“You seem quite surprised.”
Amidst the eyes of criticism pouring down, a pure voice saved the emperor.
The emperor quickly turned around, seeking the voice that echoed near him.
At the moment he saw the person with neatly arranged robes and long white hair, the emperor’s eyes widened.
“This person…!”
“I greet the emperor of Termina.”
As the emperor’s mouth, contorted with a harsh expression, was about to speak, the crown prince hastily intervened.
“Fortunately, Your Majesty, you have kindly allowed me to take difficult steps by hearing your command.”
“I was…!”
Your Majesty. That day, during the meeting.
The crown prince quickly interrupted, facing the emperor’s anger during the meeting.
That day, during the meeting?
Although these days all meetings seemed trivial, and he couldn’t remember anything, the satisfaction that surged momentarily was enough to ease the tension caused by Jeremy’s desperate expression, which was too pathetic.
The crime of pulling out what was stuck in the prayer room would be questioned later.
As the emperor’s true feelings began to exert influence, the Grand Chamberlain, who had been regulating his breathing, concluded the greetings.
“You have been busy.”
Smiling with eyebrows as white as his hair lowered, the Grand Chamberlain alone was sacred.
Why did everything feel pure?
Everyone nodded in agreement with the Grand Chamberlain’s gentle brushing aside of the emperor’s rudeness, but only the emperor remained with a surly expression.
The Grand Chamberlain nodded gently, seeming to understand his look.
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. I am aware that the prayer you mentioned has not yet concluded. I will return soon after today’s affairs are over.”
Everyone’s attention returned to the emperor once again at the Grand Chamberlain’s words.
A tyrant who, for the first time in continental history, abolished the Grand Chamberlain.
An ambitious conqueror who, blinded by jealousy, killed without a plan the empire’s sword and shield.
The contempt in the eyes looking at the emperor became clearer.
“Sorry, I intervened hastily in the middle. Will you forgive me graciously?”
“Of course, Your Majesty will surely understand.”
Before the emperor could shout, the crown prince spoke, and the Grand Chamberlain also nodded gently.
Although the issue between the Grand Chamberlain and the emperor had been somewhat covered, the problem with Duke Balorc was still pending.
As evidence, there was:
“Now, where should we go?”
Duke Balorc, standing nearby with a defiant expression, tilted his head provocatively.
His gaze was no longer on the emperor but fixed on the Grand Chamberlain.
It was by no means a friendly gaze.
The once brilliant golden eye, which always shone brightly, was now fiercely flashing like a beast going out for night hunting.
“I am not a clergyman, and the temple is cumbersome.”
“Duke Balorc. Please do not say such things.”
“Since when did a saint interfere in the affairs of the empire?”
The gentle smile on the Grand Chamberlain’s face, who always responded with an affectionate tone, flickered slightly.
“By the way, may I ask why you invited the Grand Chamberlain to this place, Your Majesty?”
“That!”
The emperor, who seemed to have calmed down for a moment, rose again, turning his face into a grimace at Jillian’s sharp question.
Now he remembered.
The reason for bringing out the Grand Chamberlain.
“To verify whether Duke Balorc’s virtues are due to lack of ability or to the erosion of magic!”
Good heavens.
This time, the sighs did not cease.
The nobles no longer hid their voices.
There had never been such a scoundrel among scoundrels.
Don’t they understand the meaning of saying that he was eroded by magic?
Even if you were lucky enough to survive, anyone who was soaked in magic became abnormal.
The demons would devour anything that moved, tearing it apart.
Their poison corroded even iron and stone.
This alone was enough to be horrifying, but the most heinous thing among them was something else.
Wherever the demon stayed, life lost its vitality and burned to death, turning black.
It was because of the aura emitted by the demon, ‘magic.’
Even those who survived by chance became abnormal after being exposed to magic.
“If you lose your arms and they turn black, or if you hit your head and can’t move properly, you won’t be able to think properly due to bad luck.
In simple terms, it means becoming an idiot.
That’s the symptom that appears when affected by magic.”
“I think I might have been affected by magic.”
Jillian burst into laughter.
His laughter, echoing through the Sun Hall, was refreshing but as threatening as a beast growling.
The nobles instinctively rubbed their necks or wiped their sweaty hands with handkerchiefs, trying to endure the eerie sound.
No one dared to speak to Jillian Valroc.
The emperor’s coercion was too much.
The events of the early autumn were handling the father’s death, embracing the daughter, and settling things without a hitch.
But now, before winter had passed, he was up to his nasty tricks again.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
