Principality of Tis, Blood Harbor.

Galahad had been gone for several days, yet the reconstruction of the Upper City remained unfinished.

After the Life Mother Church stormed this place that day, not only did they seize the grain, but they also vented their rage by killing many nobles. Before they left, they set a fire. Although it was extinguished quickly, a prison and several manors were still burned down. Now, the entire Upper City was gripped by panic.

Fortunately, the Prince quickly took control of the situation. To ensure safety, he announced the stationing of troops in the Upper City. Everyone entering or exiting would be subject to inspection and questioning.

At this moment, the Prince sat in the dungeon of his own manor, quietly staring at the old man opposite him, whose face was filled with fury.

"My dear steward, the prison has been burned down, so you’ll have to make do with staying here for a while—though I’ve replaced all the servants, this is still your familiar house. You should be quite pleased, no?"

"Who are you!? You are definitely not His Highness. Where is His Highness!? Where is he!?"

He glared fiercely at the Prince—this master he had served for many years, now felt utterly unfamiliar.

When Johan saw the Prince return from Rhine, he sensed something was wrong.

Upon hearing that the Prince had successfully assassinated the Empress, Johan was so moved that he shed tears of joy. He had never believed the child he watched grow up was as worthless as others claimed.

He had always known—His Highness would never surrender!

But everything that followed gradually slid into the abyss.

After the Prince returned, he didn’t reminisce as usual. Instead, he felt like a stranger.

Johan had spent over a decade with the Prince; he would notice even the smallest difference in behavior, let alone such a completely different person.

But at the time, Johan merely thought the Prince had changed after exacting revenge.

When he finally realized something was truly wrong, the "Prince" had already succeeded in stripping him of power and effortlessly had him arrested.

Staring at the unfamiliar expression on that familiar face, Johan felt terror clench his heart.

"Where is Prince William? Is he... is he still alive?"

The Prince gave him a contemptuous glance and tapped his own temple.

"Use your brain. Do you think you’re of any value to me?"

With that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Johan’s terrified shout echoing in the room.

"Who... who are you!?"

Casually shutting the door, the Prince strolled unhurriedly to his office, sat in a plush armchair, and began flipping through the stack of documents on the desk.

"Who am I?" he murmured to himself. "You should know very well who I am, ’Your Highness’—"

A ripple seemed to stir in the air, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing—empty space.

Yet a voice inexplicably echoed in the room.

"You damnable demon! Of course I know who you are—the Empress of the Holy Mill Empire! The monster that stole my body! Isabella!"

"Oh? And what makes you so sure it’s me?" The Prince leisurely pulled out a document, leaned back in his chair, and propped his feet on the desk.

"Enough talk! What exactly are you trying to do!?"

"Naturally, to save Blood Harbor."

"Heh, you think I don’t know? The chaos in Blood Harbor was caused by you! Before leaving the Upper City, you withdrew the Harbor Guard, allowing those cultists to attack!"

The voice in the air grew more enraged. "Then even after you had control of the military camp, you delayed your return, letting the cultists massacre the Upper City! So many people died because of you!!"

Pa!

The Prince seated at the desk—no, that should be Isabella—slammed the document in her hand onto the desk.

It was a casualty report for the Upper City of Blood Harbor, densely filled with names.

"You’re right. This time, the Life Mother Church killed a total of one hundred seventy-five people, including three Earls, twelve Viscounts, and various lesser nobles attached to them. They also killed several dozen prisoners in the prison. Tsk, such tragic losses."

The room suddenly fell silent. The Prince seemed to sense something was off. After a moment, he hesitantly spoke.

"Impossible... how could there be so many nobles..."

"Quite the coincidence. They just happened to be gathered in Blood Harbor, and just happened to be slaughtered by the rebels. I’m deeply saddened by it."

This time, the Prince’s silence was especially long. After a while, when he finally spoke again, his voice was filled with rage.

"You... you used the cultists to eliminate your political opponents!?"

Isabella grinned.

"Eliminate political opponents? They don’t even deserve that term. You don’t even know how many nobles are in your territory, do you? Well, no matter. I’ll tell you, little prince: all the nobles in your territory have already been swept away by me."

"Now, Blood Harbor has only one lord. Tis will have only one voice."

"Th-that’s impossible! The other nobles aren’t fools! They’ll figure out what you’re doing! You... you’re bringing ruin upon yourself!"

"You mean, the nobles will band together to deal with me, just like they’ve been doing for the past ten years?"

"."

The Prince fell silent. It was only now that he seemed to realize—the one occupying his body was the Empress who had led the revival of the Empire. She had almost single-handedly crushed the nobility to the ground.

Her name was the very symbol of imperial authority.

"So... why are you occupying my body? You already possess vast lands, immense power. Why come to a small place like Blood Harbor? Just to massacre a few nobles?"

"Yes."

"I knew you wouldn’t—wait, what did you say?"

"I came here precisely to kill all those nobles." Isabella’s tone was cold.

"The Empire has existed for centuries. Once the backbone of the realm, the nobles have become parasites on its body. If they’re not removed, the Empire will never have hope. I can lead the Empire forward, but I cannot shake them off—the nobles have become an inseparable part of the Empire, buried deep in its flesh and blood."

"I’ve killed countless nobles in Rhine. Blood flowed down the palace steps, but it was useless. The ones who replaced them were still parasites."

"The Empire is a towering tree built on a rotten foundation. The more lush it grows, the closer it is to collapsing."

"Wait... don’t try to fool me!" the Prince suddenly shouted. "The royal family already has full control over the military. Most of the nobles in the country have been stripped of their power. Rhine is entirely under your control. If you really wanted reform, could those nobles stop you?"

Isabella clicked her tongue.

"You’re not completely hopeless. You’re right—I can kill the nobles, but the Empire cannot survive without them."

". Why not?" the Prince blurted. "Aren’t they bleeding the Empire dry?"

"Because of the Church.”