Day by day, time passed, and soon, it was Henrietta’s wedding day.

"Your Royal Highness..."

Appointed as the Shrine Maiden by Henrietta, Louise looked at the princess clad in a white wedding dress, momentarily unsure of what to say.

"Louise, don’t show such an expression."

Looking at Louise, Henrietta also smiled.

"Today is my wedding day, as my friend, shouldn’t you be happy?"

"Yes, Your Royal Highness, I......"

Louise looked at Henrietta, just about to say something more, but at that moment, the tightly closed door suddenly opened, and then the Minister of Military Affairs ran in, breathing heavily.

"What’s wrong, Lord Mazzarieni?"

Seeing the normally composed minister in such a state, Henrietta immediately stood up, showing an anxious expression.

"Albion has declared war on us!"

"What? When did this happen?!"

Hearing this, Henrietta and Louise were both shocked, while the Red Ponytail yawned out of boredom.

"Just a moment ago...... According to the intelligence we received, our fleet was there to welcome state guests, but as both sides fired salutes as a sign of respect, one of Albion’s warships suddenly exploded. They accused us of being responsible, and just now, Albion sent a declaration of war, claiming that we ignored the Non-Aggression Pact and unjustly attacked their goodwill fleet, thus they are declaring war on us in self-defense..."

"How could this happen......!"

Hearing this, Henrietta slumped back into her chair, and Louise was also stunned, at a loss for words.

For a moment, the air was filled with deathly silence, until the Red Ponytail spoke.

"See, I told you, if they want to fight, any reason will do."

"Miss SABER......"

Hearing this, both Henrietta and the Minister of Military Affairs couldn’t help but look at the still calm Red Ponytail, who even had the leisure to snack. Indeed, she had warned them of this possibility before, but they had set her warning aside after Albion’s new government proposed the Non-Aggression Pact soon after.

But now it seems......

"But we signed a treaty! How can they do this?!"

Louise clenched her fists in anger, while the Red Ponytail yawned again.

"You must recognize your position, Louise."

"Huh?"

"Your Tolisstin? To put it bluntly, it’s just a tiny speck of land...... Whether you live or die, exist or perish, it matters not to others. Albion didn’t even bother coming up with a phony excuse like claiming you were producing weapons of mass destruction; they simply blew up one of their own ships. Shouldn’t you be grateful for that? The treaty? To them, it’s likely long used as toilet paper."

"SABER......! You......!"

"I already said, weak nations have no diplomacy."

Red Ponytail stood up, and at that moment, the aura she exuded compelled the three of them to involuntarily swallow.

"Face reality, you are very weak, extremely weak. No matter how noble the Tolisstin Royal Family or how long the nobility’s history is, when the army is at the gates, if you can’t win, you can’t win. Thousands of years of history and glory won’t protect you from blades, and nobility’s honor and pride won’t bring victory. Arguing about fairness is meaningless, because in international relations, being weak is a sin in itself."

At that point, Red Ponytail grinned slightly.

"Rabbits are eaten by wolves because they are weak, it is the absolute norm. Whether the rabbit is good or bad makes no difference, right?"

"......But...... this... I..."

Louise was at a loss for words, while Henrietta clenched her teeth and fists tightly, and the Minister of Military Affairs heaved a long sigh, closing his eyes.

"Lord Mazzarieni, we must go to the conference room immediately!"

Henrietta turned, and quickly exited the room, with the Minister of Military Affairs following behind, leaving only Louise and the Red Ponytail standing there.

"SABER...... aren’t your words a bit too harsh?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Bitter medicine is good for the illness. I know you don’t like to hear this, but I must say it. Do you remember? When you were Louise the Zero, anyone could ridicule you, and what could you do about it? Apart from clenching your fists in anger, you could do nothing, just like Tolisstin now."

Red Ponytail sat back down, staring at Louise.

"Weak Louise, weak Tolisstin, being inept is indeed a sin."

"But I’m different now!"

Hearing this, Louise raised her head, looking at the Red Ponytail with determination in her eyes.

"I have void magic, right? As long as I use that magic, I can stop Albion’s army!"

"That’s right."

Red Ponytail snapped her fingers.

"In fact, not only you, even I could handle those idiots with ease."

"Then let’s go find the Princess now!"

Hearing this, Louise hurriedly grabbed the Red Ponytail.

"Let’s inform her of the situation, then have her send us to the battlefield to confront the enemy!"

"Wait, Louise."

However, the Red Ponytail didn’t move with Louise. Instead, she grabbed Louise’s hand, looking into her eyes.

"I have a very important question to ask you."

"......What question?"

"Do you want Tolisstin to become strong or continue being weak?"

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

The Red Ponytail spread her hands.

"If you want Tolisstin to remain as it is, then fine, let’s go to the Princess now, tell her that this invader is an easy flick away for us, she’ll send us out, we’ll go to the battlefield, eliminate the enemy, and stop the invasion, done."

"What... is wrong with that?"

"Nothing wrong at all. It’s like you; if you still couldn’t perform any magic, I could protect you and do everything for you. You wouldn’t have to do anything, no matter what difficulties you encountered, I’d fix it for you. Isn’t it easy?"

"This........"

Upon hearing this, Louise furrowed her brows.

"Then what should I do?"

"Drink, eat meat, get married, and have children. No matter what difficulties you face, I’ll solve them, so what are you worried about?"

"How can that be?"

Upon hearing this, Louise promptly jumped up.

"That would make me useless, wouldn’t it?"

"So, do you understand now?"

"Ah......"

Facing Fang Zheng’s retort, Louise was momentarily stunned, then quickly snapped out of it.

"You mean......"

"Not relying on oneself and always depending on external forces will eventually lead to downfall. You know, in another world, there was a country called the Kin Dragon Kingdom Lugnica. From its inception, this country signed a contract with the Divine Dragon, who would protect it. Regardless of the crisis faced, it would always forewarn the rulers to come up with countermeasures. And the result?"

At this point, Red Ponytail chuckled softly.

"Anyway, everything is protected by the Divine Dragon, so just cling to its favor. See, the Royal Family of that country has been obliterated, and fearing that the Divine Dragon might stop protecting the country, they are now looking to select a king from the Shrine Maiden of the Divine Dragon. Isn’t it interesting?"

"........."

"So now, what’s your response?"

"Of course, I wish Tolisstin to be strong!"

Louise stomped her foot indignantly, then walked over and sat next to Red Ponytail.

"Just like you said, it’s too bullying for Albion to attack us at will! But what can we do?"

"Listen to me."

At this point, Red Ponytail cheerfully raised a finger.

"I have a good idea."

Meanwhile, inside the grand hall, everything was in chaos.

Henrietta, dressed in a pure white wedding gown, sat on the throne, staring blankly at the scene in front of her. Albion’s fleet had landed on Tabor Prairie and begun occupying the area. The lord had died in battle, the Earl was dead, and the Dragon Knight Squadron was wiped out; the situation was moving toward the worst possible direction.

Yet, at this moment in the grand hall, the ministers continued their meaningless debate.

"We should ask Germania for reinforcements!"

"That will only escalate things!"

"We must send all Dragon Knights to attack from the air to stop the enemy!"

"But this is just a misunderstanding; we should immediately dispatch envoys to talk to them. Launching an attack would give Albion an excuse for all-out war!"

Watching this scene, Henrietta suddenly wanted to laugh.

She remembered again the words of the girl with red twin ponytails.

Indeed, Tolisstin is so weak now, even when an attack comes to our door, we still think about avoiding conflict. But......

"Perhaps on Albion’s side......they don’t care about our thoughts at all."

Speaking to herself, Henrietta showed a self-mocking smile, then she composed her expression and stood up, coldly glaring at the ministers before her.

"Don’t you feel ashamed?"

"Her Royal Highness?"

Henrietta’s accusation left everyone shocked. Henrietta continued to look at them and said.

"Our country is under enemy invasion, yet you are talking about alliances? Envoys? Before that, we have more important things to address!"

"But, but Your Highness!"

Upon hearing this, a minister hurriedly stepped forward.

"This is a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstanding?"

Faced with the minister’s words, Henrietta laughed in anger.

"What misunderstanding? Our warship was sunk by saluting artillery? You believe that excuse?"

"We signed a Non-Aggression Pact! It’s just an accident!"

At this point, Henrietta couldn’t take it anymore, heavily slamming the table.

"Accident? Tell that to Albion! Our country is being invaded, our citizens are bleeding! And you, here, aside from mutual blame, have nothing else to say? Do you think with your words, you can stop the enemy? Since you are so eloquent, why not use your tongues to rule the world?"

"........"

Confronted with the Princess’s furious scolding, all the Nobility fell silent, while Henrietta coldly observed them.

"You must be very scared, right? Facing Albion, knowing that even if we counterattack, there is little chance of victory. So, is it your plan to continue living in disgrace? If so, then I too have my thoughts!"

Finishing her words, Henrietta turned and left the hall, and as she stepped into the corridor, she saw Red Ponytail and Louise standing there, watching her.

Seeing the two, Henrietta hesitated for a moment, then came to stand before Red Ponytail.

"Miss Saber, I want to request your assistance."

"I know what you want to say."

Facing Henrietta’s words, Red Ponytail slightly smirked, then extended a finger.

"But, I have a condition."

"What condition?"

"I want you to sign a contract with me."

At this moment, Red Ponytail composed her expression, seriously staring at Henrietta.

"A master-servant contract."