The Empress's Will to Live: System Help Me!-Chapter 19: Flipped it.

Her demeanor, her will was real, it was there, though it wasn’t for the people, but for herself to live because, well, the game fucked up her understanding of life... having more life just makes you fear death more... fear the moment when it all runs out and, at the end, you die... that in the end you could do nothing.

Maybe that was where she said too much, maybe that was where Orsen and, well, everybody in the room kinda... felt not just shocked but disappointed and disgusted to a level.

Changing her own goal as she changed it in the game was not the best idea, was not the right approach to all of the things, as these people in front of him, as well as the millions outside, are no longer mindless NPCs with scripts behind them, NPCs who don’t care if half of them get wiped out, but they are real people with real emotions, real will, real courage, and morality; they are all humans.

"That’s... just cruel." General Zarah’s voice came, and it seemed like he didn’t even want to say it; it just slipped out from the old man who saw many wars, who fought in many wars and came out on top... and it said enough if it was too much for him.

[System notifications: Their loyalty and trust has been declined.]

Fuck, fuck, why don’t they understand it... she thought as her hand knuckled up, but it was rather there to think about how outrageous it is to say it out loud.

Say it out loud that they are going to starve people on purpose to get the majority behind them... that they are going to let children, women die to achieve their own goals... at least her goal.

"I am against it." Orsen said, his voice firm as he stared at Daisy; there was no fear in it, only pure will. "It would be a massacre against our own, and... if the people were to learn the real motive behind it, we would fall within a week."

Orsen was right, indeed, it would be a massacre, and in the end it would lead down a path that everybody knew would end in death... for them, and for many more.

"I am against it too." General Böring’s voice followed. "Your Majesty, I stood in fields covered with soldiers’ bodies. I saw them hanging from trees, crucified, but they were soldiers... they knew what it meant to serve the Empire. What we are facing now is our own people, people your father failed to protect, failed to provide even the most basic needs for... we can’t use them, we can’t save our own by killing them."

How strange it was... hearing their voices raised against their Majesty, their voices rising against the Empress they had just sworn an oath to. Not just that, but Böring straight-up talking shit about Daisy’s father... it was strange. Though it didn’t really touch Daisy, no, she isn’t the type of Empress who would have them killed for raising their voices, for daring to speak against her. No, she was actually kinda... happy about it, like she expected something like this, because indeed it was an outrageous plan, but she achieved one important thing through all of it.

She pushed herself into their minds, even if it was a disadvantage, as the System said, even if they lost some loyalty toward her, it still worked. Now they knew much more, that Daisy, their Empress, is not a simple one, and that even if her plan was nothing but straight mass murder, she thought about it to protect the others, to protect the people. They knew... they knew that by doing what she said it would ultimately help the people of the Empire, they knew that by sacrificing others, many more would be saved, but it was still a no for them, and that was also an advantage on Daisy’s side.

As with all of this, she just showed them they can raise their voice against her, they can raise their voice against the Empress of the vast Empire.

"Good!" She suddenly shouted, her voice changing the heavy atmosphere. "I like that by my side are people who can see what is right and what is wrong!"

It was a lie, of course it was. She truly wanted to go through with that plan, but she needed to correct herself quickly to gain back their loyalty and trust, to not let the best men of the Empire turn against her.

"I’m sorry...?" Orsen asked, his face nothing but pure confusion.

"It was a test!" Albert suddenly shouted too with a laugh at the end." I knew that something was not right about it. It was a test to see what we would do next, to see if we would be brave enough to raise our voice, a test of our loyalty toward you, isn’t it, Daisy?"

Fuck... he just saved me...

"Exactly!" She shouted as she forced a laugh. "I feel bad that I needed to do it, to see if all of your heart is at the right place!" She needed to shout to push her narrative into theme.

"Ah, I knew it too!" Zarah shouted as he burst into laughter. "It seemed too cruel to be true. I knew our Majesty would be like this." He laughed louder and louder, so much that the whole room echoed.

"Well, it was... a bit too much." Orsen smiled as well, though his whole body was shaking... he was under so much stress that it was just unbelievable. He had already foreseen the fall of the Empire, how they would be executed by the people.

No way they actually believe it...

[System: You are their hope, as much as you are for the people. You are the last Imperial blood, and all of them believe you are the rightful leader, but if you go against their beliefs, you will die quickly along with the whole Empire.]

Yeah that’s true... 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"At least now I know who is truly with me to change the Empire forever!" She began speaking again and tried her best to hide her stress, forcing a smile. "We are the change, we are the reforms, we are going to change the lives of those who are suffering!" All of them were glued to her again, but now their eyes seemed to spark. "But what I said before is true, we need to have utmost influence and power. We can’t let anybody into power who is not one of us!"

They all received it well, because all of them believed in it... all of them had seen how the rats tried to get close to Daisy’s father to gain influential positions.

"So let me ask one last thing!" She continued as she straightened her body and drew her sword. "Take your oath for the Empire, for the people, for the crown!"

All of them immediately stood on their feet and drew their swords, holding them upright next to their bodies, and almost in perfect unison they shouted,

"For the Empire, for the people, and for the Crown, long live Her Majesty!"

She did it... her plan failed, everybody looked at her with nothing but disgust in their eyes... but she still won, she still flipped the whole narrative.