Three Divine Wishes: Yes, I'm OP!

After several hours, the Emperor of Loria finally arrived at his desired location, and the void before him opened onto a Star System that bore no resemblance to the layout of Orin.

By every measure, the place was an Empire first and a collection of worlds second.

It was an unbroken expanse of black and blue that stretched for light years in every direction; its architecture and light were woven so thoroughly together that the eye could not easily separate palace from firmament.

At the highest point of the central palace, nine orbs of different colors hung like immense jewels, yet they were not jewels at all; they were the nine worlds that constituted this Star System.

The... Smiling Court Star System.

The Emperor lingered in the void for just a moment before a human figure materialized before him, bowing with a precision that spoke of long practice.

At a single glance, it was obvious she was a Loria.

She bore the unmistakable features—brown hair neatly bound, brown eyes lowered in deference, and clothing tailored in the Empire’s signature black and blue.

In her hands she carried the heavy formal robes reserved for his return, and when she spoke, her voice held the careful warmth of a subordinate who had waited longer than most lifetimes.

"Welcome home, Your Majesty. This has been your longest tenure yet."

The Emperor looked at her in silence, his brown eyes already weighing the changes his Empire had undergone in his absence.

’My Empress... I have come home,’ he thought as he accepted the robes with a slight gesture, letting her drape them over his shoulders.

Once everything was in place, he spoke aloud.

"Report," he said finally, the single word enough.

As they descended from the void into the Empire proper, she gave him the accumulated weight of those long years.

Essentially, in the eighty thousand years that he was away, two additional Star Systems had been brought under the banner, their integration proceeding according to the old methods.

Not only that, the biggest goal of all had been making steady progress, and that was the process of collecting everything needed to create a proper vessel... for the Empress.

’Soon... we’ll finally be together,’ he thought, the bond with his Empress something he’d burn the whole of existence to secure.

He gave a single, deliberate nod as the streets of the capital stretched out before them, unfolding like a vibrant tapestry.

For anyone familiar with the Loria Empire, the scene would be nothing short of astonishing.

The Loria Empire was renowned as the sole empire within the Orin Star System, a power formidable enough to stand alongside the Pantheons.

Yet, it was equally well known that they were not a Pantheon, and the Emperor of Loria was no Supreme God.

Given that, it should have been impossible for this same emperor, now countless light years from Orin, to lead such a large population of Loria humans.

The streets and terraces bustled with steady crowds, brown hair and brown eyes in countless shades moving purposefully through the ordered rhythm of an empire that had not faltered in his absence.

Workshops, administrative halls, and training grounds all thrived without visible interruption; the machinery of a faction that kept turning without pause.

By the time they reached the outer steps of the palace, the attendant’s voice shifted from report to the question she had clearly carried since his appearance.

"May I ask, Your Majesty... what kept you away for so long?"

To such words, he gave her no answer while they entered the palace.

The corridors of the palace were busy with clerks, officers, and other members performing their assigned tasks, the low murmur of efficient conversation rising and falling as they passed.

Only when they entered the throne room and the heavy doors closed behind them did he cross the polished floor, ascend the dais, and take his seat.

He looked at the attendant then, and for the first time since his return, a thin smile touched his mouth.

"Do you mind hearing a tale?"

As his words fell, the mood in the throne room seemed to settle even more.

Dim light fell from high slits cut into the black-and-blue stone, leaving the greater part of the chamber in layered shadow.

Currently, the only figures in the room were the Emperor upon the high seat and the attendant standing to his right, her hands folded.

Opposite his throne sat a second seat of equal height, empty except for an empress’s crown resting upon the cushion with deliberate care.

The attendant’s eyes drifted briefly toward the empty spot before she spoke.

’Has his patience finally worn thin after all these years?’ she wondered, keeping her composure steady as her thoughts churned beneath the surface.

"Please, do enlighten me, Your Majesty."

The Emperor settled deeper into the throne, one hand resting along the carved arm while the other remained still against the dark fabric of his robes.

"Eighty thousand years ago I stumbled upon a peculiar Star System while searching for the next domains that held the resources we required."

As he continued, his tone took on the measured cadence of a man recounting something he had turned over many times in private.

"It was ruled by two Kami factions—the Celestial and the Dead Sun Pantheon."

"From the moment I first saw the system, I couldn’t quite explain why I had to wait; it just felt like it might one day fit perfectly with my plans and the old dreams lying beneath them.

So I waited... and I schemed."

The attendant’s breathing slowed as she listened.

’He... he spent eighty thousand years living in an entirely different star system?’ she thought, baffled, since that was nothing like how they usually operated.

After all, their faction was generally... despised by the entire universe, making it even more surprising that he had been so deliberate.

Yet, as her thoughts swirled, she didn’t interrupt him.

"I used a fraction of our Supreme Divinity to conceal our signature and the true nature of our bloodline," he continued, gaze distant though it never quite left the dim geometry of the room.

"Upon that foundation I built a second Empire and named it after the world that would serve as its public face—the Loria Empire."

He went on to explain how he had created everything, from children to countless more humans, through the power of Supreme Divinity.

After all the waiting, he finally gained something of great value—a woman, a Siren whose beauty was perfectly suited to serve as the vessel for his Empress.

Yet even with her by his side, he felt unfulfilled, as though the Star System still had more to offer, if only he waited patiently.

"And yet... after all that time, after everything... nothing came, except the throne to rule the Star System itself."

When he finished speaking, the attendant took a deep breath.

The empty empress throne and its waiting crown seemed heavier in the half-light.

She turned her attention fully towards him as he looked off into the distance.

"What... does this mean for us, Your Majesty?"