The New Empress

"I can't worry about all that—anyway, I've already caught lovesickness. If I can't stay by Lord Milim's side, I probably won't live much longer." Gloriosa did not care in the slightest about her "illness." On the contrary, the thought of using it as an excuse to cling to Milim filled her eyes with barely concealed delight.

"Damn it! That's completely irresponsible!" Shakki frowned anxiously, yet there was nothing she could do—Gloriosa's words had struck the heart of the matter. Having caught this kind of "illness," she could never possibly stay away from Milim for long.

The two were still arguing endlessly over the matter, but Milim had long since had enough of the tense atmosphere. This usually reckless troublemaker quietly slipped out of the palace, with no intention whatsoever of getting involved in what came next.

Only seconds after the argument died down, Gloriosa suddenly frowned. With her keen senses, she realized that she could no longer detect Milim's presence anywhere in the palace.

She had no time to keep bickering with Shakki. She sprang upright from the bed, the anger from their argument vanishing from her face in an instant, leaving only urgency and excitement. Without saying a word, she turned and rushed out of the palace in a whirlwind, searching all across the Daughter's Country for Milim.

As Milim walked through the streets of the Daughter's Country, she found that it truly was exactly as the legends described—there were only women, not a single man in sight.

With each leisurely step, she gradually got a complete grasp of the place. Comparing it in her heart, she concluded that Many Countries could genuinely be considered an advanced nation beside the Daughter's Country.

The people here seemed to still be living in a primitive society. Some women even walked about clad in animal hides.

But then she reconsidered. Gloriosa and the others dressed quite exquisitely, so perhaps those wearing animal skins simply preferred that style.

As she wandered, the clamor led her to a bustling venue—the arena.

At that moment, two women in the ring wielded weapons wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki, smashing them fiercely against each other. Sparks and shockwaves instantly spread through the air.

Curious, Milim went over to an empty seat and watched the battle below.

Although the fight below looked like children playing around in Milim's eyes, she did get to witness Nine Snake Island's distinctive Haki.

Its aura was not strong at all; it was even remarkably frail. Even newly awakened Armament Haki would be slightly stronger than theirs. Perhaps this was the flaw in Nine Snake Island's training methods.

She pondered silently: Armament Haki was originally a power that only those at the Marine rear admiral to vice admiral level might master, yet more than half the women on Nine Snake Island could use it.

If everyone truly possessed vice admiral-level strength, how could the World Government still rule the seas? Nine Snake Island should have unified the oceans long ago.

Though she had seen the shortcomings of Nine Snake Island's Armament Haki, that did not mean this unique training method held no value.

Just then, the battle between the two women below suddenly came to a stop. They left the ring, and then two people nobody had expected stepped forward.

The current Empress of the Daughter's Country, Gloriosa, and the vice-captain of the Nine Snake Pirates, Shakki, entered the arena together.

Gloriosa looked up at Milim in the stands, her eyes full of smiles. Shakki let out a long sigh, looking at Gloriosa with a complicated expression.

While Gloriosa had been searching for Milim, the two had continued arguing. In the end, Shakki truly learned that women in love simply did not listen to reason.

At last, Shakki bowed her head.

In the Daughter's Country, beauty was measured by strength. The stronger a woman was, the more beautiful she was—this was a fact acknowledged by every person in the Daughter's Country.

Therefore, to become the next ruler of the Daughter's Country, one had to defeat the previous ruler before the eyes of the masses!

Gloriosa could not wait to surrender the position of Empress today. It was not merely because love had clouded her judgment.

She also knew that her position as Empress could not truly command everyone's respect. In every respect, Shakki surpassed her.

Only because Shakki had no desire to become Empress had the position ultimately fallen to her, and Gloriosa had always carried a fire in her heart because of it.

Her love for Milim had just happened to ignite that fire. Handing the Daughter's Country over to Shakki would not only grant herself freedom, but also give the Daughter's Country a wiser Empress.

With two benefits from one act, Gloriosa had no reason not to do it.

Shakki looked at Gloriosa with complicated eyes. "Have you really made up your mind? To abandon your position as Empress of the Daughter's Country?"

"Shakki, you know I've never been good at fighting. What I excel at is divination. No matter how many times I divined in the past, the result was always the same: I would never obtain the love of the person I liked." Gloriosa's brows drew together slightly. Her expression, like that of a beauty on the verge of tears, made every spectator's heart ache.

Shakki looked at Gloriosa with an unreadable gaze, unable to understand why she was saying this now.

The tearful look on Gloriosa's face abruptly brightened. "Even now, I still believe in the result of my divination. I will not obtain the love I desire."

"Then why do you still want to leave with her?" Shakki's eyes grew even more confused. She could not understand it. Could love truly be so powerful that it could make someone who had once been so rational become this foolish?

"Even if there's no love, it doesn't matter. I'll stay by Lord Milim's side. In the end, I'll gain something beyond love—we'll become family for real." Gloriosa looked at Milim in the stands, the tenderness and affection in her eyes nearly overflowing.

"Ugh!" Shakki smacked her forehead. "What kind of curse has our Empress of the Daughter's Country fallen under? They've only met a few times, yet she's already so full of love for someone."

Gloriosa wore a relaxed smile. "Perhaps after you become Empress, you'll meet someone who makes you waste your whole life away too."

"I don't want that. It's too stupid." Shakki could not imagine herself being like Gloriosa, giving everything she had to love someone she had only just met.

Sitting in the stands, Milim's Dragon Ears unexpectedly did not fail her this time. She heard every word the two had said with perfect clarity.

"So that's how it is!" Milim murmured softly, a complicated glimmer appearing in her eyes before a happy smile immediately spread across her face.

"Looks like I'm getting another family member!"

The two figures on the arena stage flashed about as all kinds of gorgeous, graceful martial techniques unfolded one after another.

From the moment they began fighting, everyone in the Daughter's Country understood what it represented.

The previously restless venue even fell silent, and everyone watched the battle between the two women below with rapt attention.

As the battle continued, anyone who was not blind could see that Shakki was overwhelming Gloriosa.

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