After the Magic Caster King left, only a useless Emperor and two bewildered generals remained in the VIP room.
"Your Majesty!" Ningbul shouted directly. It was difficult for him, with his limited understanding, to comprehend why his Emperor would propose a request for vassalage.
"Don't shout so loud, I can hear you…" Jierunifu just kept 'rubbing' his temples with his hand, replying weakly.
"My… my apologies, Your Majesty, but just now…" Ningbul asked anxiously.
"You're asking why I made the decision to give away the Empire, aren't you?" Jierunifu sighed lightly and asked.
Ningbul nodded repeatedly, and Bajed also looked utterly confused. Like Ningbul, he had no idea why his Emperor would make such a decision.
"Then I ask you, if you were in my position as Emperor, what would you do?" Jierunifu said with a self-deprecating tone. Bajed and Ningbul merely exchanged glances, looking embarrassed. In such a situation, they wouldn't be able to handle it either.
"All of this is under the arrangement of those two bastards! I'm just a puppet on strings for those two bastard father and daughter! From the very beginning, the Empire has been played and manipulated by them. What do you want me to do?!" Jierunifu said with a self-abusive tone, and the two generals beside him didn't know how to respond.
"To be honest with you, even before the battle of Katz Plains, I had already detected the Female Devil Elizabeth's plan. She wanted the Empire to act as a traitor, just like Fulda!" Jierunifu said.
"Ah? Are you saying Elizabeth knew about Your Majesty's Grand Alliance plan?" Bajed looked utterly bewildered, because when that plan was discussed earlier, only three people were present. How could it have been 'leaked'?
"Of course she knew! Rather, she intentionally 'revealed' various flaws from the beginning to make us think in that direction! After I saw through her trick, she admitted it without reservation. At that time, I already felt there was no chance of winning, so I proposed the idea of becoming a vassal to her. However, that Female Devil directly refused me, saying it wasn't time yet… and that she would inform me when the time came. Doesn't this mean she still wants to use the Empire to achieve some ulterior plan?!" Jierunifu explained, utterly dejected.
"What exactly is her goal?" Bajed couldn't understand why, when the Emperor had already proposed vassalage before the Katz Plains battle, she didn't directly agree.
"Didn't I say? Her purpose is to make the Empire act as a spy, like Fulda. If the Grand Alliance we mentioned earlier had actually succeeded, according to my original plan, I intended to push her to be the leader of the Grand Alliance, controlling her from behind and making her fight her own father. I never expected that in the end, we would be the ones controlled… If we really follow her plan, then the Empire would be hated by both sides. On one side, we would be traitors who betrayed humanity, and on the Magic Kingdom's side, we would also be dealt with as traitors!"
Jierunifu continued to explain, and only then did Bajed and Ningbul understand why their Emperor was so dejected.
"But now, aren't we betraying humanity by becoming a vassal of the Magic Kingdom? And why did that Female Devil come with the Theocracy's envoy?" Ningbul asked.
"That's because her demonic claws have already reached the Theocracy. Perhaps after I approached her earlier with the intention of vassalage, she might have felt that our Empire had no more value to exploit, so she turned her attention to the Theocracy. And her accompanying them this time is to silence me, to prevent me from 'exposing' her identity to the Theocracy, although the Theocracy already knows her true identity anyway." Jierunifu said, seeing that the two generals were completely confused. Then he took out the two slips of paper he had been clutching in his hand and spread them out on the table.
Bajed and Ningbul leaned in to look, and became even more 'confused'… Just looking at the two pieces of intelligence handed over by the Theocracy's envoy, it should have been good news, right? Isn't it a good thing that Female Devil was controlled?
"Don't be fooled by that Female Devil. Earlier, when I saw this intelligence, I was happier than a world conquest, thinking that bitch finally got what she deserved. But what happened… when she left, she mouthed to me, 'Well done!' It's very clear she was satisfied with my performance just now! That bitch wasn't controlled at all!! The Theocracy was deceived by her! This is my fault too… I was too happy after seeing the intelligence that she was controlled. Now, thinking about it carefully… didn't she go to the Dragon Kingdom earlier? As soon as she went to the Dragon Kingdom, she allied with the Magic Kingdom… Just this point alone proves that this bitch is still conscious!" Jierunifu became more and more agitated as he spoke.
"You mean, Elizabeth was not controlled by the Theocracy, and the Theocracy is unaware of this?" Ningbul asked.
"Yes, and they are even treating her as their final trump card against Ainz Ooal Gown. Her move… is exactly like how she dealt with our Empire before, but this time it's even more ruthless. In this situation, negotiating with the Theocracy again is useless. The Theocracy already sees her as a savior. If we negotiate with the Theocracy again on this issue, the Theocracy will probably directly conclude that we are allied with Ainz Ooal Gown. There's probably no hope with the Church either." Jierunifu continued.
Originally… if he were a high-ranking official of the Theocracy, he wouldn't believe the Empire either. Now, they firmly believed that their secret treasure had controlled Elizabeth. If they continued to pester, it would only make the Theocracy think that the Empire was on the Magic Kingdom's side.
And it might even be used by the Theocracy, so under the current circumstances, an alliance with the Theocracy is almost impossible. With Elizabeth watching over there… an alliance would be playing right into her hands.
"Although I don't want to admit it, Elizabeth's move is indeed very powerful. The Empire has already lost." Jierunifu said self-deprecatingly.
"But… for vassalage and such, can't we maintain an allied and neutral stance?" Ningbul asked unwillingly.
"Hehe! You think too simply. I just said, the Empire has no chance of winning because we are facing the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom, the Magic Kingdom that completely overwhelms us in terms of military strength and strategy. Vassalage is the only means of struggle the Empire has left. Or do you have a way to kill Ainz Ooal Gown himself?" Jierunifu sneered.
"This… that's impossible, right? To defeat such a monster, there can only be a monster equal to him, right? For example, his daughter, or his subordinates?" Bajed said, sweating profusely.
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