When the two opened their eyes again, Mary's face was pale and her lips were trembling slightly.

"How could this be? How could such a thing happen?! My brother, why would he do this?!"

Todd glanced around, gestured for Mary to lower her voice, and explained, "The city of Twilight originally intended to support Prince Sinclair to ascend the throne, but it now appears that the plan has completely failed."

Mary grabbed Todd's hand and asked anxiously, "What should we do now? Has all our previous efforts been in vain?"

Todd pondered for a moment before speaking, "If His Highness Mathilde becomes infatuated with Dion, perhaps we can slightly change the person we support."

"You mean... to change Mu Xicheng's supporter from Sinclair to Mathilde?" Mary said worriedly. "But my second brother was originally on the side of the church. If Mu Xicheng supports him to take the throne, wouldn't he be shooting himself in the foot?"

Todd had a headache: "When faced with two evils, choose the lesser. Compared to your cunning older brother, perhaps your pleasure-seeking second brother is more in line with the interests of Muxi City."

After saying this, Todd looked at Mary and sighed, "It would be great if you could be one of the candidates too..."

Mary's eyes dimmed: "Saint Guard City will never recognize a queen. Even if people agree to the queen's ascension, I have almost no supporters in the city compared to my two brothers... Besides, I don't like this city at all..."

Todd pursed his lips and shook his head, gently patting Mary's hand to signal her not to overthink it: "Tell Dion that in the matter of the succession to the throne, the city of Muxi has changed its support from Sinclair to Mathilde. Also, if possible, have him try to keep His Highness Mathilde in check; he may be the key to our success or failure in this confrontation with the Church. Later, I will communicate with the Muxi cabinet to arrange a series of follow-up work."

Watching the dejected Mary leave the back garden, Todd, whose mind was a jumbled mess, began to try to sort out a clear line of thought from so much information.

King Leoric of St. Defence approached him, smiling, and said, "Child, would you like to play a game of chess sometime?"