Chapter 478: The Fate of the Nobles
Seeing Eleine cry, Aldrian hugged her again with tenderness. Eleine also embraced her young master, instinctively trying to hide her eyes against his body. He let her be and held her in silence, the quiet occasionally broken by her sniffles.
After a while, Eleine pulled away, having managed to stop her tears, though her eyes were still red and wet. She wiped them and, once she felt composed enough, bowed deeply to Aldrian.
"Thank you, Young Master, for thinking of me that way. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I’m sorry I didn’t consider your perspective enough and ended up making you uncomfortable," she said.
"Good. Now that you understand, you don’t have to feel burdened anymore," Aldrian replied with a smile.
Eleine straightened her posture and nodded with a small smile. After that, she excused herself, leaving Aldrian and Baek Jimin, who continued their conversation about many things until the sun fully revealed itself to the people of the continent.
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In the afternoon, the emperor gathered the heads of all noble families from every faction involved in the civil war. However, not all of them could attend—some were already dead, so their families had to send representatives in their place. There were also noble houses that had vanished entirely, their bloodlines wiped out by Wilmar for opposing him.
As a result, the number of noble families was no longer what it used to be.
All of this had significantly weakened the empire’s power, which was deeply detrimental to its stability. Given the circumstances, Emperor Raymond would need to make several adjustments to the empire’s structure.