With Daisy's order out, it began.
Nobody said anything to her, nobody started arguing, nobody asked questions about it, because everybody knew that that is the only way they can remain on the throne, that is the only way they can protect not just the entire empire, that that is the only way they protect the royal blood they have, all took oath to protect… and maybe once in their life there was no doubt about it.
No doubt that the Empress Daisy is not for luxury, but her eyes had will for the people… the way she said it, just told everybody that she is not going to be like her father, but more than that.
She is going to fight not for what is hers, but for what belongs to the people.
So the Imperial Capital Army was truly mobilized. Not all of them, but both General Böring and Zarah gave out the order to send out two thousand soldiers to seize everything under the traitor nobles' names, arrest their servants, seize their houses and lands, and kill every mercenary who refused to put down their weapons.
But what was truly breathtaking to the people was that she had finally appeared. Her Majesty stood on the stage, gazing down upon them.
Nobody spoke, nobody whispered, everyone was frozen, staring at the stage and seeing their Empress not in royal, luxurious attire, but in military uniform… the same uniform they had seen her father wear when he declared war, when he led a new campaign…
How many?
[System: Around two hundred thousand. The main square, the main street, and all the side streets are filled with people. Within an hour, they all came to listen to you.]
Two hundred thousand in an hour… what kind of number is that…
[System: Exactly. But it also means you need to be careful what you say. Half of them are on the edge, poor, starving, and desperately hoping for someone who will listen to them.]
So if I fuck up, the whole empire fucks up?
[System: In short, yes. One small flame can ignite the entire empire, and the people of the capital are the most willing to rebel. The capital is always the starting point of rebellions, because they are the ones who see the luxury.]
The risk was high… maybe too high for Daisy. She had always been uncomfortable speaking in front of people, and now nearly two hundred thousand had gathered to hear her voice.
But it is impossible for all of them to hear me, isn't it?
[System: That's why there are heralds in the crowd. They will repeat all of your words.]
What if they say something I didn't say?
[System: It could happen, but not with them. They served your father, who often spoke and they have always repeated his words faithfully.]
That is not going to work… She thought and she was right about it.
It was impossible for heralds to repeat her words with the same passion, to deliver the same message she intended to give… which meant that only the few hundred people standing in the front would truly hear her, and nobody else. The rest would hear only the heralds' voices… voices incapable of imitating her, incapable of carrying what she truly meant.
Though she didn't even need to say anything to begin with, brace everybody felt the same pressure coming from her.
Seeing the Empress on the stage, just looking down upon everybody, her hand resting on the hilt of the sword, the Imperial Flag waving in the air… it was pure power. The whole scene radiated authority, the atmosphere was heavy, oppressive, almost unbelievable that an Empress could look like this. An Empress who had never spoken to them before, an Empress they knew so little about… and yet she silenced everyone with her sheer presence, with her very being and it wasn't just the crowd that felt it, those on the stage felt it too.
Orsen, Albert, Fern, the two generals, and the nobles… all of them shook inside, their hearts racing like never before. Even when Daisy's father gave speeches, they had remained calm… but with her, they could not.
That black uniform, her posture, the way she stood in silence before the crowd… it screamed Imperial power, Imperial influence.
But nothing happened… she didn't speak a single word. She simply watched the crowd, before turning to Albert and signaling with her hand, and what followed would be written down into history forever… an event no one would ever forget.
The traitor nobles were escorted onto the stage, kneeling before Daisy and what followed it was her introduction to the people… as she herself executed them.
Without a single thought of regret or mercy in her, she stabbed them all, one by one while they screamed, begged, pleaded for their lives, seeking mercy… but she did not listen. Their words never reached her heart… no, the opposite her blade reached theirs, and she felt it.
She felt the blade slide through flesh, ride through the rib cage as it struck deep into them… and still, nothing. It did not feel like killing, not like murder, not like ending a life. It felt like a game like simply punishing those who had betrayed her, just like she did many times.
But it wasn't the brutality that struck her… it was the smell of blood. That was what hit her first, breaking the illusions that had tried to hide what she had truly done. Yet… she pushed it down, buried it deep, because this was not a world where one lived by mercy.
It was a world where one lived by power and she had done it. The Imperial Majesty had shown who held that power.
"I am Daisy Versica, head of House Versica, the Imperial Majesty of the Empire!" Absolute silence as the heralds repeated her words across the masses. "I have heard the struggles of all of you. I have heard your suffering, your cries, your pain… and I stand here today to declare that the Empire will change!" With a single motion, she tore the Imperial Crest from her chest and held it high for all to see. "And those who seek the crown… those who would push this Empire into chaos… come! Step forward and try to take it!"
The moment she said it, the Imperial Executioners surrounding the stage drew their swords from their sheaths. The sound of steel screaming against metal tore through the silence, terrifying, absolute, a declaration of power in itself and it did not stop there. Everyone on the stage followed.
Albert, Zarah Böring, even Orsen and Fern along with the nobles… drew their blades almost in perfect unison.
Daisy said nothing more she simply stared at the crowd as their eyes were glued to her, as Verdo thought the same that it might be true, that they might have finally gotten somebody they deserved.
"Long live the Imperial Majesty! Long live the Imperial!" One single soul shouted it from the crowd and suddenly tens of thousands in unison shouted the same.