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Chapter 333

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

**

I couldn’t help but feel these weird gazes fixed on me as I walked down the Imperial Palace’s corridor .

“Who is Marvel, and…”

“Who is Marcel? Can you tell?”

I glanced behind me just as the twins threw me a question .

Despite sensing an onset of powerful migraine, I still pointed to each of the twins and replied, “Right is Marcel, and left is Marvel . ”

After we returned to the Imperial Palace and finished warning the ambassadors, the twins kept asking me similar questions to this one every chance they got .

“Thanks . ”

The twins smiled brightly back at me . However, I kept getting this strong feeling of disharmony from them . It was like they were acting all spoiled and such just to help them cope with their deep-seated sorrow .

After the twins left my side, Charlotte walked up and addressed me, “The two princes seem rather taken by Your Majesty . ”

“It’s kinda burdensome for me, actually . ”

It seemed that they had become rather addicted to this routine now .

That wasn’t all that surprising, considering that even their family members had a hard time trying to differentiate the two . They probably ended up developing a favourable impression of someone capable of perfectly ‘guessing’ who was who .

However, I couldn’t help but wonder if they had gotten waaay too nice to their little brother, whom they had previously disparaged rather greatly .

“I’m sure it’s because the two princes are hiding their sorrow, Your Majesty . Her Highness Seran can’t be next to them, and more than anything else…” Charlotte stopped there, unable to continue on .

She couldn’t bring herself to mouth the event that had happened in the Imperial Palace recently .

A wry, hollow grin also floated up on my lips .

A few days ago, I gave an order for White Olfolse to be located . He had been dispatched to another country for a vampire hunt . On the same day he returned from his overseas business trip, news of Kelt, who had departed from the Theocratic Empire some months ago, finally reached us .

The news was of Holy Emperor Kelt Olfolse’s passing .

Oscal and Raphael returned to the Imperial Capital of Laurensis, along with a coffin containing white lilies .

The news spread and the grief-stricken citizens wailed in sorrow, while White, who had returned urgently from his deployment, walked around with a dazed expression on his face for a long while .

Not too long after that, all the siblings of the Imperial Family gathered together to hold the Holy Emperor’s state funeral . Even Shuppel was seen snooping around the Imperial Palace, trying to hide his face under a hood . He must’ve heard the news, as well .

Laurence of the Duchy of Ariana also brought his adopted son Roy to the capital for a visit . I heard the report that they, along with other citizens, placed funeral flowers on the altar located in the city’s central plaza .

A small commotion swept through the Theocratic Empire afterwards . After some time passed us by, things gradually regained their stability .

It was around this time that White was finally given the letter . The letter contained the secret held by the ruler of the Queendom of Aihrance and involved White’s birth .

In the end, he headed off to Aihrance . That was because, as Rox’s only son, he had been chosen to inherit the throne of the country .

While I was thinking about this and that, Charlotte cautiously gauged my mood before raising her voice . “Your Majesty, we must get going now . All the preparations have been completed already . ”

“Huh . So it’s that time already?” I began rubbing the back of my neck after listening to Charlotte’s urging . I hadn’t slept properly for the past few days, and my whole body felt stiff as a result .

“…Please pardon this rudeness, Your Majesty . ” Charlotte walked up behind me, reached out and began massaging my shoulders .

Her massaging attempt was amateurish . However, she kept pressing down on my shoulders, and that did loosen up all the tense knots up there .

I didn’t even realise that my hardened expression was gradually coming undone . “Thanks . ”

“I only merely did what an escorting knight must do, Your Majesty,” she replied with a gentle smile .

Huh, I didn’t know that an escorting knight was required to know how to massage their liege’s shoulders, but whatever .

She addressed me again, “We really have to get going, Your Majesty . ”

I nodded in silence . As if to match her words, the Imperial Palace was also deathly silent as well . There was not even a shadow of Paladins, servants, or maids to be found in the corridors .

Only Charlotte and I walked forward wordlessly towards our destination in this heavy silence .

Step, step…

Every step we took caused noises to echo, which in turn made me quite tense, but the sounds of Charlotte following me from close by calmed me down .

Eventually, we arrived before the Imperial Audience Chamber . Paladins were standing in front of the doorway, but they weren’t in their usual armour . Lengthy white robes adorned them instead .

They bowed deeply and cautiously opened the door .

We were immediately greeted by the long, crimson carpet laid out on the floor . On the left and right sides were the members of the Empire’s aristocracy and clergy in white robes, their heads deeply bowed .

“…”

I tried to get control of my breathing by inhaling deeply and letting all that air out . The nervousness soaked my back in sweat . I shifted my heavy legs and continued to forge ahead .

Right in front of the throne were Raphael, Oscal, and Alice . I stopped in front of the throne, and heard Charlotte kneeling down behind me .

I followed her example and went down on one knee .

Oscal was carrying the Imperial Crown, hidden underneath a luxurious cloth . Raphael brought his hands together to offer a prayer, then cautiously picked up the crown with both hands .

He then carefully presented it to his granddaughter and spoke up, “Lady Saintess, please . ”

Alice flinched ever so slightly at the unfamiliar title, but she quickly hid her discomfort and gracefully bowed once before accepting the Imperial Crown .

She then approached me . “According to the laws of the Theocratic Empire…”

I bowed my head .

“Along with the blessings of the gods, the creed of the Emperor and Pope shall now be succeeded . ”

She carefully placed the crown on my head .

“And I hereby declare…”

All Priests and nobles raised their bowed heads simultaneously . They seemingly became one entity, staring only at me .

“…That the Holy King, Allen Olfolse, has ascended to the throne of the Holy Emperor . ”

I too raised my head and watched Alice extend her hand towards me . I took the offered hand and slowly got back up to my feet .

“Your Imperial Majesty, Holy Emperor Allen Olfolse!”

While saying that, Alice knelt down demurely before me, her hand still holding mine .

I scanned my surroundings with a stupefied expression etched on my face . Raphael, Oscal, the nobles and the Priests all knelt down at the same time .

“You are now…” Even though I hadn’t fully digested this reality yet, Alice’s voice still entered my hearing nonetheless, “…the Empire’s absolute monarch . ”

**

Horns blared loudly, ringing out in every corner of the Theocratic Empire’s capital city . At the same time, the celebratory bells rang loudly in the air .

Hundreds of thousands of Imperial citizens gathered in front of the Imperial Palace and voiced their passion while cheering .

I stood on the palace’s balcony and waved my hand at them . But within this chaos, a wry grin was filling up my face .

All these people, they were expecting a lot from me .

“This is troublesome . ”

When I muttered that, Charlotte and Alice, who were providing me with assistance from behind, flinched slightly in surprise before tilting their heads in confusion .

I continued on while narrowing my eyes . “My plan is going down the drain now . ”

That’s right, my plan had gone down the drain . However, I had no choice but to accept this fate now . I was in no position to go against it .

—-

In the end, I settled down on the Holy Emperor’s throne and lorded over the Theocratic Empire . My siblings provided counsel and helped me out, so I didn’t face all that many challenges .

Not too long after that, a piece of news came from Aihrance .

{Crown Prince White Aihrance has ascended to the throne . }

His previous surname of Olfolse was gone, replaced with Aihrance in its place . The nobles there raised one hell of a ruckus in opposition to this move, and that brought a period of massive chaos to the Kingdom of Aihrance . I figured that things were getting rather hectic for White over there .

Meanwhile, the training of the Empire’s army continued on, unabated .

One month, two, three, and eventually, half a year later…

An army of ten thousand trainee Priests was finally completed . By using the Aztal Rune, the Musket Brigade, as well as an Artillery Brigade consisting of members from the Theocratic Empire’s six main forces, were formed .

With that, the one year mark came and went . The second year came around .

The ten thousand trainee Priests experienced hellish real combat situations and gradually morphed into a powerful army of Paladins .

Eventually, they became an army capable of hunting vampires down .

During the third year…

Hans managed to improve the Aztal Rune somehow and came up with a new item: armour sets engraved with the runes . He used the basic structure of the Cyclops Golems we encountered back in the ancient Aslan tomb to come up with the armour .

The invention of the ‘Rune’ armour gave the Theocratic Empire’s six main forces enough wherewithal to oppose the giants .

He didn’t stop there, and even succeeded in mass-producing communication devices as well . By relying on their new Rune-engraved armour sets, each troop would now be able to communicate with each other, provided that they were within a certain distance .

And eventually, during the fourth year…

Our preparations were still not quite enough . The giants were coming to destroy our world . I kept getting the feeling that what we had prepared so far wasn’t enough to stop those bastards .

I mean, we were talking about the end of the world here . So we definitely had to prepare everything perfectly .

While sitting on the throne, I began staring at the ‘Loaded Unemployed Bum’ plan that I had cooked up all those years ago .

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