Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Holy Empire
Holy Celestial Empire
A young man clad in silver plate armor was walking through the great garden of the Vortis Palace. He had short blonde hair and a golden crown upon his head. Truly, the young man had the aura of a great ruler. This man was the Holy Emperor Ajax Norx d'Armadus.
Behind him, was a young woman with long golden hair who also wore silver plate armor that looked like a battle dress, and a deep blue short skirt. She possesses a wondrous beauty and gives off an aura of purity.
As a bodyguard she followed the Emperor on his way to meet someone. They reached a place that was for relaxation. On a round table, a teacup was delicately grabbed by a young girl with long blonde hair and wore a priestess gown. She was a 14 years old girl and the high priestess of the Holy Empire.
"Good morning, Lady Aurora."
Ajax greeted the young priestess as he sat on his cheer. There were three maids there, one of them served the Emperor a cup of tea which he gladly accepted. He did not allow his bodyguard Jeanne d'Arc to stay behind him so he ordered the maids to serve her a cup of tea.
"Please, your Majesty don't call me "Lady", it makes me feel old."
"Alright Aurora, if it is like that, you can call me big brother Ajax." smiled the Holy Emperor.
"Tha-That's disrespectful, your Majesty!"
Ajax laughed, embarrassing the priestess. She was so cute and he thought of her as a little sister. Ajax always wanted to have one, but his father and mother died at young age, because the Serpent Dragon Lord attacked their ship, and their bodies were never found.
"Anyway, what news do we have from the ocean? I heard something about Kraskudar Island." asked Aurora with interest.
"Mhh, we and the Lorestir Kingdom managed to bring peace between the Valley Elves and the Makuth Tribe of the cat people."
These two massive tribes have been at war for 132 years. The Holy Empire supported the cat people, and on the other side, the Lorestir Kingdom supported the valley elves. In the past, the two nations and even the Egrond Kingdom had plans to invade it and split the territories between three of them, but the tribes there were aggressive towards them. Only by trading weapons, the tension between the Makuth Tribe and the Holy Empire began to get low.
The three nations decided that the large island belonged to the natives and was not needed for invasion, but at last they managed to work together to bring peace to that island.
There have also been conflicts between the Holy Empire and the Lorestir Kingdom in the past for a small island called Yoka. Today, half of the island belongs to the humans, the other half belong to the moon elves (like the Republic of Cyprus).
The wars did not reach large scales. Both the nations knew they needed their armies to protect the territories from the Underdark Empire.
"The moon elves are great friends now. I don't like to get news of death casualties. I just hope the peace lasts forever." said Aurora.
"That's all thanks to the High Queen Alea."
"Yeah, the High Queen is a very kind hearted person. I met her once, and she was like a goddess."
The conflict between the two nations stopped, because the High Queen has close relationships with the Lorestir Kingdom. And the Underdark Empire was a bigger threat.
"What do you think of Queen Alea, your Majesty?"
"Ah… I-I think she is a great ruler. I have never met her before, but from the portraits I have seen, she was beautiful beyond imagination."
The face of Ajax reddened. He had always had a crush on Alea, so every time when someone mentions her, his feelings about the high queen, raised. He had plans to make a visit there and talk with her. Not about marriage proposal, because Alea was a High Elf and she will live for eternity while he as a human will die of old age, or fighting strong enemies.
"Mhh, you are absolutely right, your Majesty. What about you holy maiden?"
"She is a benevolent ruler that works hard for her citizens, but the high priestess has told me something about her."
"Go on."
Aurora and Ajax open the ears full of curiosity.
"The High Queen wants to marry someone, but no one is suited for her in the Elvenor Kingdom."
"Re-Really?!" Ajax rose from the cheer looking at Jeanne with his sparkling deep blue eyes.
"Yes, your Majesty, but priestess Sirius has told me to keep it a secret."
Jeanne d'Arc visited the Elvenor Kingdom for the second time 124 years ago. The Holy Maiden was not an ordinary human. She was created by King Byzant, one of the Eight Great Kings that are known by the other nations as the Greed Kings. The blood of Byzant runs through the veins of Ajax. Jeanne d'Arc has promised that she will always protect her creators' bloodline.
"Your Majesty is acting strange right now."
Aurora looked at her Emperor worried.
"No, no I…" he sighed. "I always had a crush on her, but our race is not the same, so I just got excited when you said that Jeanne."
"It is not the same but a marriage might be possible." said Aurora with her finger on her right cheek. "If you want to be immortal, you should use that item."
"Sacrilege! To think that you of all the people would say that." Jeanne shouted hitting the table making Aurora and the maids tremble. "That item will turn him into a twisted evil monster, completely different from what his Majesty is right now. If he does that, enemies might show up like that damnable lizard that has invaded the holy land of the mighty kings."
"Easy Jeanne, you know well that I would never do something like that." Ajax tried to calm down his bodyguard.
Jeanne d'Arc was talking about an item called Fallen Seeds, it was a racial change item left behind by Byzant. If Ajax uses that item, he will transform into an evil devil.
"I'm, I'm really sorry for my foolishness." apologized the young priestess bowing her head.
"Yeah, I know your Majesty. Sorry for my harsh tone priestess, I know that you want his Majesty to be happy, but something like that should never occur. Immortality for someone might be a blessing, but for someone else it might turn to be a curse. I am an immortal human because I was created that way by Lord Byzant."
Aurora gulped and took the words of the Holy Maiden to her heart and mind. She felt ashamed of saying such blasphemous things.
"Well, immortality might be crazy and depressive in a way… I really like Alea-"
Ajax stopped talking, and he saw a knight in clad silver armor coming towards them. The knight arrives in front of the Emperor and bowed his head.
"Your Imperial Majesty, this scroll was sent here by the Elvenor Kingdom's emissary."
The Holy Emperor took the scroll, opened it and started to read it. Jeanne and Auror were waiting to hear what was written in that scroll, after all the Emperor turned happy when he heard something about Alea but it was not this time.
"Today is a great announcement to all the nations of the world."
"The ruler of the Elvenor Kingdom, the High Queen Alea Nylaathria is married to the mighty Sorcerer King of the Sorcerer Kingdom of Nazarick Ainz Ooal Gown."
"This marriage means the Elvenor Kingdom becoming a territory of the great Nazarick Kingdom."
"Long live the High Queen!"
"Long live the Sorcerer King!"
Ajax was fixated looking at the scroll and couldn't come to believe what was written on it. He read it the second time and still had a confused look on his face, again he read for the third time and his eyes went wide open in surprise.
"She is married…" he muttered.
"What does it say, your Majesty." asked Aurora.
"She, she is married… Alea… is married."
There is nothing to be shocked about it, Alea has ruled her kingdom alone for a long time, so getting married won't change much.
The Holy Emperor turned his eyes at the colorful flowers. His heart felt very weak like someone had stolen something precious from him. Why should he feel so empty, it's not like he was in deep love with the high elf… or was he?
Jeanne took the scroll and read it with Aurora. Now the only thing that confused them was the person that Alea had married.
"Sorcerer King… Ainz Ooal Gown? Nazarick Kingdom… Have you heard about this nation before, Holy Maiden?"
"Never in my life. I guess it must be a new elven kingdom from the far west, In the land where the mighty Kings defeated most of the Dragon Lords and that undead god Surshana."
The Holy Maiden has fought a lot of Dragon Lords alongside her masters. But when they went to slay Surshana, she was ordered to return to the flying castle.
"This Nazarick sounds kinda evil don't you think, your Majesty?"
The Emperor did not answer Jeanne. He looked really dull, this news had given him sadness. Ajax was beginning to imagine in his mind how this marriage occurred. Alea was not a powerful person, she knew how to swing the sword a bit, but she was not able to use tier magic. Maybe this Sorcerer King was an elf from a far away kingdom, so he took advantage and did anything to marry a queen of a nation.
He clenched his fists from anger that was boiling slowly, but he didn't have to be like that. The queen was free to do what she wanted and would not ask Ajax who to marry. He took the teacup and drank it. It tasted bitter now with the situation that was happening.
"Well, if she is happy then… it can't be helped. I'm going to talk with the emissary about this Nazarick Kingdom."
The Holy Emperor left the garden with his bodyguard leaving Aurora behind.
Still he couldn't believe it. Alea, the proud high elven queen marrying an unknown ruler, on top of that, now the Holy Empire shares a border with a new nation that he had never heard before.
As he walked on the yard of the palace, he encountered two people with long robes that were following two guards. One of them was a demihuman dog man and the other was an old woman that looked pretty strong for her age.
"Your Imperial Majesty, these two strangers want an audience with you. They say it's very important."
Ajax saw that this was not a suitable place to talk so he ordered to bring them inside the palace. They weren't sent to the throne room but to his office.
The young Emperor came in and saw the human and the demihuman on their knees. His office was great, two bookcases were there, the blue walls had pictures of the previous emperors. The Emperor thru the room and sat on his chair looking at the strangers.
"Please rise and take a seat." He moved his eyes at the two guards and made a sign to leave the room, but the Holy Maiden stood there at his side.
"I am the Emperor of the Holy Celestial Empire, Ajax Norx Justinian d'Armadus. Now may I know your names and the reason you wanted an audience with me."
"My name is Lesko Dardushi, I'm an envoy from the Argland Council State, it's a demihuman nation located in the far north west."
It was the first time hearing about this nation. The only people who could pass the Kotorr Alps were the orcs or the wyverns, and demihuman like this dog man were like nonexistent in this continent. He then turned his eyes at the old woman.
"My name is Rigrit Bers Caurau. We have been sent here by the Platinum Dragon Lord to form an alliance."
Ajax heard the noise of metal on his right side. It was the Holy Maiden that was breathing differently when she heard about the Dragon Lord.
"Why an alliance? What has occurred that made a Dragon Lord to call for an alliance?"
"Four years ago, a new enemy has descended upon this world, invading seven nations in a very short time. The appetite for slaughter of that undead, knows no bound-"
"Wait, wait, wait… Who is this enemy?"
"The enemy is Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King of the Sorcerer Kingdom of Nazarick."
That was the moment when Ajax turned way to pale. It might have passed an hour when he read that name for the first time. But his mind went straight to Alea, and he rose quickly from his chair.
"She married an undead monster?!"
His rise confused the envoys.
"What do you mean your Majesty?" asked Rigrit.
"A message arrived today and said that Alea, the High Elf Queen of the Elvenor Kingdom has married with this Ainz Ooal Gown… and you that he is an undead…"
Why did Alea do this? What pushed her to marry a monster that can kill her at any moment? So many questions that needed answers immediately were making him lose his mind.
"So the undead forces have started to move again, even in this continent, huh." Rigrit muttered. "Your Majesty, we have to move quickly, Ainz Ooal Gown is following a path like the Greed Kings. He wants to conquer this world."
"I accept."
"Huh?" they saw the Emperor in surprise.
"The Holy Celestial Empire will join the alliance and bring an end to that tyrant."
"I swear that I will save you Alea…"
Rigrit and Lesko left the Holy Capital and went to the nation of the draphs, the Drogthoran Empire. Ajax was standing on the chair and was staring at the Holy Maiden walking furiously around the room.
"You! Do you have any idea what you have done?!" she slammed both her hands upon his desk looking straight in his eyes.
"What, what do you expect me to do? The Nazarick Kingdom will soon-"
"Enough with the Nazarick Kingdom! You have desecrated the name of your ancestor by joining with the one who has invaded the holy land! Do you understand that?!"
"Jeanne, I know how you feel, but we should let the past behind-"
"You know nothing! For me joining with that filthy lizard is like I'm spitting upon my creator's face! And that old hag called them Greed Kings, how can you allow that?!"
"Look at the other side damn it! We are dealing with the undead here, the enemy of all life! If they massacre all life nothing matters later!
"You are only doing this for the High Elf Queen aren't you?"
Ajax gulped. His emotions for Alea were flowing and he couldn't forget her.
"What if she married the Sorcerer King willingly, hmm? Think about it, our knights will die for a stupid caus, because the Holy Emperor wanted to save a woman that he has never meet."
Jeanne d'Arc turned and went out, leaving Ajax alone.
But-But that's impossible...
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