Daisy said what needed to be done and said it well, the only problem with all of this great plan and how to reform the Empire was the most important thing she didn't really think about, but there was a man saving her from that.
"Your Majesty." Another noble, Orsen Hirraus, called for attention, and Daisy acknowledged him with a nod. "I support Your Majesty not only because of your father, but because of the sharp stance you have held in the royal family since a young age. However, the reforms and the way we intend to carry them out may cause even more chaos than a rebellion or a war."
"Explain it." Daisy gave him the opportunity, and he indeed embraced it, knowing exactly the position Orsen had held before they stripped him of his roles.
"As Your Majesty may know, I was close to your father. I was his economy councillor as well as the so-called social affairs person who looked out for the civilians."
Yeah, Orsen was the person next to Daisy's father, the person who kept rebellion low, who kept people in their space and tried everything to make their life better for them.
"I know you are experienced, Orsen, so explain why it is dangerous, because that is what I heard in your sentence." She said as she tapped her finger on the table.
"Your Majesty, reforms are great, more than great. They are the key to a new way of life in the Empire, a new era that can truly raise us to the level of a great Empire. But if we carry them out in a way where we execute everyone who stands against us, then what we create is something very close to a dictatorship." He said it right. "Empires are ruled by emperors, and emperors can be both dictators… but the most dangerous kind is the dictator who rules through fear and power rather than through the people."
Democracy… She thought, but her point still hadn't changed.
"But I only intend to execute those who are against us, the rebels, the traitors, the ones who want the throne."
"I do understand, Your Majesty, but we must show them exactly why these executions are necessary, because if we act without explanation, then in their eyes we will simply be killing anyone who opposes us."
That's true… if we start executing people without any explanation, it will make us look no different from modern leaders who silence their opponents, like dictators whose only message is: I will keep my power and wealth for as long as possible, and I will kill anyone, even the innocent, just to hold on to my throne. Daisy thought about it more and more, but something didn't make any sense to her.
"Isn't it obvious to anybody that they are traitors, who betrayed their oath? That the three kingdoms want to attack us, to take the throne from me?" Daisy asked as it made no sense to her.
Why should she give a reason for anything, when the truth was right in front of everyone's eyes?
It is so clear what those people want. They want the throne for themselves, they want her gone, removed, or even killed.
She thought that people should notice the signs, the mercenaries arriving in larger numbers, and see how the three kingdoms were preparing their armies.
There should be whispers everywhere in the Empire, spreading from market to market, from tavern to tavern, from one frightened worker to another. Rumors about nobles, about money being passed around to buy loyalty.
How could anyone pretend nothing was happening? How could people not talk about the danger, the betrayal, the coming storm?
To her, it should be obvious to every citizen, from the poorest to the richest, that these people are far from innocent.
"Your Majesty." Now General Zarah spoke. "You might misunderstand it." He said as he eyed the others.
"Mistandood what?" She asked back, more confused than ever.
"Well, uhm… they aren't making any of it public. The public doesn't even know how many of your servants were removed from their positions, nor do they know anything about a war. That's exactly why the nobles had the confidence to come here, they believed they could take your palace in silence." Zarah explained and Daisy just got even more confused by it, she looked dumbfounded.
"Your Majesty." Orsen spoke again as he looked at her. "It's not on a broad level, the nobles didn't ask their workers to fight and die for them but asked for utmost loyalty, they didn't tell them head-on that there is an upcoming war they need to fight against their own."
What the fuck am I hearing.
[System: They are right]
Right? YouI said the empire is deemed to fall, and the game I played started with bloodshed and killing. In the game their military already crossed the border and we were fighting them!
[System: You didn't listen to the tutorial, this world is realistic with realistic setting.]
Fuck, this changes everything…
"But it doesn't mean we have to stand down." Orsen said as he noticed Daisy lost in her thoughts, her eyes filled with worry, her fist tightening on the table. "This actually works in our favor. All we need is the evidence placed before the public, and they'll see what's really happening. The crisis and the shock will push them to side with us and of course the Imperial Decree that has already been issued."
The call already went out to my people… so it could work. They will gather to see what is happening. I just need to push the idea to them that they are better with me than with them.
"And what is the evidence?" Daisy asked, and in that moment everybody just… stayed silent.
[System: This is not the modern world, no camera, no documents—]
"So there is no evidence, yeah?" She asked again, looking at all of them, but they still didn't respond, their heads bowed, staring at the table.
"No." General Böring was the first one who said the truth with the same stressed giggle that Daisy herself had, which made everything a bit more… embarrassing and tight, to say the least.
"But there is evidence actually." Daisy said immediately back as she slowly stood up. "The evidence is them."
"T-them?" Albert asked as now he looked confused.
"Yeah, the evidence is the nobles, and all the betrayers, and they will say it out loud. They admit it on their own." She said it with so much passion behind her voice that it just stunned everybody even more, and of course it confused them because she thought about a modern-world tactic.
How do you make somebody snitch? How do you make somebody rat out everybody around them?
The answer was easy, to convince them that if they do, they get something… and that came from none other than those interrogation room videos and documentaries she watched every night.
A sandwich? A burger? Snitch and you don't get a life sentence. It always worked.
Of course it exists in the Empire too… and it is called torture.
"I want everybody present in the room to be there and put on the military uniform with all the medals. We will show my people that we are for them, while the traitors will show they are against them with their own mouth."
Everybody in that moment truly felt stiff again, her eyes, her intent, her words… were the courage of the Empire and its people… it fired all of them up more than they ever were.
"Orsen, you stay with me. We need to make a list. The others can go and clear the palace of the traitor, but our main focus is the nobles and the councilors who are close to the throne, so everyone else should just be locked away until their trial."
She said as she sat back down, while the others bowed with respect and left the room with the intent to truly clear the palace of everybody who posed a danger to the Empress.
While Orsen himself was more confused as he sat back down, he looked at Daisy as he was grabbing a piece of paper and a decorated quill pen.
"List, Your Majesty?" he asked, as he didn't understand what list she was talking about.
"Yeah, and call me by my first name. We don't need this formality at a time like this."
Orsen got quite a bit surprised by what she just said. "Uhm, what list specifically… Daisy?"
"The list of reforms."