Two truths of the world:

For one brilliant and substantial highlight, long and tedious preparation and cleanup were necessary.

There were those who caused trouble and those who cleaned it up.

As a result, the Empress and her forces were going through a rough patch.

“Valenweiss Province has expressed a willingness to surrender! The lord claims he was deceived by false orders from the main family!”

“The situation in the Castel region is ominous! Rumors are spreading that the Imperial Family suddenly purged the Lennart main family!”

“Petitions from victims are rapidly increasing! There’s almost no civilian damage, but because all the buildings around the Duke’s mansion are mixed with earth and debris, the property damage from that…”

“Baron Brist has invaded Baron Hale’s territory! Baron Brist says Baron Hale’s side showed signs of responding to the rebellion!”

“The military is in turmoil! It seems the upper echelons of the Lion Duke’s bloodline are afraid they might be purged next!”

“The Patriotic Youth Corps indiscriminately attacked the Lion Duke’s bloodline, claiming to punish traitors and stabilize public order, but were annihilated by the passing Tin Knight!”

“The finalists of the recruitment test are asking what’s going to happen to them—“

“Ah! Aaargh!!”

Imperial capital. Hydrangea Palace.

“…Strange. In fairy tales, it usually ends with ‘And so the evil villains’ plot failed, and the kind prince and queen and wonderful adventurers lived happily ever after,’ so why does it feel like we’re busier after suppressing the rebellion?”

At Empress Meridia’s words, the Witch of the South Glinda Goodwitch stared at her blankly.

If that gaze were to be expressed directly without euphemism in a noble and elegant manner, it would be something like, “What the hell’s wrong with this woman, did she eat something weird and lose her goddamn mind?”

However, the Witch of the South was a civilized person with dignity and manners.

She gently admonished this immature friend who just so happened to be the mother of the Crown Prince of the Empire, “It would be stranger if there were no aftereffects when a rebellion targeting the Imperial Family occurred in the middle of the capital. And while it’s understandable for your son who doesn’t know the ways of the world yet, isn’t it seriously lacking in conscience to include you, Meri, in the ‘kind queen’ category?”

“In the end, what determines ‘kindness’ isn’t some absolute standard but people’s evaluation, and if so, while appearance can’t be a criterion for goodness, it can at least be bonus points. And I’m confident I can earn the title of fairy with just bonus points.”

The Witch of the South’s expression rapidly soured.

Above all, what infuriated her was that while the Empress’ words were nonsense, they were nonsense with some credibility.

The combination of specializing in appearance stats and appearance supremacy was this dangerous.

In the end, the Witch of the South turned the topic elsewhere instead of pointing that out.

“I heard you’ve secured the Duke and other survivors of the Lennart family, what are you going to do?”

“They dared to point swords at my son, so total annihilation.”

“Meri.”

“…I’d like to, but if I did that, the Empire would really split. Well, I’ll compromise to some extent.”

During the investigation of the incident, when it was revealed that the Duke and his close associates had been imprisoned by the radicals, there were petitions requesting their pardon, but to the Empress, it was truly laughable.

Even if she acknowledged that this incident was the rampage of some radicals, the Duke could never be free from the responsibility of “Then what were you doing while your family members were rampaging?”

Neither the Empress nor the Witch of the South were unaware of the Duke’s position of having to struggle between the Empire and the family, but that was the nature of being the head of a group.

“The Duke will be imprisoned for life for failing to prevent the family’s rampage, those among the radicals who directly moved troops will be imprisoned or executed depending on the severity of their crimes, those who mediated between us and Lennart will be left alone for now and dealt with slowly over time. The military side will all be cut down after swearing loyalty again, except for those who didn’t participate in the outbreak. They’d be completely stripped of their titles and territories… that might be a bit much, but demotion should be done.”

It was essentially the same as saying she would leave only their breath and cut off all their limbs.

In noble society, demotion of rank was an incredibly dishonorable thing, and therefore a sword that even the Imperial Family couldn’t wield easily, but this time was different.

It was nothing less than an attempted rebellion. If by any chance their operation had succeeded, the Imperial Family would have been either annihilated or reduced to puppets of the rebels, and if they didn’t properly retaliate for this, it would prove to the entire continent that they were pushovers.

Separate from the Empress’ personal feelings, the Lennart family needed to fall for the sake of the Imperial Family and the Empire.

However, the expression of the Witch of the South listening to this story was very subtle.

It wasn’t anger, if anything, it was closer to a look of pity.

The Empress twitched her eyebrow and asked back, “What? Is there some problem? This much is reasonable, isn’t it?”

“Politically, there shouldn’t be a problem. It’s not unreasonable that you or your subordinates don’t know the situation since you arrived at the scene late.”

“Get to the point.”

“Duke Lennart has officially handed over the ancestral sword passed down to the head of the Ducal family to Adelaide von Lennart. While the title of Duke is given by the Imperial Family so he can’t give it away as he pleases, it would symbolize the ‘representative of the bloodline’.”

“What?”

“Also, some of the Ducal family members who witnessed her battle have sworn loyalty to her, asking her to take them in. Especially the young people.”

“No, wait.”

“Adelaide von Lennart answered, ‘I don’t know what judgment will come from the Imperial side, so I can’t answer yet. If your heart hasn’t changed after the judgment is over, come find me.’”

“Stop, just pause for a moment.”

The Empress put her hand to her forehead for a moment to organize her thoughts, then said, “That Adelaide girl. She’s from a branch family, right?”

“Yes, a branch family.”

“And she’s not the lord of the family, just an heir candidate? Well, I guess she’ll probably succeed soon anyway, but regardless, she belongs to the Kingdom, not the Empire, right?”

“Considering the special nature of Friedel, she should be seen as essentially a dual vassal, but Friedel itself is part of the Kingdom.”

“So now, the Empire’s nobles have said they’ll move to the Kingdom? And in droves, even those who were once the Empire’s highest ranks?”

“I’m glad you finally seem to have grasped the situation correctly, Meri.”

Finally, the Empress couldn’t hold back and raised her voice, “Have these people collectively taken some drug?! No, what ruler would sit still when their nation’s core personnel are openly being taken abroad?”

“Where did the person who said she would execute those core personnel go?”

“Now that things have come to this, of course the top guys have to take responsibility. The lower ranks should be used appropriately with carrot and stick, serving as a stepping stone until the generational change in the military is complete.”

According to the Empress’ plan, the Lennart family would suffer the bitter pain of downfall, but even so, they wouldn’t be able to easily leave the Empire.

This was because the power and military strength held by the Lion Duke’s bloodline were ultimately rooted in the Empire.

If the Imperial Family tried to thoroughly uproot them, they might reluctantly raise a banner of rebellion or flee to another nation, but conversely, if some foundation was left, they would struggle to remain in the Empire even while facing criticism from those around them.

After that, it would be simple.

They could split the Lennart family into several parts and make them oppose each other, or tame them using reinstatement and promotion as bait.

But if Adelaide became the new focal point of the Lennart family, things would get complicated.

Of course, not all of the Lion Duke’s bloodline would serve Adelaide as their new leader just because she received the Duke’s recognition, but when the Empress’ pressure increased, they might think, “I want to quit because it’s disgusting, should I just go over there?”

To prevent talent drain, the Empress had no choice but to show a somewhat lenient attitude towards the remaining bloodline members.

Suddenly, the Duke’s face flashed in the Empress’ mind.

— I acknowledge defeat. But it’s good to be moderate in your greed, Empress.

“Duke…!”

The Empress gritted her teeth, but soon recalled something and changed her expression again.

After all, the core of this matter was that Adelaide girl, so if she could be brought in as an ally, wouldn’t everything be resolved?

“Take this as advice from a friend, Meri. Give it up.”

And as if seeing through such calculations of the Empress, the Witch of the South shot down such calculations.

The Empress grumbled, “I’m not saying I’ll harm them. I’m saying I’ll present good conditions and recruit them, what’s the problem with that?”

“That might be so for now. But you are a politician, and they are wanderers. They can cooperate through temporary contracts, but fundamentally, they can’t look in the same direction. If you make a ‘big picture judgment’, and that judgment conflicts with the path they’re taking, they will point their swords at you without hesitation. You said it yourself, Meri. They are competent madmen.”

“Glinda, you’re here, aren’t you?”

“There’s a 50% chance I’ll die.”

Whether to judge that as high or low would differ from person to person.

And the Empress was on the side that thought it was high.

She couldn’t put the Imperial Family’s greatest supporter and protector, her one and only friend to whom she could truly open her heart, on a gambling table like a coin toss.

“Haa, alright, alright.”

Finally, with a deep sigh, the Empress raised the white flag, and the Witch of the South also felt relieved.

While she had mixed in some   saying she would die half the time, that was only when considering her pure military power.

If one considered strategy, wisdom, political standing, and the forces that could be mobilized through it, the odds would increase wildly.

This was an inevitable limitation they had because they were few in number.

As far as the Witch of the South knew, only the Witch of the East had transcended the concept of quantity as an individual.

In that sense, this Lennart incident could be a dangerous event that would give them power as a “party”, but the Witch of the South didn’t mind.

If it was a blade threatening the Witch of the South, it would surely be threatening to the heavenly realm and the underground as well.

For the independence of the earthly realm, she could stake her neck as a bet anytime.

***

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