Huono’s townsfolk hadn’t really met the empress before, but they’d also heard a little about how beautiful and kind she was.
Although most of them felt that they didn’t deserve to meet her, they still couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed when all they saw was a sleek, expensive car pass them by instead of their beautiful empress.
Of course, since they never expected a chance to really see her, most were quickly able to recover and decide to go back.
That is, until the announcement of the empress calling for anyone interested or free to listen to her at the amusement park.
After going through a loop of disbelief, skepticism, and insecurity, in the end enough people still poured into the amusement park to almost pack it full.
Since her older sister’s work was crucial to the economy’s recovery, Emilia had already sent her off, leaving her with just Dixie and a few of her empire’s newly appointed soldiers.
Of course, their ability and character were all better than most veterans, guaranteed by both Crystal’s ability and Noelle’s assessment.
Still, Emilia couldn’t help but grumble as she lightly kicked the base of the carousel. “I cannot believe that this is the biggest, ‘most suitable’ place that Noelle could find around the area.”
Dixie nodded while reaching out to adjust Emilia’s locks to cover a slowly fading hickey at the side of her neck. “New venues are being built, but they won’t be ready for quite a while yet, and the location where we will meet the diplomats is… well, not suitable.”
The crimson-haired girl hummed. “Alright, whatever works is fine.”
Looking at her princess kick off her sandals and jump up and off the wooden horse to shoot up to the roof, Dixie couldn’t help but shake her head in amusement. “She may have become an empress now, but my Emily still hasn’t changed at all.”
The sound of sweet, amused giggles quickly broke the dark-haired girl off her straying thoughts.
”I’ll take that as a compliment from my dearest knight!”
Dixie couldn’t help but cover her mouth in shock and embarrassment. ‘Oh no, I did not just say that out loud?!’
Of course, it was a bit too late to regret. Fortunately, her princess didn’t find her thoughts offensive. ‘She’s so… cute.’
Luckily for her, this time she managed to keep the thought within her head.
Soon enough, the moderately sized amusement park started getting filled to the brim with the townsfolk who rushed over, only to stare in shock at the beautiful little fairy swinging her bare legs while lounging lazily on top of the carousel.
For a moment, many wondered if they restricted their diets too much, and were now having hallucinations again.
Many soon realized, however, that what they were seeing was indeed what was in front of their eyes.
”Isn’t that the empress?!”
”No way?!”
Even if her image in their hearts was already quite benevolent and kind, they still thought of her as a regal, inviolable figure that stood high above the masses.
How could she behave no different from an overly naughty child?!
No matter how excessively beautiful this child was, their parents would still have to give her a good spanking to teach her not to climb to the top of a carousel, right?
After all, if it started while she was up there, the consequences would be disastrous.
Many even wanted to shout ’empress, where are your parents?!’, but didn’t dare to do so.
Just as many were doing their best to gather their courage to ‘get her down’, the ‘naughty girl’ jumped up from her spot at the rounding board straight next to the main bearing at the center, waving at the crowd cheerfully.
Obviously, although she usually didn’t pay much attention to the cameras, not having any around let her be much, much more unbridled.
”Thank you everyone for coming here so quickly! I have to be somewhere else soon, so I had to call everyone on such short notice, but you’ll forgive me, right?”
Faced with the beautiful girl’s ‘pitiful’ look, many couldn’t help but subconsciously nod.
Emilia couldn’t help but burst into amused giggles. “Great! Since you’re all such adorable little children, this empress will give you a choice! I have both good and bad news for you, which one would you like to hear first?”
Listening to the cacophony of mostly ‘good’s mixed with some meek little ‘bad’s, the crimson-haired girl felt more and more like she was dealing with timid, insecure, cute little children. “Ahaha… okay, I won’t tease you anymore.”
She grinned. “The good news is that my big sister, who is super smart and capable by the way, will be focusing fully on developing Huono for the next few weeks, and everyone who wants to should be able to settle into a much more stable lifestyle by the time she’s done. As for the bad news…”
Emilia paused, and then tapped her soft lips with a teasing smile. “The bad news is that for you to truly recover and change this town for the better, the ones who will have to truly work the hardest will still be you, the people of Huono. Of course, good children who work the hardest will also get the sweetest, most delicious fruits~!”
After a short moment of silence, the crowd couldn’t help but burst into cheers. Between all the disorganized noise, it was hard for even Emilia to make out what was actually being said, though their expressions made their feelings more than clear.
Even though what she was giving them was far from a utopia in which they would enjoy all the luxuries and extravagance without having to ever lift a finger, at this moment there really was only heartfelt gratitude for the generosity of the empress in their mind.
After all, even if they were only ‘impoverished peasants’, how could they not know how hollow their own situation had been before?
Knowing the background of Empress Emilia, perhaps the rumors that she was spending her own money and resources to nurture their empire weren’t so unbelievable, after all. No, even if Emilia herself insisted otherwise, they still wouldn’t believe it!
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