A month had passed since their audience with the emperor.
At the emperor's request, Esdeath, who had rebuilt a certain emotional connection with Yoshino, temporarily shifted her attention to eliminating Night Raid.
As soon as she left the palace, she began devising a detailed action plan.
Just like in the original story, under Esdeath leadership, the Jaegers unit quickly took shape within a few days. Elite Teigu users from across the empire and various factions were selected and brought to the capital to hunt down traitors alongside Esdeath.
However, unlike the original plot, the Three Beasts—who were supposed to have already been executed by Bulat—were still alive and kicking.
Tatsumi, who in the original story inherited Bulat's Teigu Incursio after his death, did not receive it this time. Instead, upon Yoshino recommendation, he joined the Jaegers, becoming Esdeath personal tagalong.
During this time, although Esdeath focused on her duties, she would still occasionally return to the general's mansion to meet Yoshino during her downtime.
Since Tatsumi was now part of the Jaegers, he moved into their newly designated base and no longer had chances to interact with Yoshino.
As for Night Raid—upon realizing that Esdeath had now turned her attention to them—their once-active assassination campaigns came to a sudden halt. After a few minor skirmishes with the Jaegers, they disappeared once again into the shadows. No one knew what Najenda next move would be.
As for the emperor…
During this month, he had actually met with Yoshino more than anyone else—almost once or twice every week, he would leave the palace to visit the general's mansion.
Ordinarily, an emperor should not leave the palace so frequently unless there was great cause. Naturally, this drew criticism from many ministers.
Even rare for the court, Prime Minister Honest and nearly every official, regardless of faction, agreed on this issue.
Honest was worried the emperor might hear something detrimental to him while outside the palace, while the other ministers were more concerned about the emperor's safety. Regardless of loyalty or treachery, all ministers advised that if he wished to see Yoshino, he could simply summon her to the palace with an imperial edict.
But the emperor refused to listen.
He truly wanted to be friends with Yoshino.
And since they were friends, their relationship should be equal. He didn't want it to be a one-sided relationship where he summoned and dismissed her at will.
Perhaps because the emperor's stubbornness was so rare, it caught even Honest and the others off guard. Or perhaps because of Yoshino unique status—and the high likelihood that she might become the future Empress—they eventually gave up persuading him to stay put and instead increased the number of guards that accompanied him whenever he left the palace.
After all, while no one liked the emperor leaving the palace, no one in court objected to him seeing Yoshino.
The emperor had no objections either.
All he wanted was to spend time with Yoshino.
Although their first meeting had been somewhat awkward, by the third meeting Yoshino had already begun to speak to him.
Esdeath, who occasionally returned home, grew visibly displeased upon witnessing this.
Even she, Yoshino blood-related older sister, had spent an entire week of attentive care before hearing her speak for the first time.
Yet this guy managed to get close to her with just a few casual visits.
Still, Esdeath understood that Yoshino mental age was likely Similiar to the emperor's. Emotional bonds between two Similiarly aged children naturally developed faster. So even if she was somewhat annoyed, she said nothing.
Since the court no longer interfered, and Esdeath had agreed not to interfere either, the relationship between the two children grew closer and more intimate.
Yoshino learned that the emperor's real name was Symeil, and also about parts of his past.
Meanwhile, Emperor Symeil learned that Yoshino had two personalities living within her.
Surprisingly, he did not think of this as an illness. In fact, when he learned about it, he seemed rather excited.
As for why he was excited—only he knew the answer.
The two grew increasingly close.
The emperor was happy.
Yoshino was happy.
The entire court was happy.
Prime Minister Honest was so overjoyed that his face wrinkled like a blooming chrysanthemum.
The only person unhappy… was likely Esdeath, who wore a scowl every time the emperor came to visit.
Just when she was fuming with no outlet for her frustrations, news came that Night Raid had resumed its activities.
Esdeath immediately followed the trail, using even the smallest clues to deduce the location of Night Raid's next operation.
Perhaps aware of how formidable the Jaegers were, and knowing that the capital was already under Esdeath complete control with no place to hide, Night Raid withdrew from the capital entirely and began targeting other key cities.
This greatly invigorated Esdeath.
If she could eliminate Night Raid, her mission in the capital would be complete.
Then she could righteously take Yoshino away from the capital and return to the borderlands where she had once been stationed.
In those faraway lands, beyond the emperor's reach, she could live peacefully with Yoshino once again.
Thus, she made a firm decision: she ordered all Jaeger members to prepare for combat.
"Yoshino, I'm about to leave the capital. I might not be able to see you for a while."
In the general's mansion, Esdeath gave Yoshino a farewell hug before leaving, speaking with some reluctance:
"Stay here and behave while I'm gone, okay? Don't go wandering around. The capital is dangerous."
"Miss Esdeath, are you going to fight Night Raid?" Yoshino blinked. "If it's dangerous, you can bring me along."
"Don't worry—it's not dangerous at all. Your big sister is very strong."
"Alright then." Yoshino nodded obediently. "I understand. I'll wait here for your return, Miss Esdeath."
"Have a safe trip!" Yoshinon added. "Come back unharmed!"
"Mhm, I will."
Esdeath smiled confidently, put on her uniform, and left the study to join the rest of the Jaegers.
Yoshino stood by the window, waving goodbye.
"Hmph… So Night Raid finally made their move."
She watched Esdeath disappear from view before turning and walking back to her bedroom.
If her guess was correct, Night Raid's recent inactivity meant Najenda had gone to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters to recruit reinforcements.
After all, with Esdeath gaining more Teigu users, the already disadvantaged Night Raid needed to strengthen their forces.
Now that Night Raid had re-emerged in other cities, it likely meant Najenda had gotten the support she needed.
Their assassinations of government officials, wealthy merchants, and nobles had doubled compared to before—perhaps to make up for lost time.
But spreading their forces too thin made it difficult to clean up after themselves, giving Esdeath a trail to follow.
Logically, it made sense.
But knowing Night Raid's style, Yoshino suspected they had left the trail on purpose—to lure Esdeath out of the city.
Due to her appearance as a transmigrator, the original plot had already diverged significantly. In the original story, Najenda lured Esdeath out to weaken the Jaegers' numbers.
Now, Yoshino thought the goal might be to create a window for someone to take her away while Esdeath was gone.
But with Tatsumi also gone now, who could Najenda possibly send to retrieve her?
Just as Yoshino pondered this, a knock came at the door.
"Come in."
Seeing someone arrive, Yoshino quickly wiped the thoughtful look off her face and slipped into character.
"Miss Yoshino, His Majesty just sent a messenger to ask if you're free today."
A maid in standard uniform entered respectfully. "If so, His Majesty would like to visit the general's mansion after finishing his official duties."
"Yahaha, His Majesty is really eager, huh? Esdeath just left, and he's already eager to come visit," Yoshinon laughed. "Seems he really likes Yoshino. But then again, who wouldn't? Yoshino is super adorable."
"S-Stop saying things like that!"
Yoshino face turned bright red. She quickly covered the rabbit puppet's mouth.
Then, as if trying to explain, she stammered at the maid: "U-Um… It's not like that. The emperor and I aren't…"
"I understand, Miss Yoshino. You and His Majesty are simply friends," the maid said with a soft smile. "I'm just a humble servant of the general's household. There's no need to explain to me."
"Whew! Yoshinon was suffocating!"
Yoshino finally removed her hand. Even though the rabbit puppet wasn't alive, it wobbled up and down as if panting.
Seeing this, the maid's eyes briefly flickered with something strange, but she maintained a calm expression.
She stood quietly, waiting for a reply.
"Yes, I'm free today. Please inform the emperor's messenger," Yoshino finally answered after regaining her composure.
"As you wish, Miss Yoshino."
The maid bowed slightly and left, closing the door behind her.
As she walked down the narrow corridor, the maid recalled the scene she had just witnessed.
Now that she was alone and didn't need to suppress her emotions, a subtle expression appeared on her face.
"The emperor's fallen for a mentally unstable little girl like that? Heh, well… she is cute, I'll admit."
She pulled a lollipop from her pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.
"Kidnapping the future empress, huh… Just thinking about it is thrilling."
Meanwhile, in a strategic stronghold near the Imperial Capital—
Najenda retrieved a small slip of paper tied to the leg of a carrier pigeon, promptly unrolled it, and scanned the message written on it.
"Esdeath has set out."
After confirming the intelligence, a faint smile appeared on Najenda lips.
"The plan to lure the enemy has worked. From here on, everything proceeds according to plan."
Upon hearing that the most crucial first step had gone smoothly, the surrounding Night Raid members all visibly relaxed.
They had not been driven back by Esdeath.
Although the Jaegers boasted an imposing force—nearly twice the number of Teigu users as Night Raid—their advantage was overt while Night Raid operated in the shadows. As long as Night Raid maintained secrecy, they could continue their assassination operations within the Capital.
However, instead of targeting a few insignificant figures, they now had a much greater goal.
That goal was Yoshino.
Although the first attempt to take Yoshino had ended in failure, by sheer coincidence, Tatsumi had encountered Yoshino and Esdeath training in the forest and managed to infiltrate the General's Mansion. This presented Night Raid with a second opportunity.
But if they wanted to take Yoshino away, they would first have to lure Esdeath away.
Previously, Esdeath had shown no concern for Night Raid's assassination operations, delaying her own missions, which had stalled their plans for some time.
Now, however, due to pressure from the Emperor, Esdeath was forced to turn her attention back toward Night Raid.
While this situation was undoubtedly dangerous for Night Raid, it was also exactly what they had been waiting for.
Danger and opportunity often go hand in hand.
As long as they could draw Esdeath away, they would be able to exploit the opening and take Yoshino out of the Capital.
This couldn't be delayed any longer.
Every time the Emperor left the palace, he was accompanied by a large escort. Even Grand General Budo traveled with him. This kind of movement couldn't be hidden from the inner city, let alone from Night Raid.
From the clues he had picked up, even without directly interacting with Yoshino, Tatsumi had already inferred that the Emperor had likely taken an interest in her.
It was highly probable that no engagement had yet been formalized—had it been, the court would surely have made a grand announcement.
But if the Emperor were allowed to continue interacting with Yoshino, the consequences would be something neither Tatsumi nor Night Raid wanted to see.
So even if it meant using themselves as bait, Night Raid had to accelerate their plans and get Yoshino out of the Capital's mire as soon as possible.
There was only one problem.
Esdeath had indeed been lured away, but by sheer bad luck, she had chosen Tatsumi to accompany her and taken him with her out of the Capital.
The only person who could persuade Yoshino to leave the Capital was no longer by her side.
However, not long ago, Najenda had returned from the Revolutionary Army headquarters with good news—one that resolved their most pressing issue.
"The holder of the Teigu Phantasmagoria: Gaea Foundation, Chelsea, has now replaced a maid within the General's Mansion and successfully infiltrated it," Najenda said with a serious expression.
"She will look for the right opportunity to transform into Tatsumi and approach Yoshino. Before that happens, we must stall Esdeath and the Jaegers. We absolutely cannot allow them to return to the Capital."