Game Time AM08:05
Royal Capital, Salamun, Royal District, Tricolor Courtyard
The Royal District is located at the end of Violet Avenue and is the core area of the Royal Capital, Salamun. The Tricolor Courtyard is in the middle layer of the Royal District. This huge green cross-shaped area is blessed with a large number of environment-improving spells, making the environment beautiful and spring-like all year round. It is the Violet Royal Family's private recuperation area and also the favorite winter residence of Clayvo Bracern, the elderly patriarch of the Violet Family and Emperor of the Empire.
In the central courtyard of the Tricolor Courtyard, Le Wen, the Chief Steward of Fire Claw Territory and a Half-Orc of the Fox Clan, asked Miss Shuangye, who stood beside him with a calm expression, with a hint of nervousness, “Are you sure it’s alright? We don’t have much time left…”
“I’ve already explained it to you, this is necessary preparatory work.” Miss Shuangye, who wore a Fire Claw Territory emblem over her magic robe, glanced at him impatiently. “Or would you like to do it?”
Le Wen, who was originally the representative of the envoy delegation, shrank his neck and shook his head, saying, “No, no, I’ll do as Miss Shuangye says.”
“Ugh, actually, I’m really not good at dealing with people.” Miss Shuangye pushed up her glasses helplessly and sighed softly, “No matter how much I imagine strangers as potatoes, what’s below their necks still looks like people…”
Le Wen shrugged, his gaze filled with admiration as he looked at the young woman. Although he was still somewhat uneasy, he had to admit that this young human female mage was far more outstanding than himself.
This was also why Miss Shuangye, who was originally only supposed to act as a witness, was directly appointed as the leader of the envoy delegation by Grand Chieftain Xi Luo before departure.
Whether it was wisdom, cunning, or strategy, Le Wen, as Fire Claw Territory’s chief strategist, felt that he had no comparison to her whatsoever…
However, he had no dissatisfaction at all. On the contrary, Le Wen was very grateful for Miss Shuangye’s existence.
“If we follow her previous ideas, perhaps Fire Claw Territory truly has a chance to gain the initiative outside of the battlefield!”
He thought to himself, then saw a young man dressed as a waiter approaching from not far away.
“Miss Shuangye of Fire Claw Territory, His Majesty is ready to receive you.” He slowly approached the two of them, first bowing slightly to Miss Shuangye, then bowing to Le Wen, saying, “Long time no see, Mr. Le Wen, you can wait in the lounge over there for a while.”
Le Wen nodded, then whispered to Miss Shuangye, “Everything is in your hands.”
“I’ll do my best.” Miss Shuangye replied weakly, then followed the waiter towards a palace not far away.
It was a while before Le Wen, who was visiting this place for the first time, remembered something particularly important.
“Um, can someone tell me how to get to the lounge…?”
…
Five minutes later
Tricolor Courtyard, St. Laurent Palace
The white-haired old man was calmly fiddling with the musical instrument in front of him, occasionally picking up a pen to write something on the white paper beside him. His skin, which didn’t seem to have been well-maintained, was a bit pale. He was very tall but very thin, yet it wasn’t a sickly thinness; rather, it gave people a sense of ethereal grace, like an immortal.
If it weren’t for the amethyst crown on his head, symbolizing authority, this appearance walking on the street would indeed make it difficult for others to recognize his imperial identity.
“A mage, a Bard, an Alchemist, all of those fit, but he’s the only one who doesn’t look like an Emperor.”
He slowly put down the newly composed musical score in his hand and smiled kindly at Miss Shuangye, who looked completely uncomfortable, saying, “Right?”
“No, I just think you look like a street artist…”
Miss Shuangye, who had been left waiting for a while, grumbled in her heart, but on the surface, she had an expression of ‘Oh my god, you actually guessed it right,’ and nodded with extreme admiration, “You saw right through me.”
“Heh heh ~ If I had a choice, I’d really like to be a Bard who could travel the continent.” The old Emperor made a face at Miss Shuangye without any airs, spreading his hands and saying, “But unfortunately, someone always has to be Emperor.”
Although Miss Shuangye was somewhat dismissive, Clayvo Bracern’s words were indeed from the bottom of his heart. The Emperor, nearing eighty years old, had three greatest hobbies in his life: editing stories, composing music, and painting landscapes. And although they were just hobbies, Clayvo’s accomplishments in music and painting were both first-rate. If he had a different background, this man, who was quite talented in art, might indeed have become a great Bard. But unfortunately, as he said… someone always has to be Emperor.
Clayvo was not the only child of the previous Violet Emperor. It was just unfortunate that his brothers were truly useless. Some were brave and fierce, some were incredibly foolish, some were short-sighted, and some were ill-intentioned, but none were suitable to be Emperor…
So Clayvo, as the eldest son, had no choice but to take this position, because back then, both he and his father knew that if Clayvo gave up inheriting the Royal Family and the Violet Family, the consequences would be very, very dire.
Unlike the Shavin Empire, where power is relatively unified, the Violet Empire, although also called an ‘Empire,’ had an Emperor whose say was far less significant. Although the Royal Family’s voice still carried weight, in areas outside of the Violet Territory centered around the Royal Capital, Salamun, the actual supreme rulers were still the local Grand Lords. Their status was roughly equivalent to the feudal lords in ancient China.
Ned had once given Mo Tan and Miss Shuangye a crash course: this Empire was formed by the combination of nine powerful families. They were Violet, Crystal Wolf, Hussein, Baloka, Dengtis, Fernan, Marshall, Simon, and Fire Claw. They were vassals of a great nation that had dominated this land in the previous generation, but a thousand years ago, due to a joint rebellion that erupted under tyranny, they became the masters here. And the one who spearheaded the coup was Clayvo’s ancestor, Edmond Bracern, who was the Violet Grand Duke at the time.
So, after everything ended, the Violet Family naturally became the new Royal Family, while the other eight Grand Lords, after nominally declaring their allegiance, successively settled down in the places they occupied, becoming like local Emperors.
Of course, the world has never been peaceful. Everyone understood the principle of sticking together for warmth, so despite maintaining territorial autonomy for many years, these families have always revolved around the Violet Royal Family, considering themselves as subordinates.
And for a thousand years, the Violet Family has always maintained the balance of the country with appropriate restraint, not excessively interfering, but also constantly ensuring their own weight and voice, while simultaneously serving as the balancer, the helmsman, and the scapegoat.
However, although this position is very high, it is also very delicate. Although their Royal Family has been quite stable for such a long time, if a mediocre genius were to appear at some point, it is not guaranteed that the other Grand Lords would not seize the opportunity to play tricks like usurping power. Therefore, despite his reluctance, Clayvo still obediently inherited the amethyst crown and served as Emperor for over fifty years.
Although he was not a far-sighted, keen-witted, or effortless Emperor, he at least had no fatal weaknesses or flaws, so he hadn’t made any major mistakes over the years. Of course, there were many imperfections.
Now, back to the main topic…
“Your Majesty, please forgive me, I don’t understand the rules, so I’ll get straight to the point.” Miss Shuangye, seeing that the old man in front of her had no intention of saying anything more, immediately spoke in a serious, deep voice, “Our Fire Claw Territory has encountered some difficulties, and we have come to you to request the convocation of a Supreme Council. We would like to invite the other seven Grand Lords…”
“Supreme Council?” Clayvo frowned slightly, and his calm and composed aura instantly diminished considerably. “What do you mean?”
His reaction was not surprising, after all, a Supreme Council was no laughing matter. It was an emergency meeting that could only be initiated by the Violet Royal Family during extremely rare major events, major disasters, or major decisions. As long as there was sufficient reason, the other eight Grand Lords had to respond immediately and come to the Royal Capital, Salamun, for discussion in the shortest possible time. Such power could be said to be an important component of imperial authority.
Of course, if the Violet Family were to call everyone together for reasons like ‘wanting to play a few rounds of mahjong’ or ‘organizing a group outing,’ that would be purely self-defeating. If they convened everyone for such reasons, absolutely no Grand Lord would be in the mood to respond, and it would also severely damage the prestige of the Royal Family.
Therefore, a Supreme Council usually occurred less than once every ten years. Of course, things like the Marshall Grand Lord privately engaging in slave capture and trade were certainly enough to call everyone together for a meeting, but…
“Plague.” Miss Shuangye did not mention her original intention for coming here, only stating seriously, “A Plague of unprecedented scale and extremely high severity.”
Clayvo was startled and quickly asked, “Plague? Are you talking about Fire Claw Territory? Has a large-scale Plague broken out there?”
“No, not Fire Claw Territory.” Miss Shuangye gently shook her head, spreading her hands with a worried expression, “It’s Misha County, located between our Southeast Continent and Northeast Continent. A Plague has broken out there for unknown reasons. As of now, there have been over ten thousand deaths, and the infected number over a hundred thousand!”
Upon hearing that the Plague had not broken out in Fire Claw Territory, Clayvo was clearly stunned, but he did not directly question Miss Shuangye. He merely pondered for a moment, stroking his chin, then frowned and said, “I did hear about this some time ago, but I remember that place isn’t too close to the Empire.”
“My Emperor, to be precise, that place isn’t too close to the ‘heartland of the Empire.’” Miss Shuangye sighed, then said in a deep voice, “But it’s not far at all from the border of the Empire. If one were to depart from the southernmost part of Misha County, it would only take a few days of travel to reach Fire Claw Territory.”
Clayvo was not a foolish person. He almost immediately understood the meaning of Miss Shuangye’s words and quickly asked, “You mean…?”
“Although Misha County is now completely blockaded to prevent infected people from leaving its confines, however…” Miss Shuangye slowly walked in front of Clayvo and said, word by word, “Before the blockade was established, over a thousand Misha County residents had fled south, and our Fire Claw Territory has taken in over four thousand refugees during this period.”
Clayvo’s eyes widened instantly: “And among them were infected individuals carrying the Plague?!”
Just as the old Emperor had said, he had indeed received intelligence about the initial outbreak of the Plague in Misha County, and had even casually ordered a dozen or so priests to go north for a symbolic ‘support.’ But he hadn’t been overly worried at the time, after all, Plagues were not uncommon on the continent and usually didn’t cause much trouble. After all, the proportion of divine personnel in this world was much higher than that of doctors in the real world, and divine arts, alchemy, and magic were all quite unreasonable existences.
But looking at the young girl’s expression, this situation seemed different from before…
“Yes, Your Majesty, we did find infected individuals among the refugees.” Miss Shuangye nodded forcefully, her voice trembling as she said, “Two days before I and the envoy delegation departed, we had already discovered over sixty infected Misha County commoners, and sixty percent of the Fire Claw warriors sent to care for them were also infected. What’s more concerning is that the shamans and priests in our territory are completely unable to eradicate this Plague; at most, they can only provide a certain degree of delay, and the speed of the disease’s spread…”
Clayvo saw Miss Shuangye nervously swallow, and he couldn’t help but become nervous himself.
Heaven knows, he had never thought that the Fireclaw Duke, who almost never came to the Royal Capital, would suddenly send someone to Saramun because of such a matter!
“One day later, the day before I left the territory.” Miss Shuangye’s face was pale, and she subconsciously hugged her thin shoulders, her eyes wide like a female ghost suddenly appearing behind an extra in a horror movie: “The infected numbered two hundred and forty-eight, with twelve commoners from Misha County dead, and three weaker Fire Claw warriors dead!”
“What?!” Clayvo immediately became anxious. He slammed the table and exclaimed, “The spread is so fast! Then Fire Claw Territory must be…”
Miss Shuangye immediately bowed and said, “Your Majesty, please rest assured. We immediately realized how terrifying this Plague was, so…”
She clenched her fists tightly, and two clear tears streamed down her fair cheeks, silently merging into the crimson carpet.
“So what?” Clayvo couldn’t help but become even more nervous.
“Grand Chieftain Xi Luo… no, I mean the Fireclaw Duke ordered that very noon… to kill those infected…” As the young woman spoke, her legs suddenly gave way and she knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Wuwu… Brother… Brother Tan Mo… You died so… wuwuwu so miserably…”
Chapter 153: End
