After escorting Serena to the Capital Planet, Tia was summoned by Cleo to the palace.

She was led to a room for audiences with the imperial family, where she found Cleo surrounded by armed knights.

While Tia was left standing, Cleo sat in a chair, elegantly enjoying his tea.

Tia's eyes, looking at him, were filled with murderous intent.

"—Please, let me hear that one more time."

Cleo, who had betrayed Liam the moment he became Crown Prince, spoke of something outrageous with the casual air of talking to a friend.

"The Banfield family is suspected of rebellion. In a short while, the Empire will officially launch an all-out attack on the Banfield territory—that's what I said."

Tia clenched her fists as she looked at Cleo, who spoke so calmly.

A creaking sound escaped her grip, but her expression remained unchanged.

Tia, too, was feigning composure.

"Do you intend to betray Lord Liam after all he has done for you?"

At Tia's words, the armed knights protecting the Crown Prince reached for their weapons.

However, Cleo raised a hand to stop them.

Cleo stood up, approached Tia, and stood beside her.

"It was the Duke who intended to use me from the very beginning, wasn't it? Are you going to tell me he made me Crown Prince out of pure goodwill?"

"And you're saying it was all out of malice? For His Highness the Crown Prince of the Empire, you are a man of remarkably small character."

Was that all it took for him to betray them? As Tia implied this, Cleo's brow furrowed slightly. But he quickly regained his smile.

"Indeed, I was also rude to you. That's right—Christiana, why don't you become my vassal? For someone of your talent, I wouldn't mind letting you command the Empire as my right hand."

There was no comparison between being the vassal of a mere lord and a position that commanded the Empire.

But Tia refused.

"Between being your right hand and Lord Liam's vassal, there is no comparison. —I must refuse."

"You will come to regret that."

As Cleo glared at her, Tia took pleasure in his expression.

"Now, if you'll excuse me."

Tia turned on the spot and exited the room.

◇

—The Banfield family is suspected of rebellion.

The Empire is forming an army for a punitive expedition.

This information arrived after Serena had been escorted to the Capital Planet.

Once the report came from Tia, who had been dispatched to the capital, the Empire began to systematically undermine the Banfield family.

"For us at the Seventh Weapons Factory to be exiled from the Empire... it's just too cruel!"

On the large monitor, Nias Carlin was displayed, her face a mess from sobbing.

Merchants and weapons factories with ties to the Banfield family had all their dealings with the Empire abruptly terminated.

It was a clear act of hostility—but it was so lukewarm it was disgusting.

"That's why I told you to move your factory to my territory."

"Don't say it so easily! Moving is a huge undertaking!"

"Then you should be able to manage on your own."

"I'm consulting you because that's impossible!"

Possessing high technical skill but ignoring customer needs was the hallmark of the unpopular Seventh Weapons Factory.

There was no way they could survive independently.

In fact, doing business in the Empire was now impossible for them.

After all, the Empire had cut off all transactions.

Next to me, as I dealt with Nias, was Eulisia, who was tapping her crossed arms with her fingers.

She also looked like she had something to say to me.

"Lord Liam, I've been receiving complaints from my old workplace as well."

Eulisia's old workplace was the Third Weapons Factory, an extremely popular manufacturer within the Empire.

The people at the Third Weapons Factory had probably been overconfident, thinking the Empire would never abandon them.

But the Empire had nonchalantly cut them off as well.

Sitting on the sofa, I crossed my legs and gave a smug smile.

"How naive of them. Tell the Third that if they come to us, I'll take care of them."

Eulisia let out a deep sigh before using her terminal to convey my words to her former colleagues.

Nias on the monitor, however, was hanging her head.

"This is just awful."

I thought they could just flee to another interstellar nation, but doing so would mean taking state secrets to another country.

If that happened, the Empire would crush the weapons factory without a second thought.

"—To go out of their way to send salt to the enemy. The naivety of the imperial family disgusts me."

My smile vanished as I muttered in discontent, and Eulisia, having finished her communication, looked at me.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing. Now, let's talk to Elliot and Patrice next."

I forcibly cut the communication with Nias, and Eulisia gave me an exasperated look.

"You seem quite relaxed. The Empire is coming to crush us for real, you know. They say the punitive force will be at least several million strong."

An army of that size would mean the Empire was stretching itself considerably.

We would be forced into a tough fight, but it's not like we've been sitting around doing nothing.

I always knew we would go to war with the Empire eventually, and we've been preparing for it.

However, the difference in numbers is something we just can't overcome.

"I'll give them a fight. Well then, I suppose we should start our preparations. —Eulisia, declare a state of war throughout the territory. Abandon all planets and colonies that cannot be defended and evacuate the residents."

"All of them!?"

To the surprised Eulisia, I gave a curt reply.

"Of course. Everything in my territory, human or otherwise, is my property."

I don't mind being the one to discard them.

But I will not tolerate anyone taking my property without my permission.

Besides, in this world, as long as you have people, you can redevelop the territory.

For the sake of the future, I can't afford to waste any human resources.

Eulisia placed a hand on her chin.

"—There will surely be citizens who refuse to leave the planets they pioneered."

That's simple.

"Order the military to remove them by force. This isn't a request. —It's an order from me, their lord."

It is unacceptable for the people of the Banfield domain to defy me.

Eulisia shook her head, then began operating her terminal to relay my orders to the various departments.

I stood up from the sofa and stretched.

"Now, I wonder how many enemies will come?"

◇

In a basement room of the Banfield mansion.

Various documents had been gathered there.

From materials with text carved into stone tablets to the memory drives still in use today, they were all there.

Managing them were the maid-droids, led by Amagi.

Dozens of maid-droids were analyzing the collected materials.

Among them was Amagi herself.

She was carefully turning the pages of a very old, thick book, checking its contents one by one.

However, the information she sought was not recorded within.

"—This isn't it either."

As she closed the thick book and was about to return it to the shelf, the movements of all the maid-droids suddenly stopped.

It was only for a few seconds, but immediately after, they began to put away the materials.

One of the maid-droids approached Amagi.

"The Master has ordered the transition to a wartime footing. Supervisor, we will suspend our work and return to our original duties."

Collecting documents and information was not an order from Liam.

Ordinarily, the maid-droids would not be permitted to do such things.

When told they were suspending work due to the emergency, Amagi shifted her gaze—and issued an order to three maid-droids.

"Request denied. You three will remain and continue the work. The rest will return to normal duties."

"Is that acceptable?"

Amagi looked down at the mass-produced maid-droid who tilted her head.

"It's fine. The work can be handled without issue."

With those words, Amagi left the archives with the three maid-droids.

When the sliding door closed, it was camouflaged to look as if no door had ever been there.

It was a hidden room that even Liam did not know about.

The maid-droids reported information to Amagi.

"The Empire is summoning the regular army and nobles to the Capital Planet."

"Weapons factories other than the Third and Seventh are canceling their orders."

"We have confirmed a rise in prices within the Empire."

As reports confirmed that the Empire had begun preparations in earnest, Amagi muttered under her breath.

"Could that entity be behind this as well?"

◇

Meanwhile.

In a garbage-strewn alley on the Capital Planet, the Guide was present.

Standing atop a mountain of trash, the Guide held an electronic paper.

And his hands were trembling uncontrollably.

"Yessss!!"

He let out a roar of joy, tearing the electronic paper to shreds.

He clenched his fists, arching his back as he reveled in Liam's misfortune.

"This is it. This time, it'll work! Now that almost the entire Empire has turned against him, there's no way even Liam can win!"

The Guide trembled with joy.

The article on the electronic paper stated that the Empire would impose sanctions on the former Cleo faction.

Not just Liam, but the entire noble faction led by Liam that had supported Cleo was now designated as the enemy.

The Guide praised Cleo.

"Excellent, Cleo! I like you for betraying your former allies, but I absolutely love you for doing this to Liam!"

Betraying Liam and then having the Empire dispatch an army to subjugate the Banfield family—in the Guide's eyes, Cleo's stock value was soaring to new heights.

The Guide straightened his back and spread his arms, and a black mist began to spread.

"I will release the negative energy I've accumulated on the Capital Planet. If I support Cleo with all my might, I should be able to defeat Liam this time for sure."

Defeating Liam, who had stepped into the realm of the inhuman, would not be easy.

However.

Liam was still human.

If thrown into space without a suit, he would die. If hit directly by a battleship's main cannon, he would vaporize.

Even if he couldn't be beaten one-on-one, with a grand army of several million, there was a chance of victory.

"That bastard. This time, this time for sure, I'll finish him. I'll settle the score between you and me."

The Guide planned to use all the negative emotions he had accumulated on the Capital Planet to support Cleo and defeat Liam.

"Liam—next time will be your end!"