The Entry Ceremony for the Alliance army's high-ranking officer delegation had ended before it even began.
After all, the Alliance Emperor was dead. That outweighed everything, turning all celebrations into mourning. The Entry Ceremony that had yet to begin was canceled outright, while the Victory Celebration was postponed indefinitely.
Yet beyond the sorrow of mourning, what filled the Alliance from top to bottom was shock and disbelief.
The Alliance Emperor had just died like that? And so suddenly? They knew that His Majesty had never been particularly healthy due to his excessive weight, but they had never expected him to suddenly die in the prime of his life.
It was like a mountain crashing into a small pond, sending every drop of water within it rippling. No one caught up in it remained unaffected. Amid this drastically changing situation, many people developed thoughts of their own. Before dawn had even broken, they had begun making moves, openly and in secret.
After finally waiting for daybreak, just as the first light appeared in the east, Black-Faced old man Oscar hurried into the Imperial Palace with Richard.
Once inside the Imperial Palace, they saw numerous servants rushing back and forth in panic, clumsily trying to handle their tasks.
The festive decorations prepared for the Victory Celebration could not be properly taken down in time. They were simply torn down roughly, piled in corners, and temporarily covered with thick cloth. Then the servants hung up the many funeral decorations that had been hastily made, all in black and white, making the air incomparably solemn.
Oscar, the black-faced old man, looked at the scene for a few moments without saying anything. However, his gaze dimmed somewhat as he led Richard toward the emperor's bedchamber.
At the entrance to the bedchamber, they found quite a