The news about marriage was spreading like wildfire. The maids, the elders, the High Priests, and the followers' words echoed in every inch of every empire.
The maids spread it like the Zephyra Group, acting like a wicked poison, even using the Emperor's mother as leverage to take their innocent Aether, leaving no choice other than for the Empress herself to give herself as a sacrifice.
"Did you hear?" one maid would murmur, eyes wide with secretive excitement.
"They say the Empress offered herself willingly, for our sake, as if to shield us from danger." The rumour tangled itself with awe and fear, and even the youngest servant spoke as though the fate of empires rested on Aether's shoulders.
Though it was only in name... not the real marriage like everyone thought, just in name, even if it was weird and all, people and rumours spread, like how dangerous Zephyra was in cornering their empire and how the Empress barely got Aether for them.
