Chapter 307
Chapter 307: Duke Livi Makes a Fine Father-in-Law—A Man You Can Work With
It was common knowledge that the Kingdom of Carencia did not permit the existence of any Church.
A nation where Imperial authority reigned supreme would never allow any force of opposition to take root in the shadows.
This had been the policy of every Emperor, without exception.
And yet, there were always fanatical sects that, in their drive to infiltrate and seize control from within the Empire, would resort to every manner of scheme to bewitch and indoctrinate innocent commoners.
They gathered in the streets and in the Empire's dark corners, conjuring all manner of pretexts to recruit the suffering and the displaced, drawing them in to become loyal devotees of their faith.
Such propagation allowed the Church to spread like a plague—swift and unstoppable.
From 1, to 10, to 100, swelling in numbers at a terrifying pace.
It was during that time, at the very moment Aubrey had just ascended to the throne, that various sects suddenly raised their banners in rebellion, hoisting their flags along the borders of the Empire in all directions.
They rallied their devotees, took up arms, and cried out the slogan of overthrowing the Empire.
And among those voices, the loudest of all belonged to the devotees of the Goddess of Justice.
For Aubrey had fought in countless campaigns and taken countless lives.
This led the fanatical devotees of the Goddess of Justice to conclude that Aubrey was nothing more than a warmongering tyrant who knew only slaughter.
Should he be allowed to become Emperor, they feared the entire nation would never know peace again.
The world itself, they cried, would be plunged into endless war because of him.
And so the voice of the Goddess of Justice's Church rose in resistance—loud and clear, with a single, unmistakable purpose: to oppose the newly crowned Aubrey.
Unfortunately for them, they had still underestimated Aubrey's abilities.
Whenever an old Emperor died and a new one took the throne, a period of turmoil was all but inevitable.
Civil and military officials would scrutinize the new Emperor; warlords across the land would grow restless and stir.
But as misfortune would have it for those who opposed him, the Emperor who ascended the throne this time was Aubrey Sorel.
At 17 years of age, he had slain a dragon alone, forging an immortal myth throughout the Empire.
As the mightiest Emperor the Kingdom of Carencia had ever seen, he was himself an entire army.
Through the sheer transcendence of his own power alone, he had been more than enough to win the wholehearted devotion of countless people.
Within just a few years, not a single region of the Empire had fallen into chaos. On the contrary, under the overwhelming force of his military might, the Empire had grown stronger still.
During Aubrey's reign, the Empire had never once been drawn into any war.
Every surrounding nation kept its head down and stayed in line, as though not a single one had any desire to provoke this young and formidable lion.
At last, once Aubrey's position had firmly stabilized, he turned his attention to the sects that had risen against him before.
Whichever sect had shouted the loudest, naturally, was the first to receive the brick squarely to its head.
Within just a few short months, every devotee that had been spreading the sect's teachings within the Empire was swept clean by Aubrey—not a single one left behind.
Yet even in the face of such severe suppression, even willing to burn away their very lives, these devotees held firm to their faith, determined to make trouble for Aubrey till the very end.
The Church gathered 300,000 devotees and began brewing an uprising in the border regions—and this, truly, gave Aubrey some cause for concern.
It was, in fact, quite the headache.
For at that time, he happened to be in the midst of establishing diplomatic relations with foreign nations.
He wanted to leave a favorable impression on the surrounding countries, which meant large-scale killing was simply not an option.
After all, he had only just become Emperor. He could not simply continue wiping out devotees on a massive scale at will—mountains of corpses would make for an extremely damaging image.
Caught in this predicament, Duke Livi had already led a Mage Corps to the location where the Church's devotees lay hidden.
A single War Magic was unleashed, and the devotees' ashes were thoroughly ground to dust along with the ruins of the place they had occupied.
300,000 devotees, all eliminated by Livi alone.
And this was precisely why, even now, Livi and Aubrey remained steadfast brothers of the deepest bond.
For Livi had been willing to use his own reputation as the price to pay, bringing Aubrey an exceptionally stable rule.
After many long years, the Empire's suppression of the Goddess of Justice's Church had long since faded from the public memory.
And Livi had always maintained a low-profile manner, on top of which he was a Duke of the Empire.
Though he now had a daughter, throughout all those long years he had not suffered any retaliatory punishment.
Yet the events of that time had still left a profound mark on Duke Livi, so much so that after Erika was born, he had grown all the more cautious.
Everyone understood the principle: when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold.
The Empire had never been the only place where Goddess devotees took root and flourished.
The faction that claimed tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of Church members—that was no idle boast.
This also left Aubrey feeling that he owed his old brother somewhat of a debt.
Had it not been for the events of those bygone days, Livi could have carried himself with far greater ease and casualness.
And his daughter need not have spent her days under his constant and vigilant protection.
Fortunately, things were now moving in a far better direction.
And now, hearing the 2 Council Members speak of this, distant memories stirred within Aubrey's heart—tinged with a nostalgic warmth—and the matter drew his keen interest:
"By 'Goddess devotees,' the 2 Council Members are referring to the devotees of the Goddess of Justice?"
Even Auréliane, who had been listening quietly at one side, found herself drawn in.
Her attention locked onto their discussion, and she even forgot to blink, her focus so complete it was striking to behold.
The Goddess of Justice?
She had once, by pure accident, wandered into a particular room within the Mage Council's Magic Archive.
There, she had laid eyes upon the Goddess of Justice's Golden Scale.
Even back then, Auréliane had sensed that there must be some connection between the Mage Council and the Goddess of Justice.
And now, at last, that mystery seemed ready to reveal itself.
Heim Horn smiled, looking at Aubrey.
"In truth, what we are dealing with are fanatics who have taken the teaching of our Goddess to extremist extremes—a heretical cult, one might say."
"As for the Council's current situation, Your Majesty is surely no less informed than we are."
As he said this, Heim Horn let out a somewhat resigned expression.
The Council had a total of 12 Council Members, 2 of whom were Mages from the Empire.
Rashel went without saying.
The【Natural Sparrow】allowed him to monitor the greater part of the world.
The fact that the Goddess of Justice's descent upon Endymion had been able to spread so rapidly across the entire world—that owed no small part to Rashel's contribution.
The other one was an even weightier figure.
Viktor Clavena.
The Goddess incident that had erupted within the Council—frankly speaking—was because of Viktor.
Add to that Viktor's relationship with the Princess, and it would have been difficult for Aubrey not to know.
Of course, even though both parties were fully aware of this, neither would raise it openly.
Aubrey gave a light laugh and waved his hand. The Servant beside him brought forward 2 golden chairs, their armrests even set with brilliant red gemstones.
"Please, sit."
Heim Horn and Ryan Kent exchanged a nod and took their seats one after the other.
Aubrey, too, settled back into his place beside Auréliane, sitting cross-legged, his expression carrying a note of gravity.
"On behalf of the Empire, I formally acknowledge the Council's legitimate authority."
Heim Horn smiled and gave Aubrey a nod of acknowledgment.
"With those words from Your Majesty, our Council is at ease."
The Kingdom of Carencia's importance on the international stage was beyond question.
And Aubrey, in particular, commanded a presence all his own.
His formidable power had left a deep impression on countless people.
His very existence alone was enough to represent the entirety of the Kingdom of Carencia.
No one would be willing to provoke this aging, blood-red lion.
And once this Empire—so famously averse to sects—had spoken, the other nations would naturally follow suit in recognizing the Council's and the Goddess of Justice's legitimate authority.
The Mage Council itself already wielded more than sufficient influence.
As the gathering place of Mages, Endymion was no weaker than any nation.
At this point, Heim Horn spoke up.
"Your Majesty, during the time we are stationed in the Empire, we will take the opportunity to root out the vermin lurking within it as thoroughly as possible."
After all, this was part of their mutual arrangement.
Helping the Empire was, at the same time, helping the Council itself.
Once every fanatical and madly devout devotee of the Goddess of Justice in the world had been eliminated, then—even without the recognition of so many nations—the Mage Council would still stand as the sole legitimate authority of the Goddess of Justice.
With that said, he rose to his feet and gave Aubrey a respectful bow.
"Then we shall take our leave."
The moment the words left his lips, Heim cast a glance in Ryan's direction.
Ryan understood at once. With some effort he hauled himself upright, rummaged through the pocket of his Dungarees, and after a bit of fishing around, produced an exquisitely crafted gift box.
"A small gift."
The Princess looked down, her gaze falling upon the gift box.
That the 2 Council Members knew her birthday was fast approaching caused Auréliane not the slightest bit of surprise.
After all, the entire Kingdom had already been making a grand spectacle of the celebration.
She was just about to reach out and accept the gift, offering both of them a polite bow of thanks, when Heim Horn suddenly spoke:
"This is a small gift that Council Member Clavena commissioned Council Member Kent to make. He said it would suit you very well."
Old Mages knew exactly how to win someone's heart.
It was simple, really—aim true, and strike precisely where it counts.
"Happy birthday, little Princess."
At those words, the hands Auréliane had been holding the gift box with grew slightly unsteady.
She gripped the edge of the box tightly, momentarily taken aback.
And at the same time, she felt her heartbeat quicken just a little.
Council Member Clavena—that could only be Teacher Viktor.
In that instant, Auréliane became a little nervous.
She even forgot how to bow politely, her heart already swept away by a joy she could not put into words.
"Th……thank you……"
Before she could even finish speaking, a Teleportation Formation materialized beneath the feet of Heim Horn and Ryan Kent. Their phantoms began to shimmer and tremble throughout the entire hall.
Purple Magic Power spilled out from the Formation's structure, and the 2 were swiftly enveloped by layer upon layer of phantoms, until their figures could no longer be seen at all.
The instant 2 pale-violet wings bloomed outward, the phantoms scattered and vanished.
And along with them, the 2 figures disappeared entirely.
Watching this, Auréliane blinked.
Why did that feel so familiar?
It was as though every Council Member had their own distinct Teleportation Magic they favored for their departures.
Aubrey understood perfectly well what Viktor intended to do.
Forcibly bending the will of a divine being.
He was deeply struck by the sheer audacity of Viktor's actions.
A faint smile surfaced on his weathered, aging face—a look of pride, or perhaps of joy.
From the very beginning, he had thought highly of Viktor.
And now, Viktor had surpassed even his expectations.
He had even dared to bend the will of the Goddess of Justice.
He also knew that Viktor had not done this for anyone else, nor for the Empire.
He had done it for Gwen, and Gwen alone.
Aubrey felt a deep admiration for Viktor's steadfast and singular devotion.
Yet at the same time, a trace of disappointment stirred within him at just how singular that devotion was.
Aubrey's gaze drifted to Auréliane, who was still basking in a quiet joy beside him, his eyes filled with expectation.
Well, fortunately, he still had 2 years.
At this, he rose to his feet and walked unhurriedly to stand before Auréliane.
Looking at the gift box she held in her hands, he could not help but ask:
"Why not open it and take a look?"
"I want to wait until my birthday to open it."
Auréliane shook her head and carefully put the gift box away.
Then she raised her head, her voice carrying a quiet resolve.
"Imperial Father, I've made up my mind."
"For this birthday, I'm going to go and visit Grandfather."
Whether it was to return and pay her respects to her mother, or because she wanted to show this neighboring Kingdom just how far she had come—her pride and her strength on full display—Auréliane had already decided everything.
As she said this, a certain silhouette surfaced in her mind.
It was a man—cold in bearing, yet gentle—dressed in a black Coat, with a One-eyed Crow perched upon his shoulder.
"And besides……"
The corners of Auréliane's lips curved upward ever so slightly, as though she could already see victory drawing near:
"I want everyone to know."
"Viktor Clavena is my teacher."
"Irreplaceable."