Chapter 126: I’m in a Bad Mood—Come Comfort Me!

The Rebels died, but they were not completely dead.

Because they still had families and children.

Their sins still had to be paid for by their own loved ones.

The next morning

When the Imperial Capital received the news, everyone was dumbfounded and in disbelief.

Of course, this was limited to the Imperial Court.

Emperor Rubas carefully read the letter from Willis several times.

Inside, it roughly described the plan she had implemented, as well as her sincere attitude of admitting her mistakes.

At this moment, the two rows of ministers standing side by side remained silent, the atmosphere heavy as water.

They all had their own sources of information, so they more or less knew what had happened in Ushi City.

Of course, it was the version of Willis jointly altered by Willis and others, mixing truth and falsehood.

It was not the content written in the letter presented to the Emperor.

Now, no one in the great hall dared to speak.

All could only watch for Emperor Rubas’s attitude.

After a long while, the Emperor casually burned the letter in his hand.

Then finally broke the suffocating silence.

But what surprised the ministers was that it was a burst of continuous, unending laughter.

“Hahahaha …… Hahahaha”

Emperor Rubas laughed, but no one dared to make a sound.

They could only watch the Emperor seated high above, guessing his intentions.

“Hahahaha …… ”

Rubas even laughed so hard he leaned over the jade desk before him.

After a while, he finally stopped laughing.

His face returned to its expressionless calm.

The change was so swift that the ministers looked at each other in confusion.

What happened to His Majesty?

Could he have gone mad from hearing such explosive news?

“Good, good, good! As expected of my daughter, well done, Willis Egbert!”

“What do you all think, my dear ministers?”

Hearing the question, everyone exchanged glances.

“All depends on Your Majesty’s will!”

Upon hearing this, Emperor Rubas snorted disdainfully.

He slapped the table and shouted angrily, “Outrageous!”

One moment he was laughing, the next he wore a blank face.

At this moment, he finally showed the true anger of an Emperor.

“A dignified Imperial Princess of the Empire, yet she was impersonated for years! Shameful! Utterly shameful!”

“If this spreads, how will others see me? How will they see you? How will they see the mighty Okam Empire!?”

Rubas stood up and shouted, yet no one in the hall dared reply.

All knelt on the ground, chanting, “Please, Your Majesty, calm your anger!”

“Calm my anger! How do you expect me to calm my anger!?”

“If such a thing spreads, what face will I have, what face will the Empire have!? To think Willis is still an Imperial Princess, yet was impersonated by petty thieves. Utterly disgraceful!”

Rubas kicked over the jade desk.

The thunderous crash of the desk shattering declared the Emperor’s fury.

But what surprised everyone was Rubas’s next action.

Seeing how angry he was, everyone thought he would summon Willis back to the Imperial Capital for interrogation and punishment.

Who knew—

“But what’s done is done. There’s no point in saying more.”

Rubas sighed deeply and sat back down.

No anger could be seen on his face.

“Issue a decree. This year, the Lord Willis shall pay ten times the tribute. All supplies, expenses, subsidies, and compensation provided by the Empire’s army must be repaid fivefold!”

“Allow her five years to repay, and aside from this incident, she must pay the full amount to the national treasury every year hereafter!”

“Since she was harmed by villains, and the Empire was deceived by traitors for years, our honor has been disgraced!”

“As an Imperial Princess, she must atone for her sins with merit!”

“Issue a decree. Allow her to expand her army by one hundred thousand, and within five years, she must eliminate the pirates and bandits of the eastern Amis Strait and the ten small savage nations of the Kenar Steppe to the southeast!”

“If she cannot accomplish this, strip her of the title of Imperial Princess and demote her to a commoner!”

Upon hearing this, someone could not remain calm.

“One—one hundred thousand!? Your Majesty, isn’t this a bit too much……?”

“Do you have any objections?”

Rubas looked at the person.

“If you’re willing to promise to eliminate all threats around the Empire in five years, I’ll give you a hundred thousand troops too. How about it?”

“If you fail, you’ll be thrown into prison and executed later!”

Hearing this, that person immediately shrank back in grievance.

The Kenar Steppe was vast.

Although called a steppe, aside from the weaker tribes, there were ten large nomad tribes with considerable strength!

The largest had twenty thousand cavalry, the smallest at least ten thousand!

Combined, that was over a hundred thousand people!

They roamed with their tribesmen all year, sometimes raiding the Okam Empire’s borders in groups.

The Empire had once sent a hundred thousand troops to suppress them, but the enemies were skilled cavalry and archers.

Not only did they unite to resist outsiders, but the steppe was their home ground.

In the end, that hundred thousand army was toyed with at their mercy.

They couldn’t fight, couldn’t catch up, couldn’t escape.

Once inside the Kenar Steppe, the entire army was wiped out in a month, shocking the entire Okam Empire.

Because of the loss of those hundred thousand troops, other surrounding empires began to eye the Empire covetously.

One could say, those barbarians of the Kenar Steppe were like leeches that occasionally came to suck your blood.

In the end, they could even become vampires that had to be dealt with!

This gave Rubas a headache.

This time, throwing the problem to Willis and making her atone for her crimes with merit was for the best.

The ministers, thinking of this, all remained silent.

***

Meanwhile, when Willis received the news at the grand celebration in the Castle Lord’s Mansion, she almost fainted from anger.

“Sure enough, I’m not the real daughter. It looks like the Emperor helped me wipe my ass, but these conditions…”

Willis twitched in pain.

“Let’s not mention the tenfold and fivefold expenses, but now I have to defend the borders for the Empire and clear the pirates of the Eastern Sea Strait?”

“Fine, Rubas, you’re ruthless! Ouch!”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Hill Yu slapped her on the forehead.

“What are you saying, Imperial Sister? You mustn’t be disrespectful to Father Emperor!”

“But with these terms, are you sure he’s really my father?”

Willis was miserable.

At this time, Ophelia, sitting by the main seat, was happily eating.

This made Willis even more annoyed.

“Ophelia, come here!”

“What is it?”

The blonde girl reluctantly approached.

“Feed me!”

“What!? Aren’t you ashamed!?”

Ophelia was instantly shocked.

The banquet stretched from the back door of the Castle Lord’s Mansion down a long street, with endless tables.

It was crowded everywhere!

For this, Hill Yu had ordered preparations to begin by noon yesterday.

By today’s noon, it was barely finished.

At this moment, Willis’s table only had her, Victoria, Anne, Hill Yu, and Ophelia.

Nidnia and Elliot had already come by to offer a toast.

She and Borden didn’t dare stay long, afraid Hill Yu would notice something.

Elliot wisely kept his distance, not wanting to disturb the princess who only liked women.

Winnie Kanasha was still lying on the bed like a corpse.

The Elves were assigned to dine inside the mansion under the watch of soldiers.

Now, Willis opened her mouth, waiting for Ophelia to feed her.

The person responsible for feeding looked at the miners and City Defense Army soldiers around, drinking and playing games, her face as red as an apple.

“Hurry up! Do you want to be locked in the dark room?”

Willis threatened.

Ophelia immediately cowered.

“Fine, I’ll feed you. Why are you so fierce…?”

With that, Ophelia picked up the chopsticks and fed Willis a mouthful.

“Not that, I want the meatball.”

Ophelia changed bowls.

“Actually, the crystal shrimp ball is better.”

Suppressing her annoyance, Ophelia fed her that instead.

“Hmm, it’s still missing something… I just can’t feel happy…”

“Even food can’t fill your heart?”

Hill Yu rolled her eyes.

As the saying goes, the stomach is connected to the heart.

When the stomach is full, the heart is satisfied.

But Willis pretended not to hear.

She said to the blonde girl, “Ophelia, sit in my lap…”

“M-Master… What are you doing?”

The girl retreated warily.

But Willis pulled her over and hugged her.

“Mm, that’s a bit better. Keep feeding me.”

Feeling the hand wandering at her chest and sneaking into her clothes, Ophelia finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Willis! Don’t go too far!”