“You say that some of Skyra’s contacts among her disciples are still in the imperial capital.”

“Yes. We somehow managed to send a message, and received a very brief reply.”

“What did it say?”

“Fire. Rebellion.”

“As expected……”

Everyone nodded. It was common knowledge that the empress dowager had been eyeing the emperor’s position.

They just didn’t expect her to act on it so soon.

It seemed she had implemented her plan after learning that Mercedes was Carlos’s weakness. She must be quite enraged.

“Damn it, I don’t know where the empress dowager gathered so many soldiers from. I should have monitored more closely-”

“Enough. That’s in the past now. Upon checking, those who incited the rebellion and carried out the abduction were remnant soldiers from the conquest wars. With them, it would be possible to secretly mobilize and use their resentment towards me as a spark for rebellion…. It’s my fault, so let’s discuss what to do next.”

As the emperor stepped in to mediate, self-blame and anger soon subsided. Everyone began the meeting by continuing constructive discussions.

“There are many secret passages in the imperial palace, but the empress dowager probably knows about all of them too.”

“Moreover, if they’ve locked down the palace and capital walls…. Anyway, isn’t defense easier than attack? The capital walls have high towers too. Though not as sturdy as a fortress, there’s a chance we could lose.”

“……Fortress.”

Mercedes listened and looked at Skyra. Skyra widened her eyes as if to say ‘Why are you looking at me?’ and slightly turned away from her.

“Lady Skyra. There’s something you and I can do, right?”

But Mercedes didn’t let that avoidance slide.

Skyra sighed deeply with an expression like the world was ending. Carlos smirked in amusement at the sight of Skyra, who would snap at him but only sighed heavily at Mercedes, seemingly reluctant to get irritated with her.

“……We can solve it with magic.”

“That’s right. Let’s research.”

“Um…. Excuse me, but can Her Majesty the Empress use magic?”

The advisors who were unaware of Mercedes’ abilities looked puzzled. Mercedes smiled in response.

Though not a magician…. This much should be fine to reveal. It was an emergency situation, and they couldn’t join forces to wage war while clinging to secrets.

“Yes.”

Carlos disliked her participating in the war.

He was worried she might get hurt or see terrible things.

But when she insisted on jumping in herself, arguing there was no need to waste the magic she had absorbed from him, he agreed to let her.

And the opinion that she could potentially treat Carlos if he became paralyzed from overusing aura was also valid.

“Gasp…! With two magicians, it will be a great boost to our forces!”

Magicians rarely leave their towers. This is because they are fundamentally people obsessed with research.

Though they occasionally carried out missions upon request from elsewhere, it was generally uncommon for a country to have magicians at its disposal.

Unless it was an empire of considerable size.

So magicians were extremely rare in war.

“Oh!”

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

That’s why everyone’s eyes shone even more brightly.

To think the empress was such a precious human resource! It was worth having her participate in the meeting.

The advisors’ respect for their lord’s eye for people soared even higher. They looked at the empress as if she were an angel descended from heaven.

“Skyra and I will come up with a way to break through the defenses. Using brute force could result in many casualties. Let’s also utilize the people inside. Among those captured inside, there should be more who are loyal to Your Majesty than rebels.”

As Mercedes spoke, Carlos nodded.

“Just having them open the gates from the inside would make things much easier. Apart from the palace, we should be able to secretly infiltrate the capital walls by contacting our side.”

“But the issue is the contact person.”

Mercedes pondered for a moment, then whispered something to Skyra and asked a question. Skyra nodded with a disgusted expression as she looked at Mercedes.

“……Sigh. That’s something the two of us can handle.”

“Then for now…. Once the capital gates open, we evacuate civilians first, then head straight for the palace, correct?”

“That’s right! We go in and crush them all.”

“That’s the answer.”

“Come on, how great are our soldiers.”

“Hey, calm down.”

As the advisors chattered among themselves, Gregory sighed and tried to soothe everyone.

Some of the advisors who had been in the meeting suddenly became fired up and shouted to charge in recklessly. Confidence was good, but now was not the time.

Until now, they had been able to charge in with Carlos at the forefront, but they didn’t want to do that anymore.

“Why do you keep trying to just throw bodies at the problem? If people knew our strategy meetings looked like this, the name of the Lum Empire would weep.”

Gregory continued to nag even more.

If they were to use Carlos as a human catapult again, what was the point of having a meeting?

“You’re right, Gregory. But since my condition is quite good, if we can know the situation in the capital, charging in like that wouldn’t be bad either.”

“Your Majesty!”

For some reason, it seemed his lord’s body had improved since they reunited.

Like before, no, even more than ever before. So that confidence was understandable. But Gregory called out to Carlos, hoping he would entrust more to the knights now that he had begun to trust them.

Carlos continued speaking, undeterred by Gregory’s call.

“My lord. There’s a limit to how much we can utilize and get help from the internal forces in the imperial palace, isn’t there? And this time, I’m not saying we’ll just charge in headfirst. I won’t even be at the frontlines.”

“Pardon?”

“What?”

“Are you unwell?”

Everyone asked in surprise. Even Gregory’s eyes widened. Mercedes smiled as she watched Carlos.

“Rather than me going in alone, it would be better for the nimble knights to enter the capital first, deal with the civilians clinging to the walls, then have the infantry enter and prioritize evacuating civilians.”

“That is good, but…”

“Right? So I won’t make myself conspicuous until the capital is cleared. To make the empress dowager think she’s dealt with me.”

“This is a very… un-Your Majesty-like strategy.”

“Indeed…”

“I trust my knights.”

Carlos smiled. The advisors in the meeting room felt strangely happy and proud that they could repay the trust the emperor had placed in them all this time.

“But… the issue is. Mercedes, Skyra. I need to know how you two plan to open the gates.”

“Ah, about that.”

Mercedes said something. Carlos’s face immediately hardened.

“No, it’s too dangerous.”

“You know how strong I am, don’t you, Your Majesty?”

Mercedes smiled a bewitching smile. Was it because it was the first time she showed such a confident face? Even though she wasn’t dressed as neatly as usual, she looked beautiful.

For a moment, Carlos thought he didn’t want anyone else to see this smile. But he suppressed his desire. That wasn’t what was important right now.

“So you’re determined to carry out that plan?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Carlos with an opposing look and Mercedes showing her determination to carry it out no matter what, it seemed the upcoming meeting would be long. The advisors had to watch their fight with half excitement, half nervousness.

And after a decision was somehow reached, everyone gathered to spread out the map of the capital and divide the troops.

Skyra, with a glum face, had to be dragged along by Mercedes to discuss strategies for breaking through the rebel forces defending the walls with magic.

It was strange.

Despite the enemy being right in front of them and the dangerous situation of rebels occupying the imperial palace, it felt strangely peaceful and enjoyable.

It was because they trusted each other, and no one thought they would lose.

* * *

The capital of the Lum Empire was immersed in a somewhat chaotic yet oddly peaceful state.

News spread that as soon as unrest broke out in the provinces, the emperor left his post, and then there was a fire in the imperial palace.

Until then, people just thought it was nothing significant and the day passed.

And the next day at noon, those who appeared to be the emperor’s soldiers entered inside the walls with dignified strides. Fully armed from head to toe, they looked unmistakably like the emperor’s forces to anyone who saw them.

However, the emperor who always led them at the front was missing.

Instead, the one who used to be the crown prince was at the front. Not many people remembered the crown prince because the current emperor’s impression was too strong.

But some who remembered the portraits circulated during the crown prince’s reign did make a sound of surprise.

It seemed some change had occurred inside the imperial palace.

All the soldiers were in strict formation and had the proud appearance of returning victorious from battle.

So everyone thought nothing of it. None of the soldiers bothered the imperial citizens living in the capital, and rather behaved politely, which made it seem even less significant.

The affairs of the high and mighty, well, they had nothing to do with commoners. That’s what the majority thought.

But the nobles immediately recognized the former crown prince who never missed a party. And as soon as they grasped the situation in the imperial palace, they realized.

This was a quiet rebellion.

‘Who remained inside the imperial palace?’

Who could move troops like this and oppose the emperor…

The nobles’ thoughts naturally turned to one place.

The empress, or the empress dowager.

But the empress had been in mortal danger even in Shaim, and didn’t have time to build such a large force within Lum.

Then what remained was.

‘The empress dowager who lost her son’s imperial throne.’

They didn’t know how to behave, and the empress dowager said nothing either. All the daily tea parties and small gatherings were cancelled.

The iron-blooded emperor of the Lum Empire, Carlos, was not an easy opponent. So they thought something would change when he returned…

But the emperor did not return for a long time. Though it was normal for him to be gone for about ten days to resolve unrest and return, this time it felt uneasy.

The nobles were on edge, closely watching how things would unfold. Which side should they align with to survive, how much danger were their lives in… Anxiety was rampant.

And so time passed with the capital’s citizens going about their lives obliviously active, while the nobles remained in a state of confusion.

Then one day. A piece of news was delivered to the empress dowager, who had been leisurely proceeding with things slowly.

“Your Majesty! The, the empress and the magician Skyra have appeared in front of the gates!”

At that, the empress dowager abruptly stood up from her seat.