Liv slept exceptionally well.
In her dream, she was skipping and playing in her grandmother’s small courtyard from her past life.
Her childhood friends played alongside her, asking questions as they went.
“Lin Haoyu, are you a boy or a girl?”
“I’m a boy, of course.”
“We know that, but you had a buzz cut yesterday. How did you get long hair today?”
“Long-haired Lin Haoyu is cute, too!”
With that, all the children surrounded her and clapped.
“Congratulations, congratulations!”
The small courtyard was fragrant with flowers and fruit.
A string of scarlet sage, the kind whose nectar could be sucked out, swayed gently in the wind.
When Liv woke up, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.
Her eyes failed to focus for a moment, and she stared blankly at her blanket.
It had been many years since she last dreamed of her past life.
Wasn’t it said that memories of one’s previous life vanish after death?
‘Could it be that I took the Western path and didn’t have to drink the soup of forgetfulness?’
Shaking her head, she quickly got up to change her clothes and headed to the dining room.
Julia seemed to have gone to work early, leaving only Tess there, leisurely sipping tea.
“I have to say, Liv, do you not have to go to work anymore? Aren’t you the Deputy Head of the Shipbuilding Department, soon to be promoted to General Secretary?”
Liv gave a soft hum and sat down.
“Julia’s point was that I don’t need to go for the time being. The situation is dangerous right now, and she’s afraid of a repeat of what happened last time. If there’s anything she needs from me, she’ll have her assistant deliver the official documents.”
Tess smiled.
She knew this was just Julia’s way of keeping her from doing anything while still paying her a salary for nothing.
After all, Julia’s face had practically turned green when she learned that Liv had spent all her savings to buy Elena a dress.
Liv drank the mild vegetable soup, which had a bit of mint and lemon added to it, making it extremely refreshing.
The originally firm and heavy bread slices had been replaced by a small mound of soft, boiled rice.
Liv poured the rice into the soup and slurped it down along with the broth.
Her stomach instantly felt warm.
Most of that greasy discomfort disappeared.
Tess looked very happy; she was likely the one who had arranged this breakfast.
No wonder she had been waiting in the dining room the whole time.
Having finished her breakfast, Liv was about to ask a maid for a cup of coffee.
At that moment, a commotion drifted in from outside the window.
Liv looked out curiously, wondering if it was some kind of holiday today.
Suddenly, a stone came flying through.
The window was smashed to pieces.
Tess immediately stood up, on high alert.
She signaled the maids to come forward and pull the curtains shut.
“Liv, the first floor isn’t safe. Get to the second floor quickly. The maids and I will check the situation.”
Escorted by a maid, Liv hurried upstairs, but she didn’t forget to look back and remind Tess to stay safe.
‘Hmph, Liv, you really underestimate me,’ Tess thought.
She pressed herself against the side of the window and looked out, realizing that the riot wasn’t actually directed at them.
A large crowd of residents was marching past, shouting slogans as they headed toward the other side of the street.
Where were they going?
It was the consulate of the Frostwave Kingdom.
The residents were shouting to hang King Wladyslaw, to throw Prince Jagiello into the fields as fertilizer, and to lock Princess Jadwiga in a cage and toss her into the sea.
They pressed toward the kingdom’s consulate.
Tess didn’t understand the current situation, but she decided the best course of action was to close all doors and windows tightly.
They had to remain silent.
Then, she sent a maid to slip out the back door and take a side path to find Julia.
Once everything was arranged, Tess went to her study.
She quickly shed her long dress and undergarments, the silk sliding off her smooth skin.
Then, she put on the tunic and trousers unique to rangers, garments that allowed elves to move with extreme agility.
She took an elven-forged shortsword from the weapon rack and fixed it to her waist, followed by a heavy quiver of arrows on her back.
Finally, “Selvane” was held firmly in her hand.
This time, she would not allow anyone to get near Liv.
No matter who they were, she would kill them on sight.
…
When the maid rushed to the Shipbuilding Department, Julia, who was discussing official business with her subordinates, immediately sensed something was wrong.
She dismissed the staff and closed the door.
The maid spoke in a breathless rush, like a barrage of gunfire.
“Your Excellency! Something has happened at the consulate. A large group of commoners is marching toward the kingdom’s consulate, shouting slogans about killing the King. Do you know what’s going on?”
Julia didn’t know.
But she immediately guessed this might be her father’s plan to intimidate the kingdom.
After all, the devastating blow dealt to the Northern Faction must have enraged the King.
Since Tess was at the consulate house to guard it, Julia planned to find her father and ask for clarification.
Regardless, such things should have been told to her in advance.
She ordered her subordinates to prepare a carriage for the Governor’s Mansion.
As she stepped out of her office to give the order, she suddenly overheard a conversation between them.
“I heard it this morning. Is it true that the kingdom is going to impose a grain embargo on us?”
“You don’t believe it, you fool? I stocked up on two months of rations before coming to work. My kitchen is stuffed.”
“Get out of here. Bread goes bad after three months… Ah, you stocked up on flour and rice?”
Julia froze.
A grain embargo?
It had spread this morning?
How did she not know?
Could it be because she came to the office too early every day?
She had to change her destination.
“No whispering during work hours! Prepare a carriage for me. We’re going to my house.”
Whether it was true or not, Julia had to ensure her household had enough grain stocked up.
Only then would she have the surplus to support Liv and the others.
…
At that moment, Tess was on the roof, watching the mob storming the kingdom’s consulate.
A consulate guard, unarmed, tried to push the rioters back from the gate.
He was met with a pitchfork to the face that pierced straight through his body.
He looked in shock at the people pushing against him, his movements gradually ceasing.
In the end, he died standing right where he had been impaled.
The guards behind him quickly brought out long muskets and fired a volley at the entrance.
The people in the very front burst apart like smashed watermelons and collapsed, their blood instantly staining the entire outer entrance.
But this only incited the crowd’s hatred further.
Armed with steel pitchforks and clubs, they charged inside recklessly.
Large pitchforks were thrust violently into the thighs and calves of guards wearing only light chainmail, toppling them.
Then, broadswords were swung directly at their necks.
Just like that, those few guards were beheaded.
The residents, enraged to the limit, surged into the consulate, leaving only a few people behind to pick up the dead guards’ weapons and hold the door to keep others out.
The first floor, the second floor, the third floor.
Tess heard the sounds of fighting and screams coming from every level.
Such a frantic assault was something rarely seen even on a battlefield.
Finally, a window on the top floor was thrown open.
A richly dressed nobleman from the kingdom gripped the window frame tightly.
Many hands reached out from inside, trying to push him out.
Through her elven ears, Tess heard the desperate nobleman screaming.
“Rioters, rioters! If you kill me, the King will send cavalry to cut off your heads and display them!”
He didn’t beg for mercy.
It seemed that whatever had happened inside had been so horrific that it extinguished any thought of surrender.
Then, the most dramatic scene unfolded.
He was hurled out of the window.
He fell straight down from the top floor.
It sounded like a slab of meat being thrown onto a cutting board.
He lay on the ground, groaning in a bizarrely twisted position, his bones clearly broken from the fall.
The commoners guarding below pointed at the screaming, groaning nobleman and laughed loudly.
No one went to deliver a finishing blow.
No one went to save him.
They just stood there, laughing incessantly at the absurdity.