Chapter 1930: Chapter 1930

Everything was going according to plan. On Wednesday, Jenkins accompanied Miss Windsor to visit the nobles who supported him. On Thursday, he took Fini from the church to meet her friends. He would need the help of these flower girls for the weekend's events; he even needed to select a few clever girls with strong nerves to help him with some tasks at City Hall.

Everyone eagerly volunteered. Ultimately, Jenkins left the final selection to Fini.

As for the flower girls' guild, Jenkins had already completed the registration through his connections at City Hall. All that was left was to find a suitable office space and notify the other flower shops and retailers in the city, and the guild would be officially established.

Because no one knew Jenkins was doing this for the sake of his godhood—they just thought it was some bizarre, sudden whim of his—no one stood in his way. The matter of the flower girls' guild was probably the smoothest of all his recent endeavors.

Even though Jenkins and Jessica hadn't let a word slip, astute politicians had sensed the signs of an approaching storm. On Thursday evening, Queen Isabella specially summoned Jenkins, inviting him to dinner.

Some unpleasant things had happened the last time the two had dinner, so Jenkins made sure to confirm there were no traces of any rituals in the residence before accepting the invitation.

The conversation began with tedious remarks about the weather, with neither of them broaching the subject of the throne and succession. Then, Queen Isabella brought up Jessica:

"I heard she spent the night at your house on Tuesday?"

"I wasn't alone. There were others in the house."

"But they were all your family. Jenkins, if you have feelings for Jessica, you must be responsible. I don't think you're the type to be a philanderer; otherwise, the wrath of Duke Windsor alone would be more than you could bear."

"Also, why hasn't Jessica come to see me in the last two days? She used to visit every day," Queen Isabella asked. The most update n0vels are published on ɴovelfire.net

"That's a question you'd best ask Jessica herself. I can't answer for her."

The truth was, she was heartbroken over what had happened in the Mysterious Realm.

Queen Isabella set down her knife and fork and looked at Jenkins, while Jenkins kept his head down, continuing to work on the food on his plate. Nearby, Chocolate was growing impatient.

"Have you been speaking ill of me to her?"

"Why would you think that?"

Jenkins chuckled, transferring a slice of vegetable he had cut to Chocolate's small dish.

"Besides, even if I wanted to speak ill of you behind your back, I'd need actual evidence to do so. Or are you saying you really have an illegitimate daughter Jessica's age?"

This was an unbelievable piece of street gossip, a fantasy the common people had about the royal family, so it wasn't out of place for Jenkins to say it. It came across more as a sarcastic jab at Queen Isabella's suspicions.

"I have no illegitimate daughter, but I have done many things that she disagrees with."

She sighed and changed the subject to the Tri-King Summit. After Tackwen's death, the prince representing the Kingdom of Cheslan had to rely on the other two kingdoms to "restore his nation," so he no longer made harsh demands during the negotiations and did his best to accommodate the deals and treaties proposed by Salhir II and Queen Isabella.

News of the great fire in the southern kingdom was now common knowledge, and combined with the tense military standoff at the border, Cheslan was already in a state of chaos. Lately, the main topics of the Tri-King Summit had been disaster relief and the deployment of troops. After a month, they had finally reached a general consensus on the other issues.

Cheslan had made significant concessions, while Isabella of Fidektri and Salhir II of Hamparvo had reached a certain understanding regarding matters between their two nations. According to Dolores's reports, the Church had exerted some influence in the matter, and the arguments she and Jessica had made to their elders had also played a part.

In any case, the Tri-King Summit was nearing its end, and Queen Isabella had received a formal letter from the Church, inviting her to participate in another important negotiation.

This was, in fact, the negotiation with the followers of the God of Lies.

Later this week, the Church would have a cardinal from the Holy See personally explain to her the arrival of the End of the Epoch and the matter of the Lying God's followers' position, so that the secular government would understand the importance of this final negotiation to the world.

But she wanted to learn the details from Jenkins beforehand. After some thought, Jenkins revealed a few minor details about the apocalypse.

He had a deep understanding of the doomsday at the end of an epoch, so he didn't need to invent anything to vividly describe the soul-shaking terror and catastrophic disasters. Jenkins tried to make things sound as dire as possible, to make Queen Isabella understand what the upcoming negotiations truly meant.

But he soon realized he couldn't imagine anything more terrifying than the doomsday he already knew. Fortunately, that was more than enough. The old woman sitting at the other end of the long table had fully grasped the horrifying implications of his words.

He nodded to himself. Regardless of his personal feelings toward Queen Isabella, she was indeed a competent ruler. Even if he succeeded in forcing her abdication over the weekend, he had to make sure she understood the importance of the negotiations with the Lying God's followers. The transfer of power couldn't be completed in a day or two, but the final negotiation would most likely begin immediately.

Jenkins had to be prepared for both possibilities.

"Also, what have you and Jessica been up to lately? I heard you visited many people yesterday."

He hadn't made any special effort to hide his movements these past few days, so of course she would know.

"This weekend, I plan to give a speech at City Hall—a speech about financial reform. The case studies involved might be rather sensitive, so I'll need some support."

he said, mixing truth with falsehood.

"What kind of case studies?"

she asked, signaling to the maid waiting by the door that she could bring in the dessert.

"That's confidential for now. You'll find out when the time comes."

Jenkins had the maid behind him bring a new plate. He was going to share the dessert with his cat.

"About the proposal I made last time..."

"I'm sorry. After I went home and thought about it, I've concluded that it would be most appropriate for me to become king myself. Oh, and by the way, Jessica is in full agreement with this idea."

He thanked the maid behind him, whose face flushed slightly. This displeased Chocolate a little. But seeing as Jenkins was discussing important matters while also 'serving' its meal, the cat decided not to get angry with him over it. After all, it was a very well-behaved and understanding cat.