Inside the lavish royal palace, in the very room where the former ruler of the Kingdom, Ramposa III, once handled state affairs.
The Bloody Emperor, who had only recently conquered the Kingdom, now sat with a headache while staring at the stack of documents before him.
"Proposal for widening and repairing the Kingdom's roads… involving financial matters… and the impact on ordinary residents…"
"Plans regarding the emancipation of slaves… the handling of noble private armies… and the issue of the large number of orphans…"
"Damn it! What exactly is wrong with this Kingdom?!"
The Bloody Emperor rubbed his forehead. This mess was far more troublesome than he had imagined.
He quickly wrote down his instructions, stamped the document, and set it aside.
Several days had passed since the execution of the noble decapitation plan. After Ramposa III called for submission, the Kingdom had surrendered to the Empire with surprising ease.
Originally, he had expected the Kingdom's army to resist, so he had prepared a number of contingency plans.
Hundreds of thousands of imperial troops were stationed across the land to prevent possible uprisings.
But it turned out he had worried too much.
The process had gone far more smoothly than he expected. In fact, it had gone a little too smoothly.
Thinking back to the thunderous cheers from the citizens after Ramposa III announced that the Kingdom would submit to the Empire, the Bloody Emperor did not even know what to say.
Although the nobles had played a role in it, ruling a country to that extent was honestly absurd.
He could more or less guess what those citizens had been thinking.
"Why resist? It's impossible to resist anyway. Instead of dying for nothing, we might as well join them."
"Exactly. They already occupied the Kingdom, wiped out the nobles, and even the king declared submission."
"Ah, this is great. Now we're on the same side. No more fighting them."
That was probably how most of them saw it.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The door was gently tapped.
The Bloody Emperor composed himself and spoke in a dignified voice.
"Enter."
The door slowly opened, and a panting Marquis Raeven stepped into the room.
"Your Majesty, the nobles' private armies have all been dealt with. Their family assets have been confiscated and added to the national treasury."
Sweat dripped down his face as Raeven lowered his head and reported in a trembling voice.
His hair, once always meticulously groomed, was now messy and dirty. Under normal circumstances that alone would have made him extremely uncomfortable.
But now, Raeven no longer cared.
After witnessing that scene, a little discomfort meant nothing.
Simply surviving was enough to make him want to cry with relief.
Deep down, Raeven even felt a strange sense of gratitude toward the man before him.
It was an inappropriate emotion, but he truly was grateful.
Revenge? Revenge for what?
Setting aside the fact that war between nations was always a matter of life and death.
Even revenge itself depended on whether it was possible. In the Kingdom's current state, who still had the right to talk about revenge?
After all, even the Kingdom's strongest warrior, Gazef, was no match for him.
And even if someone could defeat him, would that not simply provoke an even more terrifying monster?
For example, the Supreme Being that had been mentioned unintentionally during his earlier conversation with Renner?
Enough.
Raeven did not want to think about any of this anymore.
All he wanted now was to survive and go home to see his beloved son.
He did not want to die.
He wanted to watch his precious son grow up, and one day see him become even smarter and greater than himself.
"Well done."
The Bloody Emperor offered a brief word of praise.
The reason he had spared Marquis Raeven was because he was one of the few capable talents the Kingdom still had.
For someone like that, the Bloody Emperor did not mind giving him a chance.
"Your Majesty, about…"
"What is it? If you have something to say, say it. Stop hesitating."
Seeing Raeven's reluctant expression, the Bloody Emperor set down the documents and asked with mild curiosity.
Raeven gritted his teeth and finally pushed aside his hesitation.
"It concerns the adamantite-ranked adventurer team Blue Roses. They have already fled the Kingdom. According to the clues we found, it seems Princess Renner…"
As an adamantite-ranked adventurer team, Blue Roses was something the Bloody Emperor took seriously. He had specifically ordered Gazef to lead troops to capture them.
With Ramposa III still present, even if Gazef was unwilling, he had no choice but to obey the order.
It might have been somewhat underhanded, but the Bloody Emperor did not care.
The Empire's interests came before everything else, even before himself. That was the Bloody Emperor's creed, and for its sake, he did not mind using underhanded methods.
Time was his greatest weapon. He believed that as long as he persisted, Gazef would eventually submit completely to the Empire.
Originally, the Bloody Emperor had thought this matter was already settled beyond doubt. He had not expected an accident to arise after all.
"Renner?"
"We'll leave this matter at that for now. As long as Blue Roses does not harm the Empire's interests, leave them alone."
The Bloody Emperor thought for a moment before giving the order.
It was no secret that Renner and the captain of Blue Roses were close friends.
Even so, the Bloody Emperor was still a little surprised.
After all, if that monster had not had certain concerns, she had originally intended to kill even her own father and brothers.
For someone that twisted to step in and help Blue Roses, should he call it unexpected, or only natural?
Although Blue Roses' captain, Lakyus, was a noble of the Kingdom, to be honest, she was not all that important.
Since Renner wanted to spare her, the Bloody Emperor did not mind giving her that much face.
"You may go. And besides, I do not mind letting clever people live."
The Bloody Emperor glanced at Marquis Raeven and said it in a meaningful tone before waving a hand, signaling that he could leave.
"Thank you… Your Majesty…"
Raeven paused, then gave a respectful bow before slowly backing out of the room.
After the sound of the door closing, the Bloody Emperor looked toward the window and spoke flatly.
"Come out."
"Thank you for forgiving this young lady's willfulness."
Renner's figure appeared by the window, a faint smile on her face as she spoke softly.
"I didn't expect you to care that much about Blue Roses. To think you would come in person."
Picking up another document from the side, the Bloody Emperor spoke casually while reviewing it.
"Well, we are best friends. How could I bear to watch her suffer~"
"Heh…"
The Bloody Emperor let out a cold laugh. He had some suspicions before, but now he was completely certain that she had other plans.
"Speaking of which, news has come from the Sorcerer Kingdom. The coronation ceremony is about to begin."
"According to unofficial rumors, it seems the Sorcerer Kingdom is not ruled by one king, but by three."
"What are you getting at?"
The Bloody Emperor turned his head at once. A golden light appeared in his eyes, as if he wanted to see through her thoughts.
A trace of gold also appeared in Renner's eyes. Under the Bloody Emperor's gaze, she remained perfectly composed and continued speaking.
"I'm only worried that if there really are three kings, then one day, should the three great ones disagree, where would that leave us?"
Renner let out a soft sigh, her voice tinged with worry, as though she could already see such a future.
Silence fell over the room. Neither of them spoke.
After a while, Renner was the first to clap her hands lightly and break the stillness.
"My apologies. Perhaps I'm simply overthinking things. Then I won't disturb you any longer. I'll be going now."
With that, Renner turned and left on her own.
She was going to find her pet.
Hmm… what kind of lie should she weave to soothe him?
Renner thought as she walked, and soon her figure disappeared at the far end of the corridor.
...
Inside the room, after a long while, the Bloody Emperor let out a sigh, his expression complicated.
"What a monster. She really does love to toy with people's hearts."
Pushing those wandering thoughts aside, the Bloody Emperor picked up the document again.
Renner's words had reminded him of something else.
"A coronation ceremony, huh?"
"What should I send as a congratulatory gift…"