Elara saw the soldier leader's expression and let out a low laugh. "What now? Are you also going to disobey my orders? Or do I need to drag Lord Gregory back here to repeat it all for you himself?"
The soldier immediately thought of how Lord Gregory had just been scolded terribly, yet still had to apologize and allow the princess to continue insulting him. Instantly, he dropped any ideas of resistance.
Lord Gregory must be furious right now. The soldier had no intention of provoking him again. Besides, there were so many refugees outside. If Lord Gregory wanted more, he could easily go fetch some for him.
He didn't dare hesitate any longer and bowed quickly to accept the order. Just as he turned to go help Elara round people up, her lazy voice sounded again behind him.
"Also, those filthy pests out there, even if you clean them up well, probably still won't meet my standards. So to make sure I have enough goods to choose from, if more refugees arrive at the city gates, take them all to the private estate outside the west of the city and keep them there."
The soldier choked again, hesitated for a moment, then carefully turned his head and answered with a cautious "yes."
He really didn't want to talk more with this unpredictable princess. Who knew what wild or twisted idea might pop into her head next. As for how to explain this to Lord Gregory... he'd just grab a lower-ranked soldier and send the message quietly. As for himself... maybe he'd fake a reason to take leave and go home for a bit. Best to wait for the storm to blow over before coming back.
So, the large group of refugees gathered at the city gate, along with the few dozen that Elara had taken from Lord Gregory, were all led to the princess's private estate outside the west gate.
Watching the crowd of refugees finally clear out, and the area under the west gate becoming quiet again, Elara let out a breath in relief. She finally released the boy in her arms, whom she had taken every chance to grope, then stood up and walked over to Oswyn, who was standing far off in a corner.
"Oswyn, you go with them to my estate too. After they're cleaned up, heal all of them. If they're still sickly and lifeless, I won't be able to pick properly. That would ruin my mood."
Oswyn stared coldly at Elara. He wasn't just the heir of the Divine Medicine Valley because of his talent in medicine. He was also smart.
At first, when he saw Elara chatting casually with Lord Gregory and hugging a pretty boy in public, he thought she hadn't changed and was still the same detestable woman. He even started to think that the strange feeling he had sensed before might've been his own illusion.
But after forcing down the urge to poison the both of them, he began to notice something different. When she fought with Lord Gregory over the boy, and even gave the boy medicine instead of just toying with him, that odd feeling returned.
Divine Medicine Valley was a martial sect despite focusing on medicine. So Oswyn could see clearly that although Elara had been holding the boy like she was playing with him, she hadn't actually done anything inappropriate. She really just gave him medicine the entire time.
Was this woman suddenly interested in playing gentle?
Thinking of how the princess's mansion had almost lost so many men just the night before, Oswyn dismissed the thought. The corner of his lips curled in sarcasm.
This woman was violent, lustful, and unpredictable. If she wasn't acting now, it was probably just because she had gotten her fill last night and didn't feel like spilling blood today.
He looked at Elara for a while longer. The refugees wouldn't be treated much better in her hands than in Lord Gregory's, but at least they wouldn't be harmed immediately.
As the heir of Divine Medicine Valley, no matter what the reason was, he couldn't turn down a chance to save lives.
Still, thinking of what he had just seen, he couldn't stop himself from making a sarcastic remark.
"The way you spoke with that scum just now was very familiar. Now you're hugging one, and taking a whole group back with you to pick from. If there's a path in hell for lustful ghosts, it must have your name on it."
Elara didn't get angry. She smiled, walked up to Oswyn, leaned in close, and breathed softly against his face.
"If you know I'm a lustful ghost, then why do you still look this good and dare speak like that in front of me? Are you asking me to eat you up right now?"
As she spoke, she blew a teasing breath toward his cheek. She looked every bit like a shameless flirt.
Oswyn hadn't expected this. This woman who used to only whip them around now dared to pull such indecent tricks?
His handsome pale face stiffened instantly. He stepped back quickly, but the spot on his cheek and ear where she had breathed on him turned slightly red without his control.
"You! You…"
Oswyn clenched his fists and glared at her. Just a moment ago he had been the proud and clean healer, now he felt like an innocent man being harassed.
This woman dared to tease him so openly in front of everyone. She really was a shameless flirt.
Elara stepped back, straightened her posture, and enjoyed the sight of the handsome man flushed with shame and anger.
Honestly, once she fully leaned into the role of a lustful ghost, it didn't feel so bad.
Even if men never interested her as much as power and career, it was still pretty satisfying to openly flirt with good-looking ones like this. A small way to justify her sacrifice of name and image.
"You're not leaving yet?"
Oswyn glared at her for a while, then finally turned with a cold humph. He scrubbed at the side of his face and ear, then walked off toward the group of refugees.
The plague had already been spreading in Plumera Kingdom. Oswyn only needed one look to know several of the refugees were already infected. They were still in early stages, but they needed urgent treatment or things would get worse quickly.
Even though he hated Elara's ways, his goal in life had always been to save people. So he wouldn't say no.
After Oswyn and his apprentices followed the group, Elara's smile faded. She raised a hand and called Uno over.
"Uno, send Ninety-nine, Ninety-eight, and One Hundred to the estate. Keep everything in order. No one is allowed to interfere with Oswyn treating my goods."
"Second, send Ninety-five, Ninety-six, and Ninety-seven to patrol the estate's surroundings. Clear out anyone nearby. No one is allowed to get close or enter."
"Third, give Oswyn whatever he needs. If anything is missing, report back to me at once."
"Fourth," Elara withdrew her gaze from the refugees and looked down at Uno kneeling in front of her, "go around the capital and find out if there are any interesting or well-informed places. I want to find something fresh to play with."
"Yes."
System 92's standard voice came in her mind.
Congratulations, Host. You've successfully changed the outbreak's direction in the Plumera capital and slightly improved the national fate. You've earned 20 National Fate Points.
After the standard report, System 92 became excited.
Host! You're amazing! Really amazing! Just a few words and you scared off Lord Gregory, who was supposed to be an early-stage mini-boss. Not only did you reduce the chance of the city being overrun and infected, you even made that villain shake in anger while pretending to stay polite. I'm so impressed by you!
Elara listened to System 92's cheer and calmly asked:
So originally in the fate timeline of Plumera, those refugees brought in by Lord Gregory really got infected? And the disease spread through the city?
Yes, Host! That entire family is evil! If you hadn't shown up, the timeline predicted with 99 percent certainty that the refugees would've spread the disease, causing a massive outbreak in the capital. Tons of people would've died. But Lord Gregory and his father didn't care at all. In fact, they used the disaster as an excuse to steal funds from the treasury and line their own pockets.
System 92 sounded more and more angry as it spoke. Even though it wasn't a living being of this world, it was still furious at such cruelty.
So Plumera had already been destroyed once before, right?
System 92 paused, admiration for Elara rising again. Host, you really are sharp.
It thought a bit and answered.
Not exactly. The time you're in now is the first timeline before anything happened. What I told you before is just what would have happened with 99 percent certainty if you hadn't arrived, based on the country's previous trajectory.
Elara nodded and looked at the National Fate Points.
What can these points be used for?
At that, System 92 grew excited again.
National Fate Points are rewards you earn for improving the fate of Plumera. They're like merit points.
They can be used in a few ways. For example, your body originally only had 30 days left to live. With these points, you can exchange for extra life. One point equals one extra day.
Besides that, you can use them to improve your body. Your organs are rotten and numb to pain. Spending points can heal them. But I don't recommend that yet. If your lifespan runs out before healing is complete, your body will collapse again.
Finally, these points can be saved for emergencies. You might be able to unlock rare items or trigger important effects when you really need them.
So basically, National Fate Points are a great thing. Please earn as many as you can.
Elara thought about it.
So this body, according to the original fate line, would only last another month at most?