What Your Majesty Desires - Chapter 1.2

“Don’t flatter me so. I’m old and worried about whether I can safely pass on the throne.”

“What are you saying? God’s grace is with Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty just needs to stay healthy for a long, long time.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

Emperor Asterion smiled contentedly, listening to the courtiers’ well wishes.

Having had two sons late in life, who both grew up strong and sturdy, firmly supporting the imperial family, the Gler Empire had nothing but prosperity ahead.

It was then.

“Laughing and chattering without even realizing the day is ending. Tsk, tsk.”

A chilling voice echoed from somewhere.

The banquet hall instantly fell silent, as if doused with cold water.

“Who dares?”

Kaulus immediately slammed his fist on the table and jumped up.

Already in a foul mood, he was rather invigorated at the prospect of finding someone to vent his anger on.

However, if that taunt was the signal for a rebellion, Kaulus had essentially volunteered himself as the first target.

He wouldn’t know how to read the room if he’d never fought properly on the battlefield.

Hernis, as always, found Kaulus pathetic, and merely glanced at Jerome, who promptly divided the imperial guards, stationing half near Hernis and the other half near Emperor Asterion.

The most important thing to watch out for at times like this was arrows.

As he keenly scanned the surroundings for any potential threats,

“Asterion, you’ve aged a lot, haven’t you?”

The culprit revealed themselves.

The voice belonged to an old woman with a hunched back.

It was shocking enough that she had managed to enter this banquet, which even nobles could barely attend by waiting their turn, in such a disheveled state.

“Time cannot be reversed.”

The old woman pushed back the hood of her tattered black robe, revealing a face covered in malicious wrinkles.

“I seem to recall you having bright, adorable eyes when you were young. You don’t have much time left either.”

“Insolent! How dare you speak in front of His Majesty…!”

Kaulus immediately raised his hand and shouted.

“What, what are you doing? Seize that old hag and cut off her head right now!”

At Kaulus’s command, soldiers rushed to surround the old woman.

However, no one dared to grab the old woman’s arm, as her appearance seemed to defy explanation.

If the old woman was a messenger of God, harming a sacred being would bring divine punishment.

Meanwhile, the old woman hobbled slowly towards Asterion.

“If you’re hungry, I’ll have some food set aside for you, so leave quietly. I’ll spare your life today, as it’s a good day.”

“Heh heh. You should be worrying about the empire’s future instead of sparing me.”

Asterion was very generous, but the old woman was not grateful, and instead cackled even more unpleasantly.

“Gler has taken so much for itself. But what can you do? The power of the Blue Diamond is growing stronger every day and Gler cannot handle that power.”

“Blue Diamond?”

The Blue Diamond was a tacit taboo in the Gler Empire.

A blessing gem said to have been given by the goddess Nike to an ancestor of the Dextin imperial family, who had found her lost palm seed in the distant past.

There was a far-fetched legend that the Dextin Empire would enjoy peace and prosperity for generations as long as they possessed the Blue Diamond, but a legend was just a legend.

Who would believe such a boring old tale?

“Now the empire’s luck has run out, and Gler will be destroyed by Dextin.”

“Ha!”

Asterion scoffed, watching the old woman approach.

That country, which brought tribute every year for fear that Gler might invade, dared to destroy the great Gler Empire? Even a passing dog would laugh.

Of course.

For 200, 300 years, from a distant past he couldn’t remember, Dextin had always been lucky enough to protect its land peacefully.

To emphasize, it was purely luck.

For example, if the army of a neighboring country ignored the legend and entered the lands of the Dextin Empire to wage war, a plague would suddenly break out, wiping out the entire army.

Or, if someone ambitiously set fire near the Dextin army’s encampment, the wind would suddenly change direction, annihilating the invading side instead.

The Gler Empire had also once proudly set out, not believing in the power of the Blue Diamond, but before even reaching Dextin Castle, a shallow stream suddenly swelled, drowning most of the soldiers who were crossing it, a painful memory.

After that day’s defeat.

The Gler Empire outwardly maintained its position that it did not believe in the Dextin Empire’s ridiculous legend, but in reality, it had unified all the surrounding areas except for the Dextin Empire.

Not so much out of fear, but because it felt ominous.

A legend that was too foolish to believe, yet too unsettling to dismiss.

Thanks to the surrounding countries treating it like a useless thing, the Dextin Empire had maintained a peaceful system for hundreds of years.

And now, the country that the old woman was mentioning as the one to bring destruction was none other than Dextin.

“No one has ever actually seen the Blue Diamond, do you think I’d be swayed by such childish nonsense?”

“If you don’t want to believe it, you can just sit still and be destroyed.”

“What?”

“If you don’t like that, there is one way.”

The old woman had reached Asterion and smiled slyly.

“If you arrange a royal marriage with the Dextin princess, the two families would have no reason to destroy each other as in-laws.”

“A royal marriage?”

Is this old woman crazy?

Give one of his only two sons to that lowly country?

Even at Asterion’s dumbfounded expression, the old woman was undeterred and looked at Hernis.

“Hernis, you’ve grown up a lot too.”

She acted like she knew everyone, even though she had never met them.

Unlike Kaulus, who was flustered and turning red, Hernis simply stared at the old woman indifferently.

“This isn’t the time for you to be playing tag outside. The fate of the empire is like a lamp before the wind, you should put your father’s mind at ease.”

She continued to lecture him like that.

Judging by the way she was spouting nonsense, she was definitely a crazy old woman, but the content was so specific that it was unsettling.

“Is there really a need for a royal marriage? We can just go and crush them.”

Hernis calmly stated his position.

Then, the old woman curled up one corner of her mouth as if she expected him to say that.

“There is that method too. The one who possesses the Blue Diamond will seize all victories, so if you can just take it away, Gler won’t be destroyed by Dextin. Of course…”

Of course?

“Only if you can find that gem.”

The old woman then grabbed her stomach and cackled.

How are you going to find the Blue Diamond that even the Dextin royals don’t know the location of? The old woman was mocking him.

It seemed like he should either pull out the old woman’s tongue or cut off her head.

Before Hernis could even grab his sword, the old woman quickly pulled her black hood over her head.

“You must hurry. Gler’s national fortune is running out. Heh heh heh.”

The old woman’s unpleasant laughter echoed sharply through the banquet hall, like a dagger stabbing into it.

“Huh? Where did she go?”

And in an instant, the old woman disappeared.

The nobles all stared at each other with bewildered faces at the unbelievable magic trick. No one dared to open their mouths, until then.

Support What Your Majesty Desires