STE 03

Chapter 03

It had been a little over a week since Tethys had become engaged to Romain.

He had persuaded her with sweet words about wanting to become closer as her fiancé, without bothering with the cumbersome formalities expected between them.

Tethys had fallen for it far too easily.

She had shyly blushed as she asked him to treat her not as a Princess, but as his fiancée.

It was an unpleasant and disgusting memory, but in a situation like this, it naturally came back to her.

Nevertheless, Tethys buried the bitter memory deep within her heart and walked straight toward him without hesitation.

His distinctive musk scent wafted toward her, familiar as ever.

As always, the strong fragrance that assaulted her sense of smell made her brow instinctively furrow, but Tethys showed nothing on the outside.

She knelt down and kissed the fingertips of the hand he had carelessly extended to her, as though granting alms.

“…I greet Your Imperial Majesty.”

The Empress knelt on the cold floor that radiated a chill.

Perhaps the sight was quite amusing.

“Pfft, what shall we do?”

Penelope, who was still sitting on Romain’s thigh, giggled and wrapped her arms around his sturdy neck.

The sight was humiliating enough to make anyone uncomfortable, and the people around them began to murmur.

Yet neither of the two people directly involved even batted an eye.

Soon, a satisfied sneer appeared on Romain’s lips as well.

“That will suffice. Take your seat.”

He indicated a place beside him with nothing more than the tip of his chin.

Without answering, Tethys rose and climbed up to the seat of honor.

Penelope got up from his lap with a slightly sulky expression.

But that lasted only for a moment.

As though to show that she was the mistress of this place, she began skillfully ordering the attendants around.

“Silence!”

Perhaps that was some kind of signal.

A short while later, the chamberlain raised his voice and brought the gathering to order.

When the hall finally became quiet, Romain rose from his seat.

“This year, an unprecedented number of guests have come from various nations for My birthday banquet. Countess Troia went to considerable trouble preparing and decorating both Treve Palace and Creta Palace.”

“It was my honor, Your Majesty.”

Penelope immediately replied and bowed her head, as though she had been waiting for the praise for her efforts.

Romain gave her a pleased look for a moment before continuing elegantly.

“They say that people gather around a benevolent Emperor. An incompetent Emperor, on the other hand, cannot easily find even someone willing to listen to him.”

Before usurping the throne under the pretext of a rebellion, Romain had been the captain of the Imperial Guard.

But that position had only been secured through the influence of the Prime Minister Yanulis and his status as the Princess’s fiancé.

His actual martial prowess was nothing remarkable.

Instead, there was something else about him that was much stronger.

For example—

“Isn’t that right, Empress? Since you were the former Emperor’s daughter, you should know better than anyone.”

That mouth.

That vicious way with words, capable of ensnaring and tormenting whoever listened to him, was his true weapon.

“Gasp!”

“How could he say something like that…?”

Romain was insulting the former Emperor with a smile on his face.

By openly bringing up his nonexistent rebellion as justification for usurping the throne, he was simultaneously mocking Tethys.

Her already pale face grew even more rigid.

But perhaps he had never actually expected an answer from her, because he withdrew his attention and naturally continued speaking.

“In any case, since so many invited guests have come from nations across the continent to celebrate, it is only proper that Carnes repay them for their goodwill.”

“Coincidentally, I have prepared something quite interesting.”

Just as Countess Troia rose from her seat with a proud expression, as though she had been waiting for this very moment—

BANG!

Before she could even begin speaking, the enormous doors of the banquet hall suddenly flew open, and someone came rushing inside as though they had nearly fallen.

People began murmuring at the sight of a priest who had run so hard that his white tunic was a complete mess.

“A priest at a gathering like this?”

“I doubt His Majesty invited the Temple to his birthday banquet.”

“But what is that in his hand?”

The whispers grew louder.

Then, after finally catching his breath, the priest lifted his head.

“Your Majesty! A divine oracle from Aria has been revealed!”

The entire hall fell silent.

Romain glared at the priest with cold eyes.

“…An oracle?”

As the initial confusion gradually subsided, the nobles could not hide their strange excitement despite carefully watching Romain’s reaction.

“Does that mean the voice of the Goddess has been heard for the first time in decades?”

Perhaps because the priest’s identity was unquestionably legitimate, the people in the hall were surprised, but their reaction was not particularly negative.

Romain, however, looked thoroughly displeased.

“…What does this oracle matter?”

“To barge into a gathering without permission… Even if you are from the Aria Order, this is quite rude.”

Following Romain’s unfriendly attitude, Penelope joined in as well.

As the tension in the hall grew taut, the people finally remembered that the Emperor had kept his distance from the Temple ever since ascending the throne.

They promptly fell silent.

“Huff… Hoo… This is… a message from the Archbishop.”

Yet those who belonged to the religious order considered themselves servants of the divine.

The priest, who believed himself to have been entrusted with a sacred mission, did not appear particularly intimidated by the authority of the human Emperor.

“The oracle of Aria has been bestowed upon the Imperial Family. Yet Aria’s profound will is that it be proclaimed to all.”

The priest straightened his back and looked directly at Romain, as though determined not to forget the duty entrusted to him.

“What are you—”

Romain noticed that something was wrong and attempted to stop him.

But before he could, the priest untied the thick cloth tucked against his chest and revealed it to everyone.

Upon Aria’s unmarked cloth, which was used only for matters of great national importance and affairs upon which the fate of the country depended, the Archbishop’s seal was clearly stamped.

But even more important was the oracle embroidered upon the cloth.

Its contents were impossible to ignore.

[The child born to the Empress of the Carnes Empire shall become the sovereign who unifies the continent of Para.]

Countless gazes instantly turned toward Tethys.

This oracle had been bestowed upon the Empress who had reappeared after six months.

The gathering had clearly been arranged to humiliate the Empress who had returned from Armus.

Yet with a single line of prophecy, the entire atmosphere had been completely overturned.

The Empress who had been nothing more than an object of ridicule moments ago had now become someone whose value had to be calculated.

As for Tethys herself, she found the situation somewhat amusing.

But regardless of how she felt, the hall was already filled with people talking about her.

“Could that oracle really be true?”

“The child born to the Empress will become the sovereign….”

“Could it mean that the lost power of the Imperial Family can be restored? If so, then the Empire is destined to experience another glorious age.”

Most of the reactions were favorable.

And it was so obvious that even the person at the center of all the attention could easily recognize it.

If the Empress had to give birth to a child, then Romain would naturally become the other party involved.

His expression grew increasingly fierce, in stark contrast to Tethys’s calm, impassive face.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty!”

The shock that had struck the gathering lasted only a moment.

The people of Carnes, having accepted the proclamation of the great god, all bowed their heads at once.

“Congratulations!”

“This is the greatest gift His Majesty could have received for his birthday banquet! Congratulations!”

The word of the divine was absolute.

Therefore, it meant that the glory of Carnes would no longer be confined to the Empire.

It would come to dominate the entire continent.

The excited whispers of the nobles mixed with the hurried conversations of foreign envoys speaking in their respective languages, creating a great commotion throughout the hall.

Tethys’s gaze, which had remained fixed on the unmarked cloth for some time, slowly shifted toward Romain.

There, she met the gaze of Romain, who had apparently been staring at her for who knew how long.

Looking at his beautiful face no longer stirred anything within Tethys.

But watching his expression change from moment to moment was another matter entirely.

And for the briefest instant, contempt and revulsion flashed across the Emperor’s face.

Tethys’s eyes widened slightly.

It was not merely displeasure at the unexpected oracle.

She had discovered something far more fundamental.

“Ah.”

The corners of her lips curled upward ever so slightly—so subtly that no one else noticed.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Perhaps because of the excitement rising within her, it seemed as though she could hear her heartbeat growing louder and louder.

“Pfft….”

Tethys had to desperately restrain herself from bursting into laughter.

Yet the certainty she had gained from his expression sent shivers through her entire body, making it incredibly difficult to conceal her emotions.

A deep, overwhelming joy rose from within her and made Tethys unusually exhilarated.

And really, how could she not find it amusing?

That man.

That devil…

After turning Tethys’s life into hell, he was disgusted by her.

‘Ah, Romain….’

Lending you this body for a moment so I can plunge a knife into that neck of yours would be no great hardship.

But if you are going to help me like this…

I have no choice but to live up to your expectations.