Chapter 92: Risk a Global War???
"The Emperor and I will be getting married officially," Aurelia declared smoothly, looking over the hundreds of stunned nobles with a radiant smile. "We will be uniting the world under our rule once again. Just as it was always meant to be."
Everywhere was silent for exactly two seconds.
Then, the head table practically exploded.
"You are absolutely delusional, Aurelia!" Valeria screamed at the top of her lungs.
She slammed both of her fists down onto the massive U-shaped table. The sheer physical force shattered the golden plates in front of her, sending expensive synthetic meats, crystal shards and glowing wine flying across the floor.
The high-ranking nobles seated nearby scrambled backward in pure terror, tripping over their own expensive chairs to get as far away from the Goddess of War as possible.
"He belongs to me!" Valeria roared, her voice tearing through the cavernous hall.
Golden Aegis mana instantly flared around her broad shoulders like a halo of fire, cracking the thick marble beneath her boots. She pointed a shaking, armored finger directly at the Empress. "He is the Vanguard’s property! I found him! I bled for him! There will be no wedding! Not now, not ever!"
"Sit down, Valeria," Aurelia commanded coldly.
The Empress did not even flinch at the terrifying display of raw power. She just stared at Valeria like one looks at a rabid, misbehaving dog.
"You are a guest in my domain," Aurelia continued, her voice completely devoid of any warmth or mercy. "Don’t make me call my elite guard to drag you downstairs and lock you in the containment dungeons. You know perfectly well that I will do it."
"Try it, you glowing witch!" Valeria snarled, drawing her broadsword. The massive blade hummed with lethal energy, sparkling with the same crimson color of her eyes. "I will burn this entire palace to the ground, slaughter every guard in this room, and walk right out over your ashes! I’m taking him back to the Ares Domain tonight!"
"Both of you, stop," Zen said.
His voice wasn’t loud. He didn’t yell over the screaming or the breaking glass. But he channeled the exact pitch, rhythm, and cadence of the First Mortal Ruler... the exact frequency of unquestionable authority that he had used to command global armies five centuries ago.
Valeria froze instantly.
She bit her lower lip hard, the manic, murderous rage in her red eyes fighting a losing battle against her ingrained submission to his authority.
She was breathing heavily, trying to suppress the violence she had planned, but slowly, her golden mana died down.
She sheathed her heavy sword and dropped heavily back into her chair, glaring daggers at the Empress but refusing to speak another word.
Nyx sat a few seats away, casually crossing her legs. She swirled the glowing golden wine in her crystal goblet and laughed softly. It was a mocking, distinctly digital sound that grated harshly against the tense atmosphere of the room.
"Aurelia, your methodology is completely flawed," Nyx said smoothly, taking a slow sip from her glass and looking at the Empress with pity. "A forced marriage to a broken vessel doesn’t unite the world. It doesn’t project strength to the other Domains. It just paints a massive, glowing target on your back."
"I don’t care about the opinions of a glorified computer virus," Aurelia scoffed, rolling her eyes in disgust.
"You really should," Nyx countered, setting her goblet down on the table. "Because Lyra and Selene are not going to sit quietly and send you wedding gifts. Valeria obviously is ready to take your head. And I will not watch you monopolize his soul all to yourself. So if you still want to do this, know that you are inviting a global conflict you cannot win."
"Let them come," Aurelia smiled perfectly, reaching out to trace the rim of her crystal cup. Her blue eyes sparkled with unmatched arrogance. "I have the Emperor. I have the ultimate prize. That is all that matters. My armies will crush whatever pathetic resistance you all manage to scrape together."
Zen turned his head slowly to look directly at the Empress. He kept his expression completely flat, hiding the rapid, calculating gears turning in his head.
"Aurelia," Zen said calmly, his voice slicing through her arrogant smirk. "You planned a wedding. Without asking me?"
"I planned our future, my love," Aurelia whispered. "I am your Bethrothed after all."
She reached over, attempting to rest her soft, warm hand over his. Her striking blue eyes were wide, suddenly shining with an intense, terrifying obsession that made her look completely unhinged.
"We have lost five hundred years, Zen. Five centuries of me sitting on this throne in this empty room without you. I will not waste another single second playing political games. I want you bound to me permanently."
"I am the Emperor," Zen said flatly.
He deliberately and smoothly pulled his hand away from her grip, leaving her fingers touching empty space on the table.
"I don’t get dragged to the altar like a political pawn to legitimize your rule," Zen continued, his voice dropping into a cold, commanding register. "I rule. I decide."
Aurelia’s breath hitched loudly in her throat.
A dark blush rapidly spread across her pale cheeks, and the pupils of her blue eyes dilated entirely.
The ’Mind’ fragment of his soul that she carried within her core actively demanded dominance, and he was giving it exactly what it craved. She was a ruthless tyrant to everyone else, but to him, she wanted nothing more than to be commanded and put in her place.
"Of course, my Emperor," Aurelia whispered, her voice trembling with barely contained excitement. "I spoke out of turn. But the world needs to know you are mine. They need to see that you have returned to me."
"They will know," Zen lied flawlessly, keeping his posture rigidly straight. "But the wedding happens on my terms. When my core is fully repaired. A broken, High F-Rank Emperor cannot stand at the altar of the Crown Domain. It shows weakness to the other Domains. It makes me look like a fragile trophy instead of a conqueror."
Even though Zen had secretly reached Low B-Rank after his last fragment siphon with Valeria and Nyx, keeping Aurelia convinced that he was still struggling and fragile was his best leverage to buy time.
"You are not weak!" Aurelia insisted immediately, her grip tightening on the edge of the table until the expensive wood groaned and splintered under her fingers. "You are the strongest being to ever live!"
"But my current body is fragile," Zen replied smoothly, leaning in just a fraction to hold her intense gaze. "Give me time to rebuild my strength. Let me restore my mana properly. Or I walk out those diamond doors right now, and you can explain to your hundreds of nobles why the Emperor you just announced rejected you in front of the entire world."
Aurelia stared at him. The obsession in her eyes flickered rapidly as her hyper-intelligent mind processed the cold logic of his threat.
"You would leave me?" Aurelia asked, sounding genuinely panicked, completely dropping her regal facade. "After I waited all this time?"
"I would leave a cage," Zen said, his tone uncompromising and absolute. "I stay for a partnership. Choose right now, Aurelia."
A heavy, suffocating silence returned to the head table. Valeria looked like she wanted to leap across the table and stab the Empress in the throat, while Nyx watched the exchange with deep, calculating amusement.
"A partnership," Aurelia finally smiled, a flush of dark pink rising on her cheeks once again. She looked absolutely intoxicated by his firm boundaries. "We wait until you are fully restored. But the engagement stands, Zen. You are mine. Everyone in this room knows it now."
Zen nodded once, maintaining his stoic expression. "The engagement stands."
Further down the table, sitting completely still and trying to make herself look as small as possible, Maya watched Zen with wide, terrified brown eyes. She clutched the fabric of her dress, her knuckles turning white.
"He is manipulating a Goddess," Maya whispered to herself in pure disbelief. "He is literally telling the Empress of the Crown Domain what to do."
"He is surviving," Nyx corrected her smoothly, leaning closer to the healer and taking a slow sip of her glowing wine. "There is a massive difference, little healer. Don’t confuse his temporary leverage for actual safety. If he makes a single wrong move, she will lock him in a padded room for the rest of eternity."
