"WHO TOLD you to come here?" Nero growled. He wasn't angry at Dahlia– he was just upset with the current situation. "I don't need you here, Dahlia."
Dahlia looked quite terrified of his slight outburst, but she still gathered her courage to speak up. "I-I didn't want to be here either, Prince Nero," she said. Her voice trembled a bit, but her eyes were clear. She really didn't want to be there. "But I'm the only one who can rescue you from this place."
"I don't need your help."
"T-then Your Imperial Highness should have come out instead of making everyone worry."
He flinched and almost said "I would if I could," but he just shut his mouth. Because saying that would only prove that Dahlia made a valid point.
[She got me there…]
"T-They barely stopped His Imperial Majesty from coming here personally to rescue Your Imperial Highness," Dahlia said, avoiding his gaze. "And don't forget that you're not just the emperor's son, Prince Nero– you're also the Crown Prince of the empire. The situation outside hasn't stabilized yet. Your absence is giving our side a disadvantage."
He couldn't say anything because everything the Black Witch said was true.
[Dahlia always looks scared stiff, but she has no problem speaking her mind…]
"S-So let's set aside our personal feelings. I know that the throne summoned me here to make me your empress, but that's not going to happen," Dahlia said, then she looked at him with an annoyed look on her face. "Prince Nero, I'm not going to marry you."
That was what Nero wanted to hear from Dahlia.
But what was that strange throbbing in his chest?
[Why does it hurt…?]
Even so, he didn't let his feelings get the better of him.
"Very well. I do not wish to marry you either," Nero said, putting Dahlia down carefully. "But we're now in the throne room, so be careful. We don't know what kind of trap is waiting for us here."
Dahlia's face lit up. "Don't worry, Prince Nero. The strongest man of our generation is here to protect us."
Excuse me?
[Am I not the strongest man of our generation???]
As if on cue, the "strongest man" of their generation arrived with a grand entrance.
Commander Ruto, for some reason, suddenly grabbed Larissa by the neck.
Nero was quite surprised.
[How can he touch a Spirit God so easily?]
"Why are you still alive?" Commander Ruto growled lowly. "I already forfeited your right as a god and left you to die in the human world."
Now Nero was confused, but hearing what the young commander said cleared up one thing.
[Larissa is, indeed, an enemy.]
It wasn't like he trusted the young commander.
[I just know that his enemies are Neoma's enemies, too.]
"That was your mistake, Yoan," Larissa said, laughing. She wasn't even trying to remove Commander Ruto's from her neck. "You looked down on me too much, and you underestimated the throne's greed."
It seemed like the goddess had hit a nerve because Commander Ruto's eyes glowed menacingly.
"Hey," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are you so mad at that woman? What did she do to you in the first timeline?"
Since Larissa called Commander Ruto by his old name, it was easy to deduce that the two had a history in the first timeline.
[And they clearly hate each other.]
"Larissa, the Goddess of Fertility, led the other gods in the Upper World to bury Neoma and turn her into an Aether," Commander Ruto said in a cold voice. "And then she killed mine and Neoma's baby."
Nero knew it wasn't the right time and place.
However, he couldn't control his anger.
Before he knew it, he already attacked Commander Ruto with his ice daggers.
"Prince Nero!" Dahlia gasped in disbelief. "What do you think you're doing to Commander Ruto?"
"I don't know," Nero said, scoffing. "He's just annoying."
***
[THIS LUNATIC…]
There were two reasons why Ruto was forced to let go of Larissa.
First, he felt the strange energy coming out of the former goddess. He didn't know what it was, but his instinct was telling him to move away from her.
Hence, he did.
As soon as he stepped away from Larissa, he created a barrier to protect himself from the hundreds of ice daggers that Prince Nero threw at him.
He knew why the Crown Prince attacked him, but it still pissed him off.
[All of them reacted violently…]
Even Lewis and Trevor Kesser attacked him after finding out that he had a child with Neoma.
[Neoma, you are loved dearly by these dangerous men.]
Ruto turned to Prince Nero and gave him a look of disapproval. "This isn't really the time and place, Prince Nero. Please put a rein on your sister complex for now."
Prince Nero scoffed. "You're not funny, Commander."
"I'm not trying to be funny, Your Imperial Highness."
The Crown Prince's eyes turned glowing red. "Did you take responsibility for Neoma and your child with her?"
"I did."
Even so, the Crown Prince didn't really look satisfied with his response.
[I guess he'll never acknowledge me as Neoma's partner…]
His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the semi-transparent long hands that were sneaking up on Dahlia.
And he wasn't the only one who noticed that.
Nero quickly turned to Dahlia and grabbed her by the hand.
But, to be honest, it didn't look like they didn't have to move and protect the Black Witch.
After all, Dahlia's Elemental Guardian appeared.
Lapiz, a Blue Whale, appeared and whistled– causing a wave of "water" to swallow the semi-transparent hands that were trying to pull Dahlia away.
As a result, the throne shook.
After all, the hands that tried to grab Dahlia actually came from the throne.
[Tsk.]
Ruto clicked his tongue because he saw Larissa standing next to the throne. "The throne has never been given the right to choose the empress," he said, talking to the former goddess. "Why do you need Dahlia to be the new empress when the crows have hunted down the Black Witches in the past?"
***
DAHLIA was grateful that Commander Ruto asked the question that had been weighing down on her all this time.
[I am not fit to be the next empress.]
Moreover, in the first timeline, no one accepted him as the real empress.
The only reason she was able to reach that position back then was because Nero was a tyrant. No one had the guts to oppose him when he chose to marry her because everyone knew how scary the emperor could be when mad.
"The perfect de Moonasterio can only be born with the union of a de Moonasterio and a Black Witch."
Huh?
Dahlia wondered if she heard Larissa correctly.
[Is that the only reason the throne chose her to become the new empress?]
Dahlia clenched her hands tight.
Of course, she wasn't expecting anything because she had no interest in becoming the empress again in this timeline.
However, she was still deeply offended.
"How dare you put a value on my ability to conceive a "perfect" de Moonasterio," Dahlia said, her chest tightening from anger. "I am not your babymaker. I will not marry Prince Nero, or anyone for that matter, with the sole purpose of giving birth to the next ruler of the empire."
It was clear that these people didn't see her as a person.
[They just see me as a tool to give birth to a baby that they can control!]
Larissa looked at Dahlia in disbelief at first, then she laughed. In a mocking tone, at that. "Of course, we'll put a value on your ability to give us the perfect heir, Dahlia. After all, that will be your only use once you become the new empress."
She knew she didn't have to listen to Larissa's harsh words, but she couldn't help but feel hurt by them.
"To be honest with you, Hanna Quinzel was the perfect empress. Her bloodline, background, upbringing, and talent are all outstanding," Larissa said, laughing at Dahlia. "If Hanna Quinzel isn't infertile, there's no way we'd choose a commoner like you to be the next empress."
Dahlia ignored the insult thrown at her because something else caught her attention. "Princess Hanna is infertile…?"
But how could that happen when Hanna received all the medical tests she had to go through before she became the Crown Princess?
[The medical tests she took never said that she was infertile…]
"I would know because I'm the Goddess of Fertility."
"Was," Commander Ruto corrected the goddess. "You no longer have the right to call yourself a god, Larissa."
"My ability didn't go anywhere just because I lost my divinity," Larissa argued. "I've been observing Hanna Quinzel ever since she became the official Crown Princess. And I'm certain that she doesn't have the ability to conceive– mff!"
It happened so fast.
Nero, who was just standing next to Dahlia, suddenly disappeared by her side.
The next thing she knew, the Crown Prince had already grabbed Larissa by the face.
"Are you done speaking nonsense now?" Nero asked in a low and angry tone. "Did I not tell you that it doesn't matter to me whether Hanna is infertile or not? I'm still going to marry her and make her my empress."
Oh.
That was what Dahlia wanted to happen.
Hence, she didn't understand the sudden pang in her chest.
[No, I shouldn't be hurt when this is what I wanted in the first place…]
"Too bad, my prince," Larissa said, laughing. "If you have no intention of making Dahlia your empress, then you shouldn't have brought her here."
Huh?
Dahlia belatedly realized that the floor that she was standing on had disappeared, and she was now falling to god knows where.
[Nooo…!!!]
***
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