Queen Bethnal's plans
Likewise, Prince Dannark and Lady Valentina were watching from a balcony. The star child of the Royal Family and Second-In-Command of the Quinvoren Army had a neutral face on. Neither he nor Lord Illion would be directly residing over operations in the upcoming Xingyuu campaign. They would be overseeing the general situation, but the main details would be handled by the Third-In-Command of the Quinvoren Army, General William! Although Elizabeth was dubbed the 'Royal Army General', it was a sham in reality. She did have genuine authority, of course, but not enough to affect the overall picture. In the end, everything had to go through General William. He was the final say!
Prince Dannark was lost in thought. He realized as soon as Queen Bethnal gave the go-ahead for Elizabeth's venture in the empire that something was wrong. Something between Elizabeth and Queen Bethnal changed, and it changed for worse! It was obvious that this plan spelled disaster, and that nothing good could arise from it. Prince Dannark was not being pessimistic, but realistic. If the conflict between the Alzar Kingdom and the Xingyuu Empire could be resolved like that, then what were they doing? Wasting their lives? It was just not that simple to do! Then why did Queen Bethnal send Elizabeth anyways? During a critical time in the inheritance race, no less, it was equivalent to political suicide. All things pointed to Queen Bethnal abandoning Elizabeth!
But that was the critical question: why? Why now? What caused this? From Prince Dannark's investigations and deductions, there was only one possible explanation. Back when Elizabeth miraculously recovered from her comatose state because of the Lannisail explosion, she was fiercely questioned by everyone. They wanted to understand the truth behind the Lannisail explosion and Elizabeth's strange power! Prince Dannark was present too and he remembered it perfectly. Elizabeth jumped from zero magical capability to Peak Gaseous Fog! It was too bizarre to pass off as dumb luck, so there had to be a grand secret behind it! Eventually, Elizabeth relented and explained things to Queen Bethnal, but the contents of that conversation remained between them. As far as Prince Dannark knew, that was the tipping point. From then on, Queen Bethnal's attitude took a sharp turn, leading to the current events.
Prince Dannark believed that Queen Bethnal's plan was thus two-fold. The first was to distance Elizabeth from the core pillar of power in the Alzar Kingdom! Why? Because she was too mysterious! First was the attack that killed Emperor Lianghu half a year ago. Second was surviving the Lannisail explosion point-blank. Third was leaping straight to Peak Gaseous Fog Core Level! All these factors piled up in an increasingly worrying manner and painted Elizabeth in a dangerous light. She had far too many secrets to belong anywhere near the central power of the kingdom. Her existence itself was a risk! So, she was cast aside and thrown far away where she would not harm anyone. Was it cruel? Perhaps. But there was no room for emotions here. They were the leaders of the Alzar Kingdom!
And the second part of the queen's plan should be to test Elizabeth's potential as a weapon. The Ten Dawns needed no explanation. If the Alzar Kingdom gained a power equivalent to that, then they could end their awkward dependency on the Zino Kingdom. Furthermore, Elizabeth could act as a deterrent in Arcania, which they were sorely lacking in! Although she was far from touching the boundary of Condensed Drop Core Level, she gave surprise after surprise. Who knows? Maybe using the war as a trigger, she could break through! The gains would be tremendous, so Prince Dannark could roughly understand Queen Bethnal's idea. And well… If the plan failed, it would be a small loss. At the end of the day, Elizabeth's status of heir apparent was symbolic more than anything. Elizabeth… was unessential.
Hopefully, you can bring us more surprises… If not… Prince Dannark closed his eyes before turning away.
And above these two, situated at one of the highest points of Castle Reinhard, was Queen Bethnal's personal quarters! Matriarch of the Royal Family, former queen of two generations, queen mother of King Harth, and currently residing queen regent, she had many impressive titles, but she never grew complacent or lax. Even if she wanted to, the world would never let her rest! After all, as the leader of the Alzar Kingdom, she had to oversee the fate of millions of people! It was her duty to safeguard the future, no matter the challenges. That was who this person, Queen Bethnal Etuvel Reindel, was! Looking out across the rolling crowds and the slowly advancing royal carriage, her face was devoid of emotion. It was frighteningly cold like millennium-year-old ice, capable of freezing anyone in their tracks!
As Prince Dannark theorized, the truth was exactly that. Elizabeth posed too great of a threat against the Royal Family and the Alzar Kingdom! Well, that was not quite correct. Elizabeth was not that dangerous. There were plenty of tools and tricks to force her obedience and integrate her into the system. Sure, it was not pretty, much less ethical, but it was possible. In the grand scheme of things, the girl was just a girl! How could she overturn the entire kingdom by herself? So, she was clearly not the problem. Then what was? Queen Bethnal narrowed her eyes as she remembered… Rena, the mysterious 'spirit' possessing Elizabeth's Whiteangel Bow! Their meeting might have been short, but she knew Rena was absolutely capable of destroying the Alzar Kingdom! Whether it was a slow and methodical rot from the inside, or a swift and destructive attack from the outside, she believed Rena had the potential!
She had very little reason to believe it, but her instincts were screaming at her, telling her that this person was dangerous… far more dangerous than Protector Avin, Sword King Sin, or even the Xingyuu Empire! And how scary were her instincts? In reality, Queen Bethnal had no interactions with either Protector Avin or Sword King Sin. All she had were second-hand accounts from either witnesses or her intelligence network. She had no way of accurately understanding the depths of their power, so any comparison was impossible to begin with.
However, she was completely correct! Just like the Realms of Mastery and Core Levels, Ranks had both minor and major divisions. The major ones were Rank 1, Rank 2 Lord, Rank 3 King, Rank 4 Emperor, and Rank 5 God, while the minor ones were formally called Early, Mid, Late, Grand, and Half-Step! Protector Avin and Sword King Sin were fledging Rank 3 combatants. To be precise, they were very Early Rank 3 Kings. Individuals such as Commander Infernal Witch King from the Luminous Central Origin were a qualitative level stronger, but still Early Rank 3. The ruler of Luminous Central Origin was a Mid Rank 3 King, thus classifying the civilization as a mid-tier Rank 3 one. The strength that Lord Wenmord showed in the Lannisail explosion could be viewed as equivalent to Grand Rank 3, despite the pure destructive power being somewhat less. Finally, there was Rena, who transcended that level possibly to Rank 4 Emperor!
Since the Luminous Central Origin's three armies could bring the Featherwind Sect to ruin, think about what Rena could achieve if they were at their full power? They could erase humanity off the map! So, it was understandable that Queen Bethnal would feel extremely wary and hesitant around Rena. The spirit could bring unparalleled destruction, the true harbinger of calamity! And Elizabeth was the spirit's 'student'… How could Queen Bethnal stand that? Sticking so close to the heir apparent, the future might very well be controlled by Rena! As a result, Elizabeth had to be expelled. That was the most logical conclusion to take. Thankfully, this opportunity appeared, and Elizabeth volunteered to head to the Xingyuu Empire.
"So, you understand the situation now, right?" Queen Bethnal asked suddenly. "The Royal Family will focus their support on you now."
"I understand, Your Majesty," a graceful voice said.
The queen nodded, returning her attention to the window. She wanted to see just how valuable Elizabeth was to the Alzar Kingdom. Was she an asset or a threat? Depending on that answer… The rest did not need to be said. It was all up to Elizabeth!