The elites from the families widened their eyes in realisation.
Them being here would easily be seen as the Eden and Jane families aiding both him and Edith on the expedition, even though they didn't help until the zealots attacked the truth could be twisted by any nobles with ulterior motives.
Should such a thing happen they would lose their positions as candidate's, for Edith it would be fine as she had the Eden family to fall back on, but for Lirian the case was completely different.
Lirian was adopted, as such he did not belong to any faction or family, even with the empress's backing she would no longer be able to recognise him as her son and they would be forcefully separated by the law of the civilization.
