Chapter 168: The Submission of the Forest Elves!
Cilia stood beside Auréliane, frozen in place, mouth hanging open, not daring to make a single sound.
Those words... were they sothing she was supposed to hear?
Suddenly, as though sothing had occurred to her, she hurriedly turned her head to look at the Maidservants around them.
Words like these absolutely could not be allowed to spread!
Fortunately, those Maidservants hadn't even glanced over in this direction, their expressions perfectly composed—the very picture of having heard nothing whatsoever.
Playing deaf and dumb was the na of the ga.
After all, Auréliane had always treated these Maidservants well, so they naturally had no reason to stir up trouble for their mistress.
Cilia blinked, and could only stamr out a reply:
"Y—Your Highness..."
"This subordinate... doesn't understand such matters..."
Speaking of these things inside the Imperial Palace was already an act of grave disrespect.
Even if Auréliane was a Princess—the Emperor's most beloved child.
But after all, His Majesty Emperor Aubrey still sat upon the throne.
Words spoken so plainly were tantamount to declaring one's own designs on the Imperial seat.
Not even the 2 Princes dared to utter such dangerous remarks.
In the minds of the overwhelming majority of people, the Imperial throne passed to sons, not daughters.
From the founding of the Empire to the present day, it had passed through 8 Emperors.
Every single one had been male.
What basis was there for a Princess to rule as regent?
Let alone... to beco an Empress.
Unless the Princess could beco as powerful as His Majesty the current Emperor—or even more powerful still.
Capable, through her own strength alone, of suppressing every voice and act of defiance.
Cilia absolutely dared not say another word.
Auréliane narrowed her eyes, seeming to grow sowhat drowsy.
"Is that so..."
The Cilia standing beside her didn't dare say more either, and could only quietly lower her head, her body trembling ever so slightly.
But very soon, Cilia could no longer hear Auréliane's voice.
She carefully raised her head and stole a glance at Auréliane.
The Princess was lying peacefully atop that transparent, slowly swirling whirlwind, sleeping soundly with a soft whoosh, whoosh.
Two faint blushes flickered across her face, and her slightly chubby baby-fat cheeks made her look utterly adorable.
Cilia watched her in silence, yet the look in her eyes was incomparably complex.
Setting aside Auréliane's identity as a Princess, the young Highness was, in the end, nothing more than a girl of 15 or 16.
She should by rights have been living a carefree, innocent life.
And yet, right now, she seed to be forcing herself to shoulder sothing extraordinarily difficult.
"I refuse!"
From within the Clavena garden, a stubborn voice suddenly rang out from among the flower beds.
Cocotte, like a pigheaded mule, tilted her head to one side, pouted her lips to the other, and planted herself on her cloud like a great immovable Buddha—utterly unmoved no matter what anyone said.
She glared at the man in front of her with profound dissatisfaction, raising her voice:
"You literally just said that as long as I helped you, I wouldn't have to work anymore!"
"This is coercion! I'm going to go complain to Aubrey about you!"
Viktor stood with both hands in his pockets, expression blank, watching this forr Mage Council mber and professional layabout with perfect calm.
"My answer remains the sa: as an employee of the Clavena Family, you have an obligation to work for ."
"Moreover, the person you'll be accompanying and protecting this ti happens to be the Emperor's own daughter."
"In simple terms, you won't just be working for this ti—you'll also be working for the Emperor."
The unspoken implication was plain enough: go ahead and complain if you like.
Let's see whether the Emperor considers his daughter more important, or your sleep schedule.
Cocotte gritted her teeth, threw one arm across her front, furrowed her brows, and glared at Viktor like a little dog guarding its food.
"You!"
"You think that'll make agree?!"
"I'm telling you, I absolutely refuse!"
Viktor replied in that sa utterly unruffled tone.
"If you won't behave, I'll send you back ho."
"Wuuuu, fine, I'll agree, alright!"
Today's debate: victor, Viktor; defeated, Cocotte.
Having dealt with this stubborn mule, Leah slowly walked over from the side and said to Viktor:
"All those Demi-humans have gathered... so what exactly do you plan to do?"
"Take them on a trip sowhere far."
Viktor replied with that sa detached brevity.
Hearing Viktor's short answer, Leah let out a helpless expression, pressing a hand to her forehead with a sigh:
"You're leaving again? How many days this ti?"
Viktor turned to look at Leah and said, unhurriedly:
"If you miss , you only need to use this."
Viktor reached out a hand and lightly tapped Leah's glove.
Leah didn't pull away from Viktor's outstretched hand, but her body tilted slightly backward, as though she found it a little distasteful.
Her cheeks flushed a faint red, like apples just beginning to ripen, and she gently turned her head away.
"How old do you think I am—you think I'd actually miss you?"
"I'm not that sentintal."
Viktor gave a nod and didn't bother responding further to his little sister's tsundere act.
Leah, however, seed to think of sothing, stealing a sideways glance at Viktor and giving a soft cough.
"Ahem—right, does Heni know you're leaving?"
"Her condition lately hasn't looked all that great."
Viktor seed entirely unbothered, responding in his unhurried manner:
"I already gave her advance notice."
Heni's condition was well within what he had anticipated.
After learning the truth that she was not human, Heni would naturally need so ti to doubt herself.
Once she could fully co to terms with the reality of her own identity, she would gradually be able to erge from that self-doubting spiral of internal wear.
And she would beco stronger than before.
Furthermore, Viktor had already returned the thoroughly well-fed Laiton to Heni.
For this departure, he intended to bring Cocotte along.
If anything unexpected arose at ho, there was still Laiton to stand guard.
A black wind drifted up from the sky, and Viktor slowly raised his head to look toward the horizon.
A black Crow ca gliding down from the sky.
It circled a few tis before landing steadily on Viktor's shoulder.
The Crow's mysterious and profound solitary eye gathered a nearly imperceptible gleam of light, and its beak opened and closed beside Viktor's ear, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Everything is ready."
"Though I don't quite understand your motivation."
Viktor kept both hands in his pockets and walked quietly out of the garden.
As he walked, he replied to Weija:
"Demi-humans are easy to control—you should know that."
Weija gave an affirming nod.
To beco a Follower, the fundantal requirent was a sincerity of the heart—a completely genuine devotion to a God.
And Weija, being... a Crow whose daily existence amounted to nothing but eating, sleeping, and reading its Spicy Storybook—no one was acquainted with its divine na.
Habika's true na was rare enough that no nation's records could unearth its history.
After all, this ancient God of imnse age was no benevolent entity whatsoever.
Even those who knew would absolutely never commit it to any historical record for the world to learn of.
So naturally, it was exceedingly difficult for anyone to truly and wholeheartedly believe in Weija.
After all, they didn't even know what kind of God Weija was, or what it presided over.
And so, Viktor had been forced to find another path entirely.
Therefore...
"Demi-humans beca the best choice."
After rembering that the Empire still harbored Demi-human slaves, Viktor had imdiately recognized these beings—similar to humans yet distinct from them.
They equally possessed intelligence and thought, but compared to the endlessly complex web of human relationships, they were far simpler.
In the world of Demi-humans, there was only living.
Living was their sole purpose, and for the sake of it, they would seize every shred of hope that might let them survive.
This applied just as much to Demi-human slaves.
And once a God with genuine power appeared—if all it took was belief in that God for Demi-humans to live better lives, the Demi-humans would willingly offer up their faith of their own accord.
They had no reason to refuse a better life.
A blue light flickered within Weija's eyes—the gleam that symbolized wisdom.
"No wonder."
"From the mont you first encountered those Demi-human slaves, you had already begun formulating this plan."
Making an enemy of the Rether Family and threatening them—threatening the rchant family most deeply involved in trafficking Demi-human slaves.
Using that to acquire a vast quantity of weapons, equipnt, and funding, then bringing the Demi-human-composed legion entirely into the open.
"But would the Empire allow it?"
"Whether or not they allow it doesn't matter. What matters is how the future Emperor will think."
Viktor's tone was calm yet utterly without room for doubt, drifting out quietly.
Weija widened its single eye ever so slightly.
"Overthrowing the sovereign authority of a powerful nation? Interesting."
"Viktor, you're far more reckless than I imagined."
And so—what would Weija do?
"Choosing you was the most correct choice I ever made."
As those words faded, sothing that looked like a touch of madness seed to enter Weija's eye as well.
If humans couldn't be relied upon, then why not switch to a different race entirely.
For Weija, it didn't matter who its Followers were.
What mattered was simply that it had those Followers.
"It's ti to go."
The Coat on Viktor's back swayed faintly in the air—but after only a mont, that gentle sway turned into a wild, frenzied dance.
"We need to go pick soone up."
The mont those words fell.
The breeze seed to transform into a savage, raging beast, its entire form erupting from the ground.
It whipped up a violent storm, churning and spinning the dust rolling across the earth, spiraling upward into the sky.
Dense black clouds gathered overhead, as though blotting out the radiance of the blazing sun.
The heavy clouds were swept by the gale into an enormous swirling vortex of air, twisting ceaselessly—like a colossal eye that had opened, lending the scene several more shades of sothing uncanny.
Leah and Cocotte stood just behind Viktor, feeling the dark wind gusting relentlessly against them.
That wild air tugged at their collars again and again. Bracing against the fierce storm, they couldn't help but stare, dumbstruck, at Viktor's back.
Behind Viktor, there seed to be an enormous shadow—pitch-black and phantasmal, the silhouette of a Crow—shuddering ceaselessly beneath the sky.
It grew larger and larger, until its form had solidified completely, and it pulled back its beak into a sinister grin, gazing up at the heavens.
Arrogance, contempt, pride.....
Those emotions poured into that wicked smile all at once, saturating the heavy, oppressive air.
At this mont, the sky above the Royal Capital grew darker than it had ever been before.
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