Free Web NovelChapter 233: The Spider and the Empress (10)
Morning dawned over the Imperial Palace. I lazily stretched on the massive bed, big enough for five or six people to roll around on without bumping into each other.
Maybe it was too luxurious for me. I had definitely slept long enough, yet somehow I felt even more tired. “Ugh.”
I knew it. I’m just not built for fancy beds like this.
Across my thousands of years of life, when counting even my past one, I had spent most nights on dirt floors or cheap cots. Now, lying on a mattress so soft it felt like a cloud, I almost felt unsettled.
“Well then...”
The first thing I did after waking was meditate. I closed my eyes, slowly drew up my mana, and observed my mindscape. The amount of the Primordial Flame I could control had increased dramatically, just like the last time I absorbed an Ember. The difference was unmistakable. It was like lighting a fire under a stiff, hardened lump of oil.
The amount of mana flowing through me was so immense that no one would ever believe I had once been mocked as “Rabbit Han” because my mana reserves in my past life were barely a speck.
“With this much mana...”
Even Cataclysmic Flame, a technique that drained mana like water through a bottomless bucket, had finally become a little usable in real combat. Moreover, I had actually used it this time.
The mana cost was absurd, but the destructive power of Cataclysmic Flame was on another level compared to any technique I had learned before. Inside that domain, it felt like I had become a god.
It was similar to the Incarnation of Fire, a state that only manifested when the Primordial Flame went berserk, beyond my conscious control. Of course, if someone asked which was stronger, I would choose Incarnation of Fire without hesitation.
But I could not activate that technique at will. Being able to actively use Cataclysmic Flame at all, when its mana cost made it unusable earlier, was already a huge milestone.
In any case, increasing my control over the Primordial Fire wasn’t the reason I came here. My original goal, tracking the Church of Eternity, had been derailed again when Mephisto and the Church members vanished without a trace. I still needed more information on both the Archbishop of Ruin and the Church of Eternity.
I was following that train of thought when someone knocked at the door. “Hm?”
When I opened the door, Professor Baldwin was standing outside.
“Did you sleep well, Dale?” she asked.
“Yes. What about you, Professor?”
“Mm. The bed was almost too comfortable. It felt strange.”
“Haha. I actually felt the same.”
With a worried look, she asked, “More importantly, how are you? You absorbed that massive flame whole.”
“I’m fine.”
I had never felt better, actually.
Professor Baldwin smiled faintly and nodded. “That’s a relief. Come with me to the audience chamber.”
“The audience chamber?”
“Empress Camellia has summoned us.”
I nodded. “Ah, understood.”
Following her, I entered the chamber. Empress Camellia was already there, reclining casually on the long imperial throne, just like the first time I had seen her.
“You’re here,” she said.
It was hard to believe this was the same woman who had been wiping her tears yesterday. She was back to her usual unhurried, relaxed demeanor.
She shifted from her half-reclining pose and sat upright, then lowered her head respectfully. “Regarding yesterday, I must thank you once more. Thanks to you two, we uncovered the Apostles of Ruin who had infiltrated the palace.”
The fact that the Empress was bowing her head to someone else was baffling. Professor Baldwin and I both exhaled in disbelief. I had expected the future to change after my regression. But witnessing the Empress bow? That was something I never imagined in my wildest dreams.
As if she hadn’t just shown utmost formality seconds ago, Empress Camellia crossed her legs leisurely again and returned to her usual arrogant expression. “Hm. Anyway, what exactly is the relationship between you two?”
“Pardon?”
Asking about our relationship? Out of nowhere?
She continued, “You two seem too intimate to be just teacher and student.”
We were speechless.
Clearly caught off guard, Professor Baldwin shook her head quickly. “It’s a misunderstanding. There is nothing like that between Dale and—”
I cut her off abruptly. “We’re dating.”
“D-Dale!”
“There’s nothing to hide, is there? It’s not against any academy rules.”
“T-that may be true, but...” She trailed off awkwardly, probably embarrassed to admit to the empress of the Empire that she had crossed a line with her own student.
Empress Camellia narrowed her eyes, as if displeased. “Oh? Dating, are you? How long has this been going on?”
“Not very long, if you’re asking about duration.”
Seated on her throne, she glanced down at the professor, then gave a satisfied nod. “Hm. I see.”
She turned to me. “You recall the offer I made before, yes?”
“Do you mean your suggestion that I come work at the palace after graduation?” I replied.
“Forget that offer.” Camellia slowly extended a relaxed hand and pointed at me. “Become mine. I shall place the world in your hands.”
“What?”
What the hell is she saying?
Camellia frowned in irritation, as if I were the one being slow. “Hm. Did you not understand my words? I mean for you to sort out your relationship and become my husband.”
“Excuse me?”
No. What kind of insane development is this? Become the Empress’s husband? Isn’t that basically a proposal?
***
Just as Dale’s brain short-circuited, Elisha stepped forward. “Hold on. What do you mean by sorting out our relationship?”
“Exactly what I said. The man who will become my husband cannot have another woman at his side, can he?”
Elisha let out a hollow laugh, eyes sharpening. “Your Majesty, I didn’t know you were someone who lacked basic courtesy.”
“Discourteous, is it? Is that not something you should be hearing instead?”
“What do you mean?”
Camellia crossed her arms leisurely. “Let’s compare, shall we? I possess tens of millions of imperial citizens, vast lands, immeasurable wealth, supreme authority, and the power of the Seven Gods. And what do you have?”
Elisha bit her lip in silence. Wealth, power, strength—compared to Camellia, she had nothing. The comparison itself was laughable.
Still, she replied, “R-relationships aren’t determined by ability.”
Camellia’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Oh? Is that truly what you believe? Come to think of it, you barely participated in the battle. No, rather than didn’t, should I say you couldn’t?”
Elisha’s shoulders trembled. Though she had made remarkable progress recently, she couldn’t intervene in yesterday’s fight between Melina and Dale. The gap was far too great.
Camellia smirked lazily. “In fact, I’d like to ask you. Do you really think you suit Dale?”
“That is...” Elisha’s voice faltered.
Camellia was right. Dale had long since ascended to a realm far beyond her reach. The words “You don’t suit him” sank into her like barbed thorns.
She thought, Right, I...
The faces of Iris, Yurina, and Laneige flickered through her mind. All of them possessed overwhelming qualities. Iris was a Saintess blessed by the gods, Yurina’s talent was unmatched, and Laneige held a Blessing powerful enough to freeze half the continent. Compared to them, Elisha was subpar.
Camellia shrugged. “With that, you should understand.”
She shifted her gaze toward Dale, wearing a triumphant smile, as if the conclusion had already been decided.
***
“Now then. Which one will you choose?”
The Spider and the Empress, two pairs of eyes fixed on me.
I let out a short sigh and stepped toward Camellia. If I absolutely had to choose only one, there was no need for drawn-out deliberation. “I choose...”
With my answer, the fates of the Spider and the Empress diverged.
* * *
The audience chamber stood empty, with golden lights shimmering over priceless artworks. Camellia wasn’t lounging half-reclined as usual. Rather, she sat upright, letting out a faint, bitter laugh.
With a flick of her fingers, a bottle of liquor from a corner of the room floated into her hand. It was the same type Dale had brought yesterday. She had tried it once before, found it unbearably bitter, and never touched it again. But then, she opened the bottle and amber liquid filled a crystal cup.
She pouted unconsciously as she replayed the earlier moment. “He didn’t have to reject me that firmly.”
She admitted she was rude to Elisha Baldwin. But what else could she have done?
“It was... the first time for me,” she muttered.
The Empress, the continent’s strongest hero, the Avatar of the Seven Gods; she had many titles, but one she despised above all was the Iron Maiden. It was a name born from her lifelong avoidance of men.
A long breath escaped her lips. She had thought there wasn’t a man on the continent who would turn down becoming her husband. Even if he already had a lover, if they had only been together a short while, she assumed he would break up and choose her. Every man she had encountered so far would have eagerly cast aside wife, lover, and dignity for the chance. That was why she belittled his lover to highlight the difference between them.
Camellia downed the liquor in her cup. “Heartbreak, huh. It’s bitter.”
