Princess Emily’s victory over the great general of Krass became widely known as the beginning of her legend, one which slowly but surely overtook all the surrounding kingdoms.
For decades, the only news they got back from their great general had been of victory and success, and the fury of the kingdom of Krass at this unexpected ‘retreat’ became the fire that ended up burning its own master.
Since even the great general wasn’t enough, they could only use ‘other means’ to repay this tiny kingdom for their humiliation.
”We must send in the witch!”
There were a few voices of dissent, but they were quickly silenced. The witch had already exhausted most of her life for research, and the apprentices they had her train had long since failed to learn much.
Since it was only a matter of time before she ran out of use, why not throw her away first and solve this problem at the same time?
Unfortunately, this clever idea was bound to fail.
As it turns out, sending the witch they had been keeping captive for decades to subdue her own daughter wasn’t exactly a very bright idea. Even if she had no way to disobey their orders because of the slave collar, the greatest punishment it could inflict was only death.
What was it supposed to do to stop her from committing suicide? Kill her?
Her mission had been to enter the Kingdom of Cornflower as a ‘refugee’, and then spread an incurable plague in the region that would leave them completely crippled and helpless.
But all she did was catch a glimpse of her daughter from afar before destroying the potion, and then perished from the combination of the collar’s punishment and her own will.
All the confidence that the kingdom of Krass had in their incurable poison became no more than wishful thinking in front of a woman willing to give up her own life, and even the ‘unbeatable weapon’ that they had been cultivating for decades was gone without giving them any results.
If not for the princess personally inspecting the ‘suspicious corpse’ and discovering her ‘similarity’ to the little witch, Perry may not even have known that her mother who went missing for so long had finally returned, though not in a way she could accept.
Before her death, her mother left her an inheritance orb that let her know her experience and will, as well as the details of everything that led up to her demise, and Perry accepted it all, making a solemn promise to herself that she would bring everyone who wronged her mother to justice.
The princess embraced the crying little witch, feeling her heart twitch in pain. “… Perry… I’ll help you punish everyone who wronged aunty.”
The little witch only cried harder, but after listening to the words of her princess, she realized that perhaps death was a relief to her mother, no matter how much it hurt her to lose her even before their reunion.
After all the mourning and heartbreak, the incident only fueled her desire to support Emily in completely uprooting the scourge known as Krass.
It wasn’t long before the opportunity to completely turn the tides presented itself to them.
”Princess, I’ve received news that the Great General of Krass has been tried for treason, and imprisoned in their Sky Prison for ten years!”
The little witch couldn’t help but be shocked. “Treason?”
Princess Emily hummed. “It’s not surprising. With her previous undefeated record, losing so many troops and being forced to retreat by us must have made them suspect her faith. Moreover, the great general is a woman who never took on a personal slave, and doesn’t participate in cannibalism.”
To put it simply, if not for her military merits and talent, the great general was nothing but an outcast in the Krass society. Loathed by many, and liked by none but her closest comrades in the army.
The crimson-haired princess wasn’t one to waste an opportunity, and immediately set off with the little witch in the direction of the Sky Prison of Krass.
A few days later, the news of the Sky Prison’s collapse struck the war council of Krass like thunder, and they immediately panicked.
No one could tell how many of the prisoners had perished and how many escaped, but the only thing they cared about was that the great general’s body couldn’t be found.
”We should have killed her immediately instead of giving her the chance to repent!”
”If only the chief adviser hadn’t coveted her so-called ‘talent’!”
Things only got worse when they learned that the Cornflower Princess had ‘pardoned’ and knighted their ‘Great General’ as the ‘Shadow Warden’, and that woman would now be leading their most elite troops in battle.
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret, and now they could only prepare to face the sharpest blade they used to stab their enemies with themselves.
With the ‘Shadow Warden’ on her side, the Cornflower Princess transformed from a ‘difficult opponent’ to a genuine threat, and no one dared to take her lightly anymore.
Fortunately, she didn’t reject the five-year ceasefire treaty from the Kingdom of Krass, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, they could only regret it later. After all, five years was more than enough time for the princess to grow tenfold, while their own situation remained the same.
But as always, there was still no medicine for regret.
Princess Emily’s charisma and leadership ability seemed to rise higher and higher, and her relationship with the little witch also changed from friendship to something more subtle, though many in the audience continued to doubt the reality.
Five years passed much too soon for the nobles in the Kingdom of Krass, and as they feared, the time came for their retribution.
With Perry’s witchcraft and the Shadow Warden, the Cornflower Princess slowly but surely started occupying and reforming territories that had previously been captured and ravaged by Krass troops, and the dominant kingdom could only lament their fate for provoking this evil star.
Putting up a desperate struggle proved to be even more fruitless than they expected.
Their half-assed potions and spells seemed to be no match at all for the witch on the enemy’s side, landing them in a precarious situation in every battle. And both the Cornflower Princess and the Shadow Warden tore through their armies and struck such terror into the troops that most surrendered the first chance they got.
This way, not only did their resistance not chip away at the enemy’s resistance, but fueled them instead!
The fall that they never imagined would come for their great kingdom suddenly became an eventuality, and they could only wait for their turn like a turtle in a jar.
When the Kingdom of Krass finally fell, the Cornflower Princess finally accepted the title of ‘Queen’, and made a declaration from the top of the Krass Royal Palace that left every other kingdom dumbfounded.
”From this day forth, I, Queen Emily, declare the use of slave collars, or anything that takes away the independent will of an intelligent creature, outlawed!”
She even went to say that while she could only enforce the law in her own territory for now, any kingdom or empire that used such things should ‘reconsider it soon or face the consequences’.
Many still didn’t take it seriously, until two months later, when she declared war on another neighboring Kingdom as soon as she had finished consolidating her power.
The witch called her ‘my moonlight’, and Queen Emily soon became known as the Blue Moon Queen. Wherever her light fell, people would be free, one way or the other.
They could be punished, imprisoned, or executed, but never stripped away from their thoughts and words.
Before many were done digesting this news, another small kingdom fell at the hands of the Blue Moon Queen, and it finally dawned on the various kings and emperors that this was no longer just a girl who became the queen of a small kingdom through luck, but an empress who might soon take their crowns.
With their own interests on line, it didn’t take long for many to form an alliance to ‘resist the tyrant’, and Emily soon found herself facing the same situation she had years ago — outnumbered and with little hope of victory.
But in the face of hopeless odds, Emilia only smiled.
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When the curtain fell at such a scene, the audience couldn’t help but be momentarily dumbfounded.
Moments later, the curtain opened again, but this time the entire ‘crew’ faced them with smiles, and bowed.
The ‘director’ stepped forward, her eyes slightly teary. “Thank you, everyone, for watching. I hope you enjoyed our performance! We did the best we could, and I’m so, so grateful to everyone who helped us make this dream come true!”
Of course, only she and the commander knew what this ‘dream’ really was, but that wasn’t important.
The audience finally accepted that the play was really over, and started to applaud them generously.
It wouldn’t be right to call it flawless, but most of them couldn’t deny that they had been enraptured and captivated by the stars of the show. The reluctance in their hearts when they realized it was over was proof enough.
Some of the audience couldn’t help but sigh. “To be honest, I feel like this kind of play would have looked a thousand times better with some special effects. When the undefeated army of twenty teenagers marched… I almost fell off my seat.”
There were a few chuckles, but one of them couldn’t help but shake his head in denial. “I mean, if they can get an actress half as pretty as that princess, I’m all for it, but otherwise, I feel like this show would lose its charm, you know?”
Their conversation was interrupted by an unexpected announcement on stage.
”Everyone, although the show is over, there will be an interview featuring our main characters in thirty minutes, hosted live on this stage by our channel partners. If you would like, please stick around!”
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