Duchess Mesu wanted to restore her position within the Imperial Navy.
Meanwhile, Senior Menilman was a newly risen force within the Imperial Navy, blazing across it like a meteor.
The conflict between the two was ready to erupt and could turn white-hot at any moment.
In the early days, Senior Menilman had even needed to rely on raiding pirates and Charlotte's support just to gain a foothold. That showed how heavily she had been ostracized and suppressed within the navy.
That suppression had undoubtedly come from Duchess Mesu.
Now that Duchess Mesu could do nothing to Senior Menilman, perhaps she had heard that Charlotte had once helped her and turned instead to squeezing a "soft persimmon." Any jealous squabbling among juniors was merely incidental.
Or perhaps Duchess Mesu wanted to move against Senior Menilman but had not known which target to choose, until this Mr. Ellens Cook provided her with one.
Naturally, Charlotte had no intention of letting Mr. Ellens Cook off either.
"Damn it, how did I suddenly end up in conflict with Duchess Mesu?"
Although Charlotte grumbled, he understood that he was still just a minor figure within the Empire of Fars. He still had not crossed that insurmountable class divide. Duchess Mesu probably regarded him as an ant by the roadside, never bothering to consider whether he had any backing before casually deciding to crush him.
After all, even if he did have backing, it might not be enough to withstand Duchess Mesu's influence. Nor would anyone likely choose to offend a Grand Duchess with real power for Charlotte's sake.
Though they were both grand dukes, Duchess Mesu's authority was far beyond Ferdinand's and Joseph's. Those two useless grand dukes might not even have as much influence as several of the Empire's powerful counts.
That was what