Chapter 313
Chapter 313: Don't Bow Your Head—The Crown Will Fall
"Can I truly… be fit for this position?"
Everyone present was on their side, so Auréliane no longer needed to maintain the composed and proud bearing she had worn at the Banquet.
Truthfully, when it came to becoming the Imperial successor, Auréliane found it all very sudden.
She had not been mentally prepared in the slightest.
Though she had entertained the thought before, she had never actively chosen to compete for it.
Viktor turned around, his gaze settling on Auréliane, who looked somewhat tense:
"There is no need to worry, Your Highness."
"This is what His Majesty wishes."
No one was more suited than Auréliane to become the next Emperor.
And even if someone were, Viktor would not allow it.
If he was to ensure everything he had built within the Empire could proceed without obstruction, he had to use his support to make Auréliane Emperor.
Yet pushing for a female Emperor was no easy feat.
Aubrey had long wished to do so, but had lacked the justification.
And Auréliane had not yet possessed sufficient standing on her own.
So it had fallen to Viktor to make it happen.
Still, Auréliane remained somewhat lacking in confidence. She responded in a small voice:
"But there are also my 2 elder brothers…"
Her words had not yet finished when she saw Viktor drop to one knee.
One arm crossed over his chest, his head bowed, performing a salute toward Auréliane.
He appeared utterly reverent.
So reverent that it made Auréliane feel a strange unfamiliarity.
It was the etiquette between a sovereign and their subject.
Seeing Viktor like this, the Princess froze on the spot, as though she had not anticipated for a moment that he would do such a thing.
Gradually, Viktor's voice rose.
"Your Highness."
"Everything I have done has been for the sake of placing you on the throne of this nation."
Liberating the Demi-humans, forging an alliance with the Elves, securing the Mage Council's support.
All of it had been to amplify Auréliane's influence.
And standing in opposition to every noble, positioning himself against the entire nobility, going out of his way to openly clash with the Rether Family.
Every one of those actions had been a declaration to the world.
The Clavena Family would support Auréliane, and no one else.
"I am, and will always be, your subject."
Viktor's composed voice rang out beside Auréliane's ear, each word pressing into her like something sharp, leaving a faint ache.
Auréliane extended her hand tentatively, fingers spreading open, instinctively reaching toward the Viktor before her.
Yet for reasons she could not explain.
The Viktor who knelt on one knee before her.
Seemed impossibly far away.
So far that he didn't seem to belong to the same world as her.
If she did not lean down.
She could not even reach out and touch her teacher.
But if she were to bow…
"Your Highness."
Viktor shook his head.
Bow your head, and the crown will fall.
Auréliane grew anxious.
Why?
If she truly became Emperor, would she not have everything she desired?
And yet…
The title of sovereign and subject—why did it feel so unbearably heavy?
"I…"
At that moment, Viktor had already risen to his feet.
Auréliane looked up, staring blankly at Viktor.
Yet his gaze, in that instant, was no longer on her.
He was simply looking past Auréliane, toward what lay behind her.
And Auréliane turned, just as blankly, to look behind herself.
There stood a silver-white Knight clad in a blue long skirt, pauldrons draped across her shoulders.
Her silver-white hair flowed like fibers spun from frozen snowflakes.
Carrying the purity of wind and snow, it radiated a cold, distant solitude.
She was her other teacher.
Gwen Delin.
And at the same time, she held another identity.
The Fiancée of Teacher Viktor.
As though sensing Viktor's gaze upon her.
That perfect Knight who seemed to stand amidst wind and snow finally stirred.
As if shaking the frost from every inch of herself, she stepped forward with measured strides and came to stand before Auréliane.
Then, she gave Auréliane a slight bow in the manner of a Knight's salute.
And afterward, she took her place behind Viktor.
In Auréliane's eyes, the figures of Viktor and Gwen seemed to merge into one.
A profound and pitch-black depth, and an immaculate, unblemished white.
Two people standing together, yet appearing so perfectly matched.
In her ears, she thought she could hear Viktor's still-composed voice, though she could not catch it clearly.
"The hour grows late. Gwen and I should be heading back."
"Until tomorrow then, Your Highness."
He took Gwen with him, the two walking side by side, stepping through the golden doorframe and out of the Banquet Hall.
Auréliane very much wanted to say something, yet it was as though a stone had lodged in her throat, and she could not produce a single word.
Her brow furrowed, and all her constricted throat would allow was a heavy exhale of air.
She reached out in vain, wanting to touch Viktor's retreating silhouette.
Several Council Members nearby, along with Duke Livi, drew close to Auréliane, breaking her silence.
Heim Horn's phantom-like face, carrying an indescribable static of blue phantom snow, leaned toward her:
"Please be at ease, Your Highness."
"This is also the agreement made between our Council and your Imperial Father."
Auréliane turned, gazing blankly at Heim Horn's expression, which carried the semblance of a smile:
"Horn… Council Member."
Duke Livi stepped forward as well, offering Auréliane a slight bow.
"Your Highness."
"Duke Livi…"
Several formidable 4th-Tier Mages stood at her side.
As though guarding her safety, yet also offering their silent support.
But all Auréliane wished to do was ignore everyone around her.
Her gaze remained fixed in the direction Viktor had departed.
Locked onto Viktor's silhouette, which continued to shrink into the distance.
As though, even from a hundred meters away, one could still hear a composed voice.
Though it did not come from Viktor.
"Viktor—was I well-behaved today?"
"I didn't act impulsively. I didn't do anything else."
Viktor turned his head back, wearing a smile Auréliane had never seen on him before.
Like something fond and indulgent, he gave Gwen a small nod.
"Mm. Very good."
Gwen's expression remained impassive, her snow-silver hair lending her an extra measure of mystery beneath the night sky.
The coldness of her demeanor usually made her feel distant.
Yet in this moment, her solitary grace.
Seemed to bloom for Viktor alone:
"Then hold me."
"Once we're home."
The two walked side by side down the road, shoulder to shoulder, in quiet companionship.
Until the slowly shrinking silhouettes blurred and faded from sight entirely.
Only then did Auréliane blink.
She was not quite certain whether Viktor had truly left, or whether the hazy air had clouded her eyes.
But no matter how carefully she searched the winding road ahead, in the end there was nothing left but a stretch of deep midnight black.
She felt a wave of daze wash over her; the light in her eyes seemed to leave her, dissolving into the pitch-black night sky and the resplendent golden Banquet Hall.
All that remained was a dim and heavy darkness, like a moth clinging to her pupils, beating its wings.
The swaying shadows behind her gradually stilled in the candlelight, cast across the golden floor.
Stretching long, long into the distance.
***
A day passed quickly.
The Royal Capital, as before, welcomed the faint pale gleam of dawn.
The news from the previous night spread swiftly through the entire circle of nobility.
Like a surging tide, it dragged everyone along with it without mercy.
The Emperor had designated the next successor.
Not the First Prince, and not the Second Prince.
But the Kingdom's Princess—Auréliane Sorel.
The news was far too abrupt, like a bomb dropped into the deep ocean the previous night.
Yet perhaps it had sunk too deep, for it failed to produce much of a ripple.
Because no one found it particularly strange.
Last night, the majority of nobles residing in the Royal Capital had attended the Banquet.
Having heard it directly with their own ears from Emperor Aubrey's own lips, they had no room left for any real shock.
And besides—compared to this.
At yesterday's Banquet, Viktor had also killed off several nobles.
If that were to spread, it would likely capture the attention of quite a few people.
It might even send the common populace into a state of unease.
Beyond the nobility, for most ordinary citizens.
Those Heretical Cultists who appeared so undeniably sinister felt far more relevant to their daily lives than something as distant as a Princess ascending the throne.
If a loved one they had lived alongside day and night were to one day transform into something like that—
Bursting out from a corpse's shell… twisting into writhing black flesh…
Even the mere thought of it was deeply horrifying.
Meanwhile.
A simple and unassuming Carriage was pulled by a fine horse, rumbling along a dusty road.
All around it stretched lush waist-high weeds that swayed gently in the breeze, leaning to one side. In the distance, a dense swaying forest let out a rustle—, and no other vehicles passed along the near or far stretches of road.
Inside the rough-and-simple Carriage sat a man who was anything but rough and simple.
The Second Prince had received the news. He sat in the gently swaying Carriage, his expression blank.
He set the letter he had already opened to one side of the seat, rubbed the space between his brows, and drew in a long, slow breath.
"Huu…"
Lately, the Second Prince had been feeling deeply exhausted—body and spirit alike.
Since returning from the Northern Frontier, he had felt his luck had been running particularly foul.
First he had broken his ribs twice in a row, and then the entire Demon Hunter organization had set their sights on him.
For some reason, Demon Hunters had been appearing frequently throughout the Royal Capital of late.
The Greed within him had been telling him, again and again, that these Demon Hunters were searching for something.
But what was there for Demon Hunters to search for?
What else but something like a Demon?
There was no other option—given the Demon Hunters' large-scale appearance, he had no choice but to leave the Royal Capital and lay low for a while.
He could have used his identity as a Prince to drive those Demon Hunters away.
But the problem was…
Who the hell had done this? Why were all of those Demon Hunters wearing the Clavena Family Crest?
How had even the Demon Hunters ended up working for the Clavena Family?
The beginning of all of this seemed to trace back to when his mother, whom he had not seen in a long time, had returned.
And now, even the throne had slipped from his hands.
The Second Prince could only find it laughable.
His Imperial Father had seemingly never acknowledged him or Aubeny.
It was as though everything they had done appeared utterly ridiculous in their father's eyes.
In the end, he had handed the throne to the younger Princess he treasured more.
He had even been willing to let a female ascend to rule the Empire.
Before all of this, whether it was him or Aubeny.
Neither of them had ever regarded the little Princess as any kind of threat.
After a long silence, the Knight driving the Carriage spoke from outside.
"Your Highness, there is one more piece of news—it has come from the Royal Capital."
"It seems Her Highness the Princess intends to leave the Empire over the next few days, to visit the Kant Kingdom on behalf of the Empire."
"Viktor will be going as well."
The Second Prince rubbed the bridge of his nose and breathed out a long, heavy exhale.
"Understood."
Feeling the sway of the Carriage, he raised his head again and spoke in a flat tone:
"Let's go. Pay a visit to the Adventurers' Capital—my Imperial Brother Aubeny's territory."
"News like this—I think he ought to be happy about it alongside me."