The Zerolian Duke looked like he wanted to object, likely to stop Althea from interfering any further.

"That is a splendid idea!" the Empress said as the Duke gritted his teeth.

"Come then, we shall retire to the dining hall." Althea said.

The group moved to the dining hall, looking quite awkward. The maids set down several cakes, sweets and snacks, enough to feed ten people. For an entire day. But extravagance was the noble way of life.

Jaris looked at the dishes, unable to hide his eagerness to eat them, but kept his hands to himself.

"Please, help yourselves." Althea gestured to the dishes. Jaris' hand rose up, but quickly went down again when he noticed that he was the only one.

"Even if Lady Matilda is the heir, there is still the question of her capability." the Duke said. "A vagrant can inherit a noble title, but being a guardian of the Empire requires more refined qualifications."

So he was going for the guardian angle. The only person that was surprised was Jaris. Even Matilda had expected this. If Matilda was disqualified as a guardian of the Empire, then the Garron family's naval power would have to be handed over to the Empire and spread around. Duke Zerolian was sure to use the royal council to influence who got what, and end up in control of it.

Althea had been reading up. There were three major shipowners in the Empire. The Diery family, who owned only merchant ships until recently. The Zerolian duchy, who had the loyalty of most of the non-Garron navy officers. And the Garron family.

Of course, the Diery fleet could not compare to the other two, merchant ships were smaller, weaker and lacked Admirals and other powerful naval officers. Not to mention, most of the ships were rented to corporations she had investments in. The family didn't get so rich out of thin air. But if the Garron family ended up being divided, the Diery family wouldn't get a part.

"I am sure the Emperor can set up a decent trial to test young Matilda here." the Empress interjected. The more stable the Garron family was, the more the Zerolian navy's influence weakened. And the royal family was happy to see that happen.

The Zerolian Duke's eyes flashed. What was he planning now? "That may not be suitable, the position of Admiral Guarding Garron is not something that can wait. There is a raving famine in the main continent, and quite a few powers have become greedy for our crops. Isn't that right, Lord Garron?"

Lord Garron hesitated. But in the end he was a Zerolian loyalist.

"That is true. There has been a severe increase in raids, and the other nations are building more ships." he relented.

"I would have thought the Countess would be more worried about this, after all, you are the likely target of these attacks." Duke Zerolian quipped.

"Of course I am." Althea defended herself, trying to hide that she hadn't heard that it had gotten to this level. "Why do you think I brought three destroyer class ships from the Leria duchy?"

That got her a few surprised glares from the crowd. Even Jaris. A destroyer class ship was like an aircraft carrier of this world, but much, much smaller. The ships were still the largest and most powerful ships that Empires had, and were flagships of a fleet. The Garron family had seven. The Zerolian Duchy had five. The royal family had two.

"Refitting and upgrading the general navy will take a while, but the navy should be ready in a year or two." she said.

"That is quite an expense." the Duke's eyes narrowed. "And well beyond what a Countess can do."

Althea smiled. "But I am not just a Countess anymore, am I? As I am sure you are aware, Duke Zerolian, members of the royal council do not have many restrictions on their military. After all, the Zerolian Duchy doesn't even have a single port. The county at least has an archipelago in it."

The Duke leaned in, peering at her. "Forgive me for being curious, Countess, but are you sure your finances can handle this expense? A navy might cost more than you think."

Althea's smile turned stiff at the words. So he had heard. The heads of various corporations that she had owned had called an express meeting to 'meet and discuss the future with her'. Now, she could fire every one of them, but that would be stupid.

The heads were capable individuals that had been recruited over decades with a lot of effort. And they had good reason to suspect her capability, there was a lot she did not know.

The navy would cost a lot, and she had spent a significant amount of money in a short period of time. The previous expenses might not be worth mentioning, but the navy alone would cost more than the county earned in three years from the corporations.

"I do not think you need to worry about that." she answered the Duke. " And if I am not mistaken, we were discussing the Garron family."

"Yes, about the Garron family. I do not see any way that this girl can be a good Admiral." the Duke said.

Althea crossed her arms. "And the Duke knows her so well?"

"No, but she does not have any experience, or respect in the navy. The late Admiral climbed the ranks of the navy little by little, and was well respected across the continent. The same cannot be said for his illegitimate spawn." the Duke said.

Althea raised an eyebrow at the insult.

"As that may be, there are still rules to be followed." the Empress interjected. "Lady Matilda inherits the position if she passes the test."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"But what will the test be?" the Duke asked. And Althea knew what he was getting at with that sentence.

"The royal family sets the test, Duke Zerolian." the Empress said.

"That is merely tradition, not a rule." the Duke said. "And this is far more important than other events."

The Duke glanced, his implication clear. The position of Admiral was more important than her position as Countess. In a way, he was right. Althea just had to sit around for the county to run. The Admiral had to lead the navy to war, something that they might face soon.

There was also the fact that she had become a headache to him, the Duke was unlikely to let another come around.

"Wait a second." Matilda, who had just been watching till now, interrupted. "What makes you think that I want this position?"

Althea suddenly remembered what she had discovered. The girl's talent. How the heck did she forget that? The Zerolian Duke just rubbed her the wrong way and distracted her.

"Well, it would solve the issue if you and your brother resigned." the Duke said, grinning. "Lord Garron is the next heir, is he not, Countess?"

Althea looked at the book again, but she already knew what the answer was. There were just six more pages for her to read, but she did find what she wanted to.

"The title will not pass to Lord Garron easily. The next in line has to be someone in the next generation, that is, one of Lady Matilda's cousins. " she stated.

"Revern." Lord Garron sighed. Althea had a feeling that he did not like what he was hearing. "The title will pass to Revern after Jaris."

"Viscount Revern Masset is an agreeable candidate." Duke Zerolian stated, smiling. Althea did not know who this Viscount Masset was, but she found him disagreeable just on that point. The Duke could not be allowed to take control of the Garron navy, it would leave the duchy with too much power. And that was very, very bad for the Diery county.

The scowl on Matilda's face told her that she did not like the thought of this candidate either.

"Could we please have a few moments to discuss this in private?" Lord Garron asked.

"The servants will lead you to an empty room." Althea replied.

"Pulsie" she asked her familiar.

"Spying is bad, you know?" he replied.

"Is that why you asked for my help developing a method to spy on people?" she answered, smirking inside.

"Tha-I was just trying to see farther!" Pulsie protested.

"Why does this method involve hiding your presence among mana then?"

"I... Just because it could be done? And you were the one who suggested that in the first place!"

Well, she couldn't argue with that. Althea did suggest it. And she didn't even have any bad ideas, she just wanted to find out if they could do it. The end result was that she couldn't, she just wasn't subtle enough. Pulsie though, his mana melded into the environment naturally, especially in the Diery palace.

Even the Steward had difficulty detecting him when he was distracted. The method wasn't invincible, the Empress could detect it easily. And any kind of blocking artifact, like the vault spells, would stop it.

But she was betting that Lord Garron had both, not brought a blocking artifact, and didn't have a good enough mana sense to detect Pulsie. The lack of control was a good indicator.

An image was transmitted into her mind from Pulsie, telling her that the plant was unable to contain his curiosity. Duke Zerolian and the Empress, she was sure, were already listening in.

"— Revern can't be allowed to become the Admiral." Lord Garron said in her mind. The image was a bit distorted, like when the internet was slow, and you were watching TV on the phone. At least it didn’t buffer.

"I know." Matilda said. "But aren't you on Duke Zerolian's side? I thought you would be happy about this."

"I want to collaborate with him, not hand the family over to him. Revern is the Duke's son-in-law, and his puppet. If he becomes the Admiral, the Garron family will become the Duke's puppet. And you won't have a good life, either."

"Yes, I know. Revern doesn't like me either. I would need to leave the city at minimum, and probably face harassment after that too. What do you suggest we do, though?" she asked. "I can't be Admiral, I can't even cultivate the manual."

"I know." Lord Garron looked pensive for a moment. "But you can be a puppet."

Matilda raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"A puppet. In name, you will be the Admiral, but I will be the one with the power. I will lead the armies and make the decisions. The others won't be happy, but they will accept it rather than allow Revern to take charge."

Althea tried to school her expression. This was quite a revelation. But it made sense that Matilda had been given a chance to cultivate the manual, she had talent, and they were still a military family. Lord Garron was a bastard too, and he had been given a chance to cultivate. And he was a powerful Adept as a result.

Althea wondered if she should offer the manual she had. But this wasn't like Vanessa or Nathan, Matilda could not join her. In terms of status, she was equal to her. And there was the fact that Althea just didn't know Matilda well.

Just giving her the manual would be quite irresponsible. The manuals were powerful, and so would be the people that wielded them. There would be a lot of blood if they misused their power. Vanessa and Nathan could be controlled, they were right beside her. But Matilda would be far away, and had a powerful navy with her.

Althea turned her attention to Jaris, who was keeping quiet, letting the other two talk. And looked like he was used to it. Althea wondered what he had to say about this, after all, he was between Matilda and Revern in inheritance. But he was straight up being ignored.

Matilda thought about it for a while, her eyes flitting around as she thought about something.

"Ok, but I have some conditions." Matilda said.

"What?" Lord Garron asked.

"I will be allowed to continue my business, and I will not be mistreated." she replied.

"Yes, but you will have to make modifications to your business plan. The Admiral Guarding Garron cannot be seen sludging through water." Lord Garron said.

"Even if it is necessary for the city?" Matilda asked.

"Even then." Lord Garron answered.

Matilda sighed, "Ok fine, but I have another condition."

"What?" Lord Garron asked, his eyes narrowing.

Althea could feel Pulsie's curiosity grow. The two of them couldn't talk through this connection, but they could feel each other's emotions.

"If I am going to be a puppet Admiral and be on the chopping block, I don't want any forced marriages. And I don't want to collaborate with Duke Zerolian."

Oh, this was getting interesting. There was drama there, Althea was sure of it. The Duke was insistent that Matilda not become the Admiral, And now Matilda did not want to collaborate with the Duke? Didn't the Steward mention a fiancé? Did a certain someone make an enemy?

"Althea." The Empress' voice interrupted her inner monologue, appearing in her mind. "I have something to ask of you. Please give Matilda the manual. This artifact only works one way and is not powerful enough to do this for long, I will explain later. But please do it."