Days after Henry’s plot was foiled by Wilhelm, the situation in the Lotharingian Empire continued to deteriorate. While Wilhelm organized the 2nd Group Army to face off against the now rogue 4th Group Army, Ludwig dragged his feet and refused to coordinate.

  He absolutely didn’t seem to like the fact that the spotlight and leadership of the Empire were now in Alexa’s hands. Naturally, Alexa angrily visited Ludwig’s office in Perlenstadt multiple times so that he would take action, but he kept delaying things.

  So instead of relying on Ludwig, in the early days, Alexa began strategically crafting a narrative that favored her to mobilize the Empire on her own. Using [Civila Mandato] and [Rose Eyes], she was using propaganda to rally the citizenry to her side.

  With Wilhelm’s officials and the Royal Guard in command of the 2nd Group Army, recruitment for them was reaching a fever pitch. On the second day of the crisis, nearly ten thousand citizens from Perlenstadt alone signed up for the Imperial Army.

  More signed up for the city’s defense militia, and as a result, the section of the army that was directly loyal to Alexa swelled to nearly one hundred eighty thousand in total. Henry’s 4th Group Army, on the other hand, was estimated to be around one hundred forty thousand strong.

  The problem was, due to Alexa’s instructions to Wilhelm, he wasn’t using the 2nd Group Army to directly combat Henry. Outside of a few minor skirmishes, the 4th Group Army moved through the central regions unopposed, taking over cities, towns, and villages by the dozens.

  Alexa didn’t mind it, though. She had time, and she was playing for a good gamble. She wanted to take the 1st and 3rd Group Armies off from Ludwig’s hands first before striking. With those two, she would be able to fully encircle Henry’s forces.

  Then, she’d be able to give him a way out of this problem.

  By surrendering to me.

  Alexa was flanked by Phoebe and Adele as she made her way out of the seat of the Imperial Diet. She made a grand speech earlier to the gathered representatives of the Empire.

  The reformist faction had already gained a near majority in the Imperial Diet, thanks to Wilhelm’s less than honorable methods. Today, they probably had a complete majority already or more. While, according to the Imperial Diet’s rules, they couldn’t cast a vote of no confidence against Ludwig yet, Alexa hoped that what would happen in the next month would fully ensure a landslide vote to oust the Grand Regent.

  “I just need to beat Henry,” Alexa said. “Then I’m sure to get closer to controlling the Empire fully.”

  “Lady Alexa,” Adele sighed. “I’m so tired.”

  “Push yourself harder, Adele,” Alexa said, keeping her head high. “We’re going to finish all necessary business within this week.”

  “If only that guy wasn’t such a pain, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Adele mumbled, angry at Henry.

  “He tried to kill Alexa. I’ll make sure that once we face off against him, I’ll defeat him and make him realize his mistakes,” Phoebe puffed her cheeks. “I can’t wait to go join Sir Wilhelm and Sir Alfred. I’m sure I can help a lot in their campaign.”

  “We will do that. Soon.”

  Alexa, Adele, and Phoebe all took a break from their studies, at least until the situation was resolved. To be fair, more than half of the Grand Academy’s operations at the moment were suspended. So many students went home to their families, and the staff themselves had to do the same.

  It was simply the natural result of civil conflict. The only ones who largely stayed were students who lived in the Imperial Capital, and even they were hardly focused on studying. Anxiety and fear gripped the nation badly.

  All of them were looking up at the skies, and they only saw the fiery embers of war. Perlenstadt had already suffered from the demon horde’s ravages, and now, they had to deal with this.

  Her people were hurting. That annoyed Alexa greatly.

  She didn’t want her peasants suffering any further.

  She’d put an end to this quickly.

  The trio boarded a carriage that would lead them to the Monile Palace. Alexa intended to pick up Anastasia today, as the Monile Palace was too undefended and exposed, even if it was, at the moment, far away from war.

  As their carriage left the Imperial Capital, joining in with escort carriages and cavalrymen from the Royal Guard, Alexa pulled up her screen window to check the current state of the crisis.

  +++

  Henry wiped out his frown as he exited a carriage. Another city had been captured by his men today. The garrison barely fought Henry’s men, just like with every settlement they took.

  So far, casualties had been very, very minimal. Wilhelm’s forces, which had been shadowing and opposing Henry’s units, were extremely reluctant to do battle. Instead, the fighting had been largely limited to small skirmishes, usually between cavalrymen and recon teams.

  Capturing this city, though, led earlier to nearly three dozen deaths. The brigade in charge of its capture had one of its supply convoys attacked by skirmishers from the 2nd Group Army.

  But that was it. That was all the resistance offered to him by Wilhelm. It grated on Henry’s nerves. Every victory right now felt a bit hollow. While he was capturing territory, he wasn’t scratching the enemy’s military.

  He didn’t have time on his side. He needed an early decisive victory.

  Henry conversed a bit with his ground commanders, as they reported the current security situation in the city. Then, Henry gave them instructions to gather a few thousand citizens in the city square.

  Preparing himself for half an hour, Henry later made an appearance in front of the city hall, with citizens gathered in the square in front of it. All of them seemed confused, many even angry at the soldiers that gathered them up.

  These citizens had all heard the words from their crown princess each day. She’d been railing first against Ludwig, which rallied public sentiment to her side. Now, she was railing against the traitors of the 4th Group Army, especially Henry.

  While there wasn’t much resistance against him, Henry knew well that the people weren’t on his side. He knew that they were convinced that the crown princess, who saved Perlsenstadt with the saintess, exposed corruption, and even fought for her people in Letia, was a saint in her own right too.

  They looked up to her. They saw her as their savior. Even if it was irritating to Henry, because her skills were simply so overpowered that she could brainwash a country, he had to accept it and take measures to reverse it.

  “Citizens of Rondheim!” Henry shouted, his voice booming through the square, taking everyone’s attention. “It is I, the traitor who attempted to kill Her Highness. My name is Henry Richard von Hecker, the leader of the movement to topple the Empire!”

  “Boo!”

  “So you’re that bastard?!”

  “Screw you, man! How dare you harm our two angels!”

  “Surrender now, you traitors.”

  Henry basked in the hatred being thrown at him by the citizenry of Rondheim. It was pure, concentrated, and genuine. Why were they so convinced by her sweet, honeyed words, he wondered.

  It’s because all she does is lie.

  She’s royalty.

  She eats cake, and the people here eat bread and milk.

  So, the only way forward was to let the people repeat those lies.

  And then, counter it.

  “That’s right!” Henry boasted. “I betrayed her. Why? Because she’s lying! She’s lying to all of you!”

  “What? Asshole, you’re the liar.”

  “Get out of our city! We don’t want traitors!”

  “Die traitors, die traitors, die traitors!”

  “You have all been fooled,” Henry laughed at them. “That’s right, she knows the truth! That without you, she will die. That’s why she lies! That’s why she wants to speak to you, to beg to you, to cry for your support!”

  The boos didn’t stop, though they were starting to falter a bit as Henry passionately spoke.

  “You, the people, are nothing but playthings of these blue-blooded parasites! Yes, I am a noble too, but I am no different than any of you. You and I, we’re all peasants to them! She calls you a peasant behind closed doors! She sees you all as nothing but fodder!”

  “Liar! Liar! Liar!”

  “Damn it, is he crazy?”

  “That’s why, even when she aids you, when she speaks well of you, in the end, she still wants to take the throne. That’s where I, a traitor, am different!”

  Henry smiled.

  “This day, I, Henry Richard von Hecker, with the goddess as my witness, declare here, in Rondheim, the proclamation to free all of you. Today, Lotharingia shall be a free republic! A nation ruled of the people, by the people, for the people! Not by some parasite who speaks good, fancy words, but by you.

  “The working man, the soldiers, the farmers, the housewives, the merchants, the butchers, and the blacksmiths—you deserve to rule this nation. That is what I and my comrades, dirty traitors, offer.

  “So Rondheim, which side will you be on? Will you be on the side of some brat with an ability to speak to you without even seeing you, right while she eats cake when you starve, or will you be on the side of yourselves?!”

  The crowd fell silent.

  “Ponder it yourself, dear brothers and sisters! I shall not harm a single soul in this city. In fact, we will depart this place at once, but I ask you—will you be with us or against us? Will you become traitors to take control of your fates, or will you just be mindless drones of some brat born with a silver spoon? The answer is up to you.”

  And with that, Henry left the crowd. He then issued orders to simply leave a few soldiers in the outskirts to keep watch before the brigade that captured it left in good order. He was sure that once he came back, Rondheim would remain by his side.