they had no right to interfere with the inner workings of the royal family, especially after the changes to the marquis system and the disappearance of the status of royal family members.

Count Gardner tried his best to avoid it, so he gave Ryan a hint when he arrived.

The purpose was probably to get Ryan, a baron favored by Columbus IV, to tell the emperor about Hilde.

Ryan was very dissatisfied with this, so he went to confront him.

"My lord, I am but a baron, why are you doing this to harm me?"

Earl Gardner, somewhat embarrassed and unsure of what to say, finally smiled and said after a long pause:

“Ryan, do you think I don’t know your strength? You have absolutely no need to be afraid.”

"What is the Earl afraid of?"

The atmosphere became tense, and Count Gardner was somewhat embarrassed and angry.

"Ryan, are you going to tell me or not?!"

“As Your Majesty’s loyal followers, we have no reason to deceive our esteemed monarch, but I must also consider the sake of my family.”

Ryan said righteously:

“Just like what you, Earl, have done, I also have concerns. My wife is pregnant, and soon my territory will have an heir.”

"Oh? Congratulations, Ryan."

Count Gardner was also troubled; the two were close friends, and the count was somewhat annoyed at the moment.

"What should we do? Princess Hilde doesn't seem like she's in a daze at all. Do you think she might..."

"Could he want to become emperor again? After all, he was the former crown prince. Even if His Majesty Rice were to abdicate, the throne should be passed to him, not His Majesty Columbus."

Gardner dodged and didn't dare to respond, but the expression in his eyes said that this was just how gossips are.

“My lord, more than a hundred years have passed. Even if Princess Hilde was unwise, she wouldn’t do such a thing, would she?”

"Moreover, if he wants to become emperor, the first thing he should do is not to make himself appear old and senile, but to let the nobles see his spirit."

"He's about to die, what is he asking for?"

Ryan said helplessly. Count Gardner thought about it and realized it made sense, and immediately relaxed.

"Then tell me, Ryan, what exactly is Princess Hilder's purpose?"

"I?"

Ryan shook his head.

"How would I know, and I don't care? His magic crystal cannons are not going to be used to bomb my territory."

"There are no more cannonballs. In the Dwarf Kingdom, after learning that the Kingdom of Wansu had been sold to the Empire, the Dwarves were in a bad mood. His Majesty the Emperor is trying to repair the relationship. The first trade license issued by the Chamber of Commerce was sent to the Dwarves."

Count Gardner was quite familiar with the items kept in Twilight Province; without such meticulous attention to detail, he wouldn't have discovered Princess Hilde's affair.

"Does the Earl truly wish to aid His Majesty Columbus?"

Ryan asked curiously, his gaze puzzled.

Columbus III is dead.

"Ryan, you mustn't doubt my loyalty."

Count Gardner puffed out his chest, his face full of pride and confidence.

"If Your Excellency wants to stop the conflict between Enrique and Columbus, why not just prevent Princess Hilde from stealing the magic crystal cannons? These things are just a pile of scrap metal without the power of magic."

"The best way is to put the magic crystal cannons in the hands of the nobles to defend against the orcs in the north."

Count Gardner's eyes lit up, and he quickly said:
"any idea?"

"If His Majesty knew, he would most likely order Princess Hilde to leave Twilight Province and return to the capital. In that case, His Majesty would arrange for the Marquis of Twilight and me to manage those war resources."

Ryan glanced at the count and said with a smile:

"So, Your Excellency, you wanted to seize those things, which is why you encouraged me to inform on you."

Count Gardner had long had ideas and plans, but he hadn't been able to implement them due to the troubles involved.

"However, it's fine if I do it, but you can at least give me a share, right?"

"Give me two hundred of the eight hundred magic crystal cannons."

Earl Gardner said awkwardly:

“Lyan, this was left by His Majesty in Twilight Province to prevent orc invasions, not the private property of nobles.”

"one hundred."

“That won’t do, Ryan. The empire’s wealth belongs to His Majesty the Emperor, and the nobles have the right to protect the empire’s property.”

"Fifty."

Ryan looked at Earl Gardner with a hostile expression and stated his final bottom line. The earl hesitated for a long time, but finally gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Then I'll have to think of a way."

Ryan was fast, but the Emperor was even faster. The next day, Hilder received orders to return to the capital.

The reason given was that the war was over, and His Highness Hilde had rendered great service. Considering that his health was not suited to the harsh climate, His Majesty the Emperor invited him to return to the south to enjoy a comfortable life.

"Let's go, we should go."

Hilde Enrique slowly draped her cloak over herself, while the maids around her lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

"I hope that after I die, those people will give up their thoughts."

Hilde said this, his eyes not showing much shrewdness, and his apparent dazedness was not fake, except that his dazedness was not a continuous 24 hours a day.

“My father has already passed the throne to Columbus, and the Columbus Emperors have all done a good job. We are all of royal blood, descendants of the original Viking ancestors, and there is no difference between us.” “I can be Henry the Conqueror, or I can be Columbus. For the future of the empire, we should serve a great and wise monarch, not for personal gain.”

"I thought Gardner was a nobleman who was loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, but it turns out he's a coward. I really misjudged him."

Hilde cursed in dissatisfaction and drove off south in her carriage.

He wasn't trying to compete with Emperor Columbus for anything; on the contrary, he wanted to consolidate the power of Emperor Columbus IV. Even this old and senile prince could see that the capital was in turmoil and the emperor's authority was very unstable!

As a member of the royal family, he did not want the Enriques within the royal family to compete for certain things because of his existence. If he were gone, the Enriques within the royal family would have no choice but to follow the emperor.

With the help of those royal family members, Columbus IV should be able to consolidate his imperial authority within a few years. After that, it will depend on the emperor's own abilities.

Who would have thought that the person who most wanted to consolidate his authority and surpass that of Columbus III since the coronation of Emperor Columbus IV was His Highness Prince Henry?

Hilde's party was quite large. On the way, they encountered Ryan's caravan. Ryan was about to return to the Hot Springs Province to see Ophelia's spatial tunnel.

"A baron from the North?"

Through the carriage window, Hilde saw the Baron's carriage outside, her cloudy eyes narrowing slightly.

"Is this the Baron? The dragon cub of the Clayton family, young in age, and unafraid of history."

Hilde inwardly appraised the barons and nobles who represented the greatest contrast in the empire, and felt quite gratified.

"The Empire is full of talented people who will surely be able to help Emperor Flor make the Empire great in the future. The Dawn Church cannot win because this is the brilliance of humanity and the spirituality of mankind."

"Gods can never suppress human wisdom and civilization."

"They will usher in a new era for this world."

Ryan's entourage stopped on the side of the road. Ryan bowed respectfully and waited until the royal prince left before watching the entourage's retreating figures for a long time.

“Hilde Enrique, does she seem to be no ordinary old woman?”

"He seems to have extraordinary power, and he must be very strong."

Since truly becoming a legend and possessing legendary gifts, Ryan has found that no one can hide from him anymore, including the demigod Anselmo he had met before. Ryan sat next to him without fear of the demigod's power, because he sensed that the other party seemed very weak.

Similarly, being so close to Hilde Enrique, a member of the royal family, Ryan also sensed that the other party seemed to be hiding a terrifying extraordinary power within her.

I don't know what system it is, but it's definitely extraordinary.

This is a judgment made within the spiritual realm.

"Judging from this, it seems Princess Hilde will live a long time. Does she really intend to compete with Columbus for the throne? Will she resort to force?"

Ryan thought of the magic crystal cannons that the Shadow Vanguard had seen in the carriage before, which were now installed in the carriage behind him.

Ryan couldn't understand it, but now the emperor should be on guard, and Hilder is going back to the capital to retire, so there shouldn't be any problems.

To be honest, Ryan didn't want Enrique to replace Columbus, because that would bring too many changes and variables, and would completely disrupt Ryan's entire political career in the Empire.

However, it wasn't just all the nobles in his empire who were like this, so it was impossible for Hilde Enrique to replace Emperor Columbus with Emperor Enrique.

Ryan wasn't that worried, but...

Two days later, he arrived in the Hot Spring Province, and the news from the south shocked him greatly.

"His Highness Hilde Enrique was attacked by ninety-nine Black Swan assassins on the morning of his entry into the province of Calais. The elderly man was powerless to resist and was killed by the Black Swan assassins in his carriage. An ordinary weapon killed the noble royal prince of the empire!"

Ryan blinked and looked at Archduke Russell.

"Really?"

He asked such a frivolous question without thinking, which made Duke Russell frown. He really didn't think that Princess Hilde would die so easily.

In his perception, even if the opponent was not as strong as him, he was definitely no weaker than a normal legend, so how could he be dead?

"Of course it's true. His Majesty the Emperor is furious. The entire Templar Legion has been mobilized and has stormed into the province of Calais like madmen. Your father, Earl Clayton, is also in deep trouble. The entire province of Calais has been turned upside down."

Ryan remained silent for a long time, then asked:
"Is it really the Black Swan assassin? Or is it just someone imitating her?"

He himself had done such a thing, so of course he wouldn't easily believe certain things.

"It's confirmed, absolutely. Lady [Prophet Witch] Pora confirmed the identities of those Black Swan assassins at the cost of forgetting a portion of her extraordinary heritage. The Black Swan assassins involved in this matter are the dark forces of the Dawn Church."

"But in today's empire, how can the Black Swan assassin still hide?"

"Because they are weak enough."

Grand Duke Russell, though far away in the province of Thermopylae, was able to know everything that was happening in the southern lands; this was the power the Grand Duke wielded in the empire.

"Those Black Swan assassins were probably the same group of low-level agents who infiltrated the Empire back then. They didn't have extraordinary strength, but they were very elite. Moreover, the knights that Princess Hilde's team carried were not powerful. After all, probably no one would have thought that the Dawn Church would assassinate her."

The Black Swan assassin wasn't strong enough to hide, and Princess Hilde's entourage wasn't strong enough to stop the Black Swan assassin's attack. Knowing that Hilde possessed extraordinary power, why did Ryan feel that this was such a coincidence?

Moreover, judging from Archduke Russell's furious appearance, it has nothing to do with the Emperor.

So……

"suicide?"

The thought flashed through Ryan's mind, and he couldn't help but be surprised. What was going on? Was it really suicide?

He didn't believe that the Black Swan assassins could withstand the terrifying supernatural power within Hilde.

That leaves only one answer.

"What do you mean? To die in Calais Province? Is this revenge against Gaomi?"

Ryan was also unhappy; Earl Clayton had clearly been implicated because of him.

“I have to go back to the south, Ryan. We need to get a batch of what you mentioned shipped over as soon as possible.”

Grand Duke Russell said that Hilder's death had brought about another great change in the Empire, and that Grand Duke Russell had no reason to stay at Thermopylae.

"so serious?"

Ryan inquired.

"It's very serious. His Highness Hilde is not as simple as you think. He is very important, especially within the royal family. Even now, when all newborn members of the royal family are given the surname Columbus, there are still many royal family members with the surname Henry."

"Princess Hilde is their leader."

"The reason we never doubted that the Dawn Church would take action against Princess Hilde is that the Dawn Church has always wanted to incite internal strife within the royal family and cause an internal war to break out in the empire. They are the ones who most want Prince Enrique to live."

"Now that the Dawn Church's attitude has changed, I'm afraid it won't be long before war breaks out in the south again."

Archduke Russell's statement clarified the logical relationships.

But when it reached Ryan's ears...

Those Black Swan assassins belonged to the Dawn Church, so... Princess Hilde, who committed suicide, controlled a portion of the Church's power.
(End of this chapter)