The vast Ceremony Hall was slightly dim, with only one area still bathed in resplendent brilliance.
To nearly everyone present, the scene there was that of Fies Erde's aged and dignified ruler appearing alongside his granddaughter.
But what Fang Ran saw
was the true Queen of the empire linking arms with her most powerful subordinate, accepting the lofty salutations of her subjects.
Seeing this bizarre truth hidden beneath the surface inexplicably gave him a strange feeling.
Could the other things I had seen so far also be hiding bizarre truths like this?
The instant that thought arose, Fang Ran saw the Queen, who was playing the role of an innocent young girl beneath the gathered radiance, deliberately drop her disguise for a moment.
Her luxurious, dazzlingly beautiful figure secretly glanced at him, smiling mysteriously.
Making her entrance amid everyone's bows of respect, the silver-bearded old man held the golden radiant scepter adorned with mountains, oceans, dragons, and deep-red crystals.
He led the beautiful figure of the "young girl" beside him to the main sofa right next to Fang Ran and sat down.
There, he received the mere dozen or so people present who were qualified to sit before her.
And with the arrival of the master of the Financial Empire, tonight's ceremony seemed to enter its next stage.
A light on the chandelier-filled dome suddenly lit up with a bang.
A specially designed crystal chandelier glowed gold, casting the same magnificent light as before and forming a halo on the tiles at the front of the Ceremony Hall!
The figures within the halo moved aside one after another, clearing the space.
The originally gentle, lilting melody stopped, and the several orchestras assembled to fill this enormous space began playing a new movement suited for dancing.
Tonight's gathering was not a