Even if you want to help, the old prince also needs to verify whether Perfikot's words truly pertain to the impending future or are merely her dreamy musings.

Then, the result is both joyous and equally troubling.

The joyous part is that Perfikot's words are validated, and the world is indeed about to face an apocalypse.

At the same time, Perfikot also proves herself to be a genius ahead of her time, capable of leading the Empire to face this disaster.

As for the troubling part, it's about how to continue her vow and then protect this country destined for destruction.

The apocalypse is unlike anything else; for other matters, the old prince can still use his power and position, and the forces developing in the shadows to strive, or change something. But this natural disaster? Individual efforts are almost insignificant; humans cannot defy nature.

However, in this world, there happens to be heroes capable of saving it, even if she doesn't consider herself a hero.

Therefore, the old prince changed his strategy from directly guarding the Empire to protecting the one who could save it.

Especially since Perfikot's assertion that stability is the prerequisite for saving the world resonated deeply with the old prince, he proactively intervened and started to eliminate those unstable elements from the Empire.

The aim is to enable Perfikot to unleash her abilities, focusing more on the apocalypse instead of wasting her energy in human conflicts.

Yet as the old prince continues his endeavors, he suddenly realizes that he has become the Empire's greatest unstable factor.

Regarding this fact, the old prince is not surprised, for he nearly inherited the throne once; he is indeed an unstable element for the Empire.

Not to mention the Rose Legion he fostered, influencing various aspects of the Empire, becoming a real behind-the-scenes manipulator affecting its stability.

Thus, the old prince has always been preparing to eliminate himself and his forces from the Empire, thereby removing its greatest unstable factor.

Of course, the old prince also realizes that as his forces continue to grow and develop, he's unable to control this gradually awakening power beast.

Thus, logically, the old prince exposed the Rose Legion he fostered to the Imperial Center and used its power to destroy it.

In fact, the old prince's influence was not limited to just the Rose Legion.

Prince Edward, who has his own territory, naturally has knights under him and maintains a die-hard Knight Order numbering around one hundred and fifty. This Knight Order is the source of the old prince's confidence in speaking loudly.

Moreover, the wealthy old prince specifically introduced Steam Knights for his knights; although few in number, they keep up with the trend.

But the old prince had no intention of using this to protect himself or to militarily threaten the Imperial Center.

Because if he really wanted to do that, he wouldn't expose himself at all, at least he wouldn't actively expose himself.

When he decided to use Justinian to expose himself to the Imperial Center, the old prince already considered his own fate.

For him, being able to eliminate the Empire's greatest unstable factor for the Empire he deeply loves, and guarding it one last time, is already enough.

He has lived long enough, so long that he's almost about to forget those precious memories between him and his most beloved.

The old prince doesn't want to forget these, or rather hopes before he forgets these precious memories, he can take them to that world and meet her.

Perhaps she remains the same as in his memory, and he continues to be that young man in love for the first time.

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"Is Prince Edward the mastermind behind all this? While it's not surprising, it's still somewhat speechless!" Perfikot, upon receiving the notification and taking the Flying Airship to Langton, uttered this as soon as she saw Eldest Princess Annie.

She had already understood the whole story en route, and the reason the Imperial Center wanted her back was to leverage her intelligence and ability to minimize the influence of this incident.

"It's rare to see little Perfikot show such an expression! What, does our great genius also find this matter troublesome?" Eldest Princess Annie teased Perfikot, but still expressed concern for her: "You can refuse this matter if you find it troublesome! After all, it's Prince Edward; his influence in the Empire is exceptional. If you don't want to take over, everyone can understand."

"Prince Edward isn't the key to this matter. Haven't you noticed there's a huge flaw in this?" Perfikot looked at Eldest Princess Annie, unsure if she was genuinely unaware or pretending: "Even a three-year-old in Langton City knows your brother is a total embroidered pillow. Do you think, given Prince Edward's intelligence and ability to foster the Rose Legion, along with his years of experience, he couldn't foresee that if something went wrong, Justinian would surely give him away?

Unless he himself intended to do so, otherwise, I can hardly imagine a person who has been cautious his whole life exposing such a flaw in this matter in the worst way.

This is like a precision Steam Knight armor, everything seems so perfect and mighty, but when you get close, you realize its shell is made of tin, merely looking good but vulnerable."

Saying this, Perfikot looked at Eldest Princess Annie and earnestly asked: "Aunt Annie, do you really believe Prince Edward is merely an impressive-looking character?"

To this question, Eldest Princess Annie shook her head affirmatively: "If Prince Edward was merely impressive-looking, we wouldn't need to fret like this, and wouldn't have specifically summoned you back from the Northern Territory."

At this point, Eldest Princess Annie couldn't help but sigh: "I grew up listening to Uncle Edward's stories, admiring his courage to give up the right of succession for love, and the love story between him and his wife Elena.

Back then, I never thought that one day I would face this childhood idol, and possibly resolve matters related to him."

"Prince Edward wasn't known for love stories back then; he was raised by Queen Mary of the previous emperor, initially groomed as the Empire's successor, and fought on battlefields in his youth, also shining his talents for the Empire in diplomatic occasions." Not only did Eldest Princess Annie grow up listening to Prince Edward's stories, but even Perfikot remembers old Foster telling her tales of Prince Edward adeptly resolving awkward situations in diplomatic occasions.

"Indeed, more than half of the Empire's colonies were secured and consolidated by Prince Edward back then, allowing the Empire's colonization rule to be so stable." Eldest Princess Annie nodded affirmatively, acknowledging Prince Edward's contributions, undeniable and known by all: "It's fair to say that the Empire's current glory owes much to Prince Edward's outstanding contributions."

In fact, this is precisely why Prince Edward holds massive influence and prestige, more than merely being a male, naturally more suited for succession than the empress or Eldest Princess Annie.

Facing such a former hero, even Perfikot must maintain sufficient respect; she finds it hard to believe Prince Edward would associate with the brat Justinian and have him mess things up.

"We can talk about these later. I'd like to meet Prince Edward face to face and discuss with him." Perfikot expressed her wish to Eldest Princess Annie.

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