Chapter 06
1. When the Family Collapses, Society Collapses, and the Empire Collapses (4)
“Gayeon.”
“I’m okay. Just knowing there’s someone from home is enough! And—and—you’ll come back for me, right, unni? You will, right? I can endure it. I’ve already lasted three years, so what’s a little more!”
Geum Gayeon forced herself to sound cheerful. Her trembling lips were painfully pitiful.
In the end, Selena snatched the problematic bracelet off and tossed it aside, then lightly flicked the half-panicked Gayeon on the forehead.
“Ow!”
“Get a grip, Gayeon. Your unni isn’t that weak.”
“But still, how can one mage deal with all those knights—”
“No. I’m not just a mage…”
Selena pulled out the silver staff she had tucked at her waist.
Boom!
The wall of the reception room shattered violently. Almost simultaneously, Selena’s staff moved faster than the black shadows charging in from within.
Clang!
A silver barrier casually knocked away the sword of a knight clad in black armor.
“…I’m an Archmage.”
Selena smiled lightly.
Lightning. Explosion. Rock Blast.
Triple casting.
Three high-tier spells roared forward at the intruders who had stormed the reception room.
Electricity flashed, flames raged, and massive chunks of rock flew through the air like cannonballs, slamming into the knights.
“Gaaah!”
“Aaaaargh!”
Watching the knights who had made such a threatening entrance be so miserably eliminated in an instant, Selena snorted.
“If you were going to come after one of the Empire’s only three Archmages, you should’ve at least brought a Master.”
They must have hurriedly tracked her location and sent a nearby knight order. Understandable, but still sloppy. Being the capital wall guard, they had war-grade mobile anti-teleport devices—but that was it.
With skills barely sufficient to wield sword aura, they never stood a chance—
…Wait?
“Damn it.”
As Selena scoffed, her senses picked up an intense mana presence far away—outside the range of the teleport-interference device.
A Master.
The distance was still significant.
But with their physical capabilities, they’d reach here in under a minute.
The Empire was more competent than she’d expected.
Even if the Empress had been abducted, deploying a busy Master this quickly was impressive.
Even if the Emperor personally ordered it, teleporting a Sword Master—given their innate mana resistance—would require at least a 7th-class mage. Which meant high-ranking mages from the Mage Tower were already moving.
Selena hurriedly analyzed the twisted mana flow.
“Gayeon, grab onto me!”
“Y-yes!”
Thin arms wrapped around her waist.
The chilling killing intent that had been distant drew closer.
This wasn’t just the anger of a master rescuing a kidnapped empress.
Why is he this furious? The young Duke Loderfel? Hah. If she was that precious to him, he should’ve protected her from the Emperor better.
Either way, it was already too late.
Everything was.
Selena smiled with resolve.
A brilliant column of light burst from beneath her feet.
“Teleport!”
—And just before she vanished, crimson eyes passed down through generations of the Elsaik imperial line flashed beyond the ruined reception room wall by a hair’s breadth.
A scream filled with sticky, obsessive emotion reached her ears.
“Ariaaaaaaa!”
It was the Emperor’s howl.
***
After successfully teleporting and fleeing to one of the thirteen villas she owned, Selena gave her first, brief evaluation of the Emperor she’d just met.
“The Emperor really isn’t sane.”
She’d suspected as much from how he treated Gayeon, but she hadn’t realized it was this bad.
Unbelievable.
Even if the Empress had been abducted of her own will, charging out personally like that—
Even if he was a Sword Master, as an emperor, that was a failing grade.
What if Selena had been a spy from an enemy nation, and all of this had been a trap to lure him out?
The Emperor would’ve died.
“Did he seriously not think about what would happen if he died? Does he have no awareness that he’s the Emperor? Is he stupid?”
What would happen to the Empire if the Emperor died and the Empress vanished?
Collapse. Guaranteed.
If they were lucky, it would just be a civil war. If unlucky, civil war plus foreign invasion. Worst case, total imperial collapse.
That wasn’t an exaggeration.
Because there was no successor.
The previous emperor had been poisoned. The current emperor’s brothers had all met tragic ends during succession struggles—cases where everyone knew the culprit, but they remained officially unsolved forever. And there was no heir between the Emperor and Empress.
The only remaining bloodline was a descendant of the previous emperor’s brother, guarding the Frost Fortress in the north as a grand duke—but his succession rights had been stripped, making him irrelevant.
In other words, the Emperor knew perfectly well that if he died, the entire imperial line would end and the Empire would go mad—and yet he still acted recklessly to the point of stupidity.
If he truly wanted to save the Empress, he should’ve acted strategically.
The empress’s abduction was clearly a politically motivated crime. Unless the abductors wanted a full confrontation with the Empire, she would’ve been kept alive and treated minimally well.
A half-baked rescue attempt would almost certainly prompt the abductors to erase evidence by blowing everything up. And what if the Emperor himself showed up? They’d happily take out both the Emperor and Empress together.
Boom—Emperor.
Boom—Empress.
Boom—Empire. Boom boom boom.
“I guarantee it. The royal guards probably grabbed his legs and begged him not to go. Not just the guards—maybe even the prime minister and other nobles were hanging onto his arms.”
“…And since he’s a Sword Master, he probably threw them all aside and went anyway.”
An emperor with both power and authority, yet utterly foolish. The Empire’s future looked bleak. Not that it was Selena’s problem—but she did feel sorry for its citizens.
She shook her head.
“Gayeon, why did you pick such a garbage truck? Even if it’s not a Benz, you should’ve chosen something that at least runs properly.”
She truly felt sorry for her.
No respect, wielding power arbitrarily—disqualified as a spouse.
Killing opponents outright—disqualified as a person.
Almost destroying the nation over emotional impulse—disqualified as an emperor.
What on earth had Gayeon seen in him?
Don’t tell me she picked him just for his looks.
Selena recalled the Emperor’s appearance from the brief glimpse before teleporting.
…It was possible.
The emotions inside him were horrifying, but his ruby-red eyes and gold hair that looked like it had been pulled straight from molten gold made him beautiful enough to be mistaken for an angel.
If emperors were chosen by looks alone, he would’ve fiercely competed with Gayeon herself for first place.
As Selena gradually leaned toward the Geum Gayeon Looks-First Hypothesis, Gayeon hurriedly protested.
“He really wasn’t that stupid at first! That’s why I thought I could build a country with him, shoulder to shoulder, and worked so hard to support him…”
As she spoke, her stomach seemed to twist, and she rubbed her face with self-loathing.
“If he wanted to send a master, he should’ve sent the captain of the royal guard instead… seriously.”
Gayeon, the top contributor who had helped the deeply flawed Emperor ascend the throne, looked miserable.
Selena patted her shoulder but inwardly felt relieved.
If it were Selena, she would’ve lost all affection long ago and probably started looking for assassins herself. Human emotions were unpredictable.
She’d worried Gayeon might waver because the Emperor had come running “despite risking the Empire,” but that concern proved unnecessary.
To Gayeon, the Emperor’s love was no longer love.
It was madness and obsession.
A pitiful end for a romance known as the love of the century—but Selena felt no sympathy.
After all, the one who had driven Gayeon to want to flee was the Emperor himself. This was pure self-inflicted karma.
“We’ll need to be even more careful than expected. You can’t predict a lunatic. We should assume the Emperor could pop out like a rabbit anytime, anywhere.”
…Actually, now that she said it, it kind of fit.
Same red eyes, too.
She decided to call him “Rabbit” from now on. Saying “Emperor” out loud would draw attention.
At the nickname, Gayeon laughed delightedly, giggling like it was the funniest thing in the world. Then, smiling brightly, she suggested that since it was almost dinner time, maybe they should eat rabbit meat.
“…”
For once, Selena decided not to think too deeply about it.
