In the Name of Empress-Chapter 367 - 253: Title?

The war has ended.

There always has to be a reason for war, and with Marco’s death, the reason for continuing the war no longer exists.

Several legions have sent representatives to verify the identity and confirm Marco’s death.

After receiving the affirmative answer, the four legions organized by Marco quickly chose to surrender.

Yet the war still caused indelible pain.

Starting from Alina’s landing, this campaign took over seventy thousand lives and left tens of thousands with incurable injuries from the war.

Compared to this total casualty of tens of thousands, the pain of the Jin Yuan Kingdom is even more severe.

The entire nation, under Marco’s cruel rule, was shrouded in an atmosphere of terror, with everyone fearing for their safety, let alone focusing on construction and production.

To heal this terrible damage, Alina still has a lot of work to do.

The first thing she did was announce a pardon for everyone except Marco and a very few die-hard followers.

"All of this was Marco’s sins,"

This remark is both a summary of the chaos of the Jin Yuan over the past year and a disguised amnesty decree.

Since Marco has died carrying all the sins, naturally, the others bear no responsibility.

At least everyone was willing to think this way.

Although Alina didn’t explicitly say she was pardoning everyone, it was implicitly accepted by all.

However, many ignored one point.

Assigning all sins to Marco may sound forceful, but it’s actually devoid of binding power.

How much evil can Marco accomplish on his own?

Did he have accomplices?

Surely he did, and many of them.

Once the political situation stabilizes, a group of scapegoats must be selected to relieve the people’s pent-up anger.

The guillotine will be stored away after completing this final historical mission.

This method of execution by a single decisive blow is somewhat barbaric, and Alina doesn’t plan to use it for executing criminals in the future.

Hanging is more humane, at least it leaves the whole body intact.

According to the teachings of the Divine Court of Fengrao, the head is the most mysterious organ, the soul resides within the head, and those beheaded cannot cross the Nether River, destined to become wandering spirits.

Those often beheaded know well that being decapitated is not a pleasant memory.

In any case, while granting amnesty to all, Alina also retained the right to pursue charges.

The reckoning must continue, only this time it’s not Marco reckoning with his foes, but everyone reckoning with him.

After ending the war, Alina called upon all ranks to return to Xidai.

She intends to convene a tri-level meeting to discuss the future of the nation together.

No one objected.

Although theoretically Alina had no eligibility to take over national power, no one stood up to remind her.

After all, she killed Marco.

If Marco was a devil, wouldn’t the one who could kill the devil be even more formidable?

Public opinion shifted from questioning Alina’s status to how to make Saintess Fuchou Alina’s leadership of the nation legitimate.

Amidst everyone scratching their heads, the Duke of Champagne proposed a suggestion that rendered all silent.

Call for Miss Alina to ascend the throne as Empress.

The Duke of Champagne is one of the five remaining Dukes of the Jin Yuan Kingdom, with a family legacy spanning a millennium, and his title predates the Old Empire.

He indeed has the authority to suggest this.

However, more people gently reminded him, "Sir, the times have changed."

Now Jin Yuan is a Republic.

An Emperor in a Republic, are we joking?

Just as the atmosphere grew particularly awkward, Alina herself stood forth and expressed her stance.

"Since it is a Republic, let’s not fiddle with the theatrics of ascension. I rose in arms simply to restore order to the nation, to eliminate traitors. If there was a personal motive, it was also to avenge my father."

"Having completed these revenges, both publicly and privately, I should also retire."

Alina humbly expressed that she is young and inexperienced, lacking the ability and qualification to govern a nation, and requested that someone more respected take on this heavy responsibility.

Her words were well-spoken, but the people were not fools.

If she truly wished to retire, she wouldn’t have disbanded others’ armies while retaining her own group.

If she truly wished to retire, she should have returned to the southern territories instead of marching resolutely north towards West City.

Some things can be spoken by leaders, but it’s foolish to believe them.

With Alina’s continuous northward advance, the officials in West City felt like ants on a hot pan, wracking their brains daily to find legal loopholes for Alina’s smooth accession.

Jin Yuan, after all, is a great nation, still with its dignity.

Alina’s rise to power is acceptable, but the nation must be given a dignified stance.

Before Mr. Carlo’s incident, Alina’s official position was a diplomatic envoy.

What level is an envoy? No level.

Diplomatic envoy is originally a part-time job, based on the original official position.

Alina’s original position was a senior assistant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with an administrative level of B3.

At this level, she could easily be a mayor, and being a governor would be due to nepotism, let alone directly becoming the country’s leader.

There is no precedent for this, neither in law nor in practice.

If Alina were to become president, the Jin Yuan Kingdom would certainly become a laughing stock worldwide.

But Alina’s army is steadily marching north, and no one can stop her from taking over state power.

The officials in West City not only have to face Alina but also another girl who gives them a headache.

Sif.

Although the officials rack their brains over Alina’s legal status, one thing is clear: Alina is the actual ruler of the country.

So what does Sif count as now?

Fortunately, she appears as Count Tyrone, saving face for the officials of West City and the Jin Yuan Kingdom.

If the Queen of Sussex were to occupy Xidai, the Jin Yuan Republic would never be able to hold its head up again.

To avoid a complete diplomatic rupture, Sif generously stationed outside the city and merely sent troops to take over the city’s defenses.

Before considering Alina’s feelings, these officials had to consider Sif’s feelings even more.

After much deliberation, the officials couldn’t find a way to compromise.

After all, Sif entered the Jin Yuan Kingdom under the pretext of declaring war on Alina.

With Alina about to become the national leader, does Count Sif’s declaration of war still stand?

If it does, should the war continue?

The mere thought nearly made the brains of the West City officials explode.

As per the agreement, to ensure the safety of citizens’ lives and property, West City announced it would cease resistance and temporarily belong to Count Tyrone, under Sif’s orders.

Until Sif and Alina decide the winner, they are even considered Sif’s subjects.

If Sif demands the war to continue, should they join Sif’s side and oppose Alina?

This problem thoroughly fried everyone’s brains.

Though most people don’t think Sif would be that foolish, what if she is?

No one can guess what a woman thinks.

If that woman is powerful and young, it’s impossible to guess.

Just as the officials were watching Alina gradually approach West City, seriously contemplating resigning to avoid disaster, their savior finally arrived.

As the advance personnel before Alina’s entry into the city, Governor Roland arrived.

Many people disapprove of Roland’s character and lifestyle, but they know Roland has the ability to influence Alina’s decision, and he can also make decisions on behalf of Count Sif.

Only Roland can achieve balance between these two women.

After careful deliberation by the remaining officials of West City, Mayor Hila was chosen to host a banquet for Roland.

This choice was quite thoughtful.

If the remaining A1-level (national level) officials were to host Roland, not only would the levels be uneven, but there would be no room for salvaging negotiations if they broke down.

If someone of too low a level were to host Roland, it would be disrespectful to him.

After some thought, the A2-level Mayor of West City was deemed the most suitable.

As a de facto powerful mayor of the capital, he is an A2-level high official, with a level equal to Roland.

Though his level is high, he is nominally just a mayor.

Having the mayor of an occupied city host the occupying force’s leader is very appropriate.

If negotiations fail, the Speaker could still invite him.

When the invitation was delivered to Roland’s residence, he was reviewing the war with Sif.

They were placing pieces on a sandbox, replaying and simulating the battle.

Not reviewing was fine, but once they did, they realized how perilous the war was, and that winning it indeed involved some luck.

This was also normal.

They only had the resources of three and a half provinces and had just taken control not long ago.

To defeat the Jin Yuan Kingdom with the resources of three and a half provinces, there must have been problems within Jin Yuan.

If they had launched the attack a few months earlier, Marco wouldn’t have offended everyone, and so many people wouldn’t have defected at the last minute.

If they had attacked a few months later, Marco would have eliminated dissent and completely consolidated power. Jin Yuan’s comprehensive strength would have significantly increased, likely leaving them no chance.

Just as the two were sweating more and more as they continued to review, Mayor Hila’s butler arrived with the invitation.

After accepting the invitation, Roland smiled and asked Sif, "Guess what they’re inviting us for?"

"Is there even a need to guess? They surely want us to leave quickly," Sif joked with a smile.

"No, I think they are troubled over Alina’s title."

"What do you think we should do? I’ve told Alina to take the throne, but she refuses."

Roland’s lips curled slightly as he softly said, "She might ascend the throne, but not today. I do have an idea, let Alina inherit her father’s title as the Liberator."

"Huh?"

Sif was completely taken aback; can such an honorary title really be inherited?