"Why, are you going to kneel and worship?"
Seeing Theus shake his head with a smile, Isabella gave a huff. "Then don't waste time. Since everyone's here, let's get the meeting started."
With that, she turned and strode away, her high-tied hair bouncing with every step.
Isabella had taken part in quite a few of Castel's affairs under the identity of the "Prince," but this seemed to be her first time appearing in person.
Her high-profile return had mainly taken place in the Duchy of Tis, and many people in Blood Port had yet to see her.
Watching the Empress charge about so energetically, quite a few people wore thoughtful expressions.
Alexei looked nostalgic. "The last time I saw her was at the graduation ceremony... Back then, her captain of knights beat me up. Thinking about it now, it must have been Galahad. No wonder he looked so familiar."
"You can go let him beat you up again now." Theus shot him a glance.
[Knight] might have been an embarrassing Transcendence path, but it still crushed ordinary people.
On the other side, Beatrice's expression was complicated when she saw Isabella.
The last time they had met, she had still been the Empress's loyal subordinate. Now, she was Castel's loyal fountain.
The impression left on her by the day the Empress was assassinated had been far too deep. Beatrice had thought it would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Yet today, she had actually seen the Empress herself.
It felt rather like an ancestor she visited and paid respects to every year suddenly getting up and chatting with her.
"What's wrong?" Noticing the strange look on her face, Theus leaned over and asked.
"It's a little... awkward. Although that assassination was a conspiracy, I really did fail to protect