"Citizens of Florence. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."

Selena lowered her head in front of the crowd and started speaking in a conservative manner.

The people remain unsettled and noisy.

After all, Selena was considered the general of the enemy army in their eyes and a detestable person who was their sworn enemy not too long ago.

"What did she come here for? Are the soldiers not going to apprehend her?"

"Wasn’t the ceasefire announced a week ago? Not only that, she came here alone without her soldiers."

The reason they were not directing their obvious hostile intent to her was because their leaders had told them about the establishment of a ceasefire with Wilhelmina.

"Many of you here have lost family and friends in this war. I think it’s only natural for you to hate us."

However the leaders of top echelon of Florence were no more.

After the peace negotiations were postponed due to the explosion incident, all of the upper echelon came down with the fire pox.

Vandolea was thrown into chaos at the suddenness of the events and had no luxury to worry about war.

But I believe there was something that should happen which was more important than your hate.

Judging it to be the right time, Selena came to Florence mostly on her own.

A single man accompanied her visit to the capital to show she had no hostile intent.

"That day…… during the negotiations for peace…… I feel that it is my duty to report what happened to everybody."

The grumblings of the masses became softer.

Some people were at least a little bit interested to what Selena had to say.

Rumors about the peace negotiations circulated but not many details were known to the public. Florence’s upper echelon intended to keep it hidden until the truth was uncovered, however they all collapsed from the disease and left the matter unresolved.

"In the middle of the meeting, when the representative and I were coming to an agreement, there was a large explosion that shook the earth."

A few in the crowd gasped.

The leaders and I happened to be standing from our seats and were able to avoid danger, but if we were sitting down…… all of us would be killed. I want to say we were lucky…… however one of my precious subordinates could not be saved."

"Hey, is this for real?"

"My buddy actually works as security and I do remember him saying there was an explosion which resulted in one person from Florence dying.

When Selena wiped her tears, she fixed her sharp gaze forward.

The impact of her eyes overpowered the people. After a moment of silence, she started to talk again.

"There is an enemy. It is neither you or me. It is a powerful entity trying to crush the both of us!"

Her speech which started off quiet and subdued gradually became tinged with passion.

"Is it a coincidence that the leaders of Vandolea fell ill!? Is it also a coincidence that my food was poisoned at the same time!?"

Xanthippus shrugged his shoulders.

"It must be assassination.."

"Even Orlais was affected…… who could the enemy be?"

The clamoring stopped when Selena raised her hand.

Everyone wanted to hear the continuation of the speech.

"Aah, now that I think about it I also walked right into the trap. This war…… we first suffered a preemptive attack and only then did we invade as retaliation.

The tone suddenly shifted.

"A-are you kidding me!?"

"You’re the one who attacked first!"

Booing was to be expected, and Selena quickly followed up by speaking over them.

"It was all part of the enemy’s plan. And I fell for it completely, so I apologize to you now."

Selena closed her eyes and bowed her head.

Fewer and fewer people complain and the booing also dies down.

She finally raised her head after remaining bowed for what felt like a long time.

Her eyes burned with anger and fighting spirit.

"All of what happened was a part of this enemy’s calculations. People who want to bury us certainly exist. Your representative was also bitten by their poisonous fangs!"

Selena’s hands rose above her head.

Her voice got louder, which in turn pulled up the tone of the populace too.

"T-this is kinda amazing."

"Yeah, I can’t explain what’s going on, but I want to believe her."

"She’s quite the looker too."

None of the soldiers and citizens could take their eyes off of Selena.

"There is no longer a reason for us to be against each other. The people of Orlais do not move based on those mad teachings anymore."

Shouts of “that’s right” and “no, they’re still suspicious” chimed in as Selena definitively spoke about the current state of affairs.

It didn’t deter her from going on.

"This is no time for us to be hating each other. That is exactly what the enemy wants, and you can even hear their laughter!"

"So who is this enemy?"

"Yeah, be clear about it!"

Selena nodded in response to the prompts hurled at her.

"The enemy is―― the Holfort Dukedom."

Everyone went deathly silent.

"Who would be happy if we continue to fight among ourselves? Which place would be rejoicing at their prosperity while watching Orlais fight with Florence? Where has the poverty not spread to? Where is there no calamity covering the lands?"

"Holfort……"

"It’s true that they would be the only ones who wins if we fight."

"I heard that everyone in that country is rich."

Selena surveyed the people and waited ten minutes before speaking.

"We will not let our suffering and anger go unanswered. We will definitely return the favor. That will be…… all of it will be for the condolences of the fallen."

Having said that, she got off the stage.

"I’m going back for now. I’ll let you deal with the city’s order."

"R-right!"

The soldier automatically saluted when he was addressed by Selena.

"They didn’t cheer “long live the queen”."

Xanthippus casually made a joke.

"Florence’s citizens are more clever than Orlais’s citizens. This is sufficient. All I need to do is to elevate their lifestyle and bring the existence of the enemy to the front."

Selena massaged her face two or three times to restore her expression.

Not everyone gave her a standing ovation.

Still, the people of Florence did not react negatively to being grouped together as “we”.

It was enough for a passing score.

"It will get busy from now on. I need to fabricate believable evidence…… and then I need to call on the merchant of Florence for more gold. I will have to ensure the people of Orlais are well off for the time being."

"We’re already borrowing a lot. Anymore than that and.."

Selena interrupted Xanthippus, cutting his rebuttal short.

"I made contact with a new company. The Flitch company…… I will get another 300 000 gold."

"300 000? ……wouldn’t that mean the annual interest rate will be quite high?"

Selena replied with a xhmph".

"It doesn’t matter what annual rate I agree to. I don’t intend to pay it. ……do you know how to act big while riddled with debt?"

"No…… I have no clue."

"You just have to borrow more than the lender’s limit."

Selena glanced out the window of the carriage emotionlessly.

The rest of her face was without expression…… however a smile definitely formed on her lips.