The viewers naturally had no idea of the internal thoughts and conspiracies of these experts.
But after listening to their confident and seemingly logical analysis, quite a few of them couldn’t help but believe it.
“Ugh, I really don’t want to admit it, but what they said makes sense?”
“Doesn’t this mean that the White Deer is soon going to be in a lot of trouble, though? Should we be worried?”
For those who had long since been envious of either Emilia or the White Deer, this was without a doubt ‘great news’, and they celebrated. Her fans and well-wishers, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel a little torn.
If they tried to cheer for Emilia and the White Deer ended up suffering, it would just make her look stupid. But if they didn’t, wouldn’t their princess wonder if the affection they usually showed for her was fake?
And what made their dilemma even worse was that even if Emilia was often associated with the White Deer, that wasn’t necessarily the case the other way around. If they kept quiet, wouldn’t that significantly decrease the chances of someone mocking their princess later if the White Deer failed?
After all, even if most of them had no idea what was going on behind the scenes, they still knew that White Deer’s management was mostly handled by Emilia’s older sister and parents, and most people had long since started considering Emilia as a separate entity from her family after she became an ’empress’. The relationship between the Empress of Blue Dawn and the White Deer Corporation was undoubtedly very close, but very few people believed that they were completely free of any conflict of interest.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to fret over the matter for long.
Shortly after the ‘analysis’ by the panel of experts was aired, an announcement from the Empress of Blue Dawn ended up completely blindsiding the ‘experts’ and Emilia’s well-wishers alike.
“The right way to be the number one is not by pushing others down, but by rising beyond them using your own strength. I hope the people of Carmen can give White Deer a chance. For a brighter future!”
Although it was only a short and somewhat vague statement, anyone who wasn’t in complete denial could tell what she meant.
“Does the White Deer Corporation intend to go all out this time?!”
“I thought they were only making a small gamble and would suffer a setback at most… but it looks like they might have taken a note out of Black TIger’s book, and are now heading the same way?”
The ones who dared to criticize Emilia at this time were naturally ‘veterans’, and had long since learned to close their eyes and run away before the ‘cavalry’ descended on them.
Even if it meant that their well-thought-out statements wouldn’t receive the traction they deserved, it was better than listening to their fathers and grandfathers being scolded into the next generation!
Of course, it didn’t take long for the initial few haters to get their voices completely buried, but the same couldn’t be said for those who were just curious or confused.
After all, the knights couldn’t be so ruthless to the bystanders, lest they turn away potential future comrades. Their princess deserved all the love in the world, so how could they bear to deprive her of any if they could help it?
Though this did allow many to scrutinize Emilia’s words and actions more, the knights felt it wasn’t really a bad thing. After all, since they thought their princess was flawless, how could admiring her more be considered a bad thing?
It didn’t take long for people to realize that even before she became the Empress of Blue Dawn, Emilia had rarely ever commented on behalf of the White Deer Corporation.
This led most people to think that even if she had a considerable influence on their decisions, this little princess of White Deer didn’t really ‘care’ about it much, if at all.
Although some people felt it was quite hypocritical and unfilial of her, no one could really throw much shade at Emilia for it since it fit her established image quite well.
Moreover, with neither her parents nor her elder sister ever having spoken against Emilia, any insinuation they made to make it seem like she was a bad daughter might only end up backfiring instead.
After all, the number of times that White Deer’s leaders had pulled a nonsensical move just to please their youngest was no secret, and no one dared to gamble that they wouldn’t just do it again.
Realizing that they had slightly miscalculated Emilia’s stance made the panel of experts a little uncomfortable at first, but since what had already been said couldn’t just be taken back, they could only hope that things didn’t go ‘wrong’.
With her current popularity and recent comeback, though, the impact of her announcement had become completely unpredictable, and both the younger and older analysts couldn’t help but be uncertain.
Even if the number of rabid fans she had grew exponentially recently, it shouldn’t be enough to affect the situation in Carmen too much… right?
There was really no way to be sure.
But although they felt like their faces had been slapped, none of the analysts dared to come out and rebuke Emilia’s statements.
With her popularity, the risk was simply too great, and relying on past records of those who went against her… the analysts naturally wouldn’t take a losing bet.
In fact, they weren’t really too depressed, and even if they didn’t dare show it on their face anymore, most of these analysts remained optimistic about their previous predictions.
After all, when they were eventually proven right in the near future, wouldn’t the fire they were facing now from Emilia’s rabid fans just serve as more fuel to their fame?
Maybe if it got enough traction, the Empress herself would apologize publicly.
Just thinking about it was enough to make one giddy!
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Meanwhile, in a somewhat dilapidated apartment complex of Carmen’s capital, a furious silver-haired boy kicked the wooden chair in front of him while cursing. “It’s her again, it’s always her! Why can’t this stupid fucking world go on for a single day without letting me hear her name?!”
Of course, although he was incensed, Amos hadn’t completely lost his mind, and quickly managed to calm himself down as much as he could. “Fortunately, that stupid-looking girl is at least familiar with ‘those’ people, and it shouldn’t take long for her to convince them to come talk to me.”
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