"God-like beings are inherently self-centered creatures!"
The Duke of Lion Heart sighed softly, lost in thought.
Flandre furrowed her brows.
She had acknowledged Kael as her brother, partly because his mother had been her close friend, and partly because she found Kael to be endearing in every way.
Under the influence of her father, the Duke of Lion Heart, she had always been fond of boys who were decisive, ruthless, and exuded a strong sense of security.
The day her father announced Kael as a candidate for the duke’s position, Kael’s performance had been exceptionally brilliant, which greatly elevated Flandre’s opinion of him as well.
In this context, she suddenly took a fancy to recognizing the child as her brother, a sentiment that was somewhat whimsical.
After all, if truth be told, Kael was far superior to most of her weak and incompetent siblings, and compared to the younger generation, Kael’s talent was even more remarkable.
Now that the situation had changed, if possible, Flandre sincerely hoped that Kael could assume the Duke of Lion Heart’s position and lead the Duchy of Inglan towards a more prosperous future...
This was all predicated on Kael growing safely in the direction they anticipated.
Thus, upon hearing that the somewhat annoying Marquis Gransham had come to the Duchy of Inglan and started to make trouble for Kael, Flandre did feel a bit inclined to take action.
"Why not just get rid of this troublesome fellow, this weak descendant who sullied the glory of the Gransham ancestors, buzzing around like a fly with no self-awareness?"
But Flandre suppressed these unnecessary emotions, recognizing that she did not represent herself alone but also the outward face of the Duchy of Inglan. Some matters required a bit of consideration.
However, her father, the Duke of Lion Heart, was different.
She knew very well that the leading dukes of various duchies, including her father, were symbols of privilege. If not for their commitment to safeguarding the Bell Federation, they would be seen as disruptors of order due to their extreme power.
Yet, the Duke of Lion Heart’s stance was intriguing.
"What exactly is Kael’s situation with the churches? Normally, the churches wouldn’t step in to help him, right?"
Flandre pondered her father’s words and quietly spoke.
"Of course, whether it’s the Church of the God of Literature or the Earth Mother God Church, without special reasons, they wouldn’t directly intervene... but apparently, Kael has stirred up quite a mess."
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The Duke of Lion Heart touched the ring on his right hand. A flash of light passed, and he handed a stack of papers to Flandre, chuckling:
"Take a look at the intelligence gathered by the Black Cross!"
Flandre was silent for a moment, then reached out to accept the weighty documents, her heart pounding.
The Lion Heart Battle Group was divided into the Bronze Cross, which guarded the city-states, the Iron Cross, which fought external enemies, and the Golden Cross, which protected the lords.
Under normal circumstances, the knights of the Bronze, Iron, and Golden Crosses were sufficient to cover the entire Duchy of Inglan.
However, recognizing the need for a specialized intelligence department amid the existing balance of power among the three knight factions, the Duke of Lion Heart had established the Duchy of Inglan’s unique intelligence agency—
—and thus the Black Cross was formed.
These cold-blooded knights hid in the shadows, collecting intelligence on events and individuals that might affect the order of the Duchy of Inglan. They rarely exposed themselves.
Even the offspring of the Duke of Lion Heart knew little about who belonged to the Black Cross.
All they knew was that once targeted by the Black Cross, things would become very troublesome, as being targeted indicated a perceived risk to the duchy’s order.
This metaphorical black mark on Kael’s record could be extremely detrimental to him.
Given the past actions of the Black Cross, Flandre began to suspect that Kael might have done something questionable, provoking the Black Cross’s vigilance.
But as she opened the documents and browsed through a few pages, the intelligence within made her pupils contract in shock.
"Sufficient evidence shows that the Church of the God of Literature has uncharacteristically entered an active period. Through extensive tracing by Black Cross members, it has been confirmed that the divine authority of the God of Literature has been expanding recently."
"Over the past six months, the Church of the God of Literature dispatched over 3,100 devoted followers, spreading them across the Duchy of Inglan and other duchies of the Bell Federation, distributing storybooks and having them sung by numerous local bards."
"Black Cross members secretly participated, and affirmed that the content of these publications did not include ’anything detrimental to the image of the Bell Federation, promoting anti-intellectual rhetoric, or propagating cult beliefs,’ thus abiding by federal regulations."