Cloud Thinking

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Helia finally found Cheko in the Amber Palace, because this was where the fire and chaos first broke out. He came here to look for clues and happened to run into Helia who was there looking for someone.

After listening to Helia's idea, Chike's face became solemn and he fell into deep thought. He didn't seem to agree with her plan.

"Knight Chico, I have ambitions too."

Helia smiled and pushed her bangs back, revealing a pair of eyes that still sparkled in the dark night.

"Such a good opportunity is right in front of me. If I don't fight for it, not only will my father look down on me, but he will also look down on me for being such a coward."

"But this would completely sever the ties between the nobility and the royal family."

Chico felt that Helia didn't understand the seriousness of the consequences, so he had to be frank and explain it to her.

"Even Your Majesty, in all the years he has been in office, has not dared to do this. Do you understand?"

"What's the point of keeping these parasites around? Are we going to let them continue to suck blood from the empire?" Helia asked.

"I know why my father is reluctant to take action. Without the support of the nobles, the royal family will be alone. If something goes wrong, it will be the wall that everyone will tear down."

"The nobility protects the royal family, and the royal family grants the nobility privileges. This has always been the rule."

"But, apart from the nobles, the royal family is not empty behind them."

"Don't forget, the empire has a population of nearly ten million. We protect our people, so how can our people not support us and defend us?"

Chike closed his eyes helplessly, sighed, and commented: "Naive."

Helia was unconvinced, "I don't think this is an unfeasible plan."

She pointed at herself and said, "Knight Chico, you should know that I am a princess who is more or less famous among the common people."

"I fought off the fire dragon all by myself and protected the people from the monsters. I am a hero of the empire."

"I also accepted a knight who was born a commoner. I also participated in the public selection of the Knights as a referee and protected Ariana, who was a commoner."

"Moreover, at my eighteenth birthday party, my father exempted me from the poll tax for three years."

"Although in the eyes of the people, I am still the fickle and ruthless princess, but with a little guidance, they will understand that I am on their side."

"Everything I have done in the past three years can prove it."

Qi Ke held his forehead with his hand. During these three years, he had witnessed Helia's growth and transformation with his own eyes.

But idealism has never changed from the beginning to the end.

Just as she naively created those children's enlightenment picture books for common people's children three years ago and opened small classrooms in the palace, she wanted common people to receive education as well.

Now, she is still making naive decisions without any understanding of the people's sentiments.

Chico: "Your Highness Helia, you have to understand one thing. Once you choose to stand on the side of the civilians and become their spokesperson, you must be prepared for the possibility that one day you will be kidnapped or even abandoned by them."

"If there's anything about you that doesn't meet their expectations, you'll be devoured by them."

Libertas is just that.

She is the leader of the orcs and the head of the uprising resistance, but the reason why the others are willing to follow her is simply because her existence is in their interests.

And once she goes against the wishes of her subordinates...

The bloody result was right in front of her, she should have understood it.

In response to Chico's concerns, Helia snorted and said with innocent cruelty, "I never said that I want to give up power."

"The power is in my hands. I just use their excuses and names to do what I want to do."

"I don't want to be a benevolent king. I'm just someone who likes to solve everything with violence. However, there must be a reason for the war."

"I want to deal with those blood-sucking nobles, but I don't want the royal family to confront them head-on. It would be better to use other people's help to weaken their power for me."

Cheko: "Do you mean... to encourage the people to overthrow the feudal nobles?"

Helia nodded.

Cheko: "But then it won't just be a simple turmoil in the palace, the entire empire will be in chaos."

"Your acquiescence in their actions is equivalent to giving them the power to rebel. Once the momentum of the uprising expands to an uncontrollable level, the rule of the empire will be in danger."

"I have the military power given by my father. I will lead the army to suppress anyone who tries to rebel against the royal family." Helia said.

Qi Ke frowned, "You can use the people, but you can't really treat them as fools, Your Highness."

"Besides, what will you do after suppressing it? Fighting violence with violence and ending war with war are not long-term solutions."

Helia pursed her lips and smiled, revealing a cunning look.

"Then it will be time for my father or my brother to come on the scene."

"I have done everything I can, and it is time for me to leave, isn't it?"

Chico understood. He now understood Helia's true intention.

Now that Claude is staying indoors and Eric is in a coma, Helia is the only one giving orders and is the regent who exercises power.

She wanted to launch a crusade against the nobles in the name of speaking for the common people, in the name of being an imperial princess, and use the power of the people to eradicate these blood-sucking insects.

And if anyone wants to take advantage of this to cause trouble, Helia will use force and violence to suppress it.

During this time, Helia will become a tyrant with military power, and take advantage of the chaos to eliminate all dangerous factors that are detrimental to the royal family.

Even though everyone was extremely dissatisfied with Helia, she was just a princess, a temporary agent, not the real ruler.

When the dust settles and Claude returns, she will be punished for this to demonstrate the justice of the imperial law and the impartiality of the imperial monarch.

Just like Her Majesty Kolinda, Helia will take all the blame on herself, accept the punishment, and gradually fade into obscurity.

She represents the royal family and speaks for the common people, hoping to make the people of the empire realize that the royal family wants to protect the people.

To this end, she did not hesitate to take action against the nobles who had been in cahoots with her for a long time. She wanted the people to willingly identify with the royal family and consolidate the royal family.

Even if it cannot reach this level, at least do not go against the royal family, just go against the empire ruled by the royal family.

The royal family loves the people, but Helia herself is too cruel and unpopular.

She took all the blame on her own, and left the hearts of the people, the power and resources she had won by eliminating the nobles to the royal family and to Eric.

After all, Claude had a bad reputation, and she was also known for being cruel and spoiled. Only Eric had a better image in the hearts of the people.

It is reasonable that a cold-blooded king gave birth to a violent daughter.

But Claude and Helia are afraid that they will not leave a good reputation in history books.

But she didn't care, and neither did Claude. All they cared about was the prosperity of the empire.

Helia might lose the qualification to compete for the throne, but in her opinion, it doesn't matter.

She had never intended to fight from the beginning, and she knew that she was not cut out for governing a country.

Qi Ke had mixed feelings: shock, relief, worry, doubt, but mostly confusion.

"Your Highness...you...don't have to do this..."

"I don't think the situation is so serious that you need to make such a sacrifice."

"The Empire needs you, not only now, but also in the distant future."

"No." Helia shook her head. "This is not a sacrifice, nor is it taking advantage of an issue, nor is it making a mountain out of a molehill."

"It's just... taking advantage of the situation and taking the opportunity to do what I really want to do."

"Although the current situation is something I had never anticipated, and this plan was hastily thought of, the specifics of how to do it are still under discussion, and whether it can be carried out smoothly is even more questionable."

"But...I feel like I can't miss this great opportunity."

"Everything happened at the right time. Although it happened in a hurry, if you look closely, you will find that the timing is just right."

"I dealt with the troubles from the magic family first, so they won't dare to make any other small moves in the short term."

"Then Grand Duke Ronald took action to retaliate against me, but I am not a soft persimmon that can be bullied by others."

"My father is willing to give me a chance, and my brother... has no choice but to intervene. This is my chance, an unprecedented opportunity."

"If I don't make good use of what I've done before and the reputation I've accumulated now, when will I wait?"

She understood Chike's worries and concerns, but she also knew that she herself was not 100% sure about the plan and she could not make any more promises.

She has been moving forward in the struggle between accidents and plans. She is always on a road full of accidents and emergencies, and she can only improvise.

And at this moment, she suddenly understood why Colinda made that choice at that time.

Sacrifice one person, eliminate dissidents, remove the root of trouble, and revitalize the overall situation. This deal is really too cost-effective, and she has no reason not to do it.

And even if something happens to Eric or he is no longer useful, we still have Stella.

At worst, there is still Hector as a backup, so the royal family will not be without successors.

Moreover, Claude and she have paved the way for future generations. As long as nothing unexpected happens, the empire will move in a good direction.

Chico considered for a long time, and finally decided to let Helia give it a try, just like Claude's choice.

"If you insist on doing this, I have no reason not to support you."

"If you have any needs or questions, you can come to me and I will do my best to help you."

Helia nodded in agreement, "Then there is a big problem right now, and we need you, Knight Chico, to take care of it."

Qi Ke was in sync and asked, "Grand Duke Mossen Leighton?"

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will handle this matter well and give you a satisfactory explanation."

When he said this, there was no trace of hesitation, reluctance or sadness on his face, as if what he was going to solve was not the father who gave birth to him or the family that raised him.

Even though he always had a polite smile on his face and was considerate and careful in what he said and did, Helia knew that in many cases, Chico was the truly cold-blooded and ruthless person, even worse than Claude.

Grammy searched here for a long time, found something, tracked down the enemy's location, and took Cheko to encircle and suppress them.

Helia summoned Ronniche and Lydia. Seeing that Lydia was injured, she had no choice but to send Ronniche out with the certificate made of some unknown leather, mobilize the garrison troops outside the city, and surround the imperial capital.

Until she finds all the enemies, the imperial capital will not be unsealed. The enemies will not get any support and will be exhausted to death.

only……

"Your Highness, will this cause panic among the people?" Ronnie asked worriedly.

Out of the blue, they are suddenly not allowed to leave the city. Even though only a small number of residents in the city need to go in and out frequently, there is still a huge difference between not going out and not being able to go out.

Not to mention, there are many nobles without fiefs living in the imperial capital. It is impossible for them to have no reaction at all when the city is suddenly closed.

And the people of the Senate.

Although Claude was an autocratic and dictatorial emperor most of the time, the Senate was related to the division of interests between the royal family and the nobility, so it was still necessary and has been preserved to this day.

It's just that Claude doesn't often call them to meetings.

But this does not mean that these people in the Senate have no real power at all.

Those who can hold a seat in the Senate are basically great nobles, with the lowest being an earl.

Moreover, each of them has his own fiefdom, and if they unite, they are indeed capable of challenging Claude.

How about... taking advantage of the darkness tonight, picking out the two most troublesome ones and killing them first as a tribute... ?

"I will gather the crowd and give a speech tomorrow. I will appease them then. Don't worry." Helia replied, "You just need to make sure no bird in the imperial city can fly out."

When Ronnie met Helia's firm and fierce eyes, he suddenly realized that his master was going to do something big this time, and he immediately became serious.

"I will obey your orders and will not let you down!"

"Where is little Philo?" Helia had been here for a long time and didn't see anyone.

Ronnie said: "I was worried that the fire here could not be controlled and she would insist on going in to find you, so I sent her to find Sir Elroy, and she has not returned yet."

Helia frowned, "I did run into Elroy on the road, but I didn't see little Philo..."

Nothing will happen, right?

She looked at Lydia, reached out and grabbed the other's arm, took a quick look, and said uncertainly: "Lydia, can you still fight now?"

Since she asked this, Lydia would definitely not say that she couldn't, and she would not refuse Helia's request even if she had to be stubborn.

After asking, she realized that it was useless, so she grabbed Idrija who was wandering around and said, "Idrija, go and bring Ariana out to me. I need her help now."

"The three of you go together to where Elroy lives, find little Philo, and bring him back to me safely."

"I suspect there is an ambush over there. The enemy may be there. You must be careful."

The body of Idrija, which had been used to escape and whose appearance had been blurred, was now lying in Elroy's room. If the enemy was not sure whether Helia was dead or alive, they would definitely chase after her to check the body after setting fire to the Amber Palace.

Elroy must have noticed something was wrong early on and left the room, missing little Philo who was looking for him.

And little Philo, perhaps just by chance, unfortunately, ran into the enemy.

"What about you? Aren't you going with us?" Idrija asked.

That was the person who wanted Helia's life. Helia's enemy, not his enemy. He thought Helia would want to do it herself.

"I'm going to find Carlisle to learn about the situation in the palace, so I won't go with you." Helia felt overwhelmed. "I've already figured out the second enemy, Grand Duke Ronald and Grand Duke Mossen Leighton."

"I have sent people to deal with the latter. You just need to focus on the former."

"He hates me to the core, so the assassins he sent out are no ordinary people. You must be careful."

"This is the last time I will help you." Idrija said.

Helia just smiled at him, "It won't be the last time. The bond between us is very deep."

Helia: Yeah! I found a new fat sheep! If you don't grab her, you're not a human being!