Alexa set out on an expedition.

  After she gave her speech last night, by morning, Adele had finished preparing their paperwork and shifting their study schedules around to get approval from the Headmaster to let them go from the Grand Academy, temporarily.

  They were given leave for the next week to sort out business with the Imperial Army and the Regency Council. With her friends, Alexa hopped into a carriage headed for the southern region by midday. By the second day, they rendezvoused on the way to Letia with a contingent of Royal Guard knights who would escort them.

  The situation…was not great.

  Chaos erupted in the ranks of the Imperial Army after Alexa’s speech. Soldiers and officers, confused about receiving orders from their higher-ups about the crackdowns, found themselves between a rock and a hard place according to reports.

  While Alexa’s speech caused many units to stand down in the preceding chaos, others remained adamant in following orders, while certain higher officers insisted that the crackdowns were legitimate and the voice speaking in their heads was just…a voice speaking in their heads.

  It didn’t help that elven rebels fighting from the forests and mountains launched major attacks during the crackdowns, targeting towns and settlements garrisoned by soldiers of the 2nd Group Army.

  All in all, it was an ugly situation, and by the time Alexa arrived at the first fortress on the way to Letia’s former capital, the soldiers in said fortress nearly opened fire at them, thinking they were rebels.

  Needless to say, the officers in charge had to beg on their knees for forgiveness when Alexa entered it.

  She resumed her objective though, as she wanted to talk to the higher-ups who ordered the entire ordeal. By the fourth day, she arrived at the former capital of Letia, the city of Fardale.

  It was an elven city with a hundred thousand inhabitants. Its angled walls, ravelins, and bastions however weren’t manned by elves, but by members of the Imperial Army. In other words, the military and guards active in the city weren’t its inhabitants, but people from Lotharingia’s core.

  It was clear to Alexa why there was so much unrest and rebellion in the south. Down here, they still acted as conquerors, or occupiers. Not that she was surprised about it. They were named ‘Empire’ for a reason after all.

  “Welcome, Your Highness,” the garrison commander of Fardale greeted with an anxious smile. “We haven’t been able to prepare for your arrival, but—”

  “Spit it out, old man,” Alexa haughtily crossed her arms as she looked up at the officer in front of her. “I don’t need pleasantries. Nothing about this situation is pleasant. Is the entire command staff of the 2nd Group Army present here, as I ordered?”

  “E-erm…”

  “Sir, I don’t think you should speak like that to Her Highness.”

  “Ah, yes!” The garrison commander straightened himself, still clearly squirming about the entire affair. “I have been told that General Sebastian Braun is at our headquarters, near the city hall. I-if you would like, I can arrange a guide with you.”

  “Good. Now get back to work.”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  The officer turned around and immediately barked angrily at his men, and they all scurried to accommodate Alexa and her party. Alexa for her part could only sigh. This entire journey had been a tiresome mess as she came face-to-face with the incompetence of the Imperial Army.

  I guess this is what happens when your role is to just sit at the back and beat those weaker than you. She frowned. What a bummer.

  She turned her back, seeing both Phoebe and Adele staring at Alexa with amazement.

  “My, what is it?” Alexa asked with a smile.

  “N-nothing,” Phoebe averted her gaze.

  “It’s because you were quite regal there,” Adele had a smug smile on her face. “Showed that guy right. He clearly didn’t like seeing you here.”

  “Is that so?” Alexa curiously asked, before looking at the panicking soldiers. She scoffed. “They must be one of those who disobeyed me then.”

  “I am not feeling good about being surrounded in a fortress,” Wilhelm complained loudly behind Alexa.

  “Please. You call yourself a knight, or a man? We’re well protected already,” Alexa countered. Then she smiled. “We’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t understand, Lady Alexa. What if a pitched battle happens?”

  “Then use your tactical brain to avoid said battle.”

  “Grr…I don’t make miracles.”

  “I’m sure you will. You already have a scheme in your mind.”

  “And what if I don’t?”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Then stop whining and work on one.”

  He had been whining for hours already because of Alexa’s unplanned charge. Wilhelm insisted gravely that they first bring like…an army with them here.

  Alexa thought otherwise. Phoebe was an army on her own. That, and Wilhelm himself had some pretty crazy Archdemon blood-fueled glyphs on his spellbook. With Alfred and his knights in the mix, Alexa was feeling secure. Should a fight break out, they should be able to humiliate the enemy’s commander immediately.

  Besides, she didn’t want too much bloodshed. She was here to assert her authority over these fools. It would be pointless if she couldn’t do that without an army, because they were her army. Whether she bought a hundred knights or a thousand, they'd better bow before her.

  Such irksome peasants. I had to interrupt my schooling because of their nonsense. All because of power-hungry old geezers.

  Soon, the soldiers trying to bend over to her, in what appeared to be an attempt to get mercy from what Alexa might do to them, guided Alexa’s group, and their carriages rolled over through the streets of Letia.

  It was such a shame as Alexa watched the clean, orderly, and well-maintained city, which was bathed in eerie silence.

  The elves sure constructed such beautiful architecture. Clean-cut stone buildings, roads, and avenues. White towers with green roofs, and of course, trees and greenery. The city was filled with it.

  It was a beautiful place, which made sense. The elves were said to be a race once ascendant to humans, until mankind’s superior numbers overwhelmed them, and the Lotharingian Empire conquered them while they were in decline.

  And that was what annoyed Alexa! This beautiful, fantastical place looked like it was in a state of paranoia and hysteria. Where were the elves? They were all hiding in their homes, while human soldiers patrolled the streets. The merchant stalls and stores had very little foot traffic, and many were just straight up closed.

  Every time she saw elves or demihumans—people with these animal-like ears and the like—they would be in their houses, only peeking through their windows to look at the carriages carrying Alexa and her team.

  Alexa expected these peasants to greet her and give her a good time, which was one of her dreams back then when she learned that elves and elven cities existed. Fantasy races were cool after all, but those generals ruined it.

  “Oh, they’re absolutely going to have it now,” Alexa grumbled, while Phoebe and Adele looked worriedly at her.

  +++

  “So who amongst you had the bright idea to start all of this, and worse, continue after I said stop?”

  The crown princess was here. General Sebastian Braun sat stiffly in his seat. Assembled on a table of ten were he and his staff officers, while the crown princess sat on the seat for Sebastian, flanked by her knight and the saintess herself.

  Sebastian gulped. The message of such a move was clear. This little brat was here to play leader, and she was doing it well. Everyone here knew what the saintess was capable of after all, so they couldn’t do anything.

  The saint was someone who had defeated an archdemon, someone that no one in the Imperial Army nor the Defense Forces could ever hope to defeat. Of course, that meant in simple terms, they were little cockroaches beneath such a plain, shy-looking girl, who was wielded by someone who looked like an irate little tyrant.

  Why did he suddenly die? Sebastian absentmindedly thought. I thought we had a plan!

  The sudden death of General Erik Essen of the 4th Group Army only arrived this morning, right before the crown princess and her men entered Fardale. It was why they were unprepared. The reason Sebastian steadfastly continued enforcing the orders from General Erik, which had been approved by Grand Regent Ludwig, was that he thought he had backing.

  Now, his main ally was gone, and he was facing an angry lioness who was about to swallow them whole. Beads of sweat trickled down his aged face, as he tried to smile at the crown princess.

  “Your Highness,” Sebastian started. “We were just following orders—”

  “Orders by whom?!” Alexa bashed one of her fists on the table, the loud thud nearly making all the officers around her jump in terror, though of course they didn’t move. She took a deep breath, her voice turning back into this calm, sweet, and deadly tone. “I was just asking who had the bright idea of sending out our troops to do…all that, that’s all.”

  “The orders came from General Erik Essen,” Sebastian said, trying to keep his cool as he took brief glances at the saintess. It’s so over. “He told us that he received intelligence about the elven rebels planning massive attacks. So we attacked first.”

  “And why did you disobey me after I relayed my orders through my ability?”

  “We had no way of verifying, Your Highness…”

  “My, is that so? And did you have a way of verifying General Erik’s ‘intelligence’?”

  “I…”

  “So you followed his unverified orders, but not my unverified orders?”

  Even Sebastian knew that he was checked here. There weren't a lot of moves for him anyway since he found out that General Erik was dead after all. He couldn’t even attack the princess because the men on the ground had been hearing her tiresome tirades night and day over and over since they started the crackdowns.

  It led to a lot of soldiers fearing punishment, and many switched sides. All in all, they blundered badly, all because of this brat. It was unimaginable how she turned out this way, when years ago, he could still remember her reputation as an unjust and spoiled bully.

  Well, she still was a power-tripping bully in the general’s eyes. It’s just that they were now caught in her crosshairs. Sebastian wracked his brain to wiggle out of this problem. Force was out of the table, so all that was left…

  Is to bullshit my way out of this.

  He straightened himself, cleared his throat, and finally spoke.

  “Your Highness, Grand Regent Ludwig also ordered this operation—”

  “I am done talking to you,” Alexa stood up from her seat. “For now, Sir Wilhelm over here will be taking interim command of the 2nd Group Army, until an appropriate replacement is picked.”

  She stared at Sebastian and his colleagues as her pink eyes glowed coldly.

  “Fine gentlemen, you are all fired—effective immediately. I’ll inform all of your subordinates now. Please vacate this room.”

  He wanted to argue that she was just the crown princess, and had no right or authority to do such a thing, but before he knew it, she was already speaking to hundreds of thousands using that ability of hers.

  It was over.