What? Just back in her room in the Empire, Iri was startled by the Blood Emperor's sudden visit, almost wetting herself.
When she had returned to the Empire, it was already late, and the Blood Emperor's visit made Iri wonder if he was being infatuated again.
She had intended to send a Doppelganger to greet him and sneak back to Nazarick, but then she felt it was better to meet him herself!
Having just returned from outside, for him to come disturbing her, it must be something urgent, and indeed it was! Luckily, she didn't slip away! A Doppelganger alone definitely couldn't handle this matter well.
"Emperor Brother? What did you just say? Could you repeat it?" Iri asked again, utterly confused, as what the Blood Emperor had just said was quite shocking to her at the moment.
"Princess Elizabeth, after my deep consideration, the Bahaus Empire has decided to pledge allegiance to Nazarick," the Blood Emperor repeated his earlier words.
Huh? It seems she really wasn't imagining things? Then... that... it really was to become subordinate to Nazarick, she hadn't misheard.
"Uh... does that mean, Emperor Brother's country wants to become a vassal state of Nazarick?" Iri asked, her hand trembling slightly as she picked up the teacup of red tea that You Li had brewed for her.
"Yes, I believe this will benefit both the Empire and Nazarick, so I have made this decision, Princess Elizabeth, you are responsible for communication between Nazarick and the Empire..." Jierunifu hadn't even finished speaking when he saw Princess Elizabeth forcefully slam the teacup onto the table, causing the red tea within to splash out.
"Why! Why the hell?! To decide to be subordinate to Nazarick so quickly, Blood Emperor, you're such a coward! How long has it been?! The battle on the Katz Plains hasn't even begun, and you've already surrendered! How am I supposed to explain this?! Ah... uh..."
Princess Elizabeth's persona instantly crumbled. Her usual sweet address of 'Emperor Brother' directly changed to 'Blood Emperor', the term outsiders used for him privately.
Although Jierunifu had somewhat guessed she would be shaken when he first told Princess Elizabeth his decision, he hadn't expected her to be so shaken that even her basic persona collapsed, which was somewhat surprising.
"I... that, I mean... uh..." Princess Elizabeth also noticed her persona had collapsed and waved her hand somewhat awkwardly.
It was too late. The moment Princess Elizabeth said those words, Jierunifu was already certain that his deduction was correct.
"Forget it, I say, Blood Emperor? Why do you now have the idea of surrendering to Nazarick?" Iri didn't intend to hide her temper anymore; since it had already collapsed, trying to pick it up would only be more awkward.
The most urgent task now was to figure out what the Blood Emperor had imagined again, to directly surrender and admit defeat before the Katz Plains battle had even begun. Iri absolutely could not tolerate this outcome!
This was a major plot collapse, wasn't it? If this happened, there might not be the script of Ainz coming to the Empire after Nazarick was founded, and that was a very important part of the plot!
Just because she unintentionally did something, the plot of Ainz taking over the Empire was completely cut off. Iri truly could not accept this outcome.
"Princess Elizabeth, isn't it natural for the weak to rely on the strong?" Jierunifu said with a bitter smile.
It seemed the Blood Emperor wasn't going to say it. So, she had to think carefully about what she had done recently? What had she made the Blood Emperor misunderstand to scare him into such a state? Iri fell silent and began to ponder.
Uh... thinking about it carefully, she hadn't done much recently!
She hadn't come over for a while because she was annoyed that the Blood Emperor kept bothering her. Could it be that the Doppelganger did something?
Thinking of this, Iri turned her head and glanced at You Li and the Doppelganger standing behind her. She saw both of them looking at her with expressions of admiration, and Iri immediately averted her gaze, feeling quite embarrassed.
It didn't seem to be the Doppelganger's fault. Could it be about her helping the Blood Emperor make it rain?
That didn't seem right either, did it? Although the first rain was her own initiative, the Blood Emperor later asked her to help him make it rain in other drought-stricken areas, didn't he?
She hadn't done anything out of line during the process, had she?
Uh... the only special thing was helping him make it rain, and it was right after she finished that he proposed subordination. She remembered when they returned, didn't he send her off in a separate carriage? It was probably then.
No, just thinking about her own affairs wouldn't do. Anyway, she hadn't done anything out of line, so the problem was still with the Blood Emperor! She must! She must stop him!
Iri looked up and noticed that the Blood Emperor had been standing and talking to her ever since he entered her room.
Normally, without Iri inviting him, he would definitely lean directly beside her and flirt, but now... the Blood Emperor was already being respectful to her, and she hadn't even decided whether to accept his Empire's subordination! Why was he being so well-behaved?!
"Blood... oh... no, Emperor Brother, please sit down first before we talk!" Iri said.
"Alright." Only then did the Blood Emperor sit down, and not like usual, directly beside Iri. This time, he sat opposite her. It seemed there was a purpose to his deliberate flirting before. Now that he had decided to surrender, he didn't need to curry favor with her anymore?
"Then..." Princess Elizabeth paused, then, disregarding her image, crossed her legs and looked at Jierunifu with an unhappy expression.
Jierunifu, however, was quite interested in Princess Elizabeth, who was now fully revealing her true nature.
The Princess Elizabeth he had seen before was always the 'willful princess' version. Now, suddenly, she had switched to a different mode, which was very fresh.
But at the same time, it also proved that this Princess was indeed not as simple as he had imagined before. He had always treated her as merely a casual and brainless 'willful princess', but now Jierunifu no longer thought so.
"So, Emperor Brother... can you tell me the reason? I don't believe Emperor Brother would let the Empire become subordinate to Nazarick for such a simple reason, would you?" Princess Elizabeth asked.
"The reason, you ask... didn't I just say it? The weak..." Jierunifu wanted to repeat his earlier words, but...
"Nonsense! (Liar)!! Iri knows, you know, Emperor Brother, you're not the kind of person who gives up so easily!" Princess Elizabeth suddenly yelled, her abrupt change startling Jierunifu.
At this moment, Princess Elizabeth slowly stood up, and with a chilling smile, leaned over the tea table towards Jierunifu.
"Hey! Emperor Brother... what exactly is it for? What is it for?"
Seeing Princess Elizabeth's chilling expression so close to him, Jierunifu couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. Not only that... he felt the temperature of the entire room drop by several degrees.
His body involuntarily wanted to tremble. Looking into Princess Elizabeth's charming heterochromatic eyes, which reflected his own nervous expression, Jierunifu froze. The pressure Princess Elizabeth exerted on him was no less than the feeling he had when he met Ainz Ooal Gown earlier.
Sure... sure enough, even if a monster's daughter looks pure and lovely on the outside, she is still a monster at heart.
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