"Your Highness, are you confused?"
The young head maid Lumi placed her hands on Olivia’s shoulders, looking somewhat frantic, almost unable to hold back from asking if she had lost her mind.
"Whether His Highness Louis passes or not, Lady Beatrice will still have a grudge in her heart!"
She looked exasperated. She had just gone to prepare the medication the princess needed for the day, and didn’t expect to stumble into this situation:
"If the two of them get together, your sister will think you blocked her marriage, and His Highness Louis will remember you too.
If they don’t work out, you’ll be blamed as the reason for their breakup, and your situation will become even more awkward.
What were you thinking by getting involved personally?"
Olivia felt dizzy from being shaken, and said pitifully, "Ugh... I-I was wrong, please stop for a moment!"
Lumi’s face was full of regret.
Her family had served the Ense Royal Family for generations, sharing in their glory. In history, one even became the Empress.
Olivia’s biological mother passed away early, and before the Princess Consort died, she repeatedly urged Lumi to take care of her sickly daughter.
Over the years, Lumi had played the role of both sister and mother, often advising the naïve Second Princess. She never thought Olivia would be foolish enough to meddle in the affairs between the couple.
"It’s my fault, if I had been more careful and reminded you more, this wouldn’t have happened."
Lumi looked despondent.
It was already set that the First Princess would lead the empire. Being Empress and being a princess are two different matters.
A slight dissatisfaction from the Empress could be a huge burden on those below her.
Even if that person were Olivia, precaution was necessary.
Yet seeing Lumi’s depressed demeanor, Olivia became even more excited.
Who cares about the favor of the "hated country"!
She had struggled to be reborn just to teach this scoundrel a lesson!
If she didn’t deal with this great threat, she might as well go feed pigs in the countryside!
However, she knew she couldn’t make her stance too obvious. Even if she wanted to expel Louis, it had to be done in a justifiable way.
She suppressed a laugh and discussed her considerations during the conversation with the princess, patting her good maid’s shoulder, she said:
"Lumi, it’s not that I’m foolish, but if I don’t express my attitude to Sister Wang this way, she would think I’m just being petty and wouldn’t take it seriously."
"Haven’t you always trusted my instincts? I think that incubus doesn’t seem like a good person!"
"Trust me, during the prince’s trial, his true colors will surely be revealed, and Sister Wang will understand my intention, without any repercussions..."
Even Olivia herself felt a bit unsure saying that.
The Ense Empire was an old empire; no matter what, frequent changes would inevitably affect the royal family.
But considering the destructive power of the "hated country," she had to make a choice.
Either let the issue grow or solve the potential threat early.
Having personally witnessed the downfall of the Ense Empire’s prosperity, her sister’s death, ten years of house arrest, and execution at the guillotine, her heart ached too much to let it happen again.
In this life, she would not allow the tragedy to repeat! Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel•fire.net
Thinking of this, she started devising plans.
"How can I outsmart you?"
Suddenly, she recalled the event that would trigger the empire’s unrest six months later.
Louis awoke from the large bed.
He had already sorted out the current situation, especially through the diary.
The diary was strange, invisible to ordinary people and untouchable by anyone but him, which relieved some of Louis’s concerns.
The content within let him roughly understand the challenges he would face next.
First was his relationship with Beatrice.
More accurately, the original owner’s relationship with his chief wife was subordinate.
The princess was tired of the entanglements from various interest groups who were eyeing her for her body and the empire’s throne. Pressed by the ministers, she wanted to find a controllable and non-repulsive partner.
On the surface, Louis was a failed experiment of a certain White Tower Mage’s project, but in fact, he might be the only successful case. To avoid being dissected by the mages, he had always hidden by blending in with the test subjects.
Until Beatrice discovered his potential using some method and met with him, the two clicked instantly.
The original holder of the title of prince became her secret protector, helping her fend off those annoying heirs.
The princess provides the original owner with security and unearths their potential.
Even as long as no fundamental issues are caused, Beatrice can cover for them.
"Looks like I have to get strong quickly, there are quite a few people eyeing the main wife."
Secondly, there are big problems with Louis’s ascension to the throne.
The relationship between Louis and Beatrice is not a true marriage; it involves the continuation of the empire, so how could the princess not be prepared at all?
In fact, according to the original owner’s diary, the princess had actually made contingency plans when she was severely injured and near death.
This includes but is not limited to drafting documents for the Second Princess’s succession, appointing Louis as the Regent King to safeguard Olivia, and having her trusted subordinates assist them both in stabilizing the empire’s order as much as possible.
But when Louis came to his senses, he had already donned the imperial robe and ascended as emperor.
This kind of illegitimate succession is the root cause of the Ense Empire’s turmoil in the next decade.
There must be something fishy about this.jpg
"I need to find a way to save the main wife’s life and ensure she ascends as empress, so at the very least, I can live a carefree life."
The original owner being overthrown wasn’t solely due to an illegitimate claim to the throne.
Because this person, really, is a complete scoundrel and has even caused many jokes.
For example, after finally turning things around, he started a spree of "zero-price shopping" in the Imperial Capital, taking things extravagantly without paying and asking the merchants to send the bill to Beatrice instead.
Or when the tax collector informed him that the national treasury was empty, hoping Louis would be frugal, and Louis casually replied, "After I’m dead, who cares if floods sweep the world."
Or, during the great famine ten years later, when the local authorities hoped the royal family would provide some solutions, Louis, in a muddled state, said, "If they can’t eat meat, why don’t they eat bread."
Even worse, when the power broker who helped him ascend got married, it would be normal for the emperor to take some treasures from the treasury to give as wedding gifts, right?
The original owner did this too, but he sent over an envelope with an IOU inside, stating, "Borrowed XX Silver Coins."
Yes, you read it right, an IOU!
And not even settled in Gold Coins!
Louis certainly knew how to skim a six.
Gorante would praise you for being too stingy.
Capitalists would think you’re the devil.
"Damn, how did the original owner manage to last ten years before the country was lost? The foundation of the Ense family really is strong!"
But one thing is certain—
Being an emperor is utterly impossible; leave the professional tasks to the main wife.
Louis quickly set a policy of "protecting the top patron, fast-tracking to a carefree life".
"Improving strength has to come slowly; first I need to understand why the main wife is so prone to assassination..."
He immediately thought of the "Tino Explosion" incident noted in the diary.
This incident occurred about six months later when the Imperial Capital National Waste Disposal Plant suddenly exploded, with flames soaring into the sky, blowing up the entire plant and killing a large number of workers on the spot. The western part of the Imperial Capital was engulfed in an unquenchable fire.
Later, Beatrice investigated and found out it wasn’t a natural disaster, but a manmade one.
The plant manager was deeply corrupt. Over the years, the waste treatment equipment that should have been updated was only half-replaced, barely meeting the growing demands of waste management in the Imperial Capital.
This fellow ran the landfill at full capacity, barely keeping up with the waste, maintaining only a surface level of cleanliness.
However, the White Tower Mage had been authorized by the royal family over the last six months to conduct numerous large-scale magic experiments, generating a massive amount of magical waste.
This waste was sent in batches to the disposal plant, but the outdated plant equipment couldn’t keep up, even running non-stop.
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, he fabricated information, piling unprocessed magical waste in the basement.
The reason this waste needed immediate processing was due to its significant safety risks.
Once piled up, a small risk became a big risk, eventually causing the great explosion.
The disposal plant was halted, unable to process a large amount of waste.
What’s more daunting, the toxic fumes from elemental reactions spread across half the Imperial Capital, even seeping underground, poisoning the groundwater, with many residents being affected.
Keep in mind, this is a fantasy world, which also has professions like druids.
These wandering protectors of nature heard about this incident and, outraged, gathered to infiltrate Tino City to investigate and cause trouble.
How could Ense allow this group of naive environmentalists to interfere in its internal affairs?
As the conflicts intensified, the Imperial Capital’s public order deteriorated significantly.
This incident triggered a chain reaction of subsequent events, becoming the fuse for breaching the Imperial Capital’s defenses.
"So, I need to address the hidden dangers of the great explosion?"
With this thought, Louis’s eyes lit up.
This problem has a solution!