The short discussion ended when the bright moon was fully up in the sky, the three of us went our own ways with most of them heading back to their room to sleep but I stayed out in the living room, staring at the window towards the outside with a wry smile.

 

It felt weird to me, or maybe… new? I never experienced this many emotions before, the feeling of being a capitalist, the joys of battle, and the greed to expand. It felt way too new to me, almost like I had turned into a different person myself.

 

“My lady…?” Tanya’s voice responded from behind, surprising me as well as I turned towards her direction with a smile, “Is there something troubling you, my lady?”

 

“Troubling, huh…” I smiled wryly, “What do you think about me, Tanya? Have I changed a lot…? I feel like I have turned more into a tyrant than a leader from my last orders… it’s like greed has taken over me ever since I arrived here…”

 

“Have you changed a lot? Indeed… You did change a lot, my lady but that isn’t a bad thing since that change made you even stronger.  In the past, you were someone who was afraid to face the eyes of the public but now, it’s like you see the public as people who you need to protect,” she answered before sitting down beside me as she patted my hair, “Your so-called tyrant personality is simply your desire to give the people a better lifestyle.”

 

“You may not know yet my lady since you weren’t a resident here but the people here years ago lived a cruel life. Even though it was a glorious town, the nobles handling the town were greedy. They desired greed not to improve the lives of the people but to improve their own lives, slums were hidden away by buildings to hide us away,” she added which surprised me.

 

“That’s why your new tyrant and greedy nature is, in my opinion, justified. You are actually not greedy, my lady but rather you are generous. You think about the people more than yourself, rushing towards this place and spending all your money on feeding the people. Not a single person has not heard of your deeds, they love you because of your actions, that’s why… be more confident, my lady.”

 

I felt a flood of emotions rise from my heart; her words struck where it wanted to strike. Tears rolled down from my cheeks as I looked into her eyes, “Is it fine for me to stay this way?” before she nodded.

 

“You are fine the way you are, my lady… You will always be the person who we respect, the one whom we swear our loyalty on and our savior,” she replied.

 

Unconsciously, my head was laid on her lap as she continued patting me deep into the night as drowsy soon struck me with tears endlessly rolling my cheeks, I spoke one last time to Tanya, smiling at her, “Thank you… Tanya.”

 

The morning light soon came blasting throughout the darkness as I slowly opened my eyes before the sleeping face of Tanya came to sight. She had a cute and adorable face, those soft cheeks of hers that wanted to be pinched. While I was staring at her face, her eyes slowly opened themselves as I looked at her with a bright smile, “Morning, Tanya.”

 

“My lady…?!” she looked at me surprised before a sudden groan left her mouth as her face wrinkled a bit as if she was in pain. I felt shocked and immediately got up before apologizing, “I am sorry… I shouldn’t have slept on your lap!”

 

“No, it’s fine… it was cute seeing my lady’s sleeping face as well, though it is also partially my fault for not bringing my lady to her room…” she showed a bitter smile before standing up and stretching several times as the sound of her bones cracking echoed.

 

It seems like I should take into consideration more about them before doing stuff like asking for lap pillows… who knows, maybe I will end up breaking their backs? That would definitely not be a favorable result.

 

“What is our schedule for today, by the way?” I asked as the two of us slowly walked upstairs before Tanya looked up as if she was thinking.

 

“If I remember correctly, the elderly lady we met in the market should visit us around today to guide us to the village, and by then, we will start negotiations with the village chief and possibly a takeover if you really want,” she answered.

 

“Well, the takeover will happen at the same time as the other villages. I want to sweep all of them in one scoop to make it more efficient since I already know not a single noble other than Her Majesty can beat that ‘personal guard’ of mine,” I smiled confidently.

 

If not a single person managed to deflect Kaori’s barrage onto the kingdom then that means no one can practically contend with the Empress Vampire form of mine which I estimate is around half of Kaori’s total strength… it is even more powerful than my original body in raw strength and magic, but it still has less magical power than before.

 

The biggest factor over why I am convinced that no one other than Kaori can defeat me in my Empress Vampire form is because of one skill, [Anti Magic] which the name implies. It practically nullifies all spells that are lower than a specified level of magic which means most magic in the kingdom is practically unable to touch me, added with the raw strength of the form makes it invincible.

 

I do know Aurora and a few others can contend with me in that form, though me in the past would probably die against me in my Empress Vampire form simply because the me in the past was an idiot and a burden.

 

“Please prepare my clothes for only a day, since if the negotiations don’t fare well then we will immediately return and wait for the day that all the nobles will send back the formal request of challenge. I can already tell most if not all of them will accept since it’s only a village for them, it saves them resources,” I said before walking into my room.

 

“As you wish, my lady,” she said before she walked towards my wardrobe as she started preparing my clothes for a day length meanwhile I walked towards the closet where I grabbed a towel and locked the door as I undressed myself a bit before entering the bath where I took a bath… there wasn’t any special, so we’ll skip that part.

 

After the bath, I soon dressed myself in a simple blue fluffy dress which was the norm in this place which feels worse compared to the modern dresses I invented on the other kingdom, but I could only endure it as I looked at myself in the mirror, beautiful as ever.

 

“My lady, you sure look beautiful,” Tanya complimented as I twirled around a bit with a satisfied nod.

 

“Thank you for the compliment, Tanya!” I hugged her before releasing her immediately after as I looked towards the door with an enthusiastic gaze, “Let’s meet the elderly lady, shall we? She should have arrived while I was in the bath, right?”

 

“Yes, my lady,” she replied before the two of us walked downstairs where Raeliana, Faron, and Lia were already waiting. The three were determined to follow me since they apparently want to ensure my safety as well even though I rejected many times but with brute stubbornness, they managed to force me to accept basically.

 

The elderly lady was also there with her granddaughter who was eating a piece of cake which looked adorable. The two wore better clothes than before and were visibly in a better condition which made me smile, “Did I make all of you wait long?”

 

“Not at all, milady,” Raeliana replied with a short bow.

 

“Then is there anything that all of you missed, be sure to do one last check before we leave. You don’t have to bring much, at most, I expect us to return back in a day,” I said before all of them shook their heads, showing that they didn’t leave anything necessary behind.

 

After ensuring that everything was ready, I soon turned towards the elderly lady and asked, “What is the name of the village again, is it far from here?”

 

“The village’s name is Kalfina and it isn’t that far from here, around two hours under a carriage. I can draw a map if you wish, Lady Ayumi,” she replied before I shook my head.

 

Kalfina was a village that was fairly near here, it is also one of the twenty-six villages I plan on conquering which makes it even better for me. The driver of the carriage should already know the directions to most villages near here which makes it easier.

 

“Let’s head to the village immediately then, we don’t want to waste time,” I said before all of them nodded as we walked outside where we were immediately greeted by two beautiful white carriages with golden accents waiting outside of the gate.

 

The drivers were already waiting as well as Tanya told them all the details about the trip before the drivers nodded as we immediately jumped on the carriage and started running outside of the village. The inside of the carriage was beautiful, the seats were all comfortable red leather, and it didn’t feel hot at all inside which made me happy as we strolled towards the exit of the town.