“Welcome back, Lady Celeste.”

A servant greeted Celeste when she stepped out of her carriage.

Celeste took a look around, noticing how quiet the estate was.

She had only left the academy at 4pm since she had a long discussion with the vice director. The things she wanted to inform him of didn’t just take a few hours, though. She sat there for several hours briefing him in on what the next president has to do immediately after taking office.

The simpleton just kept nodding his head as if he was lost on what to do and just accepted whatever he was told. What was his plans if Celeste hadn’t spoken to him about the academy matters?

Although she doesn’t care about her academics as she appears to on the surface, her desire to make the academy a safe learning environment and to offer the best education and services to other students, was real.

If the next president doesn’t live up to her expectations then she’ll have to mentor that person. Even at the expense of her studies.

Whatever else followed after that topic in their discussion wasn’t important to mention.

“Is something the matter, Lady Celeste?” the girl asked noticing that Celeste was looking around the estate.

“No. Are my bags ready yet?” Celeste walked ahead. The servant girl followed after her.

“Yes, Lady Celeste. We can depart early tomorrow morning.”

“That’s good. That’s very good.”

Celeste hid her smile behind her hand.

Celeste was going somewhere tomorrow. It was a place she’s never visited before. No highborn lady would want to visit such a place anyway.

The place she’ll be going to is in her future husband’s territory, Whitage city. It was a barren wasteland according to what she hears from her people. That was from an old report so Celeste wasn’t quite sure if the city was still struggling while in its restoration process.

Arnold apparently has an advisor now. Celeste hoped that things have changed since the last report she received.

Regardless if things have changed or not, it’s Celeste’s duty as the First Lady to determine whether or not this advisor is doing a good job.

She was going to live in his city until the academy reopens. She had nothing better to do anyways.

“Did Father come back yet?” Celeste asked the servant girl when they entered the great hall.

The great hall of is a magnificent and grand space.

Many have told her family how captivated they are by the sheer scale and opulence of the great hall alone, not to mention this entire manor. The air is infused with a sense of history and grandeur. The space exudes an aura of timeless elegance, only seen in the greatest of nobles.

The hall stretched out before her, a vast chamber with high ceilings that seem to touch the heavens. Sunlight pours through the stained glass windows, casting colorful patterns across the polished marble floors.

The walls are adorned with intricately woven tapestries, depicting scenes of heroic battles, royal gatherings, and pastoral landscapes. Above, ornate chandeliers hang from the ceiling, their crystal pendants sparkling with every flicker of candlelight. The hall was kept warm and cozy by the crackling fireplaces that line the walls, their roaring flames casting a comforting glow in the shadows that the natural light could not touch.

At one end of the hall, a grand stone staircase ascends to the upper levels of the manor, its banisters carved with intricate designs. Large portraits of the Penston House’s ancestors and esteemed figures from the manor's history grace the walls, watching over the events taking place below.

A noble’s great hall should embody an air of elegance and sophistication, an embodiment of the wealth and prestige of its inhabitants. It is a place where stories are shared, alliances are forged, and memories are created, leaving an indelible mark on all who have the privilege of experiencing its grandeur.

This entire luxurious manor only had a few servants working in it today. Maybe some more in other wings of the manor. Celeste had no siblings so the manor was technically empty of loved ones.

She became used to coming home to a family home without the “family” in it. Her mother was a commander who guarded a fortress near the empire’s borders while her father was a Great Noble.

When was the last time she has seen her parents at the same time in this house? Her mother rarely comes home. At least her father comes every once in a while.

Likewise, her father is rarely seen with his wife after she was promoted to an officer of the army. Was it when Celeste was a little girl when she last saw her mother kiss her father and the three of them had dinner together?

Celeste’s father always told her to study and not go out as she grew up. He used to say that every time he leaves to go do his duties.

Regardless of what her father told her to do, Celeste always used to leave their estate to go to the empire to meet with her childhood friends.

To her, they were her siblings.

“He came back briefly yesterday to get some documents.” The servant replied.

Celeste sighed.

‘The emperor is a really annoying old man. I haven’t seen my beloved father in weeks. He’s a slave to that old man.’

Celeste wanted to enjoy a dinner with her father. She joined a cooking class recently and learned a lot from them so she wanted to cook tonight.

It was hard to say whether she would’ve succeeded in cooking a delicious meal, though.

Maybe she should cook and ask the servants to taste it? No, they’re on a payroll so they wouldn’t jeopardize their career over a plate of food. The most extreme nobles fire their servants just because too much sugar was added to their tea or some other ridiculous reason.

‘Then again, Al almost cut down a maid for spilling tea on him….’

“Do you need anything before dinner, Lady Celeste?”

“I’ll just have a bath and read a book.”

“Then I’ll go prepare a bath right away. Which book would you like me to get from the library?”

“Hmm.” Celeste put her finger on her lip as she came to a stop, “Bring an erotic romance novel.”

“Pardon? Are you sure?” the servant girl seemed bewildered by her answer.

Celeste had never been exposed to romance books before or romance in general due to her strict father’s rules. What’s worse, she wasn’t allowed to read things girls her age read all the time. It probably came as a shock to the servant that Celeste was going against her father’s rules.

Well, she was tired of bowing at his every word. The only reason she continued doing it until now was because she had important responsibilities to uphold like being the Student Council President. But she was relieved of that duty so she can now focus on her personal life more.

If her father wants to control her life then all she has to say is “I’ll hate you forever”. This worked before in the past given how much Vance loves his only child.

“I’m tired of reading newspapers and reports. I want to read a lovers’ novel. Find something spicy. It should be the kind of book that gets a woman’s heart racing with each paragraph.” Celeste winked at the girl with a smile.

“Right away!”

The servant girl rushed down the hallway.

Celeste went up the stairs towards her room. She wanted to take a nap at first but she had to get rid of all this sweat on her body. A lady should never go to bed without taking a bath, after all.

Celeste walked down the long hallway.

“It’s really quiet. Everyone must be enjoying their vacation.”

Servants of nobles usually don’t get breaks from their masters since their services are required every day. But the end of the year is an exception. Only the servants who stay on their master’s estates continue working(like that girl from earlier). They have no one to go back to, after all.

If the Penston House hired more servants during this time then they’ll have to pay triple the usual rate.

Given the size of this manor, it seemed like it was abandoned or something since it’s so hard to find anyone here. Ten or so servants didn’t exactly rid the manor of that feeling.

Of course, there were many knights patrolling the outside and soldiers guarding the surrounding land. Nobles invest more into security than anything else so there’s always a rotation of shifts. There were patrols at night and during the day.

Even if there weren’t patrols going around their land, the land would still be heavily guarded. This was because Celeste has her own people walk around the land as citizens while actually being high-class subordinates of hers.

Each Cadre is given 500 people to do with as they see fit. Celeste decided to have her mid-tier fighters patrol the land while being regular working citizens while her strongest subordinates protect her family’s residences and other important assets.

Her father tends to leave his important assets—like bonds, financial documents and business contracts—in his personal residences. Celeste will inherit those assets so it was important that they’re protected.

She was certain that one of the other Cadres might try something if she’s not vigilant. Celeste knew this because she would do the same to them if given the chance. Of course, she wouldn’t outright kill any of them since they’re the Leader’s most important subordinates. If she killed any of them then she’ll gain the ire of their Leader and might be taken out.

The point is to try and take power away from each other, which symbolizes weakness if you’re the victim. The Leader hates weakness. That much was blatantly obvious since they would order the death or exile their own members if weakness is detected.

Celeste reached her room after walking for a few minutes around the manor’s second floor. There was no general direction in mind before she ended up here. It had been months since she was last in this manor, so she wanted to wander before going to her room.

Two individuals were kneeling inside the room when she opened the door.

“1A… 1B...” Celeste closed the door and spoke calmly but the contempt in her voice was obvious, “I told everyone that I’ll be away for a few weeks and shouldn’t be approached by any member from the organization. Yet the two of you came to my room? I think of myself as a very calm and collected person, but even so, you don’t want to see me angry.”

1A and 1B were the codenames given to her two strongest subordinates. Celeste knew their real names and where they came from and who their families were but she never refers to them by their real identities.

“We apologize, Milady.” The large figure spoke. His voice was deep and hoarse as if his throat was sore.

He was 1A.

“We have something urgent to discuss with you.” The smaller figure spoke.

That person had an hourglass figure that only a mature woman could possess.

She was 1B.

Their faces were covered with cloth and their bodies with cloaks which was a signature look for members of Serz.

Celeste ignored the two. She went towards her bed and began taking off her clothes. The two remained on the floor with their knees.

Celeste grabbed a gown from the closet and put it on. She grabbed two towels. One was for covering her body and the other to dry her hair when she’s done with her bath.

After that she untied her hair and used a damp cloth to remove the light makeup on her face.

She sat on the bed and gazed at the two.

“Let me hear it.”

The 1B stood up from her kneeling position, “…It’s about Lord Arnold who you ordered us to keep an eye on.”

Celeste raised an eyebrow.

She did say that they should watch Arnold in case he lands himself in a situation he can’t escape from. But given how strong he is, that would probably be rare.

“Alright, tell me what he did this time.”

Celeste didn’t think much of it. He probably just seduced and slept with a queen from a foreign nation or something. That was usually how he spends his free time when he goes missing. His philanthropy was second to none.

“Lord Arnold entered the Sky God Dungeon a week ago…”

“…..”

Celeste’s face froze.

“…The dungeon is far too large for the two of us to venture alone so we can’t go inside to make sure Lord Arnold is safe—”

Celeste didn’t even hear what 1B said.

‘He… went into that dungeon…? Why…? Why did Al go into that dungeon even though he was against others going into it?’

What was so fascinating to him about that dungeon of horrors? Everyone was aware of how dangerous that dungeon is after several monster waves appeared across the continent. The casualties were far less than what was predicted but the continent still suffered a lot.

About three major cities—besides Nuaria city—was attacked. Unlike Nuaria city, those three cities remained standing. Nuaria city wasn’t that important to the empire but the nation still suffered economically. The middle class people were usually from that city. It could take more than ten years to restore the city to what it was before.

The empire’s shelters and inns were filled with refugees from Nuaria city. This was a bad thing for the adventurers, travelers and the homeless who have nowhere else to go. These people are then forced to sleep outside because of the thousands that flocked to the imperial capital.

It's common sense that a capital would have the strongest defenses given the fact that the nation’s most important people live there—like royalty, archdukes, court officials, etc… Taking this into account, the capital would be the safest place out of all the other cities.

Not only is the capital the largest of the remaining four cities, it has the most adventurers as well. The adventurers who have nowhere else to go are forced to travel back and forth between cities.

Something has to be done about this before another conflict starts over housing. The empire can’t just build new houses for thousands of people in this economy. The people are still getting used to the new era. New machines and technology are being invented nearly every year, medical procedures are changing from old ways to the new ways, food can now be stored in an affordable magic product that extends its longevity, mass production is now far easier due to new manufacturing methods, etc...

This was but a few of the changes that came from the new industrial era. It had been a few years since it started so there’s no way the empire can spend so much of its money on new homes, not to mention an entire city. The economy was still recovering from the civil war. Thankfully, the loss of Nuaria city didn’t impact the empire that much.

The Fairy Province’s queen hadn’t yet commented on what happened. She didn’t even publicly assure everyone whether the situation was dealt with. People were demanding that she close off the dungeon or attempt to destroy it with magic bombs.

Magic bombs are magic items infused with 17th rank magic spells made personally by the Fourth Archmage. They are special magic items that can store hundreds of spells at once, making them mankind’s strongest weapons. They were only used in the Demon Human War but this time seemed like a good time as any to use them, regardless of the limited supply.

The Empire of Eulia, Fairy Province, Republic of Zrek and Holy Kingdom had one each. They were equally distributed back then by the Archmage. The other nations seemed to have used theirs in their own wars many years ago so only four was left.

Even one was enough to obliterate that dungeon, regardless of its size. It stretched from one shoreline to the next but it wouldn’t survive being destroyed by a device that has the power to destroy a nation as vast as the lands of the Empire.

“—It will take some time for us to gather enough manpower to be able to search each world at the same time. I can ask other teams to help but Milady would have to compensate them personally as this is a rescue mission.”

1B was still talking.

Celeste lifted her hand which silenced 1B.

“Was he with anyone?”

“No, Milady.”

“Why didn’t you stop him? I wouldn’t have been upset even if you used force.”

“Like I said, the two of us weren’t—”

Celeste interrupted her:

“Both of you are level 90. I have a full list of all your capabilities, which you yourself provided. You can stand toe-to-toe with any member from the Testaments or a Great Noble. You have nothing to fear, correct? Go find my fiancé, 1B. 1A will stay here.”

Both of them were 9th star powerhouses so they were technically in the same league as her father and the other Great Nobles.

“Pardon?”

“You heard what I said.”

“…I cannot do so on my own—”

“1A.”

“Yes, Milady.” The man stood up from his kneeling position.

“Find 1B’s family and kill them all. She chose to disobey an order given to her by a Cadre. Make sure you kill the daughter slowly. How her old man dies is up to you.”

“Understood.” He didn’t even hesitate to give an answer.

“I simply cannot agree to this! A monster wave could obligate an entire city in a single night and three S class monsters appeared! I cannot do anything on my own not knowing what other things lurk in that dungeon! Milady, please take my head for my disobedience! I will stay true to my words!” 1B fell to her knees and prostrated, “Please do not hurt my family! They are innocent and not involved with any actions I commit or the decisions I make as a member of Serz!”

Celeste looked at her in silence for a few seconds.

1B continued rubbing her forehead on the floor.

“You have two choices.” Celeste lifted two fingers, “Do as I say to make up for your mistake or have your family slaughtered by your comrade. Time is something I don’t have if it concerns my future husband’s safety. Your job is to secure his safety. Protect him at all cost. I’ll let 1A gather a team to go in and find you in the next few weeks. Just have your transmitter ready.”

“Milady, please—!” 1B lifted her head and shouted with a pleading voice.

“You have two choices.”

Her brows furrowed downwards hearing Celeste repeat herself. Her head fell powerlessly.

“…..” Celeste looked at the woman in silence. She then nodded her head at 1A.

“I shall be on my way then,” 1A walked towards the window in an attempt to leave.

“Wait…” 1B stood up slowly with her head lowered. She grabbed 1A by his cloak.

“What’s your answer to our master’s order?” 1A asked calmly.

“….I will go find him… by any means necessary…”