As time passed, something completely different began to happen in the throne room of the grand palace in the capital of the Hiera Empire.
It had been exactly three months since Luke had been exiled. Although the imperial family did not know what he had been up to, Luke had managed to transform the village into a town, almost entirely ready for its new purpose, after taking the Mermaids and Mermen under his protection.
In the throne room, thousands of kilometres away from the village, things were different, very, very different.
Alfred Hiera the Second looked tired. He had a weary and faded expression. It wasn't just him; the empresses and princesses were in the same state.
It seemed that each of the responsibilities Luke was trying to shoulder was weighing heavily on them.
After all, Luke was indeed taking care of 90% of the empire on his own. He was handling tax regulations, managing income and expenditure reports, drawing architectural sketches, ensuring criminals were being questioned according to the law, obtaining information about monthly inspections of agricultural lands, and doing many other tasks with his own hands.
In short, he slept only one or two hours a day, yet he never stopped smiling and never neglected to "serve" those who served him.
Now, however, all these tasks had fallen to Alfred Hiera the Second, who had been idle for a long time, and naturally to his five wives and seven daughters.
Prince Luke Ibn Alphonsine Hiera was gone. Kevin Thphoon, the smartest man in the empire, was gone. And worst of all, Callum Cestis, the empire's greatest defence and attack system, was gone.
In short, their troubles were beyond their heads, just like swords which is getting closer to their, especially Alfred's neck.
Theodas had delivered Emperor Alfred's letter to Luke; there was no way it hadn't been delivered. It was unthinkable that an elf, especially one so attuned to the elements of nature, could have been captured.
This had led Alfred and the others to speculate that Luke might not have read the letter… or, to put it simply, Luke had read the letter but didn't really care about its contents.
The worst part of the situation, to put it bluntly, was that no one—not even the emperor himself-could bring Luke back at the moment.
Each of the empresses knew where Luke was. Naturally, the emperor himself had also found out. Still, they couldn't simply bring back someone who had been exiled under the law, let alone force them to return.
"I'm going to lose my mind…" Alfred muttered as servants brought another file to him every passing second.
Over the past three months, he might have slept a maximum of four hours a day. There was no trace left of his former muscular, warrior-like physique; he had begun to look truly emaciated.
The doors to the throne room suddenly opened. As the doors opened, a woman with a slender, gorgeous figure, snow-white hair, and bright red eyes, who appeared to be around 20-21 years old, entered, followed closely by a man with white hair and bright red eyes, who appeared to be around 50-55 years old.
The woman who entered first was named Zoey Gloria Wirgo, and the man behind her was none other than Kassadin Wirgo himself.
The Wirgo family had excellent relations with the imperial family, the Hiera, and was one of the two families in the empire that could defy the emperor's orders.
The other family was the Moneta family, a ducal vassalate located in the east of the empire and one of the wealthiest families in the world.
There was no need to discuss that family at the moment. The real topic of conversation was Zoey herself, who was standing there with a stern, proud, and most importantly, angry expression on her face, staring directly into the eyes of Emperor Alfred Hiera the Second.
"Ah! Zoey, Kassadin! What a lovely visit," Alfred said happily. Of course, it was impossible to say how much his words had affected the two of them.
"Your Majesty, we came to discuss the letter you sent to the duchy couple of weeks ago," Zoey said suddenly, as if ignoring Alfred's words. She had the pride and dignity to do so, and behind her stood her father, as steadfast as a mountain range.
That was precisely why the young girl had no reason to fear the emperor. Especially since Callum himself was not present.
"I don't think there's anything to discuss, young lady," Alfred replied, his serious gaze saying it all.
"First, you removed him from the throne, and then you exiled him. I can accept each of those things!" Zoey said angrily.
"But!" she added to her own words.
"I wonder where you got the idea that you could carry out this decree to end the fifteen-year relationship between my fiancé and me without the consent of the other party in the relationship, namely Zoey Gloria Wirgo."
When Zoey finished speaking, Alfred paused for a few seconds. From the expressions on the faces of the empresses standing around him, it was clear that they did not know this matter. The princesses were so shocked they could hardly open their mouths, and the servants in the throne room began to tremble with stress.
Under the law, severing the relationship between two people, especially those considered engaged, and especially two "important" people, was a serious crime.
Perhaps this law did not affect the emperor himself in a "realistic" way, but it was something that would damage the emperor's reputation, and every servant in the throne room had heard about it by now.
In short, it would only take about a week for these words to spread throughout the capital.
"There is, of course, an easy way to explain this," Alfred said suddenly, his eyes suggesting he could extricate himself from the matter.
"Please share your reason with me, Your Majesty," Zoey replied. No one could stop a woman as fierce and as mad as her so easily.
The young woman's eyes were ablaze with passion, her heart yearning for knowledge of the truth, while her mind and heart longed to see her fiancé.