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Najenda looked at Alex, her expression grave."Prince Alex, so you noticed us long ago?"
Alex didn't answer her directly. Instead, he yawned and complained, "I stayed up all night writing policy drafts and finally managed to catch some sleep. Couldn't you have come a little later?"
"So my guess was right." Najenda studied the handsome young man before her, a hint of admiration surfacing in her eyes. "All the policies the young emperor is carrying out… they're your work."
This boy was saving the Empire in a completely different way.
"They are," Alex said plainly. "So since you've come all this way, what do you want?"
He walked over and sat down on a chair.
"Your Highness," Najenda said after a pause, "your existence has put the Revolutionary Army in a difficult position. Would you be willing to join us?"
Alex burst out laughing.
He cut her off and said, "Najenda, don't kid yourself. You know exactly what's going on at the top of the Revolutionary Army, don't you?"
Leaving aside how their original ideals had already warped, just the fact that they were willing to ally with foreign races to attack the Empire made them criminals.
It was like the late Ming Dynasty. No matter how rotten things were inside the Great Ming, those were internal problems.
But Wu Sangui still shouldn't have opened the gates and let the Qing army in just to overthrow Li Zicheng.
It might sound nationalistic, but from Najenda's perspective, was a Revolutionary Army that cooperated with foreign races really worth pledging loyalty to?
Najenda fell silent, unsure how to respond.
Leone, standing beside her, couldn't hold back. "You talk like we're trash, but what about you? Aren't you controlling the young emperor just so you can take the throne yourself?"
Alex chuckled. "Wouldn't it be better for me to be emperor than letting some foreign race sit on the throne? Besides, everything I've implemented is benevolent policy. It's all for the sake of letting ordinary people live better lives. Don't I deserve the crown more than anyone else?"
"You…" Leone choked, unable to find a comeback.
"So what you're saying, Prince," Najenda asked coolly, her eyes sharp, "is that you want Night Raid to help you?"
Alex quite liked that look in her eyes. Najenda was a real beauty.
Not only was her face striking, her figure could even rival Leone's.
It was a pity that Esdeath had severed one of her arms and blinded one of her eyes.
Now she wore her hair short and lived like a man.
With Najenda's leadership ability, if she were recruited as a vassal, being a corps commander would be effortless.
Of course, Alex was already a commander himself. That meant she would have to settle for vice commander.
He could leave all the management to her and finally cut loose himself.
He shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside.
"Yes," Alex said to Najenda. "I'll control the young emperor and gradually reform the Empire, reducing war as much as possible. When the time is right, I'll have him abdicate."
"I'm sorry," Najenda said, shaking her head. "We can't trust those words just yet."
"That's fine," Alex replied calmly. "I'll show you the results."
He wasn't in a hurry to finish the mission. His real goal this time was to recruit all of Night Raid into his vassal group.
To do that, he needed to build bonds first.
First impressions mattered, and he had no intention of making things difficult for them.
"Then we'll wait for that day," Najenda said. "For now, we'll take our leave."
With that, she led Leone, Akame, and Bulat away.
After they left, Esdeath stepped out from the shadows.
"You're just letting them go?"
"They don't trust me yet," Alex said with a wry smile.
"If it were up to me," Esdeath scoffed, "I'd just capture them all and force them to join."
Alex was speechless. He changed the subject. "There should be plenty of Revolutionary Army informants in the palace, right?"
"What are you planning?" Esdeath asked.
"Feed those informants some perfectly true information," Alex said, a wicked grin creeping onto his face. "Tell them that Night Raid's leader Najenda entered the palace with Akame, Leone, and Bulat, and that they had a delightful conversation with Prince Alex."
That smile really did look like something a final boss would wear.
Esdeath immediately understood. He was deliberately disgusting the Revolutionary Army's upper ranks, planting suspicion toward Najenda and driving a wedge between them and Night Raid.
An open scheme.
Whether they believed it or not, it would still make them uncomfortable.
"You really are black-hearted," Esdeath said, stepping closer and poking his chest with a slender finger.
Alex caught her hand, brought it to his lips, and brushed a kiss against it. "Black to everyone else. Red to my own people."
Esdeath smiled faintly, then shoved him backward onto the bed and climbed on top of him.
…
By the time Alex woke up, evening had already fallen.
Breathing in the lingering fragrance beside his pillow, a smile spread across his face.
Finally got some meat.
He got up, stretched, washed, and changed clothes.
Tonight, he wasn't going to read memorials. He was taking a break.
With a light leap, he soared into the skies above the Imperial Capital and headed toward Night Raid's base outside the city.
He spotted it quickly.
The moment he descended, a katana and a long spear shot toward him.
Alex casually caught the katana between two fingers and twisted slightly, blocking the spear at the same time.
"That's impossible!"
Everyone froze in shock.
Alex's sudden appearance had made Akame and Bulat think an enemy was attacking, so they struck immediately.
What they never expected was that their full-power attack would be stopped by two fingers.
Not only Akame and Bulat, but everyone who rushed out of the building stared with their mouths open, disbelief written all over their faces.
Najenda was the first to recover. "Prince Alex, what brings you here?"
Alex released their weapons and smiled. "Just dropping by. Thought I'd mooch a meal while I'm at it."
Everyone was covered in black lines.
A prince showing up at a wanted criminals' hideout to freeload a meal made absolutely no sense.
Alex glanced around and noticed that Tatsumi wasn't there, which meant the main plot hadn't started yet.
"You're welcome," Najenda said. "I actually have quite a few things I'd like to discuss with you."
She had someone prepare dinner.
The others exchanged looks. Leaving Akame and Bulat, their strongest fighters, to protect Najenda, the rest went to help with the meal.
Alex noticed their arrangement and didn't mind.
"What does General Najenda want to talk about?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I'm no general anymore. Just call me Najenda."
Alex nodded in agreement.
"Then I'll get straight to it," she continued. "It's still about the Empire. Do you really have the ability to heal this country?"
"There are many ways to heal it," Alex replied with a smile. "I chose the one with the least sacrifice."
If things went like the original story, with the Revolutionary Army and several foreign races storming the capital, how many people would die?
Instead of that, it was better to control the young emperor, purge part of the nobility, and rewrite the rules.
Najenda knew his approach was sound. Under his policies, the Empire had already begun to change.
That was exactly why the Revolutionary Army's leadership was growing anxious.
Still, there was one thing she couldn't wrap her head around.
"What is your relationship with Esdeath?" Najenda asked.
Deep down, she was afraid of that woman.
Esdeath was the source of war itself, even more evil than the minister.
"I can't explain it all at once," Alex said, "but I can promise you that she won't start wars casually anymore."
"I can't believe that," Najenda sighed. "I know Esdeath too well. She's never obeyed anyone."
When she spoke of Esdeath, a trace of hatred flickered in her eyes.
Her arm and eye had been destroyed by Esdeath.
Back then, when Najenda betrayed the Empire and fled the capital, Esdeath had more than enough power to capture her. Instead, she deliberately let her go, allowing her to join the Revolutionary Army and strengthen it.
Najenda understood perfectly. Esdeath wanted to nurture the Revolutionary Army, planting the seeds of future war.
She did the same thing when slaughtering foreign races. After defeating and massacring them, she always let a few escape, ensuring the flames of conflict never died.
The more Najenda understood Esdeath, the more convinced she became that no one could control her.
Alex sighed helplessly. "Esdeath is my woman now. I won't let her act recklessly. You've probably noticed that lately I've had her suppress rebellious nobles instead."
Najenda's eyes went wide in shock.
She couldn't imagine anyone actually subduing Esdeath.
Akame and Bulat were just as stunned.
"Is that true?" Najenda asked, hardly daring to believe it.
"Of course," Alex said, nodding.
Najenda sucked in a sharp breath, completely at a loss for words.
Seeing her silence, Alex raised the stakes."If you're willing to pledge your loyalty to me, I'll heal your eye and your arm."
"..."
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