After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

A caravan of carriages bearing the Duke's banners slowly made its way along the main road, with Ice City, the capital of the Northern Territory, not far ahead.

The guards did not look too happy.

As per the Duke's orders, they were required to proceed directly to the city of Kuogu and were not permitted to stay in any other city except for the night's rest.

But now they had to disobey orders, because inside the carriage sat Luna Charles, the younger sister of Oswald, who was now the second most powerful man in the Northern Territory.

Similarly, in the luxuriously decorated carriage, Luna, who had long, light blue hair like her mother and was only sixteen years old, was squinting with eyes as gloomy as her brother's, her expression indifferent.

Luna Charles is an NPC in the game who mainly appears in the storyline of the Kingdom's Central Academy, where she makes a few appearances as the hero's junior.

The game's objective is to mock the hero and his companions, especially to refute the hero's boast that he will personally defeat the demons.

What does it mean that only heroes can defeat the Demon King? What does it mean that it's the Goddess's arrangement? What does it mean that the leaders of the Northern Territory are all a bunch of useless people?

What about my parents and relatives who died on the battlefield? What about all those northern residents who lost their homes and families?

Besides engaging in passionate battles with the heroes' supporters, Luna also frequently writes letters to her brother to complain.

Basically, it's all: Dear elder brother, I believe that most of the young people in the capital are just pretentious yes-men, and the hero is all talk and no action, and he loves to pretend to be a good guy. The women around him are disgusting, a bunch of sluts sharing one husband...

(The male protagonist in the eroge is like this: besides several female leads, there's also a group of female supporting characters he's slept with, so saying "a group" isn't wrong.)

In short, Luna is more like a catalyst that sets the stage for the conflict between the hero and Oswald, and she doesn't have any role in the story afterward.

However, there are still differences between games and reality.

In reality, Luna wrote to Elene immediately upon learning of her brother's death, securing military power in her own name, and then split up with the messenger to head to the northern territory.

Although Luna was unfortunately captured and detained by the king's army, the letter still managed to reach Elena's hands, albeit with difficulty.

Thus began the rebellion.

So, would such a brave and resourceful heir to the Northern Territory really be just throwing a tantrum and wanting to go home to get a few sets of clothes, as she herself claims?

Of course not.

Almost at the same time the caravan arrived at the tightly closed gates of Ice City, Luna quickly dismounted from the carriage. Facing the uneasy gazes of the guards on the city wall, her cotton dress embroidered with red roses fluttered in the wind as she drew the sword from her waist.

Both sides gasped in surprise. The Charles family's swordsmanship was unparalleled in the country, and the two siblings were the best in the family.

The young lady drew her sword; who knows who she was going to kill?

"You bunch of lackeys! I'm coming home, and you dare to stop me! You even dare to lock me up!"

"Open the city gates, or none of you will bear the guilt of sowing discord within the Duke's bloodline!"

With a loud shout, Luna severed the shackles on the carriage with her sword, mounted her freed warhorse, and charged straight toward the city gate with her sword in hand.

"Quickly, open the city gate!" The guards on the city wall were terrified and let out a sharp scream.

Almost a second before the horse's hooves struck the city gate, the gate finally rose. As soon as she entered the city, Luna reined in her horse, turned around, and coldly summoned all the guards.

Under their trembling gazes, he issued an order that brooked no argument.

"First, as ordered by the Duke, you shall continue to keep the city gates closed. From now on, if anyone comes, you only need to report to me."

"Secondly, summon Reid and his cavalry captains to see me. From this moment forward, all troops in the capital are under my command!"

"Third, inform all guards outside the Duke's mansion that if they do not disarm and leave the mansion within half an hour, they will be treated as traitors and their entire families will be executed!"

"yes!"

The weather in Harbin has changed again. In fact, ever since the day martial law was declared in the city, the people have had a vague feeling that something big was about to happen.

Now, seeing Miss Luna leading her troops to surround the Duke's mansion, with spears drawn and swords poised for battle, they felt a sense of relief, as if they had expected this. They picked up shovels and hoes, stopped working, and came in twos and threes to watch from the outside of the Duke's mansion.

The nobles could still cower and play dead, but Red couldn't.

He was still in the military camp, counting money and drinking when he heard the news. But when he heard that Luna was besieging the Duke's mansion, he was so frightened that his face twitched. He didn't even bother to retrieve his money. He hurriedly put on his helmet and ran towards the Duke's mansion.

It must be said that Luna is quite influential, after all, in the Northern Territory, her name itself naturally carries political correctness.

More and more soldiers began to gather under Luna's command, but they could not shake the guards of the Duke's mansion in the slightest.

Protecting the Duke's mansion, especially ensuring Lady Elene's safety, was a death order given by the Duke before his departure.

You call me a rebel? Then what about the Duke's orders? What about His Majesty's reasons for rebelling?

Fortunately, when Red arrived, both sides were still relatively restrained.

Wiping away the large beads of sweat, Reid felt bitter. His soldiers had been divided into three groups. If these soldiers were to start a fire in front of the Duke's mansion, or if Eleanor and Luna were to suffer even the slightest harm, his position as commander of the knight order would be over.

Upon seeing the densely packed crowd of onlookers, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Northerners have a long-standing reputation for martial spirit; when trouble comes, they truly dare to step in…

Wiping the sweat from his face repeatedly, Red hunched over like a quail, and trotted all the way to Luna. He knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face.

"Why is Miss acting this way today?"

"Red, Red, it's been years, and you're still as useless as ever." Luna sat regally in her chair, crossed her legs, and sneered as she used the scabbard to lift Red's chin.

"My elder brother is away, and I should be the one to guard the capital. But now I can't enter the city, and I can't go home. Tell me, what crime should I punish you for, hmm?"

"Young lady is right. With the Duke absent, everyone in the capital should obey your orders." Reid was, after all, a man who could rise to the position of commander solely through political acumen. Despite his fear, he was still able to clearly sort out the sequence of events.

"But before the Duke left, he had already instructed the Secretary General to take charge of the capital, and the order he gave you was to go directly to Kuogu City."

"The reason why the young lady is not allowed to enter the city is because the Marquis's family harbors treacherous intentions, which led to the martial law being declared in the city. This matter is of great importance, and even you, young lady, are absolutely not allowed to enter the city and return home without the Duke's permission."

"The reason the Duke sent the young lady to Kuogu City was not to make things difficult for her, nor was it because we subordinates were disloyal. It was simply to protect her from being involved."

"Young lady says I'm useless, and I, Reid, am indeed useless, but you, young lady, know perfectly well my loyalty to the Duke. With me here, Ice City will surely remain loyal to the Duke and the young lady. Even if I am caught up in a conspiracy and die, the Duke still has 30,000 troops in Kuogu City, and suppressing the rebellion will be a matter of days."

"Therefore, since you have already stormed into the city alone, you should not enter the Duke's mansion now. Why not rest at the military camp for the time being, with several thousand of my men protecting you? I will then deliver a message to the Duke, explaining what happened, and wait for the Duke to come and resolve the dispute in person, how about that?"

After a string of words that left Red's throat parched, Luna finally had someone to explain the situation to her.

She remained silent for a moment, then finally stood up, nodded approvingly to Red, and said, "You are still capable. Do as you say, but the blockade of the Duke's mansion cannot be lifted for the time being."

"Yes, Miss."

Reid stood up shakily and looked back at the soldiers. Their faces were no longer as cautious as before. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could kick each of these guys who had suddenly started causing trouble with the young lady.

At his roar, thousands of soldiers turned around in unison and escorted Luna back to the camp.

After watching for a long time without figuring out what was going on, the crowd dispersed, some repairing houses, others digging sewers, all obediently returning to their jobs.

The day passed quickly. The sun set, and the moon slowly rose in the night sky, radiating its unique brilliance.

At four o'clock in the morning, in the stillness of the night, the gates of the Ice City swung open, and cavalrymen roared in. Oswald returned to his loyal ducal palace.

As he dismounted and removed his armor, any servant could see that the Duke was extremely agitated.

The maids trembled with fear, unable to remove their armor for a long time. Although the duke did not reprimand them, his gloomy gaze made them feel breathless.

Finally, their personal maid, Elena, rushed over, which relieved them greatly.

She deftly removed her armor and took the still-bloody sword from the Duke's hand. Before Elena could even look up, she heard Oswald say in a deep voice, "If this happens again, whoever it is, they will be detained and imprisoned."

"Yes, sir."

Grabbing his bathrobe, Oswald walked alone towards the bathroom, his voice drifting coldly down the hallway.

"Summon Luna Charles to see me."

After washing away the smell of mud, Oswald combed his long bangs back with his fingers and wrapped a large towel around his waist, finally giving him a somewhat aloof and noble appearance. He closed his eyes and sank into the bathtub to relieve his fatigue.

Less than ten minutes later, someone knocked on the bathroom door.

"Brother, it's me."

"Come in."

Luna timidly slipped inside, closed the door, and saw Oswald lying in the bathtub with his eyes closed, saying quietly, "It's been a long time since I've seen you so angry."

"Yes……"

Not interested in admiring her brother's strong, muscular physique, Luna walked over, sat down on the edge of the bathtub with her back to him, and asked in a slightly sullen voice, "Brother, do you really trust that secretary general that much?"

"You were comrades-in-arms in your past life," Oswald chuckled inwardly, feeling a bit of a headache over his warlike and belligerent sister, so he lectured her.

"It is said that you can know a person's face but not their heart. Between people, what is called trust is actually nothing more than a pretense of openness."

"Yes……"

"Politics is more dangerous than you think. For example, if I had come with a large army today, I could have treated Elena as a traitor, or I could have labeled your actions as rebellion."

"Luna wouldn't dare!"

The moment the words "light and airy" were uttered, Luna felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. She immediately turned around and knelt down. When she raised her head, she met Oswald's suddenly opened eyes, which were filled with anger.

"You've already dared to do it!"

With a roar, Luna slammed her head heavily onto the floor, her whole body trembling like a leaf.

Oswald was genuinely angry and wanted to continue his outburst, but when the image of that parent flashed through his mind, he realized with a start that he was now a parent himself and could never become that person.

So he softened his tone and asked calmly, "Do you know why I let you in?"

"I don't know..."

Oswald got up from the bathtub, walked to the bamboo chair against the wall, sat down, picked up his cigarette case without expression, lit a cigarette, and then slowly said, "There are some things that, as my brother, I can only say here; and many more things, once we leave this room, we can't say a word about them."

"If we were just ordinary siblings, and you wanted to throw a tantrum, even if you tore down my house, I wouldn't say a word."

"But we both share the surname Charles. If you dare to storm the city gates today, tomorrow someone will say you're planning a rebellion; if you kill just one person today, tomorrow the Northern Territory will be littered with corpses and rivers of blood!"

"If you suspect others of disloyalty, then who will prove your loyalty?"

Luna's eyes filled with tears, and her voice was hoarse as she said, "Little sister was wrong, little sister, little sister just wanted to help brother."

"So there are some things I can only tell you here. Once you leave this room, you have to insist that it was your own ignorance that led to this, and not talk about trust or loyalty, understand?"

Luna nodded quickly. "Understood, little sister will definitely be more sensible this time."

"Go." Oswald exhaled a deep puff of smoke.

Luna felt as if she had been granted a pardon and quickly got up to take her leave.

"Brother, you should get some rest too." With that, he pushed open the door and left, leaving Oswald alone, his eyes frozen in the smoke.