After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

"You mean, because of those rumors—because of those facts, the retired veterans in the Central District just stood up to rebel?" The Night Witch finally couldn't help but ask in disbelief, "How is that possible...? Don't they have wives and children to support? Even if we don't consider whether they can survive, what about their wives and children?"

In the Night Witch's mind, even if it's a rebellion, at least those retired veterans should consider their families and whether their families can survive after they die.

Faced with the Night Witch's bewilderment, the nobles, especially the lower-ranking nobles, merely displayed extremely strange expressions.

They knew that the Night Witch was the Grand Mage in the Mage Tower, and that she had no regard for the people's plight. That's why they missed the time when Yang Hao was still alive—at least the regent who took office after the late emperor's death was doing something worthwhile.

Therefore, after a moment of silence, someone stepped forward and told the witch an extremely cruel truth.

In the central region of the Roman Empire, not only were the normally allocated grain rations gone, but even the irregularly allocated grain rations were being siphoned off by some greedy officials.

They not only took away the clean grain, but also the rotten grain mixed with mud and sour flour.

Not only that, they even went so far as to secretly put high prices on the rotten grain, attempting to make a fortune from this food that was originally intended to be given to refugees for free.

As a result, the refugees in the Central District dared not go north after hearing about the defeat in the North, and the Southern Military District cited the fact that the Central District was too far away. They were finally forced into a corner.

Driven to desperation, they naturally chose to vent their anger on all the current officials, including the current emperor.

"We don't want bread! We want a regent!" This was actually their demand after recalling the hardships they had endured in the past, while the slogan "Kill the Empress" stemmed from the deep-seated resentment among the people.

The public simply doesn't understand that the Queen is merely a pawn pushed out by the royal family—even if they did, they would only wishfully believe that everything would be alright once the Queen dies and the Regent returns.

“So… this is the people under our command.” The rancher in the west shrugged. “Only well-fed people have room for thought, and clearly, the people in the central district are not well-fed at all—not only that, they are also stupid.”

"Whose fault do you think this is?"

"Discussing right and wrong is pointless. If we have to say, everyone involved in the 'Silent Exile Incident' is a fucking culprit. We shouldn't be concerned with that now. We could talk about it for three days and three nights and still not reach a conclusion."

The rancher ended the topic with this one sentence. Admittedly, they didn't have time to reflect on their past mistakes; what was most important now was to continue accumulating their strength before the veteran insurgents were wiped out.

Following this uprising, the Roman Empire will certainly be on high alert for any internal developments.

Almost everyone was cursing the veterans of the uprising. The Night Witch sighed and stood aside, gripping her staff.

The witch breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the nobles had no intention of killing the young empress. However, she also knew that the nobles' goal was control, and control didn't mean they wouldn't kill others.

It remains to be seen whether Chief Justice Natalia will suffer devastating consequences as a result.

...........

On the other side, in the central district, near the villages and towns of the uprising veterans.

This uprising was likely the largest in the history of the Roman Empire, and it was destined to be recorded in history books as the "first" such event.

About 500 veterans gathered together, directing nearly 500 desperate refugees to build a defensive line.

These veterans who had participated in the barbarian wars knew the strength of the Nationalist army, knew the power of the Night Witch, and understood that as long as they held out the first wave of attacks, they could help people in other places who were also suffering from hunger to stand up.

Therefore, they built their fortifications to be exceptionally strong. They constructed the fortress underground, covered their left eye with a black cloth to adapt to the darkness beforehand, and even prepared numerous traps in the tunnels. In addition to digging out a large number of ventilation shafts, they also left an escape route.

Although it may seem like just a simple underground passage, the veterans were confident that they could hold out for two days against an enemy force several times their size.

As long as there is enough food—but the problem is, where is the food here?

The veterans huddled together, talking about the head of the official who had come to sell grain at exorbitant prices, now impaled on a javelin and swaying in the wind. Having killed the official, these veterans were utterly desperate.

They must hold on.

"So... the food that dog-eating guy brought can only last us one day at most. Unless we go and plunder other places or officials' granaries now, but it's too late now."

"What I'm more worried about is the cold and dampness... It's winter now! There are no ventilation openings in the tunnels, so we can't light a fire. It's just too cold."

"Then we'll..."

The veterans discussed amongst themselves, chattering and unsure of what to do. They were just veterans, skilled in combat, but not sergeants, so they didn't understand strategy or tactics.

They could only plan based on experience, and while they were in the midst of their heated discussion, the veteran who was directing the refugees to repair the camp outside said that something seemed to have happened among the people, and they were making a fuss and it would be impossible to calm them down anytime soon.

What exactly happened here?

The veterans looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, everyone grabbed their weapons and went to the scene. When they arrived, they found that the people were hammering something in a pit that had only been dug recently.

Those were sturdy pipes. If there were no surprises, they should be part of the heating pipeline that His Majesty the Regent built a few years ago—planned to radiate from the capital to the surrounding areas step by step. In other words, the pipes here have been buried underground for a year or two.

So why are you tinkering with these pipes?

The veterans were puzzled. After asking a emaciated farmer, they learned that the farmers planned to knock down the pipes and carry them with them, like crosses, as a symbol of the Regent's protection and a source of psychological comfort.

"My dear soldier! His Majesty the Regent has never publicized where he came from or what he likes. So, we've had no choice but to dismantle the pipelines he built into pieces, and then each of us carries a few pieces with us, hoping for his protection..."

It turns out that these farmers were worried about the war that was to come, so they sought some comfort from His Majesty the Regent.

As it turned out, His Majesty the Regent was not one to boast about his achievements or to erect statues everywhere to establish something as sacred—he left almost nothing for people to remember, so they had no choice but to deal with the heating pipes that had been discovered by chance.

The veterans looked at each other, and in the end, most of them chose to understand the farmers' unease.

To be honest, they did feel uneasy when they went to the battlefield. But encouraged by the late emperor, most of them would temporarily forget their fear on the battlefield, shout for battle, and charge forward—that was all.

Now that neither the late emperor nor the regent is leading them, and they are in a state of confusion and uncertainty with almost no one to guide them, they feel uneasy about impulsively launching a rebellion.

It seems that these veterans are not much different from these farmers. They also need some psychological comfort and some protection from the higher-ups.

“…Let’s get one too,” someone suggested. “His Majesty the Regent will protect us.”

"Yes, let's go and knock one down too."

The others echoed each other, stepped forward, and joined the refugees in using their tools and weapons to strike the iron blocks on the pipe.

The rusty pipes were smashed into pieces. Everyone eagerly stuffed the sharp fragments into their pockets or backpacks. Inside this pipe that had never been opened before, spiders and insects that made it their home fled in panic.

The refugees quickly caught the insects with great joy. They marveled at the gift from the great Regent and eagerly devoured the insects.

The famine in the Roman Empire affected many people in the empire. For those peasants, it was the first time they had ever known what human flesh tasted like.

For the garrison in the capital, these peasant uprisings undoubtedly brought them a lot of trouble.

Knight Robert, the commander of the Royal Capital Knights, began to organize his troops to wipe out the rebels as ordered, while the Night Witch was also assigned a new task after returning to the palace.

She must assist Knight Robert in dealing with the rebels, investigate the origins of the rebellion, and, most importantly, safeguard the young queen.

The prince said that the Queen could not die now. She had to hold on until the day of the marriage. She absolutely could not die, at least not before giving birth.

The Night Witch lowered her head and accepted, relieved by this unexpected convenience.

Meanwhile, the young empress, who was the target of everyone's criticism, was taking a leisurely stroll in the courtyard with the former chief judge, whom she regarded as her mother.

They had already received word from the elves that it wasn't Yang Hao's doing at all. They no longer cared about the country, and naturally, they wouldn't care what might happen to its people.

The little queen whimpered, anticipating the day her other father would rescue her.

The court president was considering that if the situation continued to worsen, she would have to ask the elves to take the little queen away in advance to prevent any mishap to her.

...........

Former court president Natalia had long considered herself the little queen's mother. Even though there was a difference in their ages, perhaps less than fifteen years, she had come to love the little queen as if she were her own child during their time together.

She felt heartbroken for everything the little empress had suffered, and she deeply sympathized with the little empress's pain of having her tongue pulled out. She loathed everyone in the palace except the little empress, loathed the saintess who bury her head in the sand like an ostrich, and loathed the night witch who had the ability to do something but did nothing.

But now, more important than disgust is doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the little queen—the little queen may not be old enough to realize the seriousness of the problem, but Natalia is well aware that the situation is particularly dangerous for the little queen right now.

On one hand, His Majesty Yang Hao of Gaparia couldn't intervene to rescue them yet. The capital of the Roman Empire was a heavily guarded place; the elves could infiltrate using magic, but that didn't mean they could rescue him and the little empress together.

Prince Garsen had long ago had a cunning spell cast on them by mages. They were unable to leave the palace; if they did, the entire Roman Empire's army would know their exact location.

When the time comes, since the elves' mages will be unable to infiltrate and cast teleportation spells, the elves will have no choice but to take them away by land.

At that time, on land, the elves' movement speed will be absolutely no match for the Roman Empire's army, which is supported by a network of portals everywhere. As [locators], they will constantly expose their location, bringing misfortune upon the elves.

At that time, the little empress might be able to save her life, but I would definitely die. It doesn't matter if I die, but how the little empress will be treated afterward is a good question.

So, after much deliberation, Natalia refrained from pleading with her emperor to come and rescue them sooner. She knew perfectly well that it wasn't time to rush them away at all costs, but now it seemed... perhaps she needed to make more preparations.

As the former chief judge of the Roman Empire, Natalia has always had opportunities to come into contact with magical arts.

Besides the four common types of magic, the spells she encountered most often were those commonly used by assassins to "prove their resolve by dying."

These spells are mostly meaningless, but now that both sides have been placed under the location spell, Natalia might be able to use her own life to transfer the spell on the little queen to herself, allowing her to bear the cost of the location spell for two people, and then stay in the palace so that the little queen can leave this painful place sooner.

Natalia didn't care how she would be treated. But if she could, she wanted to see the Regent, her Emperor Yang Hao, whom she had personally exiled, one last time.

Ah, Your Majesty, my Your Majesty... I wonder if you still remember my existence?

At night, the presiding judge gazed at the night view outside the iron-barred window from his small bedroom.

The Roman Empire is teetering on the brink of collapse, and His Majesty's chance to save the little empress is just around the corner—but who knows if His Majesty still remembers her?

Will he harbor resentment towards his exile? Will he deliberately ignore himself? Will he only save the little queen?

Natalia didn't care. Because she was also someone who had made mistakes. If she had fought back in court, ignoring his despair, perhaps this empire wouldn't be in this state now...

...

"Ugh."

The former presiding judge sighed softly.

What nonsense is she thinking?

As a legal professional, she knew better than anyone—there are no "what ifs" in this world. Those who harbor illusions and think they can make amends will likely end up with nothing, only unable to escape the cycle of "what if..."

"Let's focus on taking care of Anna first..."

The former court president was drowsy, tossing and turning in bed, trying to force herself to sleep. But then, she wondered if it was just her imagination.

In the instant before she closed her eyes, she seemed to see a familiar shadow lurking through the window...

what is that?

Natalia paused, then squinted and looked closer, realizing it was the shadow of the Night Witch, leaning on her staff.

What is she going out for at a time like this?

The former presiding judge shrugged. Although he really wanted to figure out what was going on, he decided that with his body imprisoned, he shouldn't even think about doing anything dangerous.

Early in the morning of August 9th.

When Natalia finished washing up and went to the little queen's bedroom to help the drowsy little Anna get ready.

The Night Witch is also in this room for some reason.

Natalia glared at her former best friend, while the Night Witch simply shook her head and said that she had received orders to "monitor" them for the time being.

"Coming to monitor us? Hmph... You'd be better off just saying it's to kill us at any time."

"..."

“My little queen, ignore her. Come, open your mouth and gently swallow these cool liquids...come on.”