Kurome's reaction was exactly as Eblana had anticipated.
After having Liver escort Kurome casually to one of the mansion's guest rooms, she turned her attention to observing the state of the earldom.
Just as she expected, these nobles who were close to Minister Honest were each dripping with inexhaustible wealth.
Gold, silver, and treasures could fill entire storehouses, and their stock of weapons and provisions was enough to sustain lavish feasting and reckless extravagance long after the celebrations ended.
This banquet was absolutely necessary. After witnessing her battle with Esdeath, the soldiers' morale had soared because of her victory—but that was only temporary.
Once they came back to themselves, they would remember just how close they had all brushed with death, how utterly heart-stopping that moment had been.
Eblana would use money, wine, and meat to numb their fear, to make them grow accustomed to danger walking hand-in-hand with profit.
This time, because of Esdeath's sudden arrival, the soldiers hadn't had a chance to prove themselves.
Though the fright they'd suffered was far greater than what they'd face in a real, bloody battle, it hadn't served to temper their fighting spirit.
Thinking this, Eblana decided that after settling the soldiers, she would seek out those barons and viscounts nearby—former vassals of the Count—who still hadn't bowed their heads to her.
However, four days later, after fully organizing the current assets and stabilizing affairs within the territory, Eblana received a letter from Count Chouri.
It stated that several barons and viscounts had sent him urgent letters expressing their willingness to surrender unconditionally, hoping to receive favorable treatment from Eblana.
Though it was a pity to miss a chance to train the troops, Eblana accepted them all without exception.
She didn't care for those who rushed to kneel and lick her boots, who wore their opportunism plainly on their faces—but taking these lands without shedding a single drop of blood was an opportunity too good to pass up.
As for how useful or trustworthy these fair-weather followers might be… that wasn't something Eblana needed to worry about.
Times had changed; with many capable people now flocking to her side, she no longer had to handle every matter personally.
Their surrender wasn't really all that surprising. After all, the battle between Esdeath and Eblana couldn't possibly have been hidden.
Anyone who witnessed that earth-shaking, territory-razing clash would be struck with terror.
Those two were no longer seen as human in their eyes—they were unstoppable forces of nature, beings no ordinary person could hope to oppose.
The Revolutionary Army was also thrilled about this, as if seeing their cause rising to glorious new heights.
To be honest, their original idea had been to seize the highest positions themselves—but they understood that circumstances could overpower even the strongest wills, and sometimes there just wasn't a choice.
Just because they were fighting the Empire and Eblana was also fighting the Empire didn't automatically make them friends.
In fact, they knew better than anyone that if any conflict arose between them and Eblana, she would immediately prioritize cooperating with the Empire to wipe them out.
From Eblana's perspective, a hidden Revolutionary Army was far more irritating than the Empire out in the open—and they had enough self-awareness to recognize that.
Besides, cooperating with the Empire against them wouldn't necessarily require Eblana to give her all. From her point of view, there was no harm in playing along with whoever was useful at the time.
As for the Revolutionary Army and the Empire joining forces to take down Eblana first… that was highly unlikely.
Unlike with Eblana, the hatred between the Revolutionaries and the Empire was utterly irreconcilable.
If the Revolutionary Army dared suggest such a thing, their most passionate members would immediately erupt in fury, causing internal chaos before anything else.
Not to mention… whether the two sides would stab each other in the back while pretending to cooperate… they didn't even need to think about it—of course they would.
It was entirely possible that one moment they'd be united, and the next they'd find the other side had secretly teamed up with Eblana first.
They might not even need to formally ally; things could naturally turn into a pincer attack from both sides.
Neither the Revolutionary Army nor the Empire wanted to be the meat in that sandwich.
Therefore, the Revolutionary Army really had no choice but to cooperate with Eblana.
Fortunately, thanks to explanations from their intermediary Najenda, they came to understand that Eblana wanted the throne not out of lust for power, but simply because it was there.
Well, that made things easier. You become Emperor, we become your subjects. You don't care about power? Perfect—that's exactly what we want.
While Najenda spent several days subtly instilling in the Revolutionary Army the importance of Eblana and the idea that following her was the right path, news arrived that Eblana had forced Esdeath to retreat—even taking a hostage in the process.
At that point, the Revolutionary Army had no reason to hesitate any longer.
Upon receiving the hint that Eblana needed an elite combat squad, the Revolutionary Army promptly handed over ownership of Night Raid to Eblana, especially since Najenda had no objections and was even happy to facilitate the arrangement.
The Revolutionary Army's higher-ups, with tears in their eyes, praised Najenda's great loyalty—while simultaneously packing her off to Eblana along with the rest.
That kind of behavior couldn't help but draw a cold, scoffing laugh from Najenda.
As for Night Raid's original mission… in the eyes of the current Revolutionary Army, it really wasn't all that necessary anymore.
Rather than assassinating unimportant nobles, it was far better to bolster Eblana's combat strength and ensure she would be flawless in the final battle—that was the optimal solution.
As long as Eblana won, everything would turn out fine.
Though she remained a Revolutionary Army cadre and could still draw resources from them, her primary duty had now shifted to making sure Eblana wouldn't decide to wipe out the Revolutionary Army along with the Empire later on.
They understood all too well the saying 'keeping company with a ruler is like keeping company with a tiger.'
While there was a chance they could earn merit by following Eblana now, there was also a significant risk she might turn around and send them off to keep the Empire company in the afterlife.
As for why they didn't try to take that position of closeness to Eblana for themselves—the advantage of being the first to reach the moonlight… they had certainly considered it, but there was no opportunity.
Najenda had the full support of Night Raid's members below and Eblana's direct appointment above.
The only thing they could do was send the fiercely loyal Chelsea in—to keep an eye on whether Najenda had any ulterior motives, and to secretly win Eblana's favor for the Revolutionary Army from the shadows.
By now, Night Raid had already withdrawn from the capital and was on its way to the countdom.
Meanwhile, Eblana sat at the head of the dining table, idly eating her breakfast.
Kurome, her heart anxious and tangled, had spent the past four days wrestling with herself.
At first, she wasn't used to sharing meals with Eblana, a stranger, but after several days together, she wasn't as stiff as she had been initially.
After all, Eblana meant her no harm, so there was no need to stay so tightly wound.
Or rather, even if there were ill intentions, any resistance on her part would be useless.
Apart from not being allowed to carry weapons, she lived surprisingly freely within this mansion. There were no battles, no missions.
Practice wooden weapons weren't restricted, and she could use the training grounds normally.
But this leisurely stretch of time gave her more opportunity to let her thoughts wander—or rather, to hypnotize herself into believing a truth that might not be entirely real, but one she desperately wanted to believe.
"The medical team has developed a drug to counteract the poison in your system," Eblana said abruptly.
"Mhm…"
Kurome's reaction to this was muted. She didn't care much about her own life. Compared to living, she cared more about how she could fully hypnotize herself to treat her sister the way she used to.
Just as she was thinking this, Eblana's next words made her lift her head in stunned silence.
"Around tomorrow, Akame will be arriving in this city."
"…Huh?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.