Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 626 The fastest promoted person was actually Beatrice.
There are countless nobles of all ranks on the continent, but there is only one royal family.

With the combined efforts of several grand dukes in the empire, the royal family had long been an empty shell. When Isabella inherited the throne, there wasn't a single capable person to be found in the royal family.

Since Queen Isabella was assassinated, the royal family has almost died out. Logically, there should be no legitimate heir now. So where did the royal coat of arms come from?
Could it be a letter from the prince? Has he stopped pretending?
Hughes looked at Zoe across from him with a complicated expression. Zoe nodded slightly: "Look at the back, I'm shocked too."

Hughes flipped the envelope over and stared intently at the signature.

Beatrice Perlanis Rhine Joan.

Taking a deep breath, Hughes carefully placed the letter on the table and rubbed his temples.

"Let me think, it's a bit confusing."

“I have confirmed with the messenger who delivered the message that this Her Majesty Beatrice is indeed Miss Beatrice who escorted the prisoners to Castel that day. She is now the Pope of the Candlelight Society, the rightful heir to the Perannis royal family, and the new Empress of the Empire.”

Hughes fell silent.

After a while, he rummaged through his limited knowledge of aristocracy and asked hesitantly, "How come I remember that she was just a member of the Ruo'an family and had no connection with the royal family?"

"Yes, she was indeed just a member of the Joan family when she came to Castel, but the Joan family and the royal family actually have a lot of messy agreements. Theoretically, she has the right to inherit the throne, but she is in a relatively low position."

"How far back?"

"More than a hundred, I guess."

"And now she's the new empress?"

“That’s right, quite a coincidence, all of her predecessors… well, they all met with accidents.”

Hughes's eye twitched.

"Then how did she become the Pope? And all the bishops ahead of her in line all met with accidents?"

"I don't know about that, my lord. Forgive my bluntness, but this whole thing is strange from beginning to end. I hope you will make a careful judgment."

Hughes knew this without her saying it. After hesitating for a moment, Hughes tapped the table with his finger.

Has anyone seen this letter?

"Yes, my mother-in-law had it examined. It has no supernatural powers attached to it, it's just an ordinary letter. The Candlelight Society's methods are most familiar to the Moth of Fire, so its reliability is quite high."

Hughes nodded, picked up a letter opener from the table, carefully cut open the envelope, took out the neatly folded parchment, and quickly scanned it.

The letter wasn't long, and Hughes quickly finished reading it, setting it aside with an indescribably strange expression on his face.

Seeing Zoe's curious yet concerned expression, Hughes sighed and pushed the letter away: "Read it yourself."

In the name of Queen Beatrice
Rhine City, by the handwriting of Empress Peranis, Lord of the Holy Mil Empire, illuminated by the candlelight.

To the Earl of Castel, my loyal shield and sword

His Excellency Hughes Corsica Simons Stuart
Your Excellency should regard this letter as the Queen's edict and also as the sacred decree of the Candlelight Vigil.

I command you to immediately use the swiftness of a falcon and the majesty of a lion to sweep away those abhorrent heretics who, like poisonous vines, entwine my four borders and territories—those who call themselves "moths chasing the flame" are in reality the putrid dust shaken off by the flapping wings of a demon!

The secret report displayed on my desk is permeated with the sulfurous aura of hell—your "moths chasing the flame" wicked horde dares to commit blasphemy on this land illuminated by candlelight!

You should know this: according to the personal testimony of the Archbishop of Jules, this heresy, led by the sorceress Lina, has exposed the atrocities of these hellish maggots—on the night of the waning moon, she ground the shinbones of baptized infants into powder, mixed it with rye seeds, and sowed it on blasphemous ground, even going so far as to claim that the ashes could make the bones beneath the shroud dance! Such acts have caused angels to hide their faces and the Holy Grail to weep blood! I know that your father, Duke Zengkorn, was once the vanguard of the Empire, and your family crest should now shine with its malevolent light! If you still cling to the illusion of peace in your corner of the world, allowing the shadow of Lina's moth wings to cover my lands—

You should foresee that the investigating monks of the Candlelight Order will enter your fiefdom with my decree! They will take your head and hang it from the beams of the council chamber, to be used as fireplace decorations alongside the skulls of those heretics.

Candlelight protects the devout.

— Beatrice Perlanis Rhine Joan
At the very bottom of the letter was the double seal of the Candlelight Society and the Perlanis Royal Family.

Zoe's eyes lit up. The letter was written in the standard style of official documents from the St. Mir royal family, with a lot of nested clauses. She liked this style from the chivalric novels she used to read.

Although it's difficult to read and even more troublesome to write, it looks more sophisticated.
This once led many noble ladies to speak improperly, resorting to either arias or such complex written language.

"How's it going? Have you finished reading it?"

"Uh, let me take another look."

Zoe felt a little guilty; she had been so focused on carefully appreciating the word choice and sentence structure that she hadn't really paid attention to what she had written.

"Stop looking, I'll just tell you directly." Hughes rubbed his temples impatiently. "The Empire ordered us to wipe out the Fire-Chasing Moths. If we don't wipe them out, they'll come and wipe us out."

"Huh?" Zoe was stunned. After a moment, she whispered, "We've been exposed?"

“Exposed? Castel didn’t hide it at all.”

Hughes gave a cold laugh.

He hadn't deliberately hidden the existence of the Fire-Chasing Moths; he just wanted them not to openly use that name.

This is mainly because they're afraid of scaring people away, since the reputation of the Moth that chases fire isn't exactly good.

"So we're going to war with the Empire?" Zoe's eyes lit up, her face full of eagerness.

Hughes glared at her, feeling like his men were all warmongers. Zoe wasn't even part of the expeditionary force; she was just a civilian employee.
"My lord, I am now a superhuman! Grant me a few dragon breath cannons and let me go to the battlefield!"

"You want to go to the battlefield? You've never even fought before. If you want the Dragon Breath Cannon, you'd better be able to defeat Nini's press corps first."

Nini's war correspondent group is now mainly composed of ordinary auxiliary troops, with the Banshee playing only a command role; they are an elite force.

"Alright, let's not talk about this nonsense. There's something strange about this letter."

Zoe blinked.

"Are you saying that Her Majesty Beatrice actually has a crush on you and wouldn't write such a letter, just like what Nini said in the report?"

"Wait, wait a minute, I haven't seen this report before?"

"Oh, this is a special chapter unlocked exclusively for paid members." Zoe suddenly covered her mouth, looking horrified.

“We’ll talk about Nini later. I’ll settle accounts with her later. That’s what I mean.”

Hughes pointed to the letter.

"The letter mentions the Moths of Fire, and their leader is Lina!"

(End of this chapter)