Meanwhile in the Sun Tower.
Empress Carolina, along with First Queen Lucia, First Prince Kazimir and Second Prince Antoine attentively lined up in anticipation of the arrival of the Emperor from the Silver Dew Forest.
They dignifiedly waited for the grand teleportation array to activate as the designated time of arrival of the Emperor, Second Queen Tehila and Third Prince Leon was coming near.
Although they all looked calm and composed on the surface, they all had different things going around their minds at the moment.
Empress Carolina and Kazimir were still bothered by the lack of information nor reaction from the Emperor and the Silver Dew Elves for the curse she implanted on Tehila's hand.
She would never believe that the curse spell she put would not cause a commotion and tension to the event. What could have happened?
Antoine, on the other hand, was excited to report his progress on the investigation of the Spectre. He was sure that his Father Emperor would be satisfied with his performance and will show him more favor than before!
He looked at his Mother Queen with a detached gaze. His mother has always been silent about all the happenings in the family.
He secretly resented her for not actively competing for her position in the palace. He resented her more when she showed no intention of supporting him on the fight to the throne nor even supporting him as he competed with his brothers.
Nevertheless, his mother was soft spoken and caring, he knew that she loved him dearly. But he finds it repulsive to know that she wasn't courageous enough to join the fight and give him a strong backing. She even convinced him not to mess with Leon!
"You can do anything, I will support you in whatever you do. But never ever engage in a fight with your Third Brother nor rebel against the throne..." His mother would always nag him annoyingly, ever since he was a child.
At one point he even doubted if Leon was actually his mother's son, not him. This caused him to despise Leon more.
Leon's mother had already monopolized the attention of his Father Emperor yet he still wanted to get the sympathy of his Queen Mother?!
He is unwilling! Very unwilling! Good thing, he saw through it at an early age or he would have thought that Leon was a nice kid after all!
Vwooooong!
The grand teleportation array shined with a dazzling white light and the breeze it created from the gathering of magical power rang in the hall.
The breeze wasn't powerful, however it was intimidating. The knights assigned to guard the Imperial Family members stepped in front of the array to protect the members from the wind.
A few seconds after, the breeze was finally subsiding, and everyone could see three images of people slowly appearing at the center of the grand teleportation array.
It was the Emperor, Second Queen and Third Prince.
"We greet Your Majesty Emperor, Second Queen and Third Prince for your safe return!" Everyone bowed and greeted the three according to the imperial decorum.
The Emperor scanned the crowd with a profound look, no one knew what he was thinking at the moment.
His gaze paused at Empress Carolina, in a split second, his crystal blue eyes showed unmasked suspicion and disdain. However, he immediately retracted his gaze as he coldly announced, "At Ease!"
"We thank the Emperor!" Then all stood in an orderly manner and waited for the Emperor to address the crowd.
"The trip to Silver Dew went perfect and smooth-sailing that the Chief of the Elves had even wanted us to stay a little more. Had it not been because I do not want to unnecessarily burden you all with my extended leave, I would have stayed for a little while."
Emperor Valentin particularly stressed the words 'perfect and smooth-sailing' to garner some reactions from the crowd. However the members of the imperial family didn't even flinch, not even a little.
Queen Tehila's anger was about to rise up as she clearly knew what the Empress did, yet she didn't even show fear nor remorse of her wrong doings.
But she closed her eyes and clenched her fist tightly, as if crushing all her anger into her fists. Now is not the time to be reckless.
"Now there seems to be a lot of things you have to communicate with me for the past few days. I will open my hall soon and receive you all right away."
The Emperor also felt Queen Tehila's plummeting mood, so he diverted everyone's attention to the Imperial duties.
He then gestured at Leon and announced coldly, "Third Prince, go escort the Second Queen back to the Wisteria Place."
"Yes, Your Majesty Emperor." Leon replied calmly and escorted Queen Tehila with his typical cold and expressionless face.
Seeing Tehila being 'chased away' a flash of delight appeared on Empress Carolina's amethyst eyes. Even Kazimir couldn't help but jolt his body in excitement.
"It seems like my spell worked and the Emperor somehow couldn't help but blame Tehila on this matter!" Joy flashed on her slightly curled lips. She tried to conceal it with the extravagant fan.
These subtle movements were all detected by the three, the Emperor, Leon and Queen Tehila. But they didn't dare to react. Leon casted one meaningful look to his father, and the Emperor waved his hands as if dismissing the two.
To the others, it would seem that the Emperor does not want Leon and Queen Tehila to stay there any longer, but only the three knew..
That gesture meant, "Let's talk about this at the chamber!"
Finally seeing the two leave, the Emperor and the rest all went to the Governance Hall, where the members of the Imperial Family conducted their duties.
Then he received them all in the study and allowed them to report and interact with them for sometime.
It was a unique habit of the Emperor, every official in the palace knew.
The Emperor could have summoned his aides for a run down of the reports that happened to the Empire, but somehow the Emperor preferred to meet them all in one place.
To the princes this was a chance for them to report their progress freely and proudly, without being interrupted by the nosy nobles.
To the Empress and the First Queen, this was also a chance for them to spend time with their spouse, the Emperor.
Soon, the Emperor dutifully listened to the reports of his two sons and the updates of his two wives. There were many concerns raised but two items caught his attention heavily.
The investigation of the Spectre and the Oracle.
"With the matter of the Spectre, I would like the two of you, along with the Third Prince, to collaborate with each other and resolve the matter quickly!" Emperor Valentin warned with a stern tone as he instructed his sons.
Seeing their look of unwillingness, Emperor Valentin recited the spiel that his future daughter, Eli, told her to say when this happened,
"I know that it would all put you in an awkward situation because I have all assigned you to the territories you aren't familiar with. But that was also advantageous as the Spectre might be too familiar with your forces if I assigned you to your affiliated territories."
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "That is why I would like you to not think of the matter politically and look at it on a bigger picture. Remember, this isn't for political advantage but for the future of the Empire!"
"Our territory is wide, the three of you must cooperate with each other." Emperor Valentin didn't mask his intention of telling his sons that he knew exactly what was on their minds as he told this.
Even the Empress and First Queen were left baffled on how the Emperor straightforwardly revealed this matter.
Seeing that the two princes were more or less convinced he finally closed the matter saying,
"As to who among you should lead this matter, you do not have to worry, I have long tapped General Eugine to spearhead this cleansing."
Hearing General Eugine's name the two finally showed willingness of the matter. The remaining hesitation rests on the matter of who among the three shall lead, just like what his future daughter deduced.
"Putting someone trusted by the people and the Emperor would definitely shut them up!" This was Eli's advice to him during the time he consulted about the matter before.
He couldn't help but be more impressed with his future daughter in law!
He wished that Leon would hasten and steal Eli's affection so that he could finally take her in as his real daughter in law!
"Now, for the matter of the oracle and the ringing of bells, I plan to communicate to the temple for a visitation for such." The Emperor continued.
"We must know the details of the oracle and offer the temple some help in finding who the subject of the oracle was!" He announced in determination. "I will make a trip to the temple soon!"
Up until now, he was still puzzled by how perfectly coincidental the releasing of the oracle was. But still, he finds it important to establish a connection with the owner of the oracle.
The rest also agreed with the Emperor's move.
Empress Carolina, though, has different thoughts in her mind. She should soon start to mobilize her men to find the owner of the oracle. But she must find a way to know any info about who or what the oracle is pertaining to.
Thus she shyly suggested with an expression full of nostalgia,
"Your Majesty Emperor, I suddenly found myself missing the humble ambience of the temple. I would like to ask that I go with you, just for me to remember the old times when I lived there for a year."
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