When Claudia returned to the palace, she felt sleepy, tired, and hungry, but she hurried to the throne room without even replacing the blood-stained plate armor, where she had a great deal of business to discuss with Egwene and Duke Grayson.

Claudia sat on the throne that usually belonged to Varian, and after taking a cup of hot chocolate from the squire, she drank it down, and asked tiredly, "Now that Varian has disappeared and I don't know how long it will take to find it, how can we explain this matter to the rest of the world?" ”

"We have sunk a capital ship and died so many people, we can't hide it," Duke Grayson sighed and said, "We can only admit this news to the outside world, and the top priority is to find His Majesty the King as soon as possible, and stabilize the situation in the country as much as possible before that, and wait for the end of the battle in the north." ”

Egwen also reminded: "Stabilizing people's hearts is the most important thing, but judging by the tricks of the man behind the scenes, I don't think he will give us this chance, and I suspect that the enemy has more follow-up attacks waiting for us." ”

When Claudia heard this, she remembered the news she had just received from the soul of Duke Facurrest, and she immediately felt a little irritated, and called Adjutant Arthur in: "Give MI7 an order, inform Madias, and ask him to return to Stormwind City to see me as soon as possible, I have something important to ask him." ”

Arthur went to give the order, and Claudia discussed state affairs with the two for a while, and then she asked her children, "How are the highnesses?" ”

"Paltris is here, she's taking care of several Highnesses," Duke Grayson replied, with a look of shame on his face, "I'm sorry, but it was a mistake on my part this morning that gave the Assassins a chance. ”

Claudia smiled bitterly and shook her head: "I don't blame you, if it were me, I would make the same mistake, our thinking is too bright, and we will subconsciously ignore that the enemy can be despicable enough to put the most powerful power on such a young child......"

Speaking of this, Claudia suddenly froze, and a certain conversation from the past flashed in her mind:

"If you want to be a good person, then you must be smarter, more cunning, and more spicy than the bad people, otherwise, just as bad money will drive out good money, good people will die, and evil will triumph over justice."

Thinking of the assassination of her child today, Claudia felt shaken for the first time the faith she had always held, and she suddenly felt extremely tired, both physically and mentally.

Exhausted and exhausted, Claudia did not rest after taking care of her official duties, she first went to comfort the frightened children during the day, and after the twins had fallen asleep, Claudia had time to return to her dormitory, deal with her messy new hairstyle, and dismiss the maid while bathing in the bath, and cry loudly alone, licking the pain in her heart.

The next morning, Claudia attended the Imperial Council and informed the kingdom's ministers of the attack on the Storm Shield and King Varian's disappearance, and the ministers were in an uproar, despite their early speculations.

Claudia reassured the ministers as agreed with Egwen, and vowed to do everything in her power to find Varian, promising that she would remain regent until Anduin was sixteen years old and of majority, and that she would defend the property and lives of the people of the Stormwind Kingdom like Varian.

Although the ministers were suspicious of the last of Claudia's promises, they still swore allegiance to Claudia in trepidation, and they did not have a good choice, and according to the law of the era, Claudia was indeed the first choice for regency in the king's absence.

After Claudia's position was recognized and allegiated by the ministers, Claudia then sent Duke Zeldiger, who had some prestige in the army, to the front line of the Eastern Plaguelands to pacify the Grand Duke of Berval and other soldiers.

News of the King's disappearance quickly spread throughout Stormwind and cast a shadow over most of Stormwind's residents, who were worried not only about the King's safety, but also about their own safety and future.

In this era of threats everywhere and ordinary people are in danger, ordinary people do not have high requirements for life and rulers, they need basic food and clothing, they need someone to lead them, they need someone to defend them against foreign enemies to ensure their safety, and this last point is especially important, the people would rather have a tyrant who can protect them than a weak old man.

This is where Claudia is deficient, and although she is deeply respected and loved by the people, she has always been a kind and loving lady in the propaganda of the church and the government, rather than a powerful iron-fisted ruler, and her feminine identity and beauty are naturally disadvantaged in this regard.

However, unlike the common people's worries about this matter, although most of the nobles also expressed their concern and sympathy for the king's disappearance, most of them secretly celebrated and rejoiced in private, and Varian was so strong that they were even overwhelmed.

In the human kingdom, nobles and kings have always been in a cooperative and fighting relationship.

On the one hand, the king needs to cooperate with the nobility, the king needs the nobility as the cornerstone of his rule, and the nobility also needs the king to protect their privileges, status and economic advantages, but on the other hand, there is also a conflict between the king and the nobility, the king wants to strengthen the royal power, but the nobility is reluctant to return their vested interests and rights to the king, this is the contradiction.

In the Kingdom of Stormwind, it is no exception.

Since Varian's coronation, he has taken a lot of measures to strengthen the centralization of power, the standing army trained by the kingdom has replaced the nobles' private soldiers, and the garrisons and magistrates selected by the kingdom have replaced the jurisdiction of the nobles over the territory, and the power of the royal family has been unprecedentedly strengthened, and the nobles will naturally not be willing to give up all this, but after several failed conflicts, the nobles can only reluctantly admit the reality.

So when Varian disappeared and Claudia, who was known for her kindness and generosity, came to power, most of the nobles were relieved, after all, although Claudia was superb, her personality determined that she must be much better than Varian, and even many nobles were planning to wait for the right opportunity to challenge the queen regent, and use various means to get back some of their rights.

The right time for the nobles to wait was soon there.

It was the afternoon of the third day after news of Varian's disappearance, and Claudia was enjoying afternoon tea with Egwen and Gianna.

Gianna looked at Claudia, who had fallen asleep while drinking tea, and asked Egwen in a low voice, "Has she not slept well for the past two days?" And why is it that every time I see her, she is wearing plate armor? ”

"I must not have a good night's sleep," Egwene shrugged, "as for the plate armor, she just wants to maintain a tough image outside, you know, we women want to sit firmly on the throne, but it is more troublesome than men, many outsiders will think that women are weak and can be bullied, and she doesn't dare to show a trace of weakness ...... now." ”

Gianna glanced at Claudia sympathetically, and felt even more guilty, in her opinion, it was her proposal for Varian to conclude the trade agreement that caused Varian's disappearance and put Claudia in this situation, although Claudia thought that it had nothing to do with Gianna, but Gianna still blamed herself.

Gianna was pondering, only to hear the rapid footsteps outside approaching, Claudia, who was asleep lying on her arm, suddenly raised her head, her eyes quickly changed from confusion to sharpness, and brushed the slightly messy hair on her forehead, and when the door was opened, Claudia had already recovered the meticulous and majestic expression of the past few days.

Adjutant Arthur pushed open the door with two red letters, saluted Claudia and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, urgent military intelligence, almost simultaneously from the Twilight Forest and the Red Ridge Mountain."

Gianna glanced at the two letters worriedly, she naturally knew the critical level of such letters, and Claudia took the two letters and looked at them hastily, her face immediately became cold, and ordered Arthur:

"Go and gather the ministers, and in half an hour, hold a royal council in the throne room!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Arthur was ordered to leave, Claudia's face regained its softening, she handed the letter to Egwene and Gianna, and sighed: "Egwene, you are right, that mastermind behind the scenes will not give us a chance to stabilize people's hearts, and now his followers have come." ”

Gianna took the letter, only to see that the first letter was to the effect:

"A large number of trolls began to cross the border yesterday, numbering at least four thousand, and now two sentry posts have been bloodied, and are heading in the direction of Nighttown, hoping that Stormwind will send reinforcements soon."

And the military intelligence from the direction of Red Ridge Mountain is much more detailed:

"Nearly three thousand Blackstone orcs and trolls in Overseer Red? The Black Hand's leadership raided the Stormwind Kingdom watchtower in the Burning Plains yesterday, and it is expected to arrive at the northern checkpoint of Red Ridge Mountain today, and Red Ridge Mountain urgently requested reinforcements from Stormwind City. ”

After reading the information, Gianna's heart tightened, the Stormwind Kingdom is now extremely empty, the standing legions are all fighting in the Eastern Plague Lands, and even the Royal Knights have been taken away half by Duke Berval, at this time, the standing army available in Stormwind City is only more than five hundred royal knights, and the usual law and order are maintained by the sheriffs, how can the militia and levies alone deal with the invasion of the armies from both directions?

Just when Gianna was having a headache, she heard Claudia's inquiry: "Both, do you have any good ways to deal with it?" ”

"Let's hear what the ministers are going to do," said Egwene, shaking his head, "I'm experienced in many things, but that doesn't include the military aspect, and there's hardly anything that I couldn't solve with Elunis. ”

Gianna looked embarrassed: "I don't have a good way for a while, give me some time to think, and you can count me when you calculate your combat power." ”

Claudia glanced at Gianna gratefully, nodded and said, "What you said makes sense, let's listen to the ministers' plan first, maybe they will have a good solution." ”