Prause, who had no way to intervene in central politics, set up a residence in the capital.
‘You don’t even know what you’re talking about.
The Empress glared at Frey with fierce eyes.
But instead of taking her words back, Frey only raised the corners of his mouth a little more.
A cold sweat ran down the backs of the doctors who watched the tense fight.
The attitude.
The timing of her words.
“I think I understand what it means for Lady Frey to stay in the capital.’
It means that she will actively express her presence in the central politics of the empire.
Since Frey’s influence had recently grown so much that it could not be ignored, it was clear that the ripple effect would be significant if Grand Duke and Duchess Prause moved to the capital.
The empress also felt that fact, so her expression must have hardened.
“Frey. Are you trying to threaten Tahar’s place as the legitimate successor?”
“I believe that staying here will help the health and well-being of my father, Your Majesty the Empress.”
“Everyone gets sick, gets injured, and dies, but they don’t even understand the self-evident truth…”
The empress clicked her tongue in pity.
Frey didn’t miss the opening she’d created.
“People are afraid of all that. So I wonder if the residents around the capital will also need me.”
Frey remembered what the newspaper read before waking up the children this morning.
[Emperor, how long will you be able to stop the undead monsters?]
[Crisis of the sacred power barrier in the capital city?]
Whenever there was an outbreak of undead monsters, the newspapers poured out articles questioning the Emperor’s abilities.
It was because the Duke of Gelon had a significant stake in popular newspapers in the capital.
‘I didn’t want to read the newspaper right now because there were only articles criticizing my father.’
However, this year, as well as without fail, an opportunity arose thanks to newspapers reporting in detail about the terrifying nature of undead monsters.
“How anxious people were when the barrier of divine power was broken not long ago…Someone had to work hard to maintain the divine power barrier.”
The empress’ lips twisted.
If Frey was just defending the capital without any purpose, there were many other ways.
‘You can build a sacred tower like any other province, but this ravenous one is deliberate–.’
The Empress shuddered when she thought that the half-hearted imperial woman, who couldn’t even speak properly in front of her, had tried to undermine Tahar.
‘I wish I could take her breath away as I did with the Emperor’s brothers and Roselia.’
‘There was a lot of trouble now.’
That Frey did a better job of gaining support by using divine power than she thought.
That Grand Duke Prause was standing behind her.
‘It’s no longer possible to directly touch Frey.’
I never thought I’d have to deal with Frey’s provocations.
Thud!
The empress, upset, kicked off her chair and stood up.
“Do it if you can, Frey. If you want to damage Gelon’s reputation, I won’t stand still.”
Frey silently greeted the empress as she left the room without looking back.
‘Go ahead and take a look. You’ll have to take care of yourself for a while.’
* * *
After looking over my father’s bed for a while, I returned to my room.
Lina, who came after receiving my call, asked carefully.
“Lady Frey. How is His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Since he stopped using the divine power and took a break, I think he has gotten better for now. But It’s still too early to be relieved.”
I remembered what the Doctor had said.
[“We’ve searched the entire continent and the Holy Knights were urgently dispatched in search of medicinal materials to cure His Majesty’s illness.”]
[“This is thanks to the use of the moving magic circle of the Sacred Tower. If we had limited movement like before, we would have discovered it only after a few months.”]
After saying that, the Doctor asked me in a desperate voice.
[“Your Highness the Grand Duchess. Before using the medicine and until one month after using it, His Majesty the Emperor has difficulty using divine power.”]
[“Sooner or later, Gelon will know that too.”]
The reason why Gelon didn’t take the throne even though he killed all of my father’s other siblings, people who are like aunts and uncles to me.
It was because of my father’s divine power.
‘But that divine power is temporarily sealed.’
For my father, it was tantamount to being exposed to danger unprotected.
Fortunately, now I can use my divine power to some extent, so my father could receive treatment.
Then there is only one thing I can do.
“Lina, what about the others?”
Emma knocked on the door as soon as the question was out of my mouth. Baron Holt and Karuna, the people I’d brought in to make things run smoothly, had arrived.
“Now I see you at the Imperial Palace, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”
“I’ve never been invited like this before.”
The two of them seemed happy to meet me at the palace but were a little nervous.
Instead of telling them to relax, I opened my mouth with a serious face.
“It’s a public opinion battle from now on. People who forget the importance of divinity should be reminded again that divinity is as important as magical power.”
“But the major newspapers seem to…”
Lina couldn’t bear to say that there was no newspaper on our side.
As always, her judgment was correct. No matter how much I used my divine power to do something useful to everyone, Gelon had a large stake in the newspaper.
Publishing newspapers is also a business in a way, and if so, you have no choice but to edit them to suit the taste of the person who pays you.
‘What can we do when everyone is working for a salary?’
Fortunately, we had as much publicity as newspapers.
“We don’t need the help from popular newspapers in the capital. Instead, I need to issue a discount ticket that can be used at a lower price when using the Sacred Tower again.”
“Your Highness, Grand Duchess. If it’s a coupon, what kind of…?”
The three of them looked like they didn’t know why I was suddenly issuing discount coupons.
It’s better to show it to them.
I took out a piece of paper and folded the corner into a triangle.
“This fold is the discount ticket. When people have the leaflets well and bring them, the Sacred Tower staff will cut them off, collect them, and then activate the traveling magic circle for a discounted price.”
“….!”
The trio’s eyes twinkled the moment the two words ‘leaflets’ came out.
“I see. Most of the customers who use the travel magic of the Sacred Tower are round-trip travelers, so I won’t throw away leaflets to use the discount coupon.”
“That’s right. So we just have to write what we want to say in a part other than the coupon.”
Tak!
I tapped the unfolded part of the paper. The coupon occupied about one-tenth of a piece of paper, so the space was wide enough to express our opinions.
In addition, unlike newspapers, leaflets that are distributed free of charge are single-page, so it is easy to read.
‘In a world without smartphones, how boring would it be to wait in line after paying the bill?’
Karuna tapped the calculator in her head like a merchant, then smiled.
“As usual, I looked at the statistics of users as you ordered, and customers were willing to wait in line for an hour or two.”
“Right? People will read the leaflets while waiting.”
“It will work. Being able to teleport at less than one-hundredth the price of a scroll of movement magic is a huge advantage, so people will keep coming, and we have got a readership.”
I had heard of how popular the moving magic circle of the Sacred Tower was.
People were willing to wait in line for an hour or two.
They’d even give up their place in line to the person behind them so they could buy food from the rest stop.
‘As expected, everyone likes to eat something to get them excited before a trip.’
After consulting with Baron Holt, he could produce a single leaflet and discount coupons tomorrow.
What’s left is to choose what story to put in the leaflet.
“Lina, What about the materials you write?”
“I’ve put it all together in briefly organized.”
“…..”
I expected it, but when she said “briefly organized,” she meant it was not only perfectly organized but also huge.
I looked through the materials carefully and said,
“But we can’t publish lies, so I will only select facts with accurate evidence.”
“I understand, Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
“Then first…The undead monsters that attacked the capital this time were stronger than before. That the emperor’s divine power barrier was broken and that the crown prince could not restore the barrier.”
Of course, if I or Daniel hadn’t turned to the temple, Tahar might have been able to help.
I hate to admit it, but he inherited Gelon’s blood and was very good at magic.
But sometimes the truth can be just as effective as a lie.’
As a result, it was I who played an active role, not Tahar.
‘Divine power, not magical power.’
If I emphasized that, I could change people’s minds about using magic to make their lives easier.
Because people react to issues that make them feel anxious right now.
“For now, we will publish this much content, and plan follow-up leaflets while monitoring the situation. If people want more, we’ll consider putting it on a bigger sheet of paper.”
Lina cautiously asked me as I rearranged the materials.
“Hmm, Her Highness the Grand Duchess. What should the title of the leaflets be?”
“Ah, the title…”
Lina was a person who did not forgive unformed papers.
She would lose her trust as a documentation nerd if I told her to just print it out without a title.
So, I thought of a suitable title with my last name and the name of the empire in my answer.
“Um, Obelir Post?”
But at that moment Frey didn’t know.
In the future <Obelir Post> would become the most popular general information magazine in the empire.
* * *
