The villain queen eavesdropped on my inner thoughts and won't let me lie down?

"Okay, okay, I'm going to work!"

Little Joey ran off without looking back, as if Roger was some man-eating demon. She really didn't dare stay by his side for even half a second.

Wuwu, now I know what Montgomery meant by 'throwing the lamb to the wolves.'

Wuwu, would Her Majesty be angry if she knew that her invisibility and soundproof barriers were being used by Roger for this kind of thing?

Wuwu, when will I be back at Drinking Ice Manor (??艸｀?)?

...

...

In a small classroom, more than a dozen young, handsome young men and women, dressed in a way that could be considered extravagant even among the nobles of the Royal Magic Academy, were gathered together in a heated discussion.

"This 'New Arcana' is heresy! The editor and the author should all be burned at the stake!"

"Be careful what you say! Her Majesty wrote the preface herself. Are you going to burn Her Majesty too?"

"If Her Majesty has fallen and betrayed the empire, why can't she be burned? Her invention of that 'magic cola' clearly disregards the empire's interests!"

"That's right, the price of grain in the south has already dropped. Everyone will be using magic cola in the future. Which lowly commoner will bother farming properly?"

"Don't say anymore, it's all tears. My father and uncle hoarded grain worth 500,000 gold coins together. If this magic cola becomes popular, I'm afraid we won't even get our capital back."

"Whose family isn't like that? Originally, the seventeen kingdoms' rebellion and the barren fields were a great opportunity to make a fortune, but it's all gone now!"

"The Empress is no longer the Empress she once was. She has betrayed the empire and sided with petty people!"

A group of young noble magicians angrily denounced 'New Arcana,' even including the Eternal Night Empress in their attacks.

The young people, under the influence of alcohol, cursed with enthusiasm, failing to notice that the door had been blown open by a gust of wind.

The Eternal Night Empress walked into the room invisibly. After hearing only a few sentences, her face turned gloomy.

On the other side, Roger also happened to pass by and heard the lofty discussions coming from inside the room.

[Interesting, I have to see who is braver than me, daring to directly criticize the Empress?]

Chapter 73: I Heard You Want to Defect?

If it was a one-in-ten chance of survival for the young nobles in the room to have their remarks heard by the Eternal Night Empress,

then because Roger's inner thoughts were spoken and he walked into this room, the death sentence was basically set in stone.

The Eternal Night Empress would naturally not allow these people to set a bad example for Roger.

That kid was already bold enough to curse the Empress in his heart. If I don't burn these second-generation wastrels who want to burn me to death, wouldn't I be verbally abused to my face in the future?

Doesn't the Empress have any dignity?

Roger was also stunned when he entered the room and saw the Eternal Night Empress, who was invisible.

[I originally wanted to hear a joke about the Empress, but the Empress is also here. Should I laugh or not?]

The Eternal Night Empress subconsciously scolded, "Don't laugh!"

Roger looked up at her in confusion, his eyes flickering.

Did I just laugh? I was just thinking in my heart, I haven't laughed out loud yet, right?

The Eternal Night Empress then realized that something was wrong.

She had actually responded to his inner thoughts!

She quickly cleared her throat: "These nobles have forgotten why the empire exists, but it also shows that magic cola is very successful. It has changed the empire's landscape. Roger, as the initiator, deserves the credit, so he should naturally be happy... But at this moment, don't laugh!"

Roger felt that something was strange about her serious nonsense.

But since the Empress has said so, he patted his chest and assured: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I have received professional training. I usually don't laugh."

[So, Her Majesty meant that it's not that my expression management failed. It seems that the success of magic cola means I'll get extra rewards. Yay!]

The Eternal Night Empress frowned.

Say three wrong words, and you'll owe an extra reward?

Creating 'New Arcana' requires a reward, soaring sales promised a condition, saying the wrong thing requires a reward. Sooner or later, there will be nothing left to reward, right?

I'm losing out big time!

I must make up for it from these dregs who are trying to profit from national disasters.

Through the Eternal Night Empress's simple introduction, Roger also learned what kind of people this group of nobles were.

They preach about principles, but all they care about is business.

They all seem to be concerned about the country and the people, wanting to revive the glory of magicians and prevent the Empress from falling.

But in reality, it's just because magic cola has affected their own business.

The one in the lead, wearing a white mage robe and with a flamboyant hairstyle, is the young master of Duke Nancarniton.

The men and women around him are all descendants of southern nobles of the empire.

The south is the empire's traditional grain-producing base. Both last year and this year were years of good harvest.

The former territory of the seventeen kingdoms was not peaceful before, and this year, the restoration army is making a lot of noise, delaying the spring plowing, but not many people have died.

So, the situation of more people than grain is irreversible. Even with the empire's support, it cannot fill the huge gap.

Not starving to death is the greatest wish of the lower class people in this era.

The southern nobles, seeing that famine was inevitable, united and hoarded a large amount of grain.

Some time ago, the price of grain throughout the empire was raised to a considerable high level.

When the summer harvest ends, the former territory of the seventeen kingdoms will have consumed almost all of its grain, and a large number of people will not be able to eat. They will inevitably win big.

If they don't have money, it doesn't matter, they can sell themselves.

The southern nobles spent countless coins and filled their warehouses with grain, but the famine has not yet arrived. Instead, a alchemical potion called magic cola has arrived first.

Ordinary magicians are still arguing about the provocative articles published in 'New Arcana,' and at most, they are madly spraying that using magic for agriculture is a blasphemy. They haven't paid much attention to magic cola itself.

But the nobles who are hoarding grain on a large scale frowned and realized that things were not simple.

They obtained some magic cola through their own channels and, after verification, found that the description in the article was basically true.

This is an alchemical potion that changes soil fertility and stimulates the rapid growth of certain high-yield crops.

Such alchemical potions are not rare. There are many similar spells and magic items.

But the problem is that magic cola is too cheap.

It's ridiculously cheap, so cheap that ordinary farmers can grit their teeth and, to the extent of about six yuan for the first recharge, use gold coins to speed up the crop production process and complete the first wave of primitive accumulation.

This thing is too threatening to the southern nobles who are hoarding grain. Naturally, they regard 'New Arcana,' magic cola, and the Eternal Night Empress as thorns in their eyes and flesh.

On this side, the Eternal Night Empress's face is gloomy, while on the other side, a group of young people are drinking heavily.

They are still talking about the Empress threat theory, and have even risen to the point where the empire must elect a new puppet who respects the interests of the nobles to take the stage.

"But what if we can't beat the Empress?" someone asked.

"Simple, let those rigid-minded people in the church do it! As long as they are allowed to preach, they will definitely rush forward howling," the young master of the Nancarniton family said.

A group of people cheered that his trick of driving away wolves with tigers was a real killer move!

Roger was dumbfounded.

[The young people are too brave. Do they really think this salon is a lawless place? You never know who is eavesdropping outside the door!]

[They are still young. They dare to say anything. Even if I have the intention of defecting to the church, I carefully hide it and never dare to say it!]

Eternal Night Empress: ???

Good fellow, I thought I had caught a group of southern parasites, but I didn't expect there to be a biggest parasite by my side!

Life is really full of surprises!

What carefulness, what hiding.

Very well, now I already know that you want to defect from the empire. Is it death by a finger, or settling accounts after the autumn harvest?

She was almost angered to the point of fainting.

Discovering that the empire's nobles had the intention of rebelling, abandoning loyalty and conscience because of greed, the Eternal Night Empress was already a little sad.

Those old ministers who once swore allegiance to her and co-built the Azure Vine Empire have deteriorated and have completely different positions from the empire.

She can still accept this result, because the industrialization of magic has indeed touched the cake of these nobles.

But now Roger has also expressed his intention to defect to the church, which is like stabbing the Empress's heart several times.

She really finds it unacceptable.

From the Eternal Night Empress's perspective, she has been very good to Roger, giving him the best treatment among all her ministers.

She gave him a title, gave him money, and rewarded him with a house.

If he wants a fief, she will never give him less.

She gave him enough stage to show his talents, and directly handed him the Eternal Night Order, which had not been used for many years, providing the most thorough support in all aspects.

Usually, she tolerated his bold, lecherous remarks and actions that completely exceeded the bounds of what a minister should have.

She pretended that she didn't notice his insincerity and the crime of deceiving the emperor.

After the Blood Night of Aodu, in order to cooperate in capturing Jostar and saving Angelina, I left seclusion early, adding another layer of hidden dangers to my body, just to protect the future hero.

But just because I forced him to work hard and prevented him from being lazy as he wished, he wants to defect to the gods?

The Eternal Night Empress fell into confusion, and a kind of real sadness slowly spread in her heart.

Where did the boy who wanted to write history with the truth in front of the Grand Library go?

Where did the boy who was willing to use himself as bait to lure out Jostar go?

Where did the boy who promised me to work hard together to avoid the fragmentation of the country go?

Are all the heroes and bravery fake, all acted out for me to see?

She couldn't figure it out, couldn't understand it.

She believed that Roger's "unintentionally" revealed inner thoughts were equivalent to the most real thoughts in his heart.

That's why it was even more difficult to accept.

Did I give too little? Did I do something wrong?

Could it be that I am now so humble that I can't even get one person's loyalty despite such effort?

"Your Majesty, is there a problem?"

Roger finally noticed that something was wrong.

The Eternal Night Empress's gaze was no longer on those noble children who were plotting to sell the country for profit, but turned back and stared at him.

The murderous aura in her eyes was about to overflow, making him feel a chill down his back.

[Those people are blinded by greed and disregard the interests of the empire. It's really not magic cola's fault. Your Majesty, don't scare me!]

The Eternal Night Empress took a deep breath, suppressing her anger.

Since she couldn't figure it out, she would just ask directly.

Her voice was so cold that there was not a trace of emotion: "Tell me, what did I do wrong that you want to treat me like this?"

Roger was a little dazed by the question.

[This... the headless question is so strange. Why is it 'you'? I don't have any collusion with the southern nobles. Your Majesty, you know that!]

[Does 'you' here refer to all the nobles?]

[Is she so angry that she's confused and wants to shift the blame to all the nobles? I still have to persuade her!]

"Your Majesty, the standard of right and wrong is not absolute. It is only determined by the standpoint from which you look at things. If Your Majesty wants to distribute more benefits to the common people, then what you do is wrong in the eyes of the nobles.

If Your Majesty wants to establish a new magical industrial system for the prosperity of the empire, it will touch the interests of more people. Then, in their eyes, Your Majesty is wrong. Slander and stigma will come one after another, and I believe Your Majesty has expected it.

If someone stands on the wrong team, just send that person away. There is no need to expand to the innocent entire group because of emotions."

"Don't worry, I really won't implicate the innocent," the Eternal Night Empress sneered.