Chapter 19: Unrest
Year 835 of the Falling Stars Era, March 17th, Imperial Capital Three Mountains Holy City, Evening, Light Snow.
A new year had arrived, passing amidst the drifting white snow. The streets of the Imperial Capital were quiet, save for the clinking of armor from patrolling guards and the sound of a few people clearing snow from their doorways.
But unlike this tranquil environment, in the first year after the Dragon Calamity had ended and the omen of the Falling Stars had first appeared, the entire world was swept up in a fervor related to 'exploration'.
Although ordinary commoners might not know it, all high-ranking officials or powerful professionals could learn from the ruins scattered across the world and the ancient texts buried in the deepest recesses of libraries that the entire Mycroft World was actually a civilization reborn from the wreckage of an apocalypse. After the era known as the Era of Radiance ended, countless survivors emerged from their sanctuaries, staring blankly at a world that had drastically changed, and then fought against endless tides of magical beasts and monsters.
835 years had passed. The ancestors who once fought for a piece of land for their clans in the wilderness could now look with satisfaction upon humanity, which had once again occupied most of the world. Except for the vast Central Black Forest, whose center had never been explored by anyone, most of the world's land belonged to humanity. Other races had either been integrated into humanity or had migrated to distant overseas islands or deep mountains, struggling to survive.
When the cross-world teleportation portal technology was first developed, a mage from the Sky-Piercing White Tower had proudly declared that they already knew everything about the Mycroft Continent. What humanity needed now was to explore new worlds beyond the void. This arrogant yet impassioned declaration was indeed agreed upon by many at the time. But now, the situation was vastly different.
The underground world discovered by the Duchy of Romania, the overseas hiding places of the Five-Colored Dragon Clan, the massive ancient city ruins discovered around the Eastern Plains—these novel discoveries all proved that the world was still shrouded in many mists. Not to mention other things, the deep seas where the Fishmen lived, and the underground cavities that even the Dwarves hadn't fully explored, were vast unknown territories.
The cross-world teleportation array still had many shortcomings. Struck by reality, the overly ambitious mages finally lowered their heads and had to admit this point. Amidst this fervor, many small countries had already begun large-scale expansion movements into the Black Forests and mountains around them. The Duchy of Romania, which had gained massive resources from discovering the underground world and was now rapidly expanding and developing, was the model they sought to imitate. Other major powers were currently observing calmly, but privately, they had also sent out many teams for exploratory probes. The Radcliffe Family being allowed to expand their territory towards the Great Aias Mountains was part of this probing.
In the Imperial Capital, on the central commercial avenue leading to Morlai Palace, a squad of personal guards wearing black-cyan light armor quickly strode through the bustling market. The well-crafted armor made no noise except for the clanging of their greaves hitting the ground. Many citizens and merchants cast glances at these personal guards, then shrugged, lowered their heads, and stopped paying attention.
They were the Empress's personal guards.
Recently, not only the Empress, but many nobles residing in the Imperial Capital had frequently dispatched their trusted subordinates to come and go from the city, seemingly to gather information. Logically, such behavior might be acceptable in their own territories, but in the Imperial Capital, it was overstepping. This was the city where His Majesty the Emperor resided. Even the Empress absolutely could not let her personal guards swagger about so openly.
But strangely, His Majesty the Emperor, who was usually so dignified, said nothing. No, rather than saying nothing, it was more accurate to say he showed no reaction at all. This particularly puzzled the populace. However, while those above could conceal information, those below naturally had ways to find out. People who had relatives working in Morlai Palace had intermittently received some obscure news. Regardless of whether this news was true or false, one thing could be confirmed—since the New Year's ceremony presided over by His Majesty the Emperor, no one had seen him inside Morlai Palace.
—This was truly serious!
Everyone who heard this news exclaimed in surprise. They all understood the gravity of the situation and did not doubt the authenticity of the news.
One must know that the Imperial Royal Family of the Northern Empire was different from the kings of those traditional kingdoms in the Western Mountains. Morlai Palace was not a private residence for the royal family. It also housed the Imperial Grand Court, the Imperial Library, and various public facilities. As long as one obtained permission, even ordinary citizens could enter. For example, the Imperial Grand Library was open to the public for a day or two each year, where anyone could pay a fee to read freely.
Furthermore, His Majesty the Emperor never lived in the deep palace. He often went out alone to inspect the streets and occasionally sampled folk snacks—this was almost a tradition for the Northern Empire's emperors. Almost all the famous restaurants in the Imperial Capital had signs claiming that a certain emperor had dined there. They never deliberately avoided the crowds but roamed according to their own whims.
If ordinary people not seeing the emperor for a few months could be considered normal, then palace attendants not seeing the emperor for several months inside Morlai Palace could only mean that His Majesty was either severely injured and bedridden in the deep palace, or he had left the Imperial Capital and hadn't returned for a long time.
People tended to lean towards the latter explanation.
It was probably because His Majesty the Emperor had been absent for several months that the Empress and the great nobles couldn't hold back and started gathering information everywhere. The mysterious disappearance of a head of state, being able to conceal it for three months, was only thanks to the fact that it was winter and nothing major had happened. But now, the fire could no longer be contained.
Inside Morlai Palace, in the Delphic Palace where the Empress resided, personal guards wearing black-cyan light armor, their faces covered, strode quickly along the main path. Most of them stopped before the palace gate, and only the squad leader passed through the guards' inspection and entered the palace.
The palace was quiet and desolate, with only a few scattered maids dusting. This was because the current generation of the Diamond Royal Family, both the Emperor and Empress, disliked being served by many attendants. The personal guard seemed to visit frequently, so a maid temporarily set aside her work and silently led him to an open-air garden inside the palace. In the garden, a slender woman was admiring flowers in the company of several noble ladies.
Although it was winter, the interior of the palace was as warm as spring due to magic arrays. The open-air garden was even equipped with arrays to adjust humidity and light, allowing any flower to bloom at any time.
The arrays consumed a great deal of energy, as they involved the Elves' innate techniques for promoting plant growth. They consumed dozens of magic crystals every day, and each magic crystal could allow a commoner in the Imperial Capital to live comfortably for several months. This sounded very extravagant, but for the Empress, who had no other hobby besides admiring flowers, the most honored woman in the empire, it was nothing, and could even be considered frugal.
The maid had the personal guard wait at the garden entrance while she cautiously went forward to pay her respects. The slender woman in the center of the garden also noticed the guard at the entrance and dismissed the noble ladies around her, telling the maid to go and inform him.
This tall squad leader was different from his subordinates. His armor was not black-cyan but pure black. After receiving the maid's notification, the black-armored warrior, guided by her, quickly walked to the woman's side. He knelt respectfully on one knee, bowed his head, and said, "Empress Edna..."
"Spare me the pleasantries, Gennis. Tell me what you've found."
The beautiful woman named Edna slightly lowered her head, sighed wearily, and let the maid tidy her slightly loosened silver coiled hair. Her eyes were a rare light gold, with pupils slightly different from ordinary humans, but very similar to the Gold Dragons among the Metal Dragons. This meant that the Empress's ancestors might have had dragon blood, or she might even be a Gold Dragon herself.
Hearing the urgency in his master's voice, the black-armored warrior named Gennis immediately replied succinctly, "His Majesty the Emperor secretly inspected the southern fortress group with Master Nostradamus three months ago. He met with Governor Seres, who guards the southern province. Then he went to three 'Falling Star Sites' in the south. The next time he appeared was a month later, on the eastern side of the Silent Sand Sea. A group of traveling merchants saw his back from afar."
At this point, the warrior's tone carried a hint of barely perceptible disdain: "I believe His Majesty deliberately let them see him. Otherwise, how could those ordinary merchants possibly detect His Majesty's whereabouts?"
"Southern fortress, Silent Sand Sea... What is His Majesty doing there..."
Upon hearing this news, the Empress, dressed in a light-colored long dress, furrowed her brows slightly. After thinking for a moment, she continued to order, "Continue."
Gennis continued, "His Majesty's whereabouts then became extremely peculiar. One moment he was at the western border, and the next day he was deep in the Black Forest of the eastern wilderness. We've consolidated a lot of information and can only conclude that Master Nostradamus's space-time sorcery has advanced, allowing for short-range continental teleportation. Otherwise, we can't explain how His Majesty's location could change so rapidly... But in the past month, both His Majesty and the Master have completely disappeared. No one has seen them anymore."
"Teleporting all over the empire, they must be looking for something... Falling Star Sites... Is Israel interested in those things that fell from the Boundless Heaven?"
Edna tilted her head, looking at the flowers beside her. She murmured to herself with a puzzled expression, "He's already a Legendary. Those things from the previous era can't possibly be of any help to him—no, that's not necessarily true. What if the reason for his sudden recovery is that!" Her words suddenly stopped. The Empress turned to look at the black-armored warrior still respectfully kneeling on the ground: "Gennis, take a guess. Where do you think His Majesty and Master Nostradamus are now, that we can search the entire empire and not find them?"
The Empress's tone was gentle, as if she were simply asking a question. But Gennis knew that if he couldn't answer, he would certainly be punished. However, the black-armored warrior was already confident. He immediately reported, "I speculate that His Majesty and the Master are now in the Void Observatory! So everything you and the nobles have done in the three months since he left should be under His Majesty's watchful eye!"
"Is that so? Just as I thought."
This answer did not surprise Edna. She raised her head slightly, looking up at the sky. The Empress pursed her lips and made a helpless expression: "Since when did he learn to pull a trick like this... He's just a warrior who knows nothing but fighting, not romantic at all."
While the lady was complaining, the maid and the black-armored warrior remained motionless, as if they were deaf. Then, Edna said somewhat wearily, "Forget it. I haven't done anything anyway—Gennis, cancel the operation. His Majesty the Emperor doesn't mind us women engaging in courtly intrigue, but that doesn't mean we can actually act on it."
"Yes!" The black-armored warrior immediately acknowledged. Then, he was led away from the garden by the maid. Empress Edna stood alone in the garden, lost in thought.
"The situation has changed, my dear. Although I don't know when you healed your hidden injuries or when you took another step forward, I know your heart hasn't changed. You still don't want to be bound to this throne. You want to go to higher and farther places."
Casually picking a flower, the Empress, who appeared slender and fragile, like an ordinary person, suddenly ignited a bright golden light in her hand. Under the illumination of this golden light, the originally delicate violet flower began to writhe violently. In no time, the flower had turned into a small tree man. Empress Edna bent down, placed the tree man with a small flower on its head on the ground, patted its head, and murmured to herself, "But before you leave, you still support that Second Prince Di Mo Er, who is most like you... This is no longer an era of war. The empire doesn't need an emperor who is so much like you, so harsh, who, once grown, can continue to suppress all nobles for another hundred years."
And I don't need someone who isn't my son to be emperor.
The Empress's face showed not a trace of worry. She was the wife Israel took when he was conquering the four corners and subjugating the Orcs. This seemingly fragile woman was calmer and more composed than most men, and more resourceful than most women.
But at this moment, facing the overwhelming force of a Legendary expert, no matter how many plans she had, they were meaningless. If Israel still had only a few years of life left, like before, then Edna could naturally wait, wait for her dear His Majesty to pass away. But now, that was no longer possible.
Thinking this, she fell silent again for a long time. The changes in the empire's situation over the past year or two had far exceeded her imagination. Unlike Israel, who could travel freely, Edna, as the Empress, could only stay in the palace, at most walking around the Imperial Capital. So she had to wait for others to report information to her. By the time she knew, it was too late to react. For example, that Count of the North achieving Legendary status—she hadn't heard a single piece of news about it beforehand. By the time he announced the news, it was far too late to build a good relationship.
But, I heard he's recently planning to take on disciples?
Suddenly thinking of this, the Empress immediately smiled slightly. She seemed to have thought of a good idea, so she whispered to the tree man under her command, "Go to the Seventh Prince."
"Tell him there's an unprecedented opportunity."