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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Aurora placed her fork and knife down, crossing them on her plate. It was a sign that she had finished eating.
As if waiting for this cue, the maid who had been standing respectfully behind her approached.
She held a handkerchief – a silk handkerchief, embroidered with gold, that looked ridiculously expensive.
The maid dabbed delicately at Aurora’s lips with precise, graceful movements.
Aurora calmly accepted her ministrations.
While one maid attended to Aurora’s lips, another cleared away the fork and knife, and a third carried away the plate.
Almost as soon as the plate was cleared, a new one was placed before Aurora. At the same time, the maid who had been dabbing her lips finished and stepped back.
The handkerchief was as clean as before.
On the new plate was a chocolate cake. A chocolate cake topped with chocolate and drenched in chocolate syrup.
Aurora took a bite of the cake, which looked so sweet it would make your teeth ache. A shiver ran down her spine as the sweetness exploded in her mouth.
She stuck her fork into the cake, as if unable to take another bite immediately, and spoke,
“The project is still in progress. I’m not sure if it will succeed.”
“Thank you, My Lady.”
“Don’t mention it. You’re in my territory because of that bastard. It’s my responsibility.”
After being ordered by Cecilia to remain in the Imperial Palace until further notice, Aurora had been running around, trying to reinstate the Silver Dawn Knights.
Of course, it was because she felt responsible for resolving the mess created by the trash who had once been her father, not out of any sense of guilt or atonement.
Aurora was too cold-hearted for atonement, and she had simply dealt with the aftermath of most of his atrocities out of a sense of duty.
The Silver Dawn Knights were the only exception.
Moreover, if she tried to hastily conclude the matter of the ‘thing’ that had been executed as a demon worshipper, she might be accused of covering up evidence under the guise of cleaning up the mess. Her sincerity would be questioned.
She would rather die than be subjected to such accusations.
‘…Well, it will be a bit lonely.’
She took another bite of the chocolate cake. If the Silver Dawn Knights returned to the Imperial Palace, that man would surely leave with them.
Delta.
The man who had saved her life from that damned creature, the man whose actions were completely unpredictable, the man who was hiding some great secret, and…
‘Stop getting sentimental.’
She swallowed the third bite of cake. The sweet scent filled her nostrils, and the taste of chocolate lingered in her mouth.
It was incredibly sweet.
Yes, she had to stop being sentimental.
She had no choice. He already had a lover.
Even though polygamy was allowed under Imperial law, it was still a privilege, not a right. If there were no restrictions, nobles would have dozens of wives and concubines.
To qualify for polygamy, one needed extraordinary achievements. Even noble lineage didn’t matter. Family prestige was completely irrelevant.
Only individual accomplishments were considered.
She had heard that the first Empress of the Empire had decreed it so, but Aurora didn’t know the details. It was only recently that she had even started to care about such things.
‘Well, it’s not entirely impossible for Delta.’
She recalled the rumors circulating within the Imperial Palace. Rumors about a man who had faced the dragon head-on when it appeared in the capital, an unprecedented event.
While everyone else had fainted, he had bravely confronted the dragon alone to protect the people, and in the end, the living apocalypse, the sentient natural disaster, had retreated.
The protagonist of the rumor was Delta.
‘It’s probably exaggerated.’
Aurora thought so.
A dragon retreating from a mere human? It was preposterous.
No matter how many times she thought about it, it seemed impossible.
But the rumors might not be entirely false.
Unless someone was deliberately spreading lies out of malice, rumors were always based on some degree of truth.
Delta probably did confront the dragon. But instead of the dragon retreating, some coincidental circumstances must have occurred that caused it to withdraw for some reason.
‘If it were completely false, my aunt wouldn’t have stayed silent.’
If the rumors were entirely fabricated, Cecilia wouldn’t have tolerated them.
But Cecilia had allowed the rumors to spread. It was impossible for the Empress to be unaware of rumors circulating within the Imperial Palace, so it meant she had deliberately chosen to ignore them.
The fact that Aurora and the Knight Commanders, Delta’s companions, had been treated much better since the dragon attack was also a piece of evidence.
The Empress, who had definitely heard the rumors, was deliberately ignoring them, and Delta’s companions were being treated with great hospitality in the Imperial Palace.
To the people, it was practically a confirmation.
“So, Delta hasn’t returned yet?”
Aurora glanced out the window. Darkness had fallen outside.
“No. I heard he went somewhere with the Eternal Mage, but I haven’t heard anything since then.”
“He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about him. We’ll only lose sleep over it.”
She meant it sincerely.
She trusted Delta’s abilities, and considering he had somehow managed to entice even Minerva to accompany him, it would be foolish to worry about his safety.
If they were going to worry, they should worry about something else.
“……Iris, doesn’t it seem a bit noisy outside?”
Claudia frowned slightly.
She was right.
The Imperial Palace, which should have been silent at this hour, was unusually boisterous, the noise reaching even the dining hall.
“I noticed it as well. I wonder what’s happening.”
“I can’t see anything from here. It must be on the other side. What could be causing such a commotion?”
Lize tilted her head and looked out the window, but unfortunately, it wasn’t in this direction. Aurora pondered for a moment, then stood up. It seemed worth investigating.
The Knight Commanders, sensing her intentions, followed behind her.
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‘…What the hell is going on?’
I leaned against the wall far from the center of the commotion, grimacing. I couldn’t bring myself to get any closer to that scene of collective madness.
I should have known this would happen when Minerva said she would contact me after finding the Crystal Scroll.
“Lady Scientia! Please step on my back!”
“No, Lady Scientia! Step on me first!”
“Get in line! Don’t cut in front of me!”
‘Are they insane?’
The sounds alone were alarming.
They were shouting, begging to be stepped on, arguing about who should be stepped on first.
At the center of the commotion was Minerva, holding the Crystal Scroll preciously in her arms.
They were acting like this because they couldn’t bear the thought of her, the one holding the scroll, stepping on the dirty ground. They were offering their backs as stepping stones, begging her to use them to enter the Mage Tower.
And Minerva, seemingly in a daze, was actually stepping on them. The ones being stepped on were trembling with ecstasy, their faces flushed with joy.
It was utter chaos.
‘I can’t watch this anymore.’
I shook my head and retreated further.
Hundreds of mages engaging in this kind of behavior… It was a gathering of lunatics.
I was glad that Minerva was known to be the one who found the Crystal Scroll. If I had been the one to find it, I might have been at the center of this chaos.
No matter how attractive the mages surrounding Minerva were, I wanted no part in this.
“Silence! Silence! What is all this commotion?!”
Just then, a group of mages with stern expressions appeared in the distance.
They were undeniably beautiful, their figures quite impressive despite the loose robes they wore, the curves of their breasts visible beneath the fabric.
“I understand you’re excited about the discovery of the Crystal Scroll, but this is going too far! Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?!”
The newly arrived mages shouted repeatedly, and the commotion subsided slightly. The mages who had been prostrating themselves before Minerva also slowly got up.
But Minerva didn’t stop. She was still walking, as if in a trance, even using magic to walk on air.
“Mages have pride and dignity! What are you doing?!”
‘Wow, there are actually some sane mages—’
“How dare you try to get under her feet before us elders! You insolent brats! Have you no respect for your superiors?!”
‘…….’
It seemed their definition of ‘sane’ was… different.
The moment I thought they might be somewhat normal, the mages who had been scolding the others prostrated themselves before Minerva.
As expected, mages were all the same.
I watched the chaotic scene in the Imperial Palace garden with a look of disbelief, hundreds of women scrambling to be stepped on.
Then, I heard a voice behind me expressing the same sentiment.
“What the hell is that? Why are they all acting crazy? Are they on drugs?”
It was Aurora.
The Knight Commanders followed behind her, also wearing bewildered expressions.
“You’re here, My Lady.”
“Yes, I am. And are those Lady Minerva and the mages from the Mage Tower? Why are they acting like that in the middle of the night?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“You went out with Lady Minerva. Don’t you know?”
“That’s true, but does that mean I should understand that?”
“……Sorry. My bad.”
The sight of hundreds of women scrambling and prostrating themselves, letting out moans of ecstasy as Minerva stepped on them, was not a pleasant one.
It wasn’t arousing, it was just bizarre.
“I can’t bear to watch this any longer. Shall we move somewhere else? I’ll explain everything later.”
Since Aurora and the Knight Commanders seemed curious about what was happening outside, I suggested we move.
They all readily agreed.
The sounds of chaos gradually faded as we walked back into the Imperial Palace. As soon as we entered a room far from the commotion, Aurora spoke,
“So, what happened?”
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[lmaooo they are all like “MOMMY STEP ON ME”]
He should run to the pope mommies cause the mages might become his new carpets just to find out more.
Minerva included
freaky ahh mages