"Your Excellency, I will give you three months. Within three months, all nobles in the territory must be examined. Any noble who refuses to be examined will be deemed to have automatically given up their noble status."
"This is the specific content that needs to be checked when examining the nobles, as well as the list of reports against each family. You can take it back and take a closer look."
Charlotte took out a set of prepared review materials from the drawer and ordered the maid to deliver it to Viscount Ryan Castel.
Viscount Ryan Castel had already been suppressed by the majesty of the spell blessed by the power of blood.
But even so, when he saw clearly the contents that needed to be reviewed in the materials, he couldn't help but widen his eyes:
"My Lord Earl! This... This... This... I'm afraid..."
"Hmm? Why? Is it difficult?"
Charlotte gave him a cold look.
The old viscount lowered his head almost subconsciously.
Thinking back to the list of reports of various noble families that were put together with the censorship content, he was silent for a long time and sighed:
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty obeys your orders, but... The vampires are secretive and very good at hiding their identities. Even if you order me to investigate, I am afraid it will be difficult for your Majesty to find all of them..."
"Not to mention, these inspections will almost completely check every family's assets. Even if the vampires behind the scenes lose their resistance, if the nobles unite to resist... even if you have leverage over the families, the consequences will be disastrous."
Charlotte smiled and said:
"Don't worry about checking the identities of the vampires. Since I'm leaving this matter to you, I'll naturally assign professional personnel to check their identities. You just need to make sure that all the nobles accept the check."
"Your Excellency, as the chief steward of foreign affairs of the earldom, I believe that there is no noble in the entire territory who is more familiar with the status of each family than you..."
"As for whether the various families will object..."
Charlotte sneered and said indifferently:
"If they can unite, let them unite."
"At that time, I will declare as the Earl of Castel that all the nobles who resisted are rebels. The titles of the rebels will be revoked. At the same time, I will call on all nobles to help Castel quell the rebellion. Those who have made contributions in the rebellion will have the opportunity to obtain these revoked titles."
After hearing what Charlotte said, the old viscount was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Charlotte continued:
"Of course, it's not that easy to ask you to do these things, so... I will also equip you with some more professional helpers who will be able to help you deal with those nobles who intend to rebel."
The old viscount was startled and couldn't help but widen his eyes:
"Professional helpers? To deal with the rebellious nobles? You... you want to mobilize the guards of the direct jurisdiction?!"
Charlotte smiled:
"That's not the case. The guards of the direct jurisdiction have their own tasks. If the nobles really unite, it will be impossible for the guards alone to quickly capture them. I will assign you more professional people."
"Someone more... professional?"
The old viscount's eyelids twitched wildly, and he seemed to have vaguely associated something.
Charlotte did not continue to explain, but leaned forward, looked directly into the old viscount's eyes, and said meaningfully:
"And one more thing… "
"I know you are a devout believer of the Holy Court, but... the situation in the Earldom is special. From now on, don't spread the word that I came to Castel to spread the faith of the Holy Court, and don't deliberately promote that I am the Saint of the Holy Court."
Charlotte put a slight emphasis on the words “devoutly” and “deliberately.”
Facing Charlotte's deep eyes, Len Castel suddenly felt as if he was seen through and quickly lowered his head.
"Okay, I'm done. Any questions?"
Charlotte changed her sitting position, propped her chin up and smiled.
Viscount Ryan Castel swallowed his saliva and sighed:
"Subjects... no more."
Looking at the dejected look of the old viscount, Charlotte smiled again and said:
"Your Excellency, don't put too much pressure on yourself."
"There is a proverb in the ancient Eastern countries, which goes, 'A new emperor appoints new ministers'..."
"Although I am not the 'Son of Heaven', I am also Castel's master. When you complete this task, Len Castel will naturally be the biggest contributor."
"And I... will never treat a hero unfairly."
After hearing what Charlotte said, the old viscount couldn't help but raise his head and meet her deep blue eyes.
After taking a deep breath, he leaned forward respectfully and said:
"Your Highness... I understand."
After receiving the task of examining the nobles from Charlotte, Viscount Leon-Castell left with a heavy heart.
As soon as he left, the study window was opened from the outside, and the fat body of the black cat Nice squeezed in.
Charlotte glanced at it and frowned:
"Why don't you go through the front door?"
"Hey, didn't you see that you were summoning your vassal just now? I didn't want to disturb you, so I subconsciously climbed through the window."
Nice rolled over to the table skillfully, picked up the snacks on the plate and stuffed them into his mouth, looking very enjoyable.
Charlotte was too lazy to expose the lazy cat's laziness in climbing the stairs, so she got straight to the point:
"Have you finished interrogating Madoc?"
"Look at what you said! Our Nice always acts quickly!"
"Oh? From your tone, it doesn't seem to take too long?"
"Hehe! That's not the case! If it was anyone else, it would be fine, but it had to be Madoc. We are most familiar with the forbidden magic pattern on his body! There are ten thousand ways to make him speak!"
Looking at Nice's smug look, Charlotte recalled the words about the divine spell counterattack that she had seen, and suddenly her heart moved, and she asked:
"Nice, do you know the legendary wizard Nicholas?"
"Ah? Nicholas? Who is that? I don't know! I don't know him!"
Black Cat Nice quickly shook his head like a rattle.
That unthinking denial was too familiar to Charlotte.
This guy would definitely look like this if he said one thing and meant another and had a secret.
Charlotte looked at it deeply, and suddenly smiled:
"Come to think of it, I've never seen you pray to the God of Contract. Aren't you a devout believer in the Contract?"
"Ah... This, Lady Charlotte, you may not know, but I actually pray to the great God of Contract every day in private... Um, praise the contract!"
Nice Cat's face became serious. He stretched out his paw and drew a scale symbol of Mithra, the god of contract, in front of him, and prayed solemnly.
It's just that the movements don't look that skilled.
Charlotte looked at it quietly, without saying a word.
Staring at Charlotte's rather oppressive gaze, Nice looked away feeling somewhat guilty.
It coughed twice, and a light flashed in its paws, and a list appeared:
"Lord Charlotte, this is the list provided by Madoc. They are all nobles and officials in the direct jurisdiction who were infiltrated by the Ness clan."
As it spoke, its expression became a little strange:
"I have to say... it's not easy for your direct jurisdiction to survive until today. I took a close look at the roster and it's leaking like a sieve."
Charlotte: …
Although I know this guy is trying to change the subject, I have to say it worked.
Charlotte stopped asking about Nice's secret and took the list and started browsing it, her eyelids twitching wildly:
"so much?"
"Hey, we're lucky that there are almost no vampires in there, and most of those who have been recruited are marginal nobles and city hall officials. After all, your direct jurisdiction is the center of the Holy Royal Court in the North. Even if the priests are not good enough, I'm sure the Ness clan won't dare to act recklessly..."
"So I have to thank the Holy Royal Court?"
Charlotte couldn't help but complain.
But after thinking about it, she nodded in agreement:
"In many ways, it seems that I should really thank the great Lord..."
"Praise the Holy One!"
Charlotte also drew a cross symbol on her chest, and her movements were much more skillful than Nice's.
After that, she handed the list back to Nice and praised him:
"Well done! Now that we have the list, let's arrest the people. No one on the list should be spared, and all their property should be confiscated! The expansion plan of Beigang also requires a lot of funds, so we can use them as the first payment."
"Lord Charlotte, there are quite a few people on the list. Are you sure you want to do it?"
"Of course we have to take action. I am planning to take action against the nobles, so why would I leave out the direct jurisdiction? This is our foundation."
Charlotte said without hesitation.
Nice seemed to be quite pleased with the word "we" and his tail was lifted even higher with joy.
But at the same time, it is somewhat confused:
"Lord Charlotte, I know you want to take control of the territory as soon as possible, but here's the problem. You're making such a big move, aren't you worried about the territory getting in chaos? I remember you said before that you wanted to be as stable as possible, right?"
Charlotte smiled and said:
"That was in the past. I didn't know the situation of the Ness clan's infiltration into the territory, so I was naturally cautious. But now..."
Her eyes flickered slightly, and she said:
"The Ness clan's infiltration into the territory is indeed serious, but perhaps for the sake of efficiency, or perhaps for checks and balances, they did not integrate the infiltrating noble power..."
"This can be seen from the nobles reporting on each other. Even if they have infiltrated the nobles, their forces are scattered and each acts independently."
"Perhaps it was okay when Earl Lachlan was alive, but once he died, the control of the Ness clan would inevitably be greatly weakened. It would probably take more than a short time to regain control of the infiltration power. After all... underground work is difficult."
"In this case, I will naturally seize this opportunity."
After speaking, Charlotte touched her chin again:
"Speaking of which, I didn't expect that the Blood Duke would kill Count Lachlan without hesitation. A Blood Count is no small figure. He was so decisive. Even if they said they had a private grudge, I would believe it..."
"The blood clan uses blood as a close bond, so it is surprising that they acted this way. I can only say that either the Nice clan is hiding a deeper secret, or the Duke really has a grudge against Earl Lachlan..."
"I guess that there might be factions within the Ness clan, and they may not be as united as we thought."
Nice nodded:
"Okay, then I understand. But... why did you give this task to Len Castel? You don't really think they are loyal, do you?"
Charlotte took a sip of sweet milk and said quietly:
"Of course I know that they can't be completely loyal. Not only that, I don't think Viscount Ryan Castel is really as devout a believer as he appears to be. Otherwise, he would definitely not sit idly by and watch the decline of the church in Castel."
"In fact, I think Ryan Castel is more like a fence-sitter with his own little thoughts. Maybe this viscount will not betray me openly, but I am afraid that he has been flirting with the Nice Clan behind the scenes..."
"But it doesn't matter anymore. Earl Lachlan is dead, and the Duke of the Nice Clan is probably not sure of the power behind me. There is no impenetrable wall in the world. As long as the nobles are told of the death of the Blood Earl behind the scenes, they will surely be shocked and suspicious."
"In this situation, fence-sitters tend to choose the side that is most beneficial to them!"
"Not to mention, the Ryan-Castel family is the weakest of the three viscount families. They have influence but limited strength. I am not worried that they will become bigger in the process of examining the nobles..."
Nice's heart moved slightly:
"I understand. Similarly, the investigation of the nobles will also make their families stand against the nobles of the territory. Even if they are fence-sitters, as long as you deal with the infiltration of the Nice clan, they will have no choice but to follow you in the future, right?"
Charlotte nodded:
"exactly."
"You are so shady... well, wise."
Nice couldn't help but say.
"Come to think of it, I have something to talk to you about."
Charlotte suddenly changed the subject and looked at Black Cat:
"Nice, you should be able to use more than just the Contract Divine Art, right?"
Nice was stunned and started to play dumb:
"Ah? What did you say? I..."
"Can you use divine magic?"
Charlotte watched it in silence.
"I… "
Ness opened his mouth.
"Will it?"
Charlotte continued to stare at it, not wanting to take her eyes off it.
Facing the increasingly oppressive gaze, Nice swallowed his saliva and finally answered honestly:
"Well, a little bit."
"What about detecting evil?"
"Um... a little bit."
"good!"
Charlotte nodded and said:
"Since you know a little bit, I will give you another task. When the review plan is launched, you will accompany me as an assistant. With your keen sense of smell and the divine art of detecting evil, I think no vampire will be able to escape from your sight."
"Investigating the nobles' assistants?"
Nice's eyes lit up, and the shape of Quintana seemed to appear in the amber child's eye.
It stood up and saluted in a humane manner, then said excitedly:
"Nice... I guarantee you'll get the job done!"
"Okay, when you're done, go report to Viscount Len Castel. Remember, you are both an assistant and a supervisor. You can call my name when necessary."
"Yes, sir!"
After receiving the task, Nice withdrew.
Charlotte hesitated for a moment, then called the maid Shirley:
"Shirley, please get me some formal stationery for nobles to use for communication..."
Shirley quickly brought Charlotte writing paper and ink. Charlotte picked up the quill pen, dipped it in the ink, and after thinking for a moment, she prepared to write.
But after writing a word crookedly on the letter paper, she stopped immediately.
This is very embarrassing.
Although she inherited most of her original body's memories, Charlotte did not inherit much of her writing ability. Or, even if her original body had learned mostly etiquette, these skills were not included.
After thinking for a while, Charlotte looked at Shirley:
"Shirley, you've learned to write before, right?"
Shirley nodded:
“Yes.”
"That's right. I'll tell you and you write it."
Charlotte handed over the letter.
Shirley took the letter respectfully, and Charlotte pondered for a moment and said:
"To the glorious Viscount Remigio..."
"It has been more than a week since I returned to the territory. The situation in Castel is more complicated than I thought. The Remigio family has always been a friend of the Castel family. As the lord of Castel, I want to cooperate with you on something..."
"I wonder if you would be interested in being hired in your spare time to earn a large extra commission?"
"… "