As Emilia continued to ‘lounge around’ the Blue Lotus villa during the day, and carried out her ‘expeditions’ at night, the government’s vigilance of her slowly decreased.
While they had already ‘made sure’ that she was quite stupid and naïve, when the girl really spent all day just lazing around and posting comments and ‘likes’ on various social media posts to ‘support the people’, the select few who had still advocated for the president to remain on-guard against her felt as if they had been slapped on the face.
Thinking about it again, no matter what her background was, what could a little girl without any power or intelligence really do?
Even if she kept throwing a tantrum online, would it ever translate into any real-world effect?
As long as they didn’t allow someone else to use her as a puppet for their own agenda, the girl herself was of little consequence.
Of course, her social media messages weren’t completely ineffective, but the government knew that it would be unwise to shut her off from this ‘escape’.
If she had some crazier idea in her head because of that, then they would really be shooting themselves in the foot, wouldn’t they?
Of course, the cameras in the villa were still there, but that hardly mattered anymore. Like a little rabbit, Emilia had already dug three more tunnels to exit at different spots in the city. This little bit of surveillance was even more useless than a government that could not govern.
Emilia could naturally feel when the vigilance of the people observing her decreased, and she couldn’t help but smile secretly. ‘I wonder when they’ll finally realize it?’
Cynthia hummed curiously. “Not worried?”
The crimson-haired girl shook her head in denial. ‘Not at all. Blue Dawn’s current government is like a dormant disease. I’m trying to treat it like this to cause minimal harm, but if it becomes active, I will just have to use more drastic measures. It will hurt, but it won’t necessarily be a bad thing.’
Her partner couldn’t help but sigh. “You know, after looking at that sleazy guy from before and that idiot of a president… they really do seem like a disease, don’t they?”
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Perhaps it was because of Emilia’s schedule, or simply because the timing was more convenient this way, but the entirety of the rebel movement seemed to only make most of their moves at night.
For the government officials, it was as if the opponent really didn’t want them to get even a single night of sleep.
These people who had been the most worry-free before could now only stare at the dark circles under their red eyes, dumbfounded.
Every time they thought they could finally rest peacefully, they woke up to worse and worse news. From stolen stocks of food to suddenly emptied vaults, nothing seemed off-limits to these ruffians.
And perhaps the worst part of it all was that they couldn’t even find a single hint of how these people got in and out of such heavily monitored and secured locations.
It may be no military base, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that, with their security measures, even hundreds of rioting commoners wouldn’t be able to break into a warehouse at will, let alone get out without leaving any traces.
Of course, the credit went not just to Emilia, but also to the excellent people arranged to help her by Noelle, who took care of everything from management to technical issues, leaving the crimson-haired girl free to formulate and execute her plans.
Naturally, the first thing she did was to make sure that everyone in the country who needed it received enough food to survive.
It might seem like a simple thing, but it was actually one of their most critical tasks.
After all, not only did they have to acquire the resources, but also get them to the places where they were needed without being caught.
Although it was possible to get many types of aid using the White Deer’s power, Emilia wasn’t the type to spare her enemy’s resources while digging into her own warehouse. Plus, it was much easier to get things from one point to another within the country than it was to bring something in from the other side of the border.
Therefore, unless there was a shortage in certain areas, the crimson-haired girl had her people raid the government warehouses that stored food and grains first.
With the poor state that the country was in, many of the people ‘protecting’ these resources were actually already on their side, which helped significantly reduce the risks they were taking. But of course, Emilia wouldn’t sacrifice them as pawns for quick gains, and only had them make a move when she was sure nothing could go wrong.
And looking at the numbers being sent to her, the crimson-haired girl couldn’t help but sigh. “There wasn’t really much of a shortage at all, was there?”
Of course, she realized that a government had many more concerns than just ‘do we have enough food for everyone’, as they also had to take into account what impact it would have on the economy if they just distributed it. Though whether this was of any concern to the current government remained doubtful.
But since Emilia planned to rebuild it from the scratch anyway, she obviously had no such scruples.
After food, came shelter, and then came the moment that both sides dreaded the most… violence. Or more precisely, the threat of it.
It wasn’t Emilia’s side that started first. After all, they had nothing to gain. As long as they waited till the next election, the current ruling party was sure to collapse and be replaced by the ‘rebel’ leaders who intended to run against them.
But for those who were already in power, they naturally wouldn’t want to give it up if they had the chance to keep it.
Using the ‘turmoil’ as an excuse, the ’emergency’ announcement came as expected when the officials saw things heading south, and any future elections were indefinitely postponed.
The leaders of the current government didn’t even seem to care about the public outrage at all, nor were they bothered by all the people who were sure to perish in the case of riots.
If anything, they were more than well-prepared for such an eventuality.
Both the army and the police were instructed to keep a close, vigilant eye on their respective posts, and immediately suppress any ‘disturbance’ using whatever means necessary. As for how many of these enforcement officials were already on the enemy’s side? Naturally, the government did not believe there could be many.
These were the departments that had been kept most well-compensated even through the times of turmoil, and it was precisely for this reason. Even if there were a few defectors, it wouldn’t be enough to cause an issue.
What they never expected, however, was for the ‘rebels’ to remain completely silent.
The feeling of pouring hot oil into a snake’s den but realizing it wasn’t in there at all made the officials feel terrified from the bottom of their hearts.
It was as if they didn’t know when they would be struck from the dark, and it was far worse than fighting against losing odds.
The orders being sent to the military and the police kept getting more and more strict, and even the regular movement of people started facing some obstruction.
No more than two people together at once, no gatherings of three or more anywhere in public, no purchase of extra fuel… the list went on and on.
Even visiting a relative’s home became subject to certain regulations, and the law enforcement was instructed to question any and every individual on the street for their purpose of being out, and issue a certificate for the same.
If they exceeded that time limit or their purposes were found to ‘fraudulent’ somewhere down the line, they would immediately be arrested for causing unrest and inciting violence.
The worse it got, the calmer Emilia was as she faced the five ‘leaders’ of the rebellion with a smile.
After nearly a month of this oppressing silence, something happened that shook the government to its core.
One of their military bases in their northern province – the biggest one out of five – was almost completely robbed clean.
Not a single person died in the struggle… because no one seemed to know when exactly everything went missing, and how.
Like a bunch of ants on a frying pan, all the remaining military bases were ordered to thoroughly tally all their equipment, and check every nook and cranny for any leaks.
”Mr. President, the report just came in. The arsenal of all the other bases is intact, and there are no signs of disturbance.”
Of course, even though this was a ‘good news’, it didn’t bring any relief to either the president or the other high-ranking officials.
As long as the mystery of the northern base remained unsolved for one day, they were bound to have another night without sleep.
It was one thing for food granaries to be robbed clean without them being able to catch anyone, but how could the same thing happen to such a well-guarded military base?
Eventually, even the president couldn’t hold his temper anymore. “What the hell is going on? Do they have a ghost on their side or something?!”
With their persistent efforts to unearth this ‘secret’, the government finally managed to get a few hints of a female leadership figure among the rebels called the ‘Midnight Princess’ who was at the very center of this conspiracy.
Of course, unless they managed to discover who she was, where she lived, and what her weaknesses were, this information was about as useful as a toy gun on a battlefield.
The president slammed his fist down on the dark mahogany table, his eyes red in rage. “Find out where she is, and get her down for me before she ruins our country!”
Stealing food first, and then weapons… he would have to be a fool to not realize where things were headed next. And the suffocation of not even knowing what his enemy looked like made the president feel as if he was punching cotton even when he cursed her in his heart.
He couldn’t help but bite his back molars in frustration. “What ‘Midnight Princess’? To not even dare to show her face in the sun, that bitch must be ugly as fuck!”
Of course, while it was mostly his rage talking, the image of an elderly, wrinkled and nefarious witch flashed through the president’s head at this time. And combined with the ‘strange’ occurrences so far, he became more and more certain of his guess.
Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that this ‘Midnight Princess’ was the same ‘useless’ girl they were keeping in their Blue Lotus villa.
After all, how could someone who only knew how to repost on social media be the same as the leader of a rebellion that took down one of their military bases with minimal effort?
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