CH 12

Waiting and Hope (Part 7)

When we arrived the Imperial Palace, I noticed Luna, who was behind me, gasp. I admit that, in terms of splendour, the huge twin eagle heads and pure gold “Long Live the King,” text was more splendid, but my Imperial Palace was built in front of the snowy mountain, so the part that appeared similar to a sharp sword piercing the sky looked greater and exuded an artistic feel. The accompanying towers that had matching colours combined with the snowy mountain and white clouds made it appear desolate. As a result, Luna was incredibly shocked.

Luna’s reaction was enough to make me feel proud. My city and my Imperial City were things I could flaunt. Luna’s reaction totally satisfied my vanity. I looked at her and, with a smile, said, “This is my Imperial Palace. It’s much inferior to the Royal Palace in Hilles City, but I’m still proud of it. You’ll be living here henceforth.”

Luna admired at the Imperial Palace before her with both surprise and envy. She said, “I can live here from now on? That is so nice…. I really like that glass path. If possible, I really want to look see everything around from above… This place really looks amazing.”

“Sure. This will be where you live from now. You can go anywhere you want once you finish your work. You could even go back and forth from the entire city. Our property isn’t limited to the Imperial City. This city is ours, as well, so you can go wherever you like.”

Luna nodded, and then carefully grabbed hold of my hand. However, as we were outside the Imperial City, Luna would be my personal servant once we entered. While she’d be by my side as my personal servant, she couldn’t cross the line with her master, for she was but a personal servant.

To Luna, the place was indeed magnificent, but it was also a place that locked our relationship away. Outside, Luna could be with me to her heart’s content, but it was impossible in the palace, because there were always eyes on us. They were protecting me, but if Luna showed any behaviour that crossed the line of her rights, then they would stop her. They would even go as far as to report her to Nier and Lucia. Though Nier and Lucia wouldn’t say anything, I knew they were bound to be very unhappy. Nier didn’t like respecting Luna due to Luna’s background. They could get along with her, but they could never accept her receiving the same treatment they did.

Luna was also aware of that, and therefore wouldn’t complain. She wouldn’t be angry or dissatisfied about it, either. She was aware of her background and everything she went through. Despite having been revived, that didn’t erase her past. She calmly accepted all of that. She knew she couldn’t be with me from the very start, so she never planned to try.

Perhaps Luna had lost hope for her life long ago. Perhaps that contributed to her reluctance to compete, allowing her to give up so easily, in turn making her easy to satisfy. While that eliminated a lot of trouble for me, I felt sorrier for Luna. The more sensible and understanding she was, the more it hurt me.

“Let’s go, Luna. You’ll be the personal servant of the King of the North from now on. After you arrive at the Imperial Palace, go find the head maid and familiarise yourself with her first. Do your best to come to me as soon as possible. Luna, I’ve had to do everything on my own since you left. The jobs I must attend to in the North are increasing, so I don’t have the time to be cleaning up. I’m glad you’re back.”

Luna nodded then smiled: “I will definitely do my best. I am your personal servant. Naturally, I will do my very best!”

“All right.”

I nodded then walked toward the Imperial Palace. The two guards at the entrance lingered when they saw me, but then doubtfully asked, “Your Majesty?”

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m back.”

I laughed. I then opened my arms just as if I was welcoming the entire North.

The entire North should come out to welcome their reborn King, because I was their King. I was the ruler of the entire North. You could say my former body wasn’t my ultimate form. However, the blood of a dragon now flowed in me. I was impervious to blades; I possessed the might of an army. That’s right. I was back. I had been reborn and reborn with a stronger body.

“From here on out, I will always be in the North. Henceforth, not only will I be a qualified King of the North, but I will also be a qualified father, husband and, of course, a qualified son in the future,” I promised myself. I thought, “Ying, Xia and my moms should be back by now. My wives should’ve caught wind of me still being alive. I can probably give them a surprise if I go back now.

========

Freya let out a breath of frustration. She then took in a deep breath and said, “Princess Lucia, Where exactly is Empress Elizabeth right now? I genuinely want to know. This is no longer between just a mother and her son. Empress Elizabeth’s presence influences the political side of things, too. After all, if the Empress of Rosvenor Empire was to meet with misfortune here in our territory, a war between the North and Rosvenor Empire will definitely erupt.”

While carrying Nona in her arms, Lucia caressed Nona’s head. Nona was gently breathing. A maid was busy wiping the corner of Vera’s mouth, since she got some liquid on it. Lucia softly replied, “Sorry, Freya, I can’t answer that, because our knowledge is limited to ‘I’m heading out,’ those three simple words. Empress Elizabeth must be in a house somewhere outside the city waiting. As for where she is, we don’t know, either.”

“Really?”

Freya looked at Lucia with a stern look. She knew that she couldn’t get anything out of Nier, because Nier was originally a Valkyrie. If Elizabeth gave the command to not tell anyone, then Nier would definitely faithfully follow the command. That was why Lucia was the only person Freya could ask.

Though Freya maintained calm when Castell confronted her, she was actually very concerned, for Castell wasn’t making a threat. What he said was factual; Empress Elizabeth was essentially the brains of the Rosvenor Empire. Her people worshipped her as a god. If something was to befall her while she was in the North, the entire Rosvenor Empire would cry for revenge. Rosvenor Empire had no special feelings for the Prince despite him being Elizabeth’s son, somebody who they couldn’t hurt. When it comes to it, the North would be facing the entire military of the Rosvenor Empire. Of course, they might also have to face the vassal states’ militaries on top of Rosvenor Empire. If it came to that, the North would be facing all of humanity in the South. The North wouldn’t even have a miniscule chance of victory in that scenario. It would be nothing more than the destruction of the North. Consequently, Freya went straight to Lucia after Castell flicked his sleeve and left.

Lucia didn’t provide Freya with a feasible response. Moreover, there was no way of countering Lucia’s response. Freya let out a heavy sigh: “Miss Lucia, I really need to know where Empress Elizabeth is. If you know, please make sure to tell me. This is no simple matter. This is truly very dangerous. If Empress Elizabeth meets with any mishap, the entire North will be thrown into a war, so I hope that you can answer me honestly as to where Empress Elizabeth is.”

“I know.” Lucia may have said that, but she didn’t seem to be concerned with it. Her attention was still on whether or not Nona was full.

Freya sat there blankly for a while before realising that she couldn’t say anything. Hence, she left. Upon entering the corridor, she irritably scratched before looking at her hand. She had a few strands of her long hair in her hand. She was starting to feel concerned due to losing her hair recently. She was very confident with her intelligence. Up until then she had yet to run into anything that made her scratch her head; unfortunately, three things aggravated her in the month. First, there were the malignant consequences of her going on a rampage. Second, Nara continuously asked to have her loan repaid, and now then was Troy. They were things she couldn’t resolve. As for Elizabeth, she couldn’t possibly place her under house arrest. Elizabeth left on her own volition, but if something happened to her, the entire North would be held responsible. It was an extremely unreasonable consequence, but it was also perfectly acceptable. She could only sum it up as, “The North became extremely abnormal after Onii-sama left.”

“Everybody around Onii-sama does some weird things when Onii-sama is not around. I, for one, did, and now it’s Empress Elizabeth’s turn,” Freya silently remarked.

She sighed. All she could do was look forward to her Onii-sama’s return. Everything could return to normal after he returned. All she had to do was await his return.

Suddenly, a group of maids quickly walked over in the corridor. All of them wore cheerful smiles. They were making quite a scene as if an esteemed guest who required the entire Imperial Palace’s attention had arrived. Freya observed the maids in front of her. Confused, she pulled one of them over to question: “What’s going on? Why are you so jovial? What exactly happened? Did a guest come? Did Empress Elizabeth come back?”

The maid brimmed with excitement. With a smile, she said, “No, Miss Freya. It is not Her Majesty. It is His Majesty. His Majesty has returned!! Eh… Eh… Miss Freya, do not run!! Be careful of that flower vase!!!”