Gwendolyn was the Regent of Stonewold, and she regarded Mirabel as her own daughter.
Mirabel, in turn, saw this Chancellor over a decade her senior as a mother figure.
Naturally, many ministers were dissatisfied, hoping Mirabel would reclaim her sovereign authority.
But Sylas only needed one look at Mirabel to be certain this girl had absolutely no intention of doing any work.
Her demeanor and way of speaking felt all too familiar.
Just like his childhood friend Crystal—honest in nature, but lazy and slack, unwilling to work.
Of course, he glanced away immediately after looking.
He set a rule for himself: absolutely do not speak a single word to this Mirabel.
Focus on assisting Gwendolyn faithfully, striving to earn the qualification to negotiate with Isolde.
Gwendolyn gently lectured Mirabel a few times, saying things like, "Your Majesty is older now, it's time to grow up."
But her gentle tone made even Sylas guess how the conversation would go.
Sure enough, Mirabel's coquettishness was more potent than a hidden Luna.
Fortunately, the group didn't linger outside the city for long, and they eventually returned to the Stonewold capital.
Sylas also secretly moved into the Chancellor's Manor.
Since he and Gwendolyn maintained the master-servant facade, he took the alias Byron.
From then on, he lived in seclusion within the Chancellor's Manor, never contacting outsiders.
Gwendolyn, besides handling government affairs, also had to find time to tutor Mirabel in her studies.
She shouldered civil and military responsibilities single-handedly, while also acting as Mirabel's tutor.
With such a packed schedule, she truly had no time for romance.
Seeing this, Sylas was naturally even more relieved.
Every day, he simply followed Gwendolyn's requirements, managing the normal operation of the Chancellor's Manor, and then his time was his own.
Because of this, Gwendolyn would occasionally say jealously, "You seem quite idle."
Sylas could only smile without speaking.
Not in the position, don't meddle in the governance.
He was from Lyonesse, and a man besides.
Isolde was certainly hunting for him.
He absolutely could not reveal his talents now.
He could only wait patiently for the right opportunity to arrive.
Fortunately, Gwendolyn understood his situation and didn't pressure him to do more.
Moreover, seeing the Chancellor's Manor run smoothly and orderly, she felt he was contributing in his way and let the matter drop.
Time flew by.
After reopening the ports, Aethelred became surprisingly quiet.
Among the three nations, though there was little contact, an eerie stillness had fallen.
It seemed everyone was waiting—waiting for the other side to make a mistake, waiting for an opportunity to appear.
Two months later, the Aethelred Crown Princess, Selene, was born in Northspire.
Isolde didn't want to name her Sylene or Misandry.
She missed him, but her resentment was equally strong.
So, torn back and forth, she could only choose a different name.
Selene's birth signaled the end of any possibility for Celeste's faction to regain power.
From then on, Celeste withdrew from the stage of power struggles.
Before the robust Isolde, she could only obediently play the role of managing logistics.
Celeste, however, did not complain. On the contrary, she was extremely doting on this niece.
In Lorynth, Marshal Victoria breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
From this moment on, Isolde's bloodline was securely established.
She saw the effects of the reforms and, therefore, seized the time to push the reform agenda forward again.
But she didn't expect this great leap to provoke unprecedented resistance.
The reforms affected too many vested interests.
And this time, her greatest backer, Isolde, was not in Lorynth, and had just given birth.
Suddenly, memorials impeaching Victoria flew into Northspire like snowflakes.
Did Isolde have time to handle memorials?
Thus, these maliciously slanderous petitions all ended up in Celeste's hands.
Celeste's attitude towards Victoria was now lukewarm.
Though she had lost her competitive standing, her impression of Victoria remained poor.
She very rationally held these memorials back, not acting on them.
In her view, this was already magnanimous.
But court politics were as sensitive as a calm lake surface; the slightest vibration would create ripples.
Northspire's lack of response indicated a change in attitude.
Before, anyone who dared impeach Victoria would have been severely reprimanded by Isolde.
Now, the memorials were just held back.
This caused the number of people attacking Victoria to skyrocket.
The chaos in the Aethelred court exceeded even Sylas's expectations.
He had previously schemed with Gwendolyn in the dungeon about how to sow discord.
Now, it seemed, without even lifting a finger, their contradictions were intensifying on their own.
Sylas felt both relieved and melancholy.
In the quiet of the night, he would face north in the courtyard, seeing at most the dark walls and the crescent moon overhead.
Beyond that, there was nothing else he could do.
Time passed swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, a year went by.
The internal strife within the Aethelred court had reached a fever pitch.
The entire city of Lorynth seemed to be sitting on a volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.
The brilliant and formidable Isolde couldn't even return easily.
Spending her days raising her child, she wasn't even sure what was happening in Lorynth anymore.
As the infighting peaked, Celeste offered a strategy.
Northspire now had ample supplies and strong soldiers—like a sharp sword hanging over Ironpeak's head.
This was the perfect opportunity to redirect the trouble westward, to launch a campaign against Stonewold, thereby reducing internal court conflicts.
Isolde hesitated repeatedly.
According to her plan, she needed at least two years of preparation.
It had only been a year.
Launching a rash attack, success was far from certain.
But when she saw the situation in Lorynth, she discovered helplessly that sometimes war isn't deliberately started; it's forced upon you.
If she didn't send troops now, the volcano in Lorynth would erupt.
Once the court was thrown into turmoil, the current stability would be impossible to maintain.
To this end, Isolde devised a comprehensive attack plan.
Victoria would lead fifty thousand troops west to attack the Pass.
She herself would personally lead a hundred thousand strong from Northspire.
A two-pronged advance to conquer Western Stonewold.
Victoria's route was merely a diversionary force.
Everyone knew the state of the Pass; let alone fifty thousand, even a hundred and fifty thousand would be ineffective before it.
Her route was the main attack.
Thus, the grand yet not fully prepared Aethelred Phalanx marched along the river, charging straight towards Sentinel Peaks.
Gwendolyn immediately personally led thirty thousand Stonewold troops to reinforce it.
But Sentinel Peaks could not hold against the Aethelred attack.
Isolde's preparations over the past year had been quite effective.
By the time Gwendolyn brought her troops to the region, the two armies were deadlocked at the Jade Wall.
This time, the Stonewold army had to stop the Aethelred advance.
In Ironpeak, with Gwendolyn gone, Mirabel had to step up.
But before leaving, Gwendolyn had ultimately left her a capable assistant.
Because of this, Mirabel practically moved into the Chancellor's Manor.
Without this assistant, she wouldn't even know how to transport supplies to the front.
Fighting on two fronts, with a massive army pressing down on the borders, the newly adult Mirabel was panicked and at a loss.
She simply couldn't grasp what was most important.
Without the Chancellor's protection, she was like a fledgling bird that had never been rained on, utterly unable to face the impending storm.
But fortunately.
The man Gwendolyn had risked so much to rescue from Amberfields a year ago, Sylas, finally shed his veil and stepped onto the stage amidst the gathering storm!