“Your Highness, we now have the officers responsible for unjustified attacks gathered in the command room,” one of the soldiers from the 2nd Group Army arrived at Alexa’s temporary office, kneeling on the floor.

  Alexa looked up from her seat, still busy eating some fancy cake. With an elegant wave of her hand, she gestured for him to leave. Looking up at Alfred, Alexa sighed.

  “Tell me, how infuriating are they?” Alexa asked.

  “Extremely.”

  “I agree. And how merciful should I be?”

  “You can just follow military law to the letter.”

  “Well, I don't know how military law works, so can I have more leeway?”

  “I…wouldn’t really recommend that.”

  Alexa poked her fork into her cake, looking back at the events of the past few hours. Ever since the leadership of the 2nd Group Army was fired, she sent Alfred’s men into overdrive in finding information and interrogating people to figure out who was responsible for this incident.

  So far, the preliminary findings they presented to her were that General Erik Essen planned to catch the elven rebel off-balance by pacifying the region before they attacked the Imperial Army posts stationed throughout Letia.

  Well, at least, that was what the letters and orders said on the surface. Interrogation and other means had already given her enough information to know that it was just a cover for taking control of the lands of the former Letian Kingdom and to force Ludwig to cede more power to the Imperial Army.

  Therefore, had she not reacted earlier, the Imperial Army would have had such massive leverage over the government that they would have been able to unilaterally do whatever they wanted, with this operation as precedent.

  “Officers dangerously acting on their own,” Alexa mumbled, before eating another piece of cake softly. When she was done, she shook her head. “They don’t see themselves as mere soldiers anymore.”

  “All those weapons and training must have gone through their collective heads,” Alfred ranted, his face turning slightly red. “This is once again a grave insult to us!”

  “You’re more worried about what this means to nobility and royalty, aren’t you?”

  “Of course! Most officers involved in this plot are commoners trying to coerce the regency to bend to them. How preposterous.”

  “I’m more worried about rogue officials harming my subjects.”

  “Well…that too…is a problem,” Alfred looked away.

  Then, Alexa finished her food, before noisily huffing.

  “Darned peasants! Always ruining my day. Alfred, let’s go. I need to let this anger out on them!”

  “As you wish.”

  Soon, she went into the command room to meet the officers accused of insubordination to her commands. They all had their heads lowered in shame and fear, and whenever Alexa asked them why they did what they did, they would say, “I’m just following orders.”

  Quickly, that became staler and staler as she read out loud the atrocities they committed. As they lowered their heads, Alexa glowered at them, her tone and voice rising as she listed off villages and towns razed to the ground all because of suspicion.

  Until one of them had had enough.

  “Your Highness!” General Sebastian Braun spoke up, banging his fist on the table. “You’re insulting us soldiers way too much. All we did was act to protect the Empire, which is why we serve here.”

  He grinned bitterly.

  “You may relieve us from duty, but you cannot tarnish our honor—”

  A loud slap reverberated through the room.

  The mark of Alexa’s hand etched itself on Sebastian’s left cheek, while Alexa stood in front of him with a cold, yet calm demeanour. The other officers looked at Sebastian with wide eyes, and the general himself could only touch his cheek lightly.

  “Peasant,” Alexa hissed. “Who told you to speak over me?”

  “P-peasant?”

  “Do you see yourself above your betters?”

  “Y-your Highness, of course not, but—”

  “I’m done,” Alexa said with a single clap. Right then, the Royal Guard knights around the room steadied themselves. “Men, arrest them all. Record the violations they committed, and place them in this ‘military tribunal’ thing. That’s all.”

  “Your Highness, you can’t do this to us!” Sebastian argued, as he was forced to the ground by two knights, his hands locked in place. “All we did was follow orders! Nothing more, nothing less!”

  Then, Alexa kneeled to look him in the eye.

  “You had two orders, good sir. To harm women and children, or not to harm them,” she leaned closer. “You chose the wrong order to follow. Why? Because your heart is wicked. You are the lowliest in the worst way possible, peasant. Now get out of my sight.”

  Soon, they were rounded up, and they left with the knights.

  Alexa found her blood boiling too much from all of this, so she later decided to go outside to check on the people and let out some steam in her system. She did so with light guards, with only Phoebe, Alfred, and Adele following her.

  And she made the right choice, because…

  The elves, demis, you name it, they were on the streets, or they had their windows open, cheering Alexa and her friends for some reason.

  The roads and the streets of Fardale were now cleared of ominous patrolling soldiers, replaced by citizens who received the news of the crown princess’s arrival and the 2nd Group Army bending its knee to her, finally ending the crackdowns that had gotten the people on edge.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  And as a reward…

  “Wait…” Alexa’s eyes glowed with amazement. “Are they really saying those things to me?”

  “Well, Lady Alexa,” Phoebe smiled slightly as she too looked around. “You did stop those soldiers.”

  “Oh, right. But still…”

  She listened to their zealous praises.

  “Princess Alexa! You’re the best!”

  “Those soldiers killed my father for no reason! Please give us justice!”

  “The next Empress is with the saint! She’s with the saint!”

  “No, I think she’s a saint herself!”

  These wonderful people, elves and beastfolk—they seem to like me now!

  “Someone even called me a saint,” Alexa felt her head growing again. “My, my, how wonderful!”

  She smiled and waved at them, walking without a particular direction in mind. Mostly, she was just enjoying the attention given to her.

  And the more she received praises, the more she got deeper and deeper into going around the city while chasing that high.

  “What’s this clown procession that you’re all doing around here,” an unpleasant voice suddenly interrupted Alexa. It was Wilhelm, flanked by two soldiers. “The streets ain’t secure yet, Lady Alexa.”

  Alexa shrugged, placing her hands on her hips.

  “The HQ was quite dull, so I wanted to look around the city. And see, Wilhelm? They all love me, unlike you.”

  “...Great. You left a secure area just to feed your ego,” Wilhelm grumbled. “As I predicted.”

  “Hey! What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing. Follow me. We need to talk about something.”

  “Follow you where?”

  “There’s a fine restaurant near the city center,” Wilhelm said, his eyes bored. “I’ve met the highest-ranking noble in Letia, and he seems to be desperately searching for you.”

  +++

  “Your Highness…” a beautiful, blonde elven woman in her thirties curtsied as Alexa entered the fancy restaurant named ‘Green Serenade’, which was apparently owned by the former royal family of Letia. “Welcome to our establishment, and to Letia. I hope my nation has treated you well.”

  “Umm…” Alexa tilted her head. “May I know you, ma’am?”

  “Ah, apologies. My name is Sheena ze Glerys. I am the owner of this restaurant.”

  “Which means…”

  “Yes, I am from the former House Glerys, the ruling family of the fallen Letian Kingdom. Unfortunately, as you can see, instead of managing a Kingdom,” the elven woman smiled pleasantly. “I now manage something more down-to-earth.”

  Surprising…but I guess for a defeated royal, letting them do business in their former capital is quite lenient.

  “I see,” Alexa beamed. “Thanks for letting me come here. I am interested as to why you wanted to meet me.”

  “Ah, about that. Unfortunately, it isn’t me who wants to meet you,” Sheena pleasantly said as she led Alexa and her entourage deeper into the restaurant. There was no one but them around, so the place must have been reserved for this private event in advance. “Instead, that will be Sir Lambert, the Duke of Valden. I hope you two will have a productive conversation today~”

  “Ah…”

  That made sense, Alexa thought. She bashed her head for forgetting that. In place of the old elven nobility ruling Letian lands, the Empire gave the land to the officers who conquered it as a reward. Sir Lambert must be the descendant of one of those people.

  Hmm…I wonder if he’s involved…?

  “Um, Miss Sheena?” Phoebe suddenly called out from behind, and Sheena turned her head back slightly as they continued walking.

  “What is it, my dear?”

  “Aren’t you the former Queen of Letia?”

  W-what?!

  “Ah,” Sheena gave an embarrassed laugh as she looked away. “Yes, that doesn’t matter. It’s been a hundred fifty years since I last saw my throne. Such a title is a relic, you see.”

  Then, Sheena shook her finger lightly.

  “That, and I quite prefer doing my own thing with my business nowadays. Cooking and selling good food beats ruling a nation, believe me,” Sheena said, while Phoebe nodded enthusiastically.

  I see, so she’s an ancient grandma who lost her throne, and now she’s just selling food.

  Alexa hasn’t heard a much more amusing riches to rags tale than that. Though, considering the well-built restaurant, the staff and cooks, alongside the air of noble elegance here, it seemed that even in defeat, the elven Queen remained a wealthy individual, so it wasn’t exactly a riches to rags story.

  But still, from Alexa’s perspective, that’s like going from someone as important and great as her to a mere peasant. Truly a saddening affair.

  Then again, she does seem like she’s happy with her retirement.

  So, she kept her tongue shut.

  And she doesn’t seem half bad. Who knows, we’ll see.

  While Phoebe and the elven woman talked to each other, Alexa leaned close to Wilhelm, asking him for more information about this duke. Wilhelm answered each question she had in mind, and Alexa nodded along.

  Soon, Alexa found the so-called Duke of Valden. He was a young man, slightly older than Wilhelm and Alfred. Definitely in his early twenties. Though, for a Duke, he sure seemed less refined than the nobles Alexa was used to in the Imperial Core.

  Not that she was surprised. Duke or not, he was still a countryside noble, and the economy of the southern region had not been particularly good to give its new lords that much wealth.

  “Your Highness!” The brown haired man stood up, almost in panic. He bowed quickly. “W-welcome to Valden. I apologize for not reaching out to you quickly. I swear to repent for my mistakes!”

  Ah, finally, a good peasant who knows his place.

  Alexa smiled.

  “Well, good sir, blaming yourself will do no good. I heard from Sir Wilhelm that you arrived in this city on horseback alone, panicked.”

  The man turned red.

  “A-ah…”

  “And that you got lost in the city, until you stumbled into this restaurant and found Sir Wilhelm.”

  “Your Highness…”

  The Lambert fellow looked down as if he was asking to be killed then and there just to save himself from embarrassment. Alexa appraised him a little bit more. He seemed like the easygoing and clumsy type of guy.

  “You’re new to your position, aren’t you?” Alexa asked, amused.

  “Yes, Your Highness. My father died two weeks ago. I’ve been thrust into this role since then.”

  How unfortunate. Then again, at your age, you should have probably been schooled and trained for this, but considering I haven’t heard about you…

  This guy indeed must be the definition of a mediocre noble.

  Alexa sighed. She’d work with what she had.

  She told him to take his seat, and Alexa did the same. While Adele and Phoebe took another table to eat together, Wilhelm and Alfred watched over the two, while Sheena herself gracefully took their orders.

  Alexa gave a cursory glance at the menu, before picking a simple salad and tea. No need to complicate things. Lambert on the other hand picked a simple steak, before Sheena left. Later on, one of the waiters, overseen by Sheena, placed their orders on the table, and Alexa gave them her thanks.

  “Now!” Alexa spoke, her voice clear. “Sir Lambert, why did you come here anyway?”

  The man looked down, defeated and distraught, before finally speaking.

  “Your Highness...I wish to surrender myself. I bent my knee to General Sebastian and allowed the crackdowns to happen under my watch. I feared for my life, yes, but my dishonor stands.”

  He stood up, shame clear on his face.

  “Please, arrest me if you will! Just don’t involve my family, they had nothing to do with all this.”