Chapter 99 The Struggle During this precious month, Eleanor only did…

Eleanor withdrew from Enlin immediately.

Just kidding, Enlin is right next to Hertuya.

Playing "The Emperor Guards the Gate" with Andra? She would definitely surpass the previous three geniuses and set a record for the fastest kill.

The tolerant capital embraced their great princesses with open arms.

This time, without Alisa spoiling the mood, all the family heads gathered together as quickly as possible to listen to the princess's teachings.

Unfortunately, the differences among the people were greater than expected.

......

"You guys think... I should accept her proposal?"

Eleanor turned sharply in the center of the hall, staring at Manhani, who had jumped out to speak, with the sharpness of a hawk.

Manhani seemed taken aback by the princess's intense reaction.

She quickly lowered her head and replied in a submissive tone, "Of course we can't be so hasty. We must first confirm that the other party is indeed the noble Princess Hetuya. We can't let you marry a lowly pirate."

"......"

Is that the point? Eleanor looked around at the serious faces of her ministers and realized that this was indeed their focus.

She immediately realized the nobles' brilliant logic:

The option A of "the princess ascending the throne" was not even in their minds, so even though there were risks, they still thought that option B of "marrying another princess of Hetuya" was acceptable.

The reason is simple: neither the royal families of Hetuya nor Norlana have any heirs.

If they could accept the utterly mediocre Alisa back then, why can't they accept the invincible Andra now, who wields the power of the Belial? He's a double king!

The nobles had only one concern:

Andra seized the throne from Belai through violence. Will he be able to maintain his position?

Although she also "married" a princess from Belai, Princess Eliza was not even able to attend Andra's coronation ceremony, making the marriage seem far too hypocritical.

Moreover, Andra is demanding that Princess Eleanor fulfill her marriage vows; a queen's position is not enough to appease the Belial people.

Therefore, for the nobles of Norlana, Belial was an illusion; they hoped that the Pirate King could prove himself to be "the princess recognized by Hertuya" before marrying the princess of Norlana.

Eleanor narrowed her eyes dangerously, casting her gaze upon Enon—Eva's sister. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, she should be the most opposed to the marriage of everyone present.

After all, if Eleanor dies without children, the throne will belong to Inorn.

She certainly wouldn't want a princess with both Nolana and Hetuya blood to be born, would she?

Unfortunately, this prince was clearly adept at assessing the situation.

Without hesitation, she sided with the nobles and calmly met her niece's gaze.

“That’s right, we can’t let this opportunity slip by. I remember Your Highness has always wanted the port of Belai?”

Eleanor can't breathe.

She suddenly felt like laughing because she thought of something really funny: in the eyes of this group of people, Andra was actually her "backer"?

It seems that in the eyes of everyone in the world, Andra is "the lover that Princess Eleanor missed in her youth," and that she "fell into the sea to protect the princess."

Only a few years have passed, and people haven't forgotten how much they loved each other.

What's even more ridiculous is that this well-known romantic legend was actually fabricated by Eleanor and spread by her own people.

She wanted to find the body quickly, calm the situation as much as possible, and ideally leave an opening for everyone to help search for Andra who might be alive.

Now the backlash is coming.

Andra remained silent on everything except insisting that Eleanor fulfill her marriage vows.

The rumors outside have spread like wildfire and automatically converged on the same path: Princess Andra of Hetuya lost her memory after falling into the water. She was greatly shocked after killing her own blood relative with her own hands and finally remembered the love of her life!

These outrageous rumors have led many people who have never faced Andra directly or experienced the ravages of war to develop an unrealistic romantic fantasy about her.

Oh, so this is Andra.

The image in their minds was a character in a story tormented by love, a handsome and adorable young man in the painting.

They blindly underestimated the danger Andra posed, believing that everything would be alright as long as the promise to reunite this "tragic figure" with the princess was kept.

Yeah, right.

Eleanor's heart sank coldly; she had seen the ending of the story.

Even when Andra was in the best mood and everything was going smoothly, she didn't stop her from taking heads along the way as a small decoration to her record.

Besides, she must be here for revenge.

Eleanor raised her head and stared at the nobles below with an extremely sorrowful look, which made them feel uneasy.

"Gentlemen."

She clenched her fists and said, word by word, "Andra has come to seek revenge on me. What happened back then... I pushed Norlana into the sea with my own hands in order to save her."

She must shatter everyone's unrealistic fantasies.

What fairy tale of a princess and a queen? The moment Andra obtains her alive or even a corpse, the capital—and indeed the entire Norlana—will be turned into a sea of ​​blood!

How many ordinary people can survive depends entirely on luck; none of you here will survive!

Whoosh—

Her Highness's words swept through the hall like a cold wind, but the astonishment on everyone's faces only lasted for a moment before disappearing in tacit agreement.

They pursed their lips and didn't speak, but Eleanor could read their meaning: You'd actually fabricate such a lie for the sake of power?

Eleanor was about to burst out laughing.

It seems that even if she were willing to abandon her dignity and personally write an open letter of credibility to be circulated throughout the world, these people would not believe it.

They only believe the "facts" that they want to believe.

For example, an ambitious princess, in order to seize power and profit, first married the incompetent Alisa, and then instigated a civil war in Hetuya.

Finally, Andra jumped out and refused to admit it, because this princess was eager to inherit the throne!

call--

Eleanor began to understand why Prince Enorn was siding with the nobles.

If she were Inon, she would probably think, "If I don't unite with the nobles, this princess who's obsessed with becoming the emperor will definitely try to take action against me after refusing the marriage proposal."

She sighed wearily inwardly, then raised her head and gave a forced smile. "My esteemed subjects, please allow me a moment to consider. Now you may speak freely."

The nobles bowed politely, and then openly conversed during the brainstorming session initiated by the princess.

Eleanor propped her head up with her hand, setting this period as the anchor point for time rewind. No one but herself could remember the next six days.

Under the watchful eyes of the nobles, Her Highness the Princess merely leaned back on the throne and pondered for a moment before suddenly raising her hand and clapping loudly twice.

The family representatives' eyes sharpened, but it was too late to react. One by one, royal guards emerged from behind the curtains and screens and quickly grabbed their shoulders.

"Your Highness, why are you doing this!" someone exclaimed, while others looked at Eleanor with strange eyes, demanding an answer.

Eleanor did not answer; she could not answer. Only a petal on the necklace erased a bloodstain, leaving only two marks.

“I know that some of you have betrayed me.”

She waved wearily, signaling the guards to take everyone away first, and that she would release those who had remained loyal for at least six days in batches.

However, for others... she would absolutely not release them.

Because during those six days she witnessed, so many outrageous things happened!

Eleanor had read many novels and even more absurd historical accounts, but the foolishness of these guys still pushed the boundaries of her understanding.

In the past six days, they cleverly bypassed the capital and sent letters to the lords of various city-states who were related by blood.

The nobles used all their skills to try and incite the people to "avoid a war that could have been avoided" and "not let the princess act unilaterally!"

Not only did they secretly call for the removal of Eleanor's orders, but they also secretly mobilized troops and guards in their capacity as city lords or generals, preparing to "welcome the royal army" so that Andra's forces could march straight to the capital.

Since a segment of the populace still trusted only Princess Eleanor, the nobles decided to ruthlessly eliminate those hidden talents among the common people, erasing their lives like harvesting weeds.

They were not afraid of Princess Eleanor's retaliation, because Her Highness was about to marry into Hetuya.

Besides, how could any nobleman truly care about the lives of commoners? Ridiculous.

Even Eleanor couldn't fight against so many united nobles, but thankfully she doesn't have to think about how to fight them now.

She placed most of the family representatives under house arrest, but did not harm them further. Instead, she released one or two every now and then, and gave them gentle compensation.

Gradually, everyone began to appreciate its flavor.

So that's how it is. Her Highness has probably already made contact with Andra and is taking action against them ahead of time, right?

Meanwhile, Eleanor used the time Andra was keeping silent to begin appeasing the Hetuan nobles.

She appealed to her emotions, pleading with all her long-term allies not to attack Norlana. [You all should simply remain still and observe how the situation develops. Why should Hertuya and Norlana resort to violence?]

She subtly hinted at some of the clan leaders who might have a closer relationship with Andra [the emphasis being on Belial], confusing them and making them mistakenly believe that they had other plans with Andra.

Meanwhile, Eleanor used every means at her disposal to get the Marigold Merchant Guild's agents to intercept Andra and Hetuya's letters at all costs.

That's how things changed.

For example, although Hetuya's elite troops began to move in accordance with Andra's orders, their actions were slow because they did not receive clear instructions.

They simply dispersed, each accompanying their respective tribes as they herded livestock and slowly made their way to the border, much like a spring and autumn outing.

After all, Eleanor had been married to Hetuya for several years.

In their eyes, the Queen will still be the Queen after a while. If they really follow the King's instructions to conquer the Queen's beloved Eun-rin... wow, if the Queen were to act coquettishly even slightly, would they, these little shrimps, even survive!

Moreover, Eleanor enjoys extremely high popularity among the people of Hetuya.

Countless people are now living a better life than they ever imagined, thanks to the textile industry and cheap agricultural products from Norlana. The medical teams have also made great contributions, saving the livestock of many families and tribes.

After several maneuvers, Hetuya's cavalry were "blocked" outside Enlin.

Andra seemed unmoved; she returned to Felli at her own pace and only set off again about a month later.

During this precious month, Eleanor did only one thing: she mobilized the entire nation to strengthen the city's defenses and continuously build interconnected fortresses and strongholds!

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Author's note: Eleanor actually made a subtle mistake here; she underestimated her influence on Andra.

If she agrees to marry Andra, she could (even easily) persuade Andra to withdraw his troops. However, the subsequent storyline will shift to a different format for other platforms...

Incidentally, if Andra had received Eleanor's corpse, she would have "on the way" slaughtered Nolana to the point of carnage.

if:

Andra: I came here only for revenge.

Nobles: Really? Her Highness the Princess already...

Andra: [Cracked]

Nobles: You've finished your revenge, can you leave now?

Andra: What revenge? I'm here to kill.