513 Henrietta's Squeal
"Leave us," Henrietta calmly dismissed everyone beside Astoria from the great hall floor with a wave of her hand.
Shortly after Evanore and the other matriarchs left, the brief silence made the atmosphere between Henrietta and Astoria seemingly tense.
However, it was broken by Henrietta's bright smile.
Henrietta quickly left her throne and welcomed Astoria with a big leaping hug, arms wide open. Her body swung around after catching Astoria, but the latter remained firm on the spot without shifting due to the additional weight on her body.
"Why did you come to see me, Astoria?" Henrietta asked obliviously.
"What do you mean why did I come to see you?" Astoria glanced at her speechlessly before replying, "Weren't you the one that wanted to see me? I received your letter."
"What is this important matter you wanted to talk to me about regarding Vaan?" Astoria asked shortly after.
She did not doubt Henrietta would try to harm Vaan.
The trust they built over three hundred years of friendship wasn't easily broken. Since Henrietta had given her promise, Astoria would naturally believe in her.
Even so, she still couldn't help but feel concerned. After all, Vaan had gone missing for three days.
"About this..."
Henrietta slowly filled Astoria in on the details of the events that occurred in the Black Rose Kingdom over the last three days, including the dangerous fluctuations in Gehenna's Gateway and Vaan's departure to investigate the spacequake.
"This..." Astoria felt astonished and helpless at the end of Henrietta's explanation.
Since Vaan had gone to investigate the spacequake, he had most likely left the world and ventured into the heavenly sea of stars. She could not leave the world like Vaan, let alone survive out there.
Thus, even if she wanted to look for Vaan, she could not.
Furthermore, she was aware the sea of stars was also infinitely vast. Perhaps not as vast as Chaos, but still boundless for mortals like them. As such, there was no telling what Vaan would face out there or when he would even return.
Since there was nothing she could do to change that, she decided not to dwell on it despite her concerns.
Instead, she should focus on what she could do.
At the very least, she could do everything in her power to protect what he left behind from the threats imposed upon them.
That was her responsibility!
"I see..." Astoria uttered solemnly before saying, "If Gehenna's Gateway swallows Blackthorn City and brings it to the other side, the threat the city will face will likely be even higher than during the Holy War."
"My coronation hasn't been held, so the amount of authority I hold in the Holy Knight Empire is unclear. As such, I don't know how many people will support me or how many troops I can rally to support the kingdom."
"However, you can be assured that the Imperial Legion will assist the kingdom during this crisis. I have their full allegiance. If I leave now with the dragons' help, I should be able to bring the Imperial Legion to reinforce the city in three hours at most," Astoria guaranteed with a serious look.
Traveling between the Black Rose Kingdom and Holy Knight Empire did not take much time with the dragons' spatial magic.
Most of the time consumed would be due to gathering the members of the Imperial Legion.
Nevertheless, Henrietta shook her head.
"You're taking this matter too seriously, Astoria," Henrietta tried to lighten the conversation with a smile before saying, "Actually, the situation is not as urgent as you think."
"While it is true that the city will face the inevitable threat of Gehenna due to the fluctuations in Gehenna's Gateway, that time has not arrived yet. The last spacequake was over two and a half days ago. So, as long as we don't experience any more spacequakes, the peak fluctuation period of Gehenna's Gateway will start to subside from now on."
"I actually called you over to speak about another matter..." Henrietta mentioned as she started to become fidgety and embarrassed. "I... want to marry Vaan!"
"...What?" Astoria responded dumbfoundedly, thinking she had heard wrong.
"With your permission, of course!" Henrietta quickly added to explain herself, but she felt even more embarrassed for saying it. Her face immediately flushed red.
Astoria quickly realized Henrietta wasn't joking.
However, she didn't expect her friend to drop such a sudden bomb on her. It was so out of the blue that she didn't know how to respond or where even to begin to make sense of it all.
"Y-You want to marry Vaan, Henrietta? Are you serious?" Astoria spouted with disbelief before she frowned with a colder tone. She also narrowed her eyes. "What the hell happened during your meeting? Did he seduce you? Or did you seduce him?"
"He seduced me? Hehe... no, it's not like... that—" Henrietta blushed shyly before she suddenly burst into a fit of anger and denial, "Argh! It's not like that, goddammit! Why am I acting like this?!"
The moment she thought of Vaan, her body reacted strangely again in a way that she wasn't used to.
Thus, Henrietta immediately resisted violently. She dropped to the ground and repeatedly banged her head on the floor to calm herself.
As Astoria witnessed the rare sight, her jaw dropped with amazement.
Seeing Henrietta in such a state of erratic behavior was beyond her imagination. She never thought she would see her friend so flustered over a person.
More importantly, it was also the first time she had seen Henrietta show any form of femininity, even if only briefly.
As such, even though she was upset when Henrietta brought up the matter at first, she also found it amusing to watch her in such distress.
Most likely, violence was the only way Henrietta knew how to react to such unfamiliar feelings swelling up inside of her.
They had both been single throughout their life. But unlike Henrietta, she had experienced numerous confessions from her admirers and pursuers. On the other hand, Henrietta never encountered a single one.
However, Astoria didn't find that surprising.
After all, the person held the highest power and authority in the kingdom. And she would always make a cold frown whenever she saw men. That was more than enough to discourage all the men from making a move.
Perhaps, many matriarchs in the kingdom mistakenly thought Henrietta hated men and also grew to despise them because of that, allowing the supremacist witch faction to become so unbalanced in power and influence.
And after three hundred years, it had become their way of life and the only life they knew how to live.
Nevertheless, Astoria didn't intend to blame Henrietta for that. She knew her friend was a victim. Everyone pinned their hopes and expectations on her before she was ready to meet them.
Returning to the main topic, Astoria figured it was not a bad idea if Henrietta joined Vaan's harem after she gave it some calm thought.
She knew she couldn't monopolize Vaan's heart for herself, and he would continue to have more women in the future.
Furthermore, there wasn't anyone she could say she was particularly close with among his current women. As such, she thought it would be nice to have at least one person on her side.
More importantly, she wanted to watch more of her friend's erratic behavior.
...
After Henrietta calmed down, Astoria calmly pulled her up to her feet.
At the same time, Astoria saw Henrietta's disheveled look and wanted to chuckle. But she forced herself to appear calm about the situation.
"Pft—Ahem, you have my permission, Henrietta. No, I completely agree with your wish for marriage," Astoria seemingly voiced her agreement with full support and sincerity. "However, can you tell me why you want to?"
"From what I can see, I don't think you want to marry Vaan because you have fallen for him, at least not yet," Astoria mentioned.
Henrietta sighed with relief and gratification. She was thankful she had such a supportive friend.
"Of course, it's not a marriage out of love. It's just a formality for the sake of the kingdom. You should be aware of the current situation and understand why it is necessary," Henrietta stated before adding, "Beyond that, Vaan's physique is also very important to my cultivation."
"Important to your cultivation?"
Astoria paused in thought for a moment before her eyes flickered with enlightenment. She quickly realized why Henrietta's behavior would become erratic around Vaan.
"Oh, I see... So that's why. I understand now," Astoria nodded, having grasped the situation.
Since Vaan's fire affinity was so high, he was naturally attractive to lower-ranking fire spirits.
Although Henrietta wasn't a fire spirit, she also had a high fire affinity. Thus, her feelings were also affected in some way – Astoria thought.
"Do you really understand everything, Astoria? You won't hate me or anything, right?" Henrietta asked.
She held Astoria's hands and peered into her eyes more excitedly, feeling blessed. Not only was Astoria very supportive, but she was also very understanding!
"What are you two talking about?" A man's casual question suddenly entered both of their ears.
In that instant, the coolness and proximity of the man's breath sent a shiver down Henrietta's spine and caused all her hair to stand on end with goosebumps.
"Kyaaa!!"
Henrietta instantly squealed with surprise and fell back on her rear.
After she glanced up and saw it was Vaan, she immediately shuffled back several times before she pointed her shaking finger back at him with a look of accusation.
"Y-Y-You! How long have you been there?! Were you listening to us talk!?" Henrietta barked with a weakened tone.
"Kya?" Vaan blinked absentmindedly before he smiled with a soft chuckle, unaffected by Henrietta's threatening gaze. "You were saying something interesting. Let me hear it as well."
"Absolutely not!"
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