Chapter 1366: Chapter 1111: Sajia Visits
At that moment, Selena was in her chamber’s garden, and since she had withdrawn from the affairs of the Imperial Palace, she seemed much more relaxed, usually spending her time tending to the plants. Of course, her concern for Elsa had never diminished. Especially now, with the two Celestial Hearts constantly transmitting tremendously powerful energy to her, she always thought about Elsa and regretted her past actions. If anyone in the Imperial Palace would never want to see Elsa in trouble, Selena would be one of them.
Ever since the Emperor returned, the outrageous actions he took with the First Prince Sajia left her extremely puzzled. Before Elsa’s return to the Heaven Realm, her father, the Emperor of the Celestial Clan, had always been a wise and virtuous ruler. Under his leadership, the Celestial Clan had become unprecedentedly powerful, and the relationships with various races in the Heaven Realm were very good. Logically, he would never engage in such a series of irrational actions.
Selena didn’t know what had happened; her influence within the Celestial Clan was diminishing. All she could do was wait silently. However, she didn’t even know what she was waiting for.
Sajia appeared in Selena’s garden, and she saw him from a distance. This puzzled her, what was he doing here?
"Do you know where father has gone?" Sajia asked Selena directly as he approached her.
"Look, I’ve been here for a long time and haven’t left, but you’re the one who spends every day with father, and you’re asking me?" Selena said with a smile.
"I knew it, asking you is just a waste of time," Sajia said, looking somewhat dejected, then he turned around to leave.
"What, are you in a hurry to confront Elsa again?" Selena asked.
Sajia stopped, turned around, and looked at Selena. Only then did Selena notice that Sajia looked far from the spirited person he once was; he had obviously lost weight, his cheeks were sunken, cheekbones protruded, and his eyes were bloodshot, reflecting a combination of insufficient rest and poor nutrition.
"What exactly happened, are you going to share with me?" Selena asked.
Sajia’s facial expression changed. If it had been earlier, he might instinctively have scoffed at Selena a few times before striding away. But now, Sajia stopped, hesitated, then sighed and spoke in a low voice, looking into Selena’s eyes, "I feel like father is no longer the father we knew."
Sajia’s words surprised Selena. Since the first day their father returned, Selena had felt this way. But Sajia had always been by their father’s side, following his every step, obediently. And now, why had he changed his mind?
Sajia looked at Selena’s bewildered eyes, sighed again, shook his head, and prepared to leave.
"Come inside and sit down, it’s been a long while since we siblings had a talk," Selena said.
It was very serene at Selena’s place. Ever since the Emperor returned, even though he hadn’t targeted Selena directly, being close to Elsa in the past, she was somewhat ostracized intentionally or unintentionally. Initially, Selena was quite resentful, but as she got used to it, she started to enjoy this lifestyle. For the first time, she felt a sense of freedom all her own.
The maid prepared drinks and snacks; Selena and Sajia sat facing each other. Sajia appeared very downcast, so Selena didn’t rush to speak, but quietly held her cup, waiting for Sajia.
The maid soon left, and as time ticked by, Sajia remained silent, unwilling to speak. But Selena was not in a hurry, thinking that since Sajia had agreed to come in and talk, he must be willing to open up.
Finally, perhaps after the tenth sigh, he spoke.
"I originally thought that father simply disliked Elsa, just wanted to help me edge Elsa out, just wanted to make me the Emperor," Sajia used ’simple’ three times.
"But, as time went by, as what father did became increasingly outrageous, I realized that nothing is simple," Sajia sighed again.
"When Elsa first stimulated the Boundary Monument, that was the best opportunity for her to start building her own loyal connections. She’s smart, and if she wanted to be the Emperor, she should have started then. But she didn’t, even when I sent people to implicitly bring it up, she showed no interest at all. I thought maybe she felt her foundation was not yet solid, not wishing to rush things."
"Then, under Elsa’s leadership, we gradually reclaimed our lost lands, and all Celestials watched her every move, everyone discussed what she could achieve. At that time, if she stood out and built her connections, the timing was also good. But she still didn’t, she just immersed herself in battle."
"Finally, Elsa successfully regained all the Celestial lost territory, ridding the Celestials of the Ghost Spirits’ nuisance and shame. At that time, her reputation reached its peak; if she had stepped forward to compete with me for the Emperor’s position then, I believe even those who had been loyal to me might have shifted their allegiance toward her."
"But she remained unmoved."
"I once thought she just feigned composure, but when she began performing a series of experiments concerning the Ghost Spirits, I realized she was not pretending; she truly had no interest in the throne! And the irony was, at that time, I still regarded her as my hypothetical enemy."
"Actually, when Father returned, I wasn’t too pleased. But at that time, I thought his return was merely to ensure that I could become the Emperor smoothly. However, now, I realize I might have been wrong. Father doesn’t care at all who becomes the Emperor, as his only desire is to kill Elsa, nothing more. To achieve this goal, he doesn’t hesitate to drag the entire Celestial Clan into war. I think Father has gone mad; he is no longer the father I knew. But the most terrifying thing is, I found that I might have gone mad too, that whenever I stand before Father, I am always controlled by a strange fervor, and I find myself hating Elsa involuntarily, wanting to kill her without a second thought."
Sajia said this with a bitter smile, then continued, "If Father hadn’t disappeared again recently, I might not have thought about it so much. That strange, fanatical atmosphere of his is just too contagious that I can’t think about anything other than dealing with Elsa."
Selena just listened quietly to Sajia finish, looking into his eyes for a long time, she finally spoke, "Why do I hear in your story that it seems like you and our father are being controlled by someone else?"
Sajia’s eyes suddenly widened, he stared at Selena with a disbelief expression, "That’s impossible! How could Father and I be controlled!"
Sajia exclaimed almost instinctively.
"Is that so, how do you know you are not being controlled?" Selena asked.
"Because..." Sajia immediately replied, but he stopped mid-sentence. He was stunned because he had no way to prove it; he had never done any mental strength checks nor had any magic tests. Even he himself did not know why he was so confident that he wasn’t being controlled.
"You need to undergo a complete check-up before Father returns," Selena said.
"No!" Sajia immediately refused.
"Why?"
"Because..." Sajia struggled to answer again. Deep down he instinctively resisted the idea of being examined, but he couldn’t articulate any logical reason for his resistance.
"You are a smart man, my brother, now judge for yourself, is your current state normal?" Selena continued.
"No, this is definitely not normal," Sajia said gravely. Although he did not know exactly what was happening to him, he realized that if he continued to let these events take their course, something serious would definitely happen.
"I need help," Sajia finally admitted.
"I will help you," Selena said.
Selena knew that Sajia seemed to feel cornered, otherwise he would never have shown his vulnerable side to her. Ever since the Emperor returned, Sajia had distanced himself a lot from his close confidants, who in turn began to feign loyalty to him.
Sajia could not tell anyone about this, so he came to Selena. Even though Selena had once been his rival for the throne, she was still a royal family member, and such matters absolutely could not be known by outsiders.
Fortunately, the current Selena was no longer the Selena of the past.
After receiving help from Elsa, the Celestial Heart she obtained from Elsa truly integrated into Selena’s body. It, along with Selena’s own Celestial Heart, provided surging energy to Selena. Compared to Selena’s own Celestial Heart, Elsa’s Celestial Heart had even more powerful energy! The combined energy output from the two Celestial Hearts elevated Selena’s strength from an average level within the Celestial Clan to the very peak!
Selena took Sajia to a secret chamber, where they could be assured of no interference from the outside world, and what happened here would definitely not be known to the outside world.
Sajia sat on a chair, Selena stood behind him, Light Wings sprang from Selena’s back, dozens of Light Wings circling around Sajia’s head. Although Selena was not specialized in mental magic, her powerful strength compensated for this. The mental check started on Sajia’s consciousness and almost immediately, Selena detected some suspicious traces. There were indeed traces that Sajia’s mind had been influenced, and these traces were not concealed at all. This indicated that the person who had cast the mental influence on Sajia was very crude in their technique. Ideally, such a crude method should not have succeeded, as Sajia’s capabilities should have made him immediately aware of it.
The mental examination went deeper and the deeper it went, the more traces of mental magic Selena found, she even discovered some markings from the caster, although these markings were still very superficial and not enough to trace back to the caster. Hence, Selena went deeper, at this point she did not see that Sajia, who should have been with his eyes closed and in a trance, was slowly opening his eyes, his eyes emitting a red glow, his lips curved in a smile that seemed like his scheme was about to succeed.
Finally, Selena reached deep into Sajia’s consciousness, and the markings of the caster finally became clear. But when Selena figured out who the caster was, she was stunned.
Because the caster was Sajia himself! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
