Philippa is a very interesting warlock.

First of all, her strength is beyond doubt.

In the later part of the novel, she is the one who is awarded the title of "First Sorcerer in the North" by the original author in the narration. She also established a new spellcaster organization as a leader after the dissolution of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.

But while she is very powerful, Philippa's political intelligence is ridiculous.

Objectively speaking, she is capable, and during her time as an advisor - that is, now - she does have considerable political prestige in Redania.

However, when Vizimir II, who was a heavy burden on Philippa, was assassinated, the sorceress began to let herself go after becoming regent.

As a result, after a series of suffocating operations, not only did she fail to achieve any of the political goals she set for herself, but she was also easily overthrown and imprisoned by Radovid, whom she had suppressed for a long time. He then composed the world-famous painting - [Philippa's Confined Room].

Although she managed to escape later, Philippa paid the price of having her eyes gouged out and becoming blind ever since.

It is truly touching how strict a teacher is and how respectful his students are.

Even so, she still believed that she could make a difference in the political landscape of the North. So at the end of the official description of Philippa's background story, she was burned to death after failing in the political struggle.

However, Philippa doesn't know what will happen in the future.

At this moment, she is ambitious and ready to make a big move.

Philippa has always respected magic and believed that sorcerers who master magic should occupy the ruling class.

This ambition should have been suppressed for a few more years, but now Lane has given Philippa new hope.

"You are the first person in human history to learn magic first and then lead a country." Philippa's eyes were eager.

Lan raised an eyebrow.

What? You still want to say that your ambition was inspired by me?

"But this is very dangerous." Philippa immediately said seriously, "You are still an alien, Lord Lannister. The kings in the North are very repulsive and wary of you. This is one of the reasons why they want to marry Cintra - the ruler of the kingdom cannot be a 'magical alien' in their eyes."

"I once said in Niubao that you possessed a powerful force. I think you have already developed it now." Philippa coaxed, "Ancient Blood - this is the name of your power. It is the source of everything you have now."

Lan raised his eyebrows again.

What, do I need you to tell me?

"You and those kings are destined to be different kinds of people. We are friends, Lord Lannister." Philippa said confidently, "I told you about my 'great cause' when I was in Oxburgh. I originally wanted to wait until your power awakened a little before absorbing you into it."

"But your performance has exceeded everyone's expectations. The power of the Ancient Blood is indeed astonishing. This allows us to directly enter the next stage."

The corners of Lan's mouth twitched. If it weren't for his strong expression management ability, he would have laughed out loud.

In order to ease his emotions, he finally interrupted Philippa's narration.

"You said before that the kings were going to hold a meeting on Thaned Island and that this was your chance. What did you mean?"

Philippa's breath was choked because her train of thought was interrupted.

She then explained: "Your fighting on the front lines scared everyone."

"You appeared and disappeared mysteriously, fighting on three fronts at the same time in the east, middle and west, and even destroyed an entire army by yourself."

"Even in a head-on confrontation, the army you led annihilated enemies that were several times larger than yours, while your own casualties were almost negligible."

Philippa sighed, "You have overturned everyone's view of war in the North, and made everyone re-examine the role of magic and even non-human races."

"Mahakan's heavy infantry shocked the world. Vizimir II has now opened up the conditions for non-human races to join the army, hoping to expand the kingdom's standing army. King Foltestai is said to have begun to be lenient with the dwarves in the country, and even started to contact some settled elves in the hope of recruiting them."

Philippa no longer used any honorific titles for her king, but simply called Vizimir by his name.

"Only Henselt of Kaedwen looked frightened. In the name of exterminating the Scoia'tael, he stepped up the persecution of non-human races in his territory."

It makes sense, as expected of Henselt.

"That's why we have this meeting on Thaned Island. Each country will send its own advisors and important officials to participate in the discussion to discuss the possibility of recruiting graduates from Aretuza College and Ban Ade School of Magic into the army and expanding the domestic warlock advisory group."

Philippa's expression was reserved: "They are finally starting to take magic seriously again."

Lann chuckled. "Just sending representatives? The kings themselves won't go?"

"There is a difference between respect and trust." Philippa shook her head. "It is too dangerous for the kings to have so many warlocks gathered together."

"Why don't I know this news yet?"

"You have Triss and Yennefer. The Brotherhood will contact you through them sooner or later." Philippa explained, then raised her chin, "But I am a member of the Council, so the news will be faster."

"You said this meeting is your chance, what do you want to do?"

Philippa saw that Lann was interested and smiled.

"Redania has the best intelligence agency in the North, and we recently received a tip-off that there is a Nilfgaardian spy in the Brotherhood!"

Lan's expression froze slightly.

He was silent.

Philippa took a deep breath and continued, "His name is Vigfortz. He is an extremely young but powerful warlock and a member of the Wizards' Council, which is above the Council. He led the Brotherhood and the Northern Alliance to repel Nilfgaard in the Second Battle of Sodden Mountain, and he enjoys a very high prestige in the Brotherhood!"

"You may not know who he is, Lan." Philippa's address changed unconsciously, "But I want to tell you that he is an extremely difficult enemy to deal with!"

"Back in the day in Niubao, he was the mastermind who sent Reeves to assassinate you. I stopped you because it was not the time to start a war with him, and you were too weak to be his opponent at that time."

Lan clenched his teeth, seeming to be angry at hearing such news. After all, this was a "hero" who led the North to fight against Nilfgaard.

"I'm... shocked, Philippa," Lane said slowly.

"So did I when I first heard the news."

"But what does this Vigfortz have to do with your plan?"

Philippa smiled with confidence.

"I reported this news to Vizimir II. After verifying it, he was shocked that there was such a terrible enemy lurking in the North. He even worried that Viggofortz would become the second you, so he regarded him as a great enemy. Viggofortz's whereabouts were unpredictable, and he would only attend this meeting on time."

"So I used the power of the Northern Warlock to capture Vizimir and asked him to authorize me to lead an army to attend the meeting on Thaned Island." Philippa said, "Then I will use it to eliminate Vilgefortz and his 'accomplices'."

Lann raised his eyebrows: "Are you trying to take this opportunity to cause trouble and actually help Vizimir II control the Brotherhood of Warlocks?"

"It's not Vizimir," Philippa corrected. "It's me."

"In order to ensure the plan is foolproof, Vizimir will send the royal guards and me to the island of Thaned to control the Brotherhood, which is the most elite force in Redania. The guards around him will be empty, and I happen to be the one who knows him best."

"Now everyone in the North knows that the Scoia'tael is supported by the Nilfgaardians. I have arranged for several elves to disguise themselves as Scoia'tael and assassinate Vizimir II."

The plan to kill the king was thus fully revealed.

The sorceress who wielded great power looked matter-of-fact, as if she was just explaining a trivial matter.

Lann groaned for a moment and said, "That is to say, if everything goes well, you will eliminate the Southerners' undercover agents and gain unprecedented prestige. At the same time, you will be able to become the leader of the Warlock Brotherhood."

"The representatives of various countries who witnessed all this on Thaned Island will respect you for this, and you will gain political respect from the countries in the North."

"When all this is done, Redania will be vacant again, and Radovid will take the throne. But the prince is young, so you will be the regent and the actual ruler of Redania."

What a huge plan with so many interconnected links.

This time, Philippa wants to win three times!

"That's right." The plan was perfectly interpreted, and Philippa showed an admiring look to Lann. "And the hostility of the North towards Nilfgaard will reach an unprecedented level, and then it will unite together - after all, a king of one of the four major countries has died."

"From now on, one of the largest countries in the North will fall into the hands of the warlocks. If your Cintra joins us at this time, there will be no more enemies in the North!"

The wind blew in through the open window, lifting Philippa's skirt.

At that moment, a shocking aura burst out from the sorceress.

Lan lowered his head and fell silent again.

In a sense, this is a really good plan.

But it lacks a lot of details.

But this is a good thing for Lann.

This was the opportunity he had been waiting for, and now it had appeared.

The more details the plan lacked, the better, so that he could fill it with his own parts at will.

But before agreeing, he still had to pull it off: "You just told me all your plans, aren't you afraid that I will tell Vizimir? You know, his son is still sleeping in my castle."

Philippa once again showed a wise expression. She saw through Lan's outermost reserve: "You have no reason to reject me."

"Like I said, your identities as a demon hunter and a spellcaster are destined to make you incompatible with the King of the North. Cintra will be constantly targeted."

"The desire for Cirilla is just the beginning, and you're already so angry." Philippa laughed, "I still remember the way you kicked Radovid out of the conference room during the day."

"Support me, and you will gain a true friend. Redania will be your support. And there will be more friends like this in the future."

"With your strategic vision, I don't believe you can't see this."

Philippa confidently emphasized again: "You have no reason to reject me. I know you are still upset about what happened in Niubao, but now you should be able to see how lucky that action was for you."

“A brighter future awaits us.”

Lann's powerful expression management came into play again, and he adjusted the corners of his mouth that wanted to move.

So he just sighed to Philippa.

"It seems so..."

…

…

"Your Excellency the Duke?"

Hearing the call of his sworn master, House, who was standing guard at the door dutifully, pushed the door open and walked in.

The attendant carrying the lion-headed silver sword has a stubborn belief in "protecting Lann".

Even if he had been seconded to work under the old butler for a day to do housekeeping work, he still had to stand guard for several hours at night.

It's like an addiction.

But at this moment he was a little confused about the Duke's call to him.

In the bedroom, the windows and doors were wide open, and the evening breeze blew in, lifting the gauze curtains.

The Duke had half of his body soaked in the bathtub, revealing his distinct muscles, and his dark golden lion eyes stared thoughtfully at the night outside the window.

What does that mean? Does the Duke want me to help him take a bath and change his clothes myself?

Shouldn't Milva be called in for this kind of work?

"House." Lane's words interrupted the servant's wandering thoughts.

"I heard that you ran into the Redanian delegation during the day, and you were not very friendly to their royal advisor Philippa?"

The servant quickly bowed his head and apologized.

When Philippa was in Oxburgh, for her so-called "great plan" and also to intimidate the ancient blood that had not yet grown up, she took the opportunity of Lann's visit to Vizimir II to drug Lann's entire guard.

This made all the guards, including House, unable to move. Not to mention protecting Lane, they almost became a burden.

At that time, Philippa's power far exceeded that of Lann, and Cintra needed Redania's help and could not make this matter public, so Lann chose to swallow his anger.

House couldn't forget it at all, so when he saw Philippa again today, he couldn't help but lose control.

It's just that now Redania is visiting Cintra, and as a guard, House has shown hostility towards the diplomatic group of a big country before the leader has made a clear statement. It can be said that he has failed in his duty.

"Just now." Lan pointed out the window, "The sorceress sneaked into my room again."

House's hand on the lion-headed sword suddenly tightened.

"I'm not blaming you for your dereliction of duty. Her stealth method is unique on the continent, and she can't be stopped anywhere."

"I'm just telling you, House, that you're going to have a chance to make up for your previous failures."

"Learn more about how to use dificolium and keep sharpening your sword. You may have to deal with many warlocks, including Philippa, in the near future."

Lan got up from the water, wrapped the towel beside him around his waist, and walked to the balcony.

He looked down and all he saw was the everlasting night.

"You need to become stronger as soon as possible, House. You are one of my earliest servants. I can still vividly remember the scene when you took over 'Sward' from me."

"I have expectations of you."

House knelt down on one knee, his face flushed with excitement.

He swore loudly to his lord, promising that he would not let the lion down.

The noise gave Lane a headache. House always pumped too much juice on some occasions.

"Okay, okay... Come and help me light the lamp, and then tidy up my desk. I need to write something and make some plans."

Lan stretched his neck and said, "I'm going to be busy again."