Ambitions of the Golden Finch Family

"That's what happened, Mr. Hermit. My father's term is about to end.

"At this election assembly for the Grand Duke of Victoria, those traitors will surely join forces and vote to seize control of Victoria Harbor under the guise of legitimacy."

Heilowits frowned and bit her lip, her clear emerald eyes filled with rage.

Although Victoria Harbor was not an independent nation, it had a nominal head of state—the so-called "Grand Duke."

More than two hundred years ago, the title of Grand Duke had been inherited by the Henderson Family, descendants of Queen Victoria. However, Victoria II's arbitrary rule and ruthless accumulation of wealth had provoked the resentment of the city's great merchants and nobles.

They had joined forces to launch a revolt, overthrowing the original Grand Duke of Victoria and electing a new one from among the nobility. This gradually became the custom of Victoria Harbor.

Every twenty years, the nobles and great merchants of Victoria Harbor held an election assembly to choose a leader they could trust, one capable of leading them to earn even greater wealth.

The Grand Duke of Victoria possessed immense authority, able to mobilize the city's armed forces and control the entire Inner City.

The previous Grand Duke of Victoria was Heilowits's father, the current head of the Golden Finch Family—Aiden Seville.

But the one making the strongest bid for the title now was the head of the Henderson Family, Enrico Henderson, said to be Queen Victoria's seventeenth-generation direct descendant.

For Heilowits, this was absolutely not good news.

Yet at that moment, Heilowits noticed the faint smile on Mr. Hermit's face. He did not seem surprised in the slightest.

"You knew already?"

Hermit chuckled. "Not only did I know that, I also know that Enrico Henderson has become a servant of the Mind Flayers.