The Villain Princess survived the Imperial Riot

"Your Highness, where else are we going?"

"Of course, it's to meet our great hero, the newly promoted noble of Cloudtop City..." Hestia's lips gradually curled up in a sinister arc, "Lord Gross Lill."

Volume 46: Dreamers: . Ambitious Youth

The narrow path leading out of Little Demon Rat Lane leads to the coastal area, a prosperous port for Yunling's trade.

Snowstorms, famine and man-made disasters did not make this place depressed. On the contrary, the docks were crowded with people and it was as lively as the New Year.

Countless penniless Franks gathered around the high-spirited transport ship agent. They had heard that the New World was a fertile land with countless gold, silver and unowned land waiting to be picked by the right person, so they spent all their money just to buy a ticket that was difficult to distinguish between real and fake.

The setting sun sank into the sky, carrying the silhouettes of people in the wind and snow. On the three-story building on the seawall, a young man with a melancholy look in his eyes, dressed in a tie, pulled the blinds and sat back in the top chair in the office.

The White Sea Fisheries Company, where he once worked and where he joined Free Will, was the place where he first worked. But after the attack, his colleagues had all left, and the whereabouts of the more than 30 fishing boats under his name were unknown. Only a dozen bewildered fishermen remained, banging on the company's doors every day to demand their unpaid wages.

Fortunately, after he was knighted as a baron and received a reward of thousands of gold shields, he had enough money to take over the company's shell, pay the workers' salaries, and reorganize the business.

But fishing was closed until April, so the young man didn't have much to do. If he had a choice, he would rather not have the so-called noble title. Every honorific "Lord" from outsiders was a slap in the face, and every fingerprint was filled with the guilt of betraying his companions.

"It's good to see you again, Ella." The young man looked haggard, without a trace of fear. The pain stemming from his guilt seemed to have turned cold in numbness. He forced a smile. "Before you kill me, can I leave you any last words?"

"Last words, are you worthy of them?"

In the corner, four men and women were standing separately, the leader of which was a woman with bronze skin, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with her face roughened by the sea salt wind, making her look weathered.

She thrust out her hidden blade, pointed it at the young man's neck, and said coldly:

"Gros Lier, you betrayed your friends and your country. Now, I will be your executioner and put an end to your sins."

"I didn't betray anyone." Gros Lier said softly.

"You're talking nonsense! The company that owned the Thirteenth Street, the Brick Lane, and the Grand Enterprise was wiped out the moment you came back. And you tell me you didn't betray anyone?! Why don't you just go to hell?" A young man pulled out a short blade hidden under his coat and walked towards Gros Riel.

Groslier didn't dodge, but Ella waved his arm to push his subordinate away and shouted, "Bernar, retreat!"

"Captain, why waste time talking to such a villain—"

"I said, back off!"

The woman's gaze was as sharp as a knife, as if his eyes would be cut if he looked at her. The young man avoided her gaze and retreated unwillingly: "Yes, Captain!"

Ella looked back at Gros Lill, the sharp blade against his throat. "We were once friends. If you still have a shred of conscience, then tell me why you betrayed the organization."

"You could have killed me."

Gros Lier said sadly, he bent forward, a drop of blood sliding down his throat.

Ella's face was sullen, and the sharp blade retreated a fraction. However, Gros Lill kept pushing forward, and the more he refused to evade, the more Ella retreated, until there was no more room for retreat.

She bent her elbows and shouted angrily, "Do you really want to die so badly?"

Gros Lier's eyes suddenly turned red when he heard this, and he roared back in the same way: "Because I don't know anything about those bullshit strongholds of yours! I'm just a new recruit, a new recruit who has been fooled around! Do you think I like seeing Moreau, Rivet, Delacroix and others die one by one in front of me! I say it again, I don't know anything about your so-called strongholds, I don't even completely belong to the system you lead, damn it, damn it, damn it, you are all a bunch of liars, no one ever told me that I would implicate so many innocent people-"

"If you hadn't betrayed us, why were you acquitted and granted the title of nobility less than three days after the execution?" A young woman with a hideous scar on her cheek taunted.

"Then kill me! Damn it, I really regret being on the same boat with you. The princess is right. If you think the empire is bad, you should just build it up with damn justice instead of secretly planning brutal murders and attacks, making the shaky order even worse!"

Gros Lier became angrier as he spoke, but his eyes were blurred with tears. He kept wiping them, and his tear glands surged as if they were collapsing.

Ella was silent for a moment, then asked, "What happened?"

As Ella's attitude softened, Gros Lier, whose breathing gradually stabilized, sobbed a few times and said in a suppressed, calm tone:

"Krete is yours."

"Yes."

"He pushed me into this."

"I said I disagreed from the beginning."

"But you didn't object, because your entire family were rebels executed by the High Knights. You have no sympathy for those who suffered. You just want the world to be in chaos!"

"Gross!" Ella suppressed the anger in her eyes, "Don't force me to do it."

"Oh, don't push you, hehe... If you really don't agree, why don't you tell your superiors about our plan? Do your friends know what you're hiding? You know what Crete really thinks—"

Gros Lier looked across the table, his eyes wild yet calm, compassionate yet sadistic, as if he could penetrate the brain of the woman in front of him and see through her true thoughts.

"That's enough, Lil, it's not what you think it is."

"Not enough! Because you're not fighting for the future of the Frans at all. You're just trying to drag tens of millions of them to their deaths, letting them ignite you as fuel to achieve your revenge and overthrow the empire! I had hope. I went to the contact point to look for you, hoping to warn you of the conspiracy behind this, but what did I get?"

Gross VII Lilliner lifted his shirt, revealing a waist covered in bandages, and began to cry hysterically, "I've been walking alone, but no one believes me. Everyone thinks I'm a traitor! But I know the bastard who truly betrayed the Frans is among you!"

"So that's how you were convinced by the investigation? Crete's plan was indeed inappropriate, but I didn't expect you to actually carry it out, especially in such a short time." Ella sighed. "Besides, after you got into trouble, we abandoned the contact point. At least your injury has nothing to do with me..." After a pause, she asked, "You really didn't sell out the base?"

"Ella, the base I was in has long since become an empty shell. As for the others... I'm just a new recruit. How could I know about their existence? And why would I betray them?"

"I believe you," Aela said, retracting her Hidden Blade. "But why do you accept the reward? Is life more precious than your dignity and honor?"

Hearing the question, Gros Lier sighed:

“I’m not afraid of dying, Ella.

"But I want to die (in two senses). The Imperial Mistress of the Umbrella Kingdom told me that a creature privately called a worm is trying to use the riots to spread the plague. You know worms? They're a kind of, uh... scary monster anyway...

"I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want the spirit of free will to be exploited by villains. The princess is willing to negotiate with free will. No matter what, we all hope to make more people live a good life, don't we? If I become a noble, then I will have greater power to change the dire environment. Look, I just paid the wages you owed to the workers not long ago. This is proof of that!"

"You are too naive, Lil. You don't know what kind of evil dragon you are working with." Ella showed a sad expression. "Do you think I should execute you for being like this?"

"I believe in your truth, just as I firmly believe in the choice I'm making now," Gros Lill said softly. "Death is a relief for me. Going against the Empire is a dead end. In the end, it will still be the majority of ordinary people who suffer, and..."

He hesitated.

"And what?"

"And the princess told me that she wants to implement reforms in Yunling so that everyone can be free from poverty and hunger."

"Princess, that Celestial Dragon?" Ella's voice suddenly filled with resentment. "You've probably been blinded by the girl's beauty. How could you possibly believe such scum as the Celestial Dragons are trustworthy?! Did you know she just announced she'd spent 500,000 gold shields to build a shrine for that damned Divine Emperor? If she had any sense of justice, she'd use the money to help the poor!"

"But who will distribute that money to the poor?" Gros Lier asked. "Most people in Yunling right now lack a livelihood that can keep them well fed and clothed, and the princess provides just that. This is..." He thought for a moment, then said in a whitewashing tone, "It's the art of balancing things. Just like there are ambitious people within free will that you can't eliminate, you must be circumventing and compromise. Even though the princess loves her people like her own children, she can't openly confront the vast and conservative aristocracy. So she needs an excuse that everyone can accept, and she needs the help of more open-minded people."

"Enlightened? Like you?" Ella scoffed.

Gros Lier, however, remained righteous and dignified, his face filled with the consciousness of a martyr. Thinking of the respect and honor he had received in the past few days, and the practical actions he had taken to support more than a dozen poor people, a sense of mission to benefit the world suddenly surged within him:

"Like me."

"You're so brainwashed, idiot—"

"Oh no, Captain, the imperial princess is here!" Just as Ella was cursing, a young man who was watching the outside world by the blinds saw a silver figure approaching the embankment.

Another young woman pointed at Gross Lier in anger: "You tipped off the Imperials! You're a traitor!"

"If I were a traitor who tipped off the news, then it wouldn't be the princess who came here! The High Knights should have surrounded this place from the moment you entered the building!"

Gros Lier was disappointed with his achievements.

Was he once so foolish?

Since leaving prison, Greenlaw (S. Leech) felt that he had truly shouldered the heavy karma. He "matured" a lot overnight, as if he had seen through the undercurrent of conspiracy and ambition.

Even a reckless man can draw his sword quickly. Having experienced such a change, he is no longer the passionate young man he once was, easily incited by a few words. His pain has turned into experience and wisdom, allowing him to distinguish right from wrong.

Yes, he has an unfinished mission, and the whole world is waiting for him to save them. How can he die on the road and let those filthy parasites bully the people?

Thinking of this, Gross Lill suddenly didn't want to die anymore. He leaned back in his chair and urged, "You guys leave quickly. I won't tell Her Royal Highness what happened today."

"You still call her Her Highness?" A sharp blade slid out of Ella's sleeve again.

"..." Gros Lier's forehead was covered with sweat, and he forced himself to remain calm. "If you only have hatred in your heart, you will lose your compassion for the world. If the princess can truly save people from disaster, why shouldn't I call her Your Highness?"

Ella's eyes flashed with murderous intent. She stared at Gross Lill, and when he "calmly" looked back at her, she sternly said, "Let's go!"

The five people hurried downstairs and entered the complex sewer system of Yunding City through the secret compartment in the cellar.

"Captain, are we just going to let him go like this?" a young man asked unwillingly. "What he said seemed to make some sense, but I know it's all lies!"

"Let him go? No, all the lackeys of the Celestial Dragons deserve to die!" Ella's eyes were filled with murderous intent. "Bernar, did you see clearly how many people the princess brought with her when she came?"

"Just one, he looks like a bodyguard."

"Just one, hehe..." Ella's hidden blade gleamed in the light of the oil lamp. She looked around at everyone and asked, "Do you want to be an unknown person for the rest of your life, or choose to become famous with me?"

After saying this, several people showed strange expressions, but their eyes soon revealed a fierce light of excitement.

"Is there any need to ask, Captain? Killing the Celestial Dragons will probably make the news on the next day even more earth-shattering than killing those impoverished nobles!" A young man quickly agreed.

"I think the risk is a bit too high..."

"Ok?"

"I, what I mean is, precisely because the risk is so great, we must make a thorough plan and leave no chance of survival for the princess!"

"Good, you're ambitious." Ella smiled maliciously, imagining the broken limbs of the Celestial Dragons scattered all over the ground. "Bernar, bring over those bombs hidden in the cellar. I'll lead you to do something big."

……

"The big one is coming."

Downstairs of the fishing company, Hestia looked at the iron signboard shining in the dim sunset and couldn't help but sigh.

"Your Highness, what's so big?" Clara was confused.

"This is the reason why a thousand gold coins are worth a horse's bones. Clara, what do you think can eliminate a person's fighting spirit?"

"I don't know, Your Highness. The High Knights were born to be the spear blades of the God-Emperor. We in the Iron Army have learned only to obey."

"Haha, I naturally believe in your loyalty..." Hestia shook her head slightly, answering her own question. "It's care and pleasure. When people indulge in these trivial matters, they are unwilling to continue on the path of pain."

"Will Gros Lier really become a loyal dog of the Empire? If he betrays his own beliefs so easily, then one day, he will do the same to the Empire."

"But he can't betray his own lies. Believe me, he'll hypnotize himself into a brand new life. And he'll become a role model, a benchmark for countless others to follow. Besides, the High Knights have been laying their grounds for so long. If we don't take down those strongholds, they might just move on again."

Hestia looked at the renovated company gate with emotion, and felt a little guilty for corrupting a passionate young man.

With an irrepressible smile, the princess swept away the slight sense of guilt and entered the company.

Volume 47: The Dreamer: . Imperial Baron

After sending away Ella and several other plague gods, Gros Lill breathed a sigh of relief, with a gloomy luster in his red, tearful eyes.

He was convinced that there were bad people in free will. Perhaps it was Ella, or perhaps someone else, who distorted the concept of free will and made the warriors no longer a symbol of pure justice.