Chapter 133: |
Princess Vivian of the Duke of Carta was not found in the palace of the first prince of the imperial palace. Even after he hatched his plan to kill all of the imperial family, he kept her alive just in case.
Leonis, who found Princess Carta in a hiding place during the search for Michael’s remnants, sent Vivian to the Duke of Carta as promised.
All of the dukes except Leonis and the Duke of Carta had died, so the high-ranking aristocratic society, which had lost its centre point, was shaking. The Duke of Carta still remains, but the Duke of Carta, preoccupied with restoring his daughter, did not play a role.
It was the Marquis of Montague who naturally came forward to them.
The Marquis of Montague was a man who kept silent in the Duchy of Cardian even when other high-ranking nobles were talking profanely.
They don’t know how they accepted it, but the conservative aristocrats seemed to have judged that it was aristocratic.
It is said that he maintained the dignity of a nobleman without being shaken by any words.
The Duke of Carta had already announced that he would appoint Leonis as emperor. The Young Duke of Carta, Prince Carta, also joined Leonis’s side, revealing the same intention in public.
The Marquis of Montague also expressed his support for the accession of Leonis to the throne, representing the will of the conservative aristocracy.
Orkhan was not a good emperor, but he did the right thing by finding his body and holding a funeral for him. The other two princes and Princess Amelia were the same.
The imperial palace, which was completely destroyed by Michael’s conspiracy this time, was destroyed when Michael used the explosion magic circle, and the aftermath spread throughout the palace. So, the West Concubine completely collapsed, and the rest of the buildings were evaluated as being able to collapse.
Naturally, this led to speculation about relocating the capital away from Lagann to another place.
Even before he took the throne, Leonis was open to the idea of moving the capital to Asylus, and he readily agreed.
Only about one-fifth of it had collapsed, but it was an imperial palace with an ancient temple buried underneath it. By presenting it to the church, Leonis satisfied the god of heaven and left over the demolition and repair of the imperial palace.
When the Pope heard that an ancient church was hidden in the basement of the imperial palace, his eyes changed, and he happily accepted it.
The Cardian in Asylus was originally a huge building comparable to the Imperial Palace. The decision to extend this to the level of the imperial palace made Asylus busier.
He was planning to get busier in order to establish a new empire by setting up various buildings related to administration and the buildings where ministers come and go.
Michael’s execution was decided at the trial of the nobles, without Leonis present. His wrists and ankles were bound with the same kinds of restraints that are applied to priests and paladins who have sinned.
This was to prevent him from exerting their divine power. Since it was equally exerted against the divine power of the imperial family, it was suitable for use against Michael in order to restrain him.
Many people attended the trial not only in the trap of the imperial palace, but they also did so in order to exact revenge for the families whose members had been kidnapped and sacrificed using experimental materials.
Michael shouted to bring Leonis to the end, but it ended with his head being cut off on the execution table.
His corpse was once offered on the altar of the Church of the God of Heaven under the watchful eye of High Priest Hillion. When it seemed clear that the divine beast had taken something from his corpse, it was then incinerated and dumped in the swamp.
Michael’s mother, the first empress Nell, did not return to the empire until the day that her son would be executed. Even though she heard that his body was dumped in the swamp, she reluctantly joined the party.
She was well-liked by the king of a small kingdom who defected to the country, and when she tried to create a new faction to ostracise the queen, she was poisoned.
Karen, the second empress and Giel’s mother has quietly returned to her own family—her posthumous family. She was honoured as the empress of a former emperor and sympathised with those around her as a person who had lost her husband and her child.
Since Giel has always been in a position to step back from the battle for the throne, Karen was preparing for Giel’s withdrawal to become emperor.
She was the mother of a daughter who ended up marrying into a remote kingdom. Having bought a castle in that kingdom and moved there, she reigned as the queen of society in that kingdom and spent her later years comfortably.
Lucy did not return to Lagann even after hearing rumours of Michael’s trial but returned to Lagann after he was executed.
She went to Amelia’s grave and laid flowers on it. No one was looking at the grave of the Hermos Imperial family anymore, but the tomb was built as solidly as the emperor and the other two princes.
Lucy, grateful for that fact, carefully cleaned the grave and left. And she bought a small building with the settlement money he received from Zeppel.
At that time, it was a time when many people gathered in Lagann to demolish the building on the site of the imperial palace and restore the old temple.
Lucy opened a bakery selling meal bread to those people. Since many of the aristocrats in the capital had gone to the north, Lagann was gradually becoming a commoner.
Now, Lagann won’t be quite as flashy as it was in the past. But there were a lot fewer people begging for money, and the streets were a lot livelier than they had been before.
It was because there were not enough workers to restore the temple right now. However, those who have accumulated experience while working there will be able to find another job based on that experience.
The weather was warming up at the end of winter. Sensing the approaching spring already, Lucy opened her chest.
Spring was also arriving in the empire.
✦ ✦ ✦
Asylus rarely blooms early. It was one of the largest cities in the empire, but because it was a territory belonging to the north, it was a late-blooming area.
The petals, which were scattered through the air, were sometimes red and other times white, like snow. Penina, also known as the “flower of the poor” and the “flower of the priest’, was in full bloom.
When Leonis ascended the throne, he made the Penina flower the national flower. Although it grows well anywhere and has strong vitality, it is a flower that is helpful to many people because it is not poisonous.
Making this flower the national flower also meant that they would not forget politics for the poor.
Since the capital was changed from Lagann to Asylus, many nobles moved to Asylus. Thanks to this, Asylus became a bigger city than before, and it was more crowded than ever before.
It was all the more so because the emperor’s coronation ceremony was to be held as soon as spring arrived.
Before he was formally crowned, Leonis had already ascended to the throne and won the support of many aristocrats. It was scheduled to show the appearance of the emperor in front of many people, as well as the appearance of the empress and divine beast.
The divine beast had to undergo training without being able to resist Leonis even once because of the work of the day Celia was in danger. The same could be said for the knights who escorted Celia.
Their skills have improved significantly, but when they returned to Celia, their faces were exhausted. Even after she asked them what kind of training they had undergone, they only avoided answering with a pale face.
On the day that Leonis officially ascended the throne and Celia became empress, congratulatory delegations from various kingdoms were supposed to be sent to celebrate the emperor’s ascension to the throne.
While Celia greeted the envoys, she was delighted to receive a letter from a kind person.
[To my beloved sister.]
From the first phrase alone, Celia was able to guess who the sender was. Even a throwaway phrase like “like her older sister” showed that Lily had put in a lot of effort into her letters.
Lily noticed that she was always wondering if she could call Celia her sister, since their mother was different.
Celia knew Lily to leave the empire and that she would live well, but she couldn’t help but be anxious about her. Even though she took a lot of money, it was not easy for her to settle down and live in a new and unfamiliar place.
[When I heard that my sister had married the Duke of Cardian and was doing well in life, it was a relief to me. On the other hand, after learning that the situation was dire, I started to consider going back to the Empire.]
In the letter that Lily sent to Celia, she expressed her concern that if she returned, she would be a burden to Celia. And while she was considering it, it seemed that Michael had committed treason and that news had spread that he was fighting against the Duke of Cardian.
[I prayed for my sister every day in a situation that was going by so quickly. I’m weak in my faith, but you are a good sister, so I thought God would hear my voice.]
IIf she had listened to the rumours about Michael’s treachery, she would have also heard that Celia had called upon the divine beast and become a saintess.
[While my older sister was going through a lot of hardship, I met a good person named Joshua, and I eventually married him. He is also a big reason why I couldn’t go to the empire easily, despite my sister’s hardships.]
“It’s……”
Celia’s pupils widened at the unexpected content. Right now, the divine beast is not by Celia’s side. He was running around in the garden with the ladies-in-waiting.
Even though Leonis was sarcastic in clarifying his forms, whether he was a dog or a cat, the divine beast firmly mingled with the maids. Celia didn’t bother with it either.
So, the only ones who were by her side now were Celia’s closest aides, her handmaids. Miline, who could not contain her excitement at the prospect of playing with the divine beast, was currently frolicking in the garden.
‘She is married……Lily was the main character?’
It was Lily who never gave her heart to Leonis in the original storyline. She had nothing but hatred for him, even though there were times when she did feel some compassion for her enemies.
So, Celia developed feelings for Leonis and did not have any guilt regarding Lily. Actually, this marriage talk came to Celia from the beginning.
In addition, it was all the more so because she knew from the plot of the original story that the continent would be ruined if Lily and Leonis were together.
‘Still, I thought that Lily was going to end up with somebody else…’
[I was thinking that I would like to send news sometime after I have properly settled down here. I was simply putting it off with the excuse that I did not want to be a burden to my sister.]
Lily’s story was about her married life. She was already pregnant, and she said the babies in her belly were twins.
The Marquis of Montague would never accept these children, so there was also a note written to the Marquis family asking her not to spread this news.
[I’m happy here. I trust my sister, but trusting my sister’s people is another matter, so I’m sorry I can’t tell you where I live and who I married.]
Then, Lily promised that one day, when the children all grew up and became adults, she would come to the empire and greet her family. By that time, she said she thought that the Marquis of Montague would have given up on herself too.
If she could ask Leonis’ people to track down this letter, within a few weeks she would know where Lily lived.
But Celia decided not to do that.
‘If you are healthy and if you’re happy… I’ll do whatever it is you want.’
She spent several pages of her letter writing about the hopes and dreams she had for her future children, as well as her pride in her husband, friends, and life in general.
The part that was cleverly left out without knowing the details was clever, like Lily.
She was the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranking aristocratic family, and she was a Lily who never had any real friends. Celia was relieved that each and every letter of her handwriting seemed to radiate happiness.
Any attempt to forcefully intervene in her life was something she thought she would not do.
She thought she had the power to protect Lily now, but the Marquis of Montague was a persistent man when it came to his decision. In addition to that, he was someone who did not give up the aristocratic attitude that he had always maintained.
His attitude could have brought unhappiness to Lily’s life and to her husband. According to the letter, Lily’s husband seemed to be the illegitimate son of a commoner or aristocrat, so it was all the more so.
Celia carefully folded Lily’s letter and tucked it away in her jewellery box. She promised that she would keep in touch starting with this letter, so letters will pile up in this jewellery box one after another.
‘But it’s unfortunate that I can’t send a letter from my side.’
She thought that Lily would know how she was living, so she could send a letter like this, but she did, and it was true that she was disappointed.
Celia thought of Lily, who was far away, as she closed the lid of her jewellery box. She wanted her to be happy with someone she loved and who loved her.
Just like her.
