Chapter 210: The End of an Ill-fated Relationship
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 210: The End of an Ill-fated Relationship
His muscles and nerves, ravaged by poison, hammered his body like a misfiring tool, and his torn dantian burned as if seared with a branding iron.
It was, without a doubt, the worst physical condition he had ever been in.
He wanted nothing more than to collapse and rest, but Gis wasn't afforded such a luxury.
The humans whose bodies had been healed by the strange light that had spread through the city were beginning to regain consciousness, one by one.
As veterans, they immediately moved to protect their unconscious lords the moment they came to.
Thanks to them, no one had found Gis yet, but it was only a matter of time.
Once the nobles regained their senses, or enough soldiers awoke, they would likely leave a contingent to guard them and send the rest to search the area.
And if they found Gis?
He didn't need to think hard to know the answer.
He'd be killed, probably.
Or tortured.
Having lost so much, Gis had reached a state of resignation, no longer caring what happened to him.
But one thing forced him to steel his resolve.
—If you die, your precious mother will die too.
The chilling words Cloud had uttered while holding a sword to Hailey's throat.
Would that bastard really do it?
The fleeting doubt was quickly dispelled. He wouldn't hesitate. That bastard was no longer the clueless idiot he used to be.
"Fuck..."
In the end, all Gis could do was curse under his breath and drag his battered leg out of the Imperial Capital.
The vampires who had used their trump card, the Black Sun, were annihilated, and the people of the Empire survived.
It was a clear victory for the Empire.
But the Empire did not revel in its triumph.
Their losses were too great to indulge in it.
—Sob...
—"If you leave like this, what am I supposed to do? What about the children?! Honey...!!"
—"You said we'd get married! That you'd take care of me forever! So what is this! What is this?!"
A public funeral was held in the city square.
Priests blessed the deceased and officials sent by the nobles offered condolences, but nothing could soothe the emptiness of losing a loved one.
The dead were many, and those who mourned them were even more numerous.
The city was plunged into grief.
And it wasn't just the commoners.
After the public funeral for the common folk ended, a funeral for the nobles and the Emperor was held at the Imperial Palace. The funerals for the nobility, especially the Emperor, were magnificent.
As rulers, they had the right to have their dignity preserved even in death.
"Oh, Goddess, I pray you watch over the warriors who fought bravely against the wicked servants of evil."
A high priest's blessing settled upon the bodies of the nobles and the Emperor. The blessing would prevent the corpses from decaying, and the nobles would bury their kin in the lands of their own domains.
As the solemn funeral proceedings drew to a close, whispers began to spread among the nobles.
—"I hear the Borpeng family lost both its head and its heir."
—"Wasn't the heir their only son? There's going to be a bloodbath in the Borpeng family for a while."
—"It's not just the Borpengs. It's the same for every family that suffered losses. I doubt even the high nobility is any different. But the biggest headache is..."
The gazes of the chattering nobles shifted, one by one, to the Empress.
"..."
Looking more gaunt than before, she stared at the Emperor's body with a vacant expression. Her demeanor was sorrowful, as if she had given up on everything. It was no surprise she would feel that way.
Not only was her husband, the Emperor, dead, but her only son, the Prince, was missing. He was 'missing,' but that was just a euphemism; he was as good as dead.
Losing her entire family was tragic enough, but now she had to worry about her own safety.
With the Emperor and the Prince gone, there was no one left to protect her from the ugly political machinations of the Imperial Palace.
Her own family?
Born into a humble family, she had risen to the rank of Empress on her stunning looks alone, so she couldn't expect any help from them.
Furthermore, the Platinum Knight Order that protected the Imperial family was away, and even Frillite, whom she considered a friend, had been dispatched on a mission.
With no foundation of her own, possessing only the hollow title of Empress, she was an easy target for the ambitious.
Indeed, several nobles were already eyeing her, their minds racing or their lips curling with avarice.
When she felt the gaze of one particularly sleazy-looking old noble, a shiver ran down her spine.
What am I to do...
Just as despair began to cloud her vision, the crowd of nobles, which had been murmuring quietly, suddenly grew agitated.
Wondering what the commotion was, she tilted her head slightly and saw him through the gaps between the nobles.
Red hair and red eyes.
Features and a physique so perfectly proportioned it was hard to imagine anything more harmonious.
A man for whom the word 'handsome' was an understatement.
Cloud had arrived at the funeral with his companions.
Thud, thud.
With each step he took, the tension among the nobles simmered and rose.
In the past, they wouldn't have been so tense over the approach of a single Hero, but this was a special situation.
A special situation where the Hero had single-handedly crushed the vampires who had ravaged the Imperial army.
If he so chose, he could kill everyone here.
It was a highly unlikely scenario, of course, but the difference between 'can' and 'cannot' was immense.
In the escalating tension, one knight, his mind going blank, lost his composure and reached for the sword at his hip.
Cloud whipped his head around to face the knight.
"Draw it, if you dare."
"...!! N-No, my lord!"
The knight, who hadn't even realized his hand had moved toward his sword, flinched in shock and bowed his head.
Cloud watched him for a moment before turning away and continuing on his path. He stopped beside the coffin where the Emperor's body lay and looked down at the corpse.
"So the Emperor is dead."
"..."
"And the Prince is missing. Which means he's as good as dead."
His tone was incredibly disrespectful, but no one dared to object. Not that Cloud would have cared even if they had.
"So, what's the plan now?"
He said, turning to the nobles. Those who met his gaze swallowed hard.
His words sounded as if he were asking who they intended to appoint as the next Emperor.
It was a blatant question.
Could it be a trap? The nobles dared not speak rashly, even though they were dying to marry the Empress and become Emperor themselves.
When the nobles remained silent, merely exchanging glances, Cloud looked away from them. He spoke softly to Lorraine, who was stroking her very pregnant belly.
"Lorraine."
"What?"
Her voice was sullen, as if she were still pouting because he had neglected her for a while to train Neria and create the dragon's blood poison.
"You like power, don't you? Want to try being the Empress?"
"...What?"
But even her pout couldn't last long in the face of his absurd suggestion.
Is he being serious?
Lorraine looked into Cloud's eyes. And she realized.
This bastard is half-serious.
She quickly scanned the nobles.
As expected, they all wore expressions of utter shock. Their mouths hung open, looking as if they were about to burst out with, "What kind of bullshit is that?"
Lorraine glanced between them and her own belly, then shook her head.
"Forget it. What would I do with power now? I'd rather live without it than spend my days trembling in fear of assassination attempts."
"Assassination? Who would have the guts to try something like that? Anyone who does, I'll..."
"Shut up. If you want to score points with me, just be a good father. Got it?"
Lorraine cut him off by pinching his cheek. Cloud chuckled, ignoring Katarina's blazing glare and the nobles' second wave of shock, and gently pulled Lorraine into an embrace.
"Alright. I will."
"You always say that..."
"I mean it this time."
He whispered in a soft voice, stroking the hair of the woman in his arms. Then, he addressed the Empress, who still wore a desolate expression.
"I've heard a great deal. You helped Lorraine quite a bit, didn't you?"
While he was away, it was the Empress who had hidden the pregnant Lorraine and soothed her when she was plagued by vague anxieties.
"Between the Moonstone incident and Lorraine, I find myself deeply in your debt, Your Majesty."
"...You needn't call it a debt. It was only a small favor."
"It may have been a small favor to you, Your Majesty, but it was a great kindness to me. And it is only right to repay a kindness."
Smiling at the Empress, he raised his voice, as if making a declaration to the nobles.
"It is a truly unfortunate and sorrowful thing that His Majesty the Emperor has passed away and His Highness the Prince has gone missing. However, reality does not permit us to grieve forever. The Empire, thrown into chaos by the vampire attack, has no pillar to set it right."
The pillar of the Empire.
He meant the Emperor.
"If this state of affairs continues, in the worst-case scenario, the Empire could fracture. To avoid the worst, we must enthrone a new emperor swiftly. Therefore, I, Cloud, the last remaining Hero on the continent, hereby propose that Her Majesty the Empress—wife of the late Emperor and mistress of the Imperial household—be enthroned as the new Emperor."
A shocking silence fell over the assembly.
Not only the nobles, but even the Empress, the one being nominated, stared with wide eyes.
It was only natural. An Empress Regnant?
It was unprecedented in the history of the Empire!
Every noble present was stunned, as if they'd been struck on the head with a hammer.
"Sir Hero! That is unprecedented in the history of the Imperial family!"
A noble who had barely regained his senses tried to use the Empire's history as a reason to make Cloud retract his statement, but...
"History is always being rewritten, isn't it?"
The moment Cloud gripped the hilt of his sword, they fell silent. A blade has a way of making people polite. Witnessing this truth once again, he nodded in satisfaction.