Silence once again. She delivered her message that she knew what was happening.
She understood that their desire was to completely remove her not just from the throne but the face of the Earth.
But this time the silence was broken by a laugh coming from the other end of the table.
"Are you threatening us?" The question came from none other than one of the three Kingdom rulers, Giroma Helsink, the one that is the most powerful out of them. And with the question he delivered a message too.
He left out the formality, he didn't even say her name or title.
"In your place, I should think twice from doing so, as out of the 21 people in the room only ten stand with you, your majesty, and our strength is much greater than you." King Giroma continued as she smiled more into Daisy's face.
What he said was true, but Daisy wasn't alone in the room, and the two generals, Albert and even the nobles on her side wanted to speak back, but they didn't do it for one reason and only one, and it was the same reason why King Giroma's fucking smile disappeared from his face.
Because Daisy laughed and it wasn't planned… she laughed because she got extremely stressed and her body and mind reacted in a weird way… with laughter.
And not just a simple laugh but it was an excited laugh like she enjoyed it, even her smile was big, even a tear came out of her eyes.
[System: Control yourself, you can't let—
"Ahhh, ha… General Böring, General Zarah, how many of our soldiers took the oath for the Empire, how many of them took the oath for me personally?" She didn't look at them, she kept her eyes on King Giroma.
Meanwhile both Böring and Zarah immediately stood up, their bodies straight just as a soldier should do, looking at her.
"More than two hundred thousand soldiers have taken the oath for the Imperial and for you, Majesty!" Böring said not too loud, not too quiet, it wasn't a shout but was enough to silence the other side of the table.
"How many of them are ready for battle?" Daisy asked again, still eyeing King Giroma.
"All of them are ready, Your Majesty!" Zarah now shouted giving the confirmation not to Daisy but to everyone else in the room.
"What are they ready for, Generals?!" Daisy now was more aggressive, still having that smile of stress on her face and still eyes on Giroma.
"To slaughter everybody who betrays Your Majesty and the Imperium!" They both said it at the same time.
"What a joke!" King Giroma stood up kicking the chair back and struck his fist into the wooden table. "We have double the strength that the Empire has itself, the entire Empire will fall in days, we have alliances building up, we have the nobles!" He pointed to the table. "The Empire is deemed to fall and with that you too!"
As he shouted it the two generals as well as Albert and grabbed their hilts ready to strike with them.
"We are the kingdoms!" Another one stood up, King Opern. "Your father gave us autonomous territory and empowerment! We are—"
"He gave it under the rule of the Empire!" Daisy interrupted him."And now you dare to rebel against the Empire that saved you on the Eastern front, the same Empire that lost fifty thousand of their troops to protect your Kingdom that you weren't capable of?!" She shouted as slammed her fist into the table. "We have protected you from the barbarians, protected you from the Janranich hussars, we protected you from everybody who dared to cross the border with their military, and now you think you can talk this way to me?!"
[System: You have successfully broken the rebel nobles' confidence.]
I need to push it
[System: Correct.]
"General, how many people live in the Empire that my father built?!"
"Twenty million, Your Majesty!" Böring shouted, straightening himself even more.
"Out of twenty million, how many have seen war?!"
"At a half a million through the decades!" Now Zarah shouted.
"Out of them, how many took oaths to protect the Empire of any threat?!"
"All of them, Your Majesty!" Now both of the Generals shouted more like they declared it.
"Herald!" Daisy shouted as she looked at him, and he immediately straightened his body. "By Imperial decree, listen to my words!"
"Your Majesty!" Herald said as he put down his staff on the side and immediately fetched a paper.
"By Imperial Decree, I announce that the Three Kingdoms and seven noble houses have betrayed not only the Almighty Imperium, but every man, woman, and child who calls this land their home, they have turned their backs on our sovereign, on our peace, and on our people. So I ask you, from the deepest part of my heart, to wipe the dust from your armor, to sharpen the swords that have grown dull in times of false peace, and to rise in defense of the Empire against treachery. Stand with your Empress, who now marches toward a battle she has been condemned to die in, a battle that promises the fall of everything we have built; I ask you, no, I beg you help me, help your Empress, and help our people!"
[System: Achievement Unlocked: "Voice of the Empire"]
"Ha! So this is your big speech?" King Giroma spit to the ground "Calling everyone loyal, telling them to sharpen swords and fight for the Empire? You think words like that make people brave? He slammed a hand on the table once again. "Ask the grieving to bleed again? Ask the forgotten to die for you? Half this Empire hasn't eaten a full meal in weeks. Some don't even have land to bury their dead. Mothers watched their babies die because the 'benevolent Empire' couldn't feed them!"
[System: What he said is true, nearly thirty percent of the entire people are starving, the town has been left alone for years and your father only concentrated on the big cities.]
That six million people… but I need to do it… She was shocked by the number but there was no stepping back.
"Let the people decide then." Daisy said as her hand knuckled on her side but didn't wait long and pulled out his father's sword, aiming at King Giroma.
"What a mistake." King Giroma simply said and with it stepped from the table going for the door, followed by the other two kings and the seven nobles… at least they wanted to follow them.
"Albert, arrest them!" Daisy shouted, and Albert opened the door letting in the Imperial Executioners swarm into the room.
"Are you—"
"They are nobles of the Empire, not nobles of your kingdoms!" she shouted again. "I am the Empress of them, I am the ruler of them, and I am the one who will watch as their heads are cut down!" She looked at the herald once again. "Herald, add that the seven noble houses who betrayed the Empire will be executed today in the main square, and all of their wealth and lands will be distributed to the people of the Empire! List their names and that the execution takes place in the main square at six o'clock. Spread the Imperial Decree with all of the messengers!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Herald answered as he bent down and left the room.
"Are you this crazy you bitch?!" One of the nobles shouted. "We hold more—" Well he couldn't finish as one of the executioners struck him in the stomach.
Then lastly she stepped to King Giroma, she stepped really close to him looking straight into his eyes. "Let the war begin… Majesty."