Actually, Isabella knows:

The memorial of the local lords cannot be delivered to her without going through a review process;

It is Sister Glasses' responsibility to filter out some of the "negative" memorials;

Although Sister Glasses is not considered a top-tier figure based on official positions and titles, she always looks at the official documents sent from various places before the empress, a power bestowed upon her personally by Isabella.

Therefore, Sister Glasses is fully aware of the large number of marriage proposal letters that have been sent;

The problem now is:

Isabella's confidant, who clearly knows about the marriage proposal, allows the lord's intentions to be conveyed to the highest level, exacerbating the empress's annoyance;

For such a capable confidant to behave this way, there must be deeper underlying reasons behind this simple marriage proposal.

Isabella called the person in to clarify their intentions.

Vino's figure walked in and appeared before Isabella, bowing their head in greeting:

"Good evening, thank you for allowing me to enter, Your Majesty."

Sister Glasses kept her head low, not because she felt she had done something wrong, but to express her apologies for bothering Isabella late at night.

"I don't want pleasantries, get to the point!"

The quill stood upright in front of Sister Glasses as it was held by the fingertips, not a sharp object, but it made the viewer feel as if they were being locked onto by a cold gaze.

From many years ago to today, this pair of master and servant always understood each other well;

From Isabella's perspective, she didn't think the other party came late at night just to apologize or greet her;

Stop joking around, the other party couldn't possibly be so diligent. If there wasn't something important, they must be sound asleep in their own bed right now.

"Your Majesty, this is a report sent by our intelligence personnel."

Sister Glasses handed over the documents.

This thin piece of paper contained information about all the places inside the capital that needed attention and everything big and small that had happened;

Among the reports that captured most attention, there was no doubt that it was related to a major force within the country;

That force is the Elder Council, completely composed of demons, and commonly referred to domestically as the "Elder Ten" (now down to seven).

As the recognized tumor within Dibiles, the Elder Council has always been doing the same thing from the past until now;

Compared to the polarized reputation of the main god church, the "Elder Ten" has always played the role of an evil force and has persisted in their basic principles, never doing anything good;

Thanks to their unwavering stance, the general population of the country has always viewed these demons with extreme disgust in their hearts;

However, this force, despised by all, is a trouble that has been a headache for Isabella until now. She has been determined to uproot the Elder Council, but has always been afraid of their strength;

Perhaps the Elder Council believes that the current empress is unable to do anything to them, which has led to their arrogant and domineering attitude until today;

Among them, some individuals would go out for a stroll for no particular reason and commit despicable acts that enraged people around them;

Sister Glasses just reported some intelligence about this domestic tumor, and they did something different this time compared to before.

"This is interesting..." Isabella repeated the word "interesting," but deep down, she didn't think so, and her expression was rather gloomy.

"The local lords are urging me to get married, after all, it comes from their good intentions, and I won't blame them; but these demons are actually discussing my marriage in secret, which makes it hard to believe their 'goodwill.'"

The Elder Council's stance is now very clear, they demand that the Empress get married; and they don't just plan to advise or recommend, they are prepared to use force to compel Isabella to get married. Matters concerning the royal family are never simple, as Sister Glasses discovered at a deeper level:

Getting married is just a facade, the real purpose is the rights gained from marriage, the demons intend to seize power.

Although those demons are deeply immersed in Dibiles' power, they've never been too impatient when it comes to seizing power; the reason they have taken a different approach this time is still related to the impending war.

The intelligence of the Inran Empire preparing for war has stimulated the members of the Elder Council; those demons who entered the core of the empire a hundred years ago are now also becoming zealous; in the past, due to Isabella's interference, the Elder Council had no chance to completely sideline the royal family and take control of the empire from within.

The current situation is different because external forces are about to intervene, disrupting the power balance within the empire and posing a threat to Dibiles.

The general consensus among the demons is that the perfect opportunity has arrived!

Their value is mainly reflected in external wars. If the empire continues to refrain from external conflicts, its own power will gradually decline; but once news of an external invasion arrives, they start to raise their own value; their main reason for doing so is Dibiles' insufficient national power.

Currently, the only real fighter within the country is Isabella; the rest are not formidable characters who can step onto the stage; however, relying on the Empress alone is clearly not enough to counter the invasion of the Inran Empire. This is when the Elder Council comes in to "save the nation."

Naturally, saving the nation comes with conditions, in similar situations in the past, previous emperors would usually give rewards after the war; the types of rewards were varied: money, treasures, houses within a certain area, basically anything.

But as of today, these trivial rewards clearly cannot satisfy the other party; they are being more direct this time, and they have already secretly discussed what kind of benefits the Empress should provide: she doesn't need to provide too much, it's enough for the Empress to offer herself!

According to the reports from the undercover agents, those guys have already started to decide on candidates in secret, to see who is most suitable to marry Isabella.

The current situation is already clear: the Elder Council is using the threat of resisting external invasion as indirect coercion to force Isabella to marry, hoping to transform and add the title of "Empress's husband" to their arsenal; with the assistance of this title, their plan to sideline the royal family from within can be implemented more smoothly.

Isabella's response was straightforward, and she scoffed directly, saying, "I can protect the nation myself, there's no need to worry about foreign insects. I would rather clean up internally and contain the power of the Senate before the upcoming external war!"

Sister Glasses wanted just this sentence, she resisted her sleepiness and came to disturb Isabella in the early morning, precisely to help fulfill her wish.

Now that the other party's enthusiastic attitude had emerged, Sister Glasses saw that the timing was right and approached a few steps forward, looking mysterious as she said, "Your Majesty, I have an idea, inspired by the martial arts novels I have been reading in the past few days..."

"You're impressive, reading novels during work hours!"

"N-No, Your Majesty, is your focus a little off? I want to offer you a good idea."

Correcting the attitude of the officials was indeed somewhat important, but there were matters of greater urgency and importance to deal with the Senate at the moment.

Isabella thought about this and nodded, indicating that the official could continue.

After obtaining further permission, Sister Glasses began her explanation, "I have read many martial arts novels from the East and discovered that almost every book contains a classic scenario, which is the 'martial arts competition for marriage'."

Although Isabella hadn't indulged in entertainment much, she was knowledgeable after all and knew that this term was relatively new on the continent.

When the party being explained knows certain specialized vocabulary, it becomes easier to explain, and Sister Glasses's meaning could be summarized as follows:

First:

With the strong demand of local lords, Your Majesty could also organize a "martial arts competition for marriage" by posting announcements nationwide, stating that you intend to settle your lifelong affairs;

The final candidate for the Emperor will be determined through one-on-one matches.

Second:

The gender, age, and race of the Emperor's spouse are not restricted, and the competition will adopt a free-fighting format;

Except for disallowing group fights, participants can use various methods such as magic and hidden weapons as they please, with only one match per day.

The plan proposed by Sister Glasses was intended to lure the members of the Senate, and the second rule was clearly tailored for those of the demon race.

It seemed that the demon race had an advantage in participating;

Considering Dibiles' semi-closed nature and the absence of foreign powerhouses in the competition;

As long as there weren't any formidable external figures, it was almost a sure victory for the Senate in the end.

Was the situation really like this? Of course not!

Sister Glasses couldn't possibly betray the Empress, which was why she proposed the third rule.

On the arena, a few demon race participants would come to realize:

The last obstacle standing in front of them would be the Empress herself, and only by defeating her head-on could matters regarding marriage be settled.

The above was the content of the third rule, which could be understood differently: participants who cannot defeat Isabella are all considered failures;

And because punches and swords are blind in the process of the competition, the authorities would release a statement beforehand:

The royal family is not responsible for any injuries or accidents that occur during the one-on-one matches, and the participants are at the mercy of fate.

Which "fate" specifically are they at the mercy of?

It is Isabella, the "heaven" of the empire, who truly has the power to decide the life and death of the Senate.

The strategy of martial arts recruitment put the Senate in a delicate situation:

If any of them wants to marry Isabella and seize the imperial power, they have to go through a fair fight.

Once any demon or a few demons enter the arena, Isabella can, as a matter of course, eliminate the "thorn in her side" who came to challenge her one by one.

There is a rule that only allows one duel per day, which means Isabella doesn't have to deal with "war of attrition". After disposing of one target in a day, she can rest well.

Then, the next day, she moves on to eliminate the next target.