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In the heart of the well laid-out, orderly streets of Grancia—the brand new capital of the Bardimian Empire—towered an enormous castle that glared down at its surroundings in all 360 degrees. The castle grounds were so spacious that a mid-tier city could fit within. Surrounding it were walls and moats respectively thicker and deeper than the ones around the capital.
Due to its sheer size and heavy security, Yuliana found herself still waiting at the city gate a whole hour after she appeared and declared, “I want to meet with the emperor.”
“They’re not even going to bother telling us if there’s any progress?” complained Sharlo.
Shouzou replied, “Normally, we would have just been refused on the spot. We should probably take the fact that it’s taking so long as proof that the emperor is preparing something.”
Currently, Shouzou, Yuliana, and Sharlo were at the imperial capital. Silvia’s teleportation magic had dropped them off at a location close to the capital, and then they had made their way over on foot.
The Ketora siblings also wanted to come along, but Shouzou had turned them down. It would unnecessarily put the other side on their guard if they brought two Platinum class adventurers along. But these three weren’t alone; the rest of their group was standby in a hidden location.
After waiting for twenty more minutes, finally the permission for an audience was granted. When they passed through the gate, they were subjected to a body search. None of them had any weapons on them in the first place, so there was nothing to confiscate. However, they were also made to put on some strange bracelets, which probably served to seal their magic.
They traveled to the vast castle by carriage, then, upon proceeding inside, they eventually arrived at a spacious hall roughly the size of a public gymnasium. The ceiling and walls were lit so brightly that the artificial light seemed to push back the moonlight shining through the gigantic skylight.
Shouzou and company made their way down the glossy, slick floor under the eyes of over a hundred soldiers armed to the teeth standing in ranks. Before long, they found themselves before a throne positioned on top of a 20-step dais.
“Why have you returned at such a late hour, my daughter, Yuliana?” A heavy and grave voice descended upon them from the man sitting on the throne at the top of the dais.
His masculine face looked so young that he could easily be mistaken for being in his 20s. However, according to the information that Shouzou had heard, this man was over 60. The sharpness of his eyes surpassed even those of Jilk Goldas, who was on the level of a Platinum adventurer.
The image of him sitting with an elbow resting on an armrest, a fist propping up his face, and legs crossed was extremely disrespectful. There was no smile on his face. He was simply looking down at Yuliana with such an air of intimidation that if looks could kill, she would already be dead. This was the emperor of the Bardimian Empire, Emperor Rudolf von Bardimial, in the flesh.
“I offer my deepest apologies for visiting at this late hour, Your Imperial Majesty, but this matter is urgent.” Yuliana got down on one knee and bowed her head.
Shouzou and Sharlo followed suit.
“Is that so? A matter of such import as to disturb my sleep, I see. Have you brought me news of something greatly interesting in the kingdom?”
“Before that, Father Emperor—” Yuliana lifted her face, and directed a glare toward Emperor Rudolf. “Are you not surprised to see me return safe and sound?”
Without moving even an eyebrow or changing the expression on his face, Rudolf replied, “I have no interest in your life or death. Enough of this trivial topic. Speak your piece.”
Yuliana gnashed her teeth. She was hoping she would shake her father up, but she only ended up getting herself insulted. However, she took a deep breath, reminding herself that there’d be no point if she allowed herself to be shaken. Right now, as agreed in the previous discussion with Shouzou, what she had to do was crack his expressionless face, even if that meant acting the part of a fool.
Yuliana stood up. So did Shouzou and Sharlo from their positions behind her.
Sharlo took one step forward. When he was lined up right next to her, Yuliana threw her eyes wide open, then shouted, “Allow me... to introduce my boyfriend!”
Discomposure ran through the soldiers that were lined up. Although they kept their mouths shut, the atmosphere filled with killing intent had become replaced with one tainted with perplexment. However, Rudolf’s expression remained unchanged. He glared at the soldiers with an ice-cold gaze in rebuke. The slightly loosened up atmosphere returned to being tense.
“This is the First Prince of the Kingdom of Alsbeit, His Royal Highness Sharlo Alsbeit. As we have decided that we will officially be in a romantic relationship, I have asked him to come give his greetings to Your Imperial Majesty.”
Sharlo bowed in greeting without saying anything.
During the briefing, Hanna, who was a part of the stay-behind group, had given him strict orders to “not say even a single word!” Depending on how the situation played out, conversation might become necessary. But at the moment, Sharlo did not think well of the emperor. Or rather, he had so much that he wanted to say to the man who had just tried to have Yuliana killed off. He was doing his best to keep all of that bottled up inside.
Rudolf took a long look at Sharlo, then shifted his eyes back to Yuliana. “Does this mean the kingdom has agreed to the marriage talks?”
“No, we have yet to inform King Alsbeit.”
“Then why have you come here first? I had entrusted the entire matter to you. Returning halfway through to present a progress report is but a waste.”
“I beg to differ. Prince Sharlo has promised me that he would convince King Alsbeit, even if he had to put his life on the line. In the first place, the king had been supportive of the talks throughout the entire process. As such, I believe his acceptance to already be all but confirmed. However,” continued Yuliana while adding emphasis to her tone, “The situation has changed a bit, such that we have determined that asking for Your Imperial Majesty’s approval of our association takes higher priority. And so we have made our way over in haste to present ourselves accordingly.”
Rudolf prompted her to continue with a jerk of his chin.
Yuliana swallowed once, then declared, “Prince Sharlo has no intention of succeeding the throne of the kingdom.”
The previously silent surroundings abruptly fell into an even more pronounced hush.
“As such, Prince Sharlo will be marrying into our family instead.”