Chapter 554 - Return of the King (2/2)

Finally, Jonttar sighed inwardly, feeling eerie pleasure in kneeling down and kissing the floor beneath. A normal reaction. Yup. This is how things ought to be. He could feel the sheer and raw respect coming from everyone; it wasn't merely out of necessity that they had knelt, but exactly that respect. At that moment, he knew that she was untouchable – nobody, effectively, couldn't even fathom the Empire without her standing on the top.

”At ease.” Her melodic voice echoed soon after as everyone, one by one, slowly started getting up. Jonttar sat back down unconsciously, quickly freezing over and shaking as he saw the figure standing by his side, looking at him with a faint smile. ”You like that chair?”

”Aa-h, n-no, sorry—I'm really sorry—”

”Eh, save your breath,” Hannah shrugged. ”Looks like this old man finally found a drinking partner. You okay with him?” she asked Eggor.

”Hm, pleasant, if not easily scared, company.” Eggor nodded with a grin.

”Alright, don't drink too much,” Hannah said, walking past the now-seething Jonttar. She's nuts too! You're all f.u.c.k.i.n.g nuts! ”Save your breath, Aaria,” she quickly said, sitting on the girl's spot casually. ”Your Aunt is taking a nap; even I'm not brave enough to wake her from it.”

”… ugh, fine. C-could… could you go and talk with the grandpa?” Aaria said nervously. ”I heard him say he had something to talk to you about.”

”Behave tonight and I won't marry you off.” Hannah said, smiling lightly at the girl.

”…” Aaria's expression darkened slightly as she realized she was just being played with. ”Humph, now I just might go and find someone to marry!”

”I won't allow it if you pressure them into agreeing,” Hannah said, chuckling lightly. ”You have to woo them properly.”

”W-woo them?! I'm the Princess! They should be wooing me!”

”Tsk, tsk, tsk, you'll never find someone with that attitude, Aaria,” Hannah said, sighing exaggeratedly. ”What if he's a shy boy and doesn't have the courage to talk to you?”

”… then… he's unworthy…” Aaria lowered her voice as she sat next to Hannah, in a special chair that, on most occasions, remained eerily empty.

”Nobody's unworthy of love,” Hannah said, her smile turning warm as she patted the girl's head. ”Are you saying Cae's unworthy of love?”

”…”

”Truth is,” Hannah added. ”Neither your dad nor I care much who you marry. We don't even wanna meddle. It's your life; what say do we have in it? We only want you to find someone that will love you at least half as much as we do, and someone you'll love back just the same. So don't worry about it. You're still young.”

”… dad told me that he knew he would be with you even before he was thirteen…” Aaria mumbled.

”Ha ha ha, your dad is bullshitting,” Hannah cracked lightly, shaking her head. ”A helpless romantic, that bastard is. Don't listen to him too much, alright?”

”… so… you won't marry me off?” Aaria asked, glancing stealthily at her.

”… go on, mingle with your friends,” Hannah chuckled. ”Everyone's waiting.”

”… thank you.” Aaria said, pecking Hannah's check quickly before rushing away in a flurry, causing the latter to break out into a warm smile.

Her eyes veered down and onto the floor where she saw dozens of groups gathered, talking, drinking, laughing. She was, however, quickly forced to interrupt her thoughts as, one by one, people began coming over, greeting her, accidentally mentioning their talented children and whatnot, prompting her to resort to her usual persona.

”Eh? What's with all this fancy shit?” a strange voice caused a hushed murmur to erupt as displeased eyes turned toward the arched gateway where two figures walked through; one of them was a decently-dressed, handsome-looking man curiously looking about, while the other was a dirty-looking, hemp-clothed old man with hands in his pockets. ”A ball? Wow, who would have thought we were fancy enough for something like that, eh? Look at this Ram, we walked into an actual, f.u.c.k.i.n.g ball!”

”Hm, it's very beautiful.” The handsome man nodded, both seemingly not noticing the daggers pointed at them. ”I especially like that mosaic. What's it about?”

”Oh? That?” the beggar-looking man turned toward the wall the handsome one was pointing at, depicting a beautiful-looking, sun-haired woman fighting lonesome against an entire army, a host of hurt people behind her. ”That's Ally. Remember that fight I was telling you about, when she swooped in and saved everyone's ass?”

”Oh, yes! Ah, so that's her? Beautiful indeed.”

”Ah, sorry mate, she's taken—no, wait, in the first place, what are you doing, eyeing other women? Do you want me to tell Anty?”

”… please don't call her Anty,” the handsome man smiled bitterly. ”You know it's me who she always punishes…”

”How long are you two going to---a-a-a-a-” one of the people, tired of the two, angrily walked over and suddenly stumbled and stuttered as he met a pair of abyss-dark eyes.

”Byrone, what's wrong? What did you do, filthy b-b-b-b-”

”Wow, look at that,” the beggar suddenly scratched his nose in embarrassment. ”I somehow even developed the ability to make people forget how to talk… aah, how embarrassing.” Rammraght rolled his eyes and sighed.

”H-h-h-His Majesty, Emperor Lyonel Qa'yi, has entered!!” a single announcement seemed to freeze the entire hall in time as everyone cased moving, their lips quivering as though assailed by the frigid wind. It took a few moments, and nobody was quite certain who did it first, but one after another, people fell to their knees, beating their heads against the floor so much that the entire hall shook.

”A-All hail the Emperor!!” Lino cringed as he felt a slight pain in his ears, glancing forward where he saw only Hannah and Eggor looking at him with helpless eyes. He replied the gaze in kind and walked over, sighing.

”…” Rammraght observed the surrounding people curiously, as he noticed all of them were shaking like leaves in the wind. ”There are all sorts of people here.” He noted. ”The universe really is vast and full of mysteries…”

”Eh, this is nothing,” Lino shrugged. ”I'll take you and the rest out tomorrow and show you around.” Lino said as he walked up to the elevated set of chairs. ”Right, by the way,” he leaned toward Hannah with a questioning gaze. ”Why are they still kneeling? Did you order them or something?”

”…” Hannah smiled mysteriously, shooting a strange glance at Jonttar who sighed helplessly inside.

”—y-you… you haven't released us, Y-your Majesty…” he said in a meek tone as Lino turned sideways and found the source of the voice.

”Ah, you're that Vampire.”

”… y-yes…”

”Good; it looks like you're getting used to this place, eh? What about the rest?”

”… we're all thankful for your grace.”

”… at ease, everyone,” Hannah said with a sigh, realizing Lino had already forgotten about it. ”You're early.” She said, turning toward him.

”They were weaker than I expected,” he said, sitting down next to her. ”Ah, Ram, sit there.” He pointed at Aaria's seat. ”How's everything around here?”

”It was all merry and chatty until you showed up,” she said, smirking. ”Now, everyone's too terrified to make a sound.”

”…” Jonttar, who was already getting tired of the cold sweat, was once again doused in it. However, his restless heart has also calmed down considerably – if everyone in the audience genuinely respected the Empress, they felt nothing short of reverence, worship, and soul-stirring terror toward the beggar-looking Emperor. That was the sort of reaction that cannot be gained through a mere conquest, or declaring yourself an Emperor; it was something that went well beyond the corporeal.

”See?” Eggor said suddenly. ”What did I tell you? Completely nuts.”

”…” Ah, you're all f.u.c.k.i.n.g nuts, old man…