King Ghidorah is leaning on the throne, with three heads resting at different heights. The six golden vertical pupils are half open and half closed, looking like they are taking a nap.
The guard next to him stood under the throne, holding an ancient book as thick as a brick in his hand.
The cover of the book is made of dark brown leather, with the edges worn and whitened, and the gilded title on the spine has been blurred to the point where only a few letters remain.
The guard opened the pages of the book very carefully, for fear of breaking the yellow and brittle pages with too much force.
His voice was not loud, but very clear, and he read word by word the myths and legends passed down from ancient times - "... then God of Light descended from the clouds, with flames in his hands and stars in his eyes.
He faced off with the being under the abyss for seven days and seven nights. At dawn on the eighth day, the abyss opened and black blood gushes out, flooding the entire plain..."
King Ghidorah Listen. He can't understand the words of this world. It's not that he can't learn it, but he's too lazy to learn it.
Anyway, if someone can read it, he can just listen to it, which is similar to listening to an audio book. The clip he is listening to at the moment is about the battle between a certain God of Light and a certain god of the abyss.
Sangis walked in from the arch of the side hall, walking a little faster than usual and not putting down the documents in his hands.
She walked under the throne, bowed slightly, and glanced at the guard who was reading a story.
The guard's voice did not stop, but the pages in his hand turned a little slower.
"Your Majesty, this is a letter from Vampires."
King Ghidorah The middle head moved slightly. "Speak."
Sangis unfolded the letter in his hand. The paper was made of fine parchment, with a smooth texture and a very light, almost white beige color.
The edges of the paper were cut neatly, and the cover was covered with a dark red paint seal - the pattern of the paint seal was an upside-down bat, with the bat's wings spread out and a drop of blood in the middle.
This is the emblem of Vampires.
Sangis took a look, and it probably meant "Vampires asked Vagrian Empire if there is any trace of Marquis Darkblood." Sangis didn't speak very fast, and he spoke every word clearly.
King Ghidorah's six vertical pupils blinked at the same time. "Vampires? Marquis Darkblood? Who is it?"
Sangis quickly organized the words in his mind, and then explained, "Vampires is one of the oldest races in the mainland, and the race has branches in many countries.
They are not under the jurisdiction of any human country and have their own territory, laws and army. Their Monarch is called the 'Blood Emperor', and is assisted by several elders below.
Marquis Darkblood is one of the oldest elders of Vampires, a legendary strong man with royal blood, and has a very high status in Vampires.
No one knows how long he lived, but his name appears many times in the historical records of Vampires, and each appearance is accompanied by some major events. This time, Vampires is looking for him anxiously, which shows that the situation is not simple.
According to the situation told by the other party - about a few days ago, Monarch of Vampires called all high-level Vampires to hold a clan meeting. This is the highest-level meeting within Vampires. All elders, marquises, and Earl must be present and cannot be absent.
But Marquis Darkblood didn't come, nor did he send anyone. Vampires couldn't contact him even with their secret method that had been passed down for countless generations."
Sangis closed the document. "So Vampires sent people to inquire about his whereabouts from the countries in the mainland."
"Have you answered him yet?"
"I'm back, I replied that Vagrian can help keep an eye on it." Sangis is waiting for King Ghidorah's answer.
"Your Majesty, shall we help them?"
"Are we familiar with those vampires?" King Ghidorah asked.
"Not very familiar. There is some cooperation in some cases, but never in depth."
The relationship between Vagrian and Vampires can be roughly summarized as "the water in the well does not interfere with the water in the river".
Vagrian is a country dominated by Dragons, and Vampires is a force independent of human countries. There are no territorial disputes, no conflicts of interest, and no need for alliances between them.
Now that the emperor of Vagrian has been replaced, Vampires may re-evaluate his relationship with Vagrian. It may be a test to send someone to inquire about the whereabouts of Marquis Darkblood.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter, you figure it out." King Ghidorah threw this matter to Sangis like a hot potato.
Sangis took a deep breath, put the letter away properly, and turned out the next one.
"Also, Your Majesty, Karelia Empire's envoy is asking for an audience with you." Sangis's eyes fell on King Ghidorah, waiting for his answer.
"Have the people from other countries arrived?"
"Back to Your Majesty, because the journey is far away, the farthest one can be reached in about two days."
"Let's wait until everyone is gathered."
Sangis Keep this in mind. "Yes."
"How are the preparations going?" King Ghidorah asked a question he didn't intend to ask.
Sangis's eyes lit up. She waited for a long time, and His Majesty finally took the initiative to ask.
She took a deep breath and said the words she had been preparing for the past few days in the most concise and least likely way to make King Ghidorah feel annoyed.
"Back to Your Majesty, the preparations for the ceremony are basically complete. Several chambers of commerce are willing to contribute funds, and several of the top business families in the empire have expressed their willingness to contribute to His Majesty's enthronement ceremony.
One even said that they would move out all the fine wines that had been stored in their warehouses for hundreds of years. The orchestra was ready, with the best musicians drawn from the National Conservatory of Music in the capital, and the repertoire was arranged, divided into four chapters: welcoming, coronation, banquet, and seeing off guests.
All the grand dukes, princes, Senate senators and imperial nobles are all on their way to the capital. I can be sure that this is the grandest day of the empire in hundreds of years."
She added in her mind - after all, Red Dragon Emperor rarely holds banquets. When Valerirus was in power, the empire's celebrations were very infrequent and very restrained.
King Ghidorah said nothing, just nodded slightly, so small that Sangis almost didn't notice it.
"And--" Sangis hesitated for a moment, but decided to say, "Several nobles, the descendants of Governor Valerirus, were flying to the capital, but were stopped by the Lord Protector on the way."
"What's wrong? Do they have a bad attitude?"
"They haven't met His Majesty yet, so their attitude towards His Majesty is not clear yet." Sangis used the word "unclear". Unclear means it may be good or bad.
"The Protector was worried that they were young and ignorant and might be rude in their words or actions, so he tried to dissuade them."
Maybe they would come to see the new emperor obediently, salute properly, and call "Your Majesty" properly.
Maybe they had already discussed on the way here that they wanted to give the new emperor a blow. The Lord Protector stopped them not to make a decision for them, but to let them think clearly before making a decision.
"Oh. It doesn't matter." King Ghidorah changed his position. His three heads were rearranged on the throne.
"Any more?"
Sangis opened the last document and confirmed that nothing was missing.
"No more at the moment, Your Majesty." Sangis put the documents away, "I will withdraw first."
She bowed slightly, turned around, and walked towards the door.
Her steps were still as steady and her back was as straight. But her brows wrinkled the moment she turned around.
It's not the kind of wrinkles that are tight and hard, but the kind of wrinkles that are overwhelmed by too many trivial things and want to breathe a sigh of relief but find that they don't even have time to breathe.
Her temples were throbbing, and the veins on both sides of her forehead were bulging slightly under the skin.
Sangis walked out of the hall and walked into the long stone corridor with guards standing on both sides.
Sunlight shone in from the window on one side, casting light spots on the ground. She stepped on those light spots, and the color of her skirt changed from dark red to bright red and back to dark red.
Her mind was rapidly processing the things she had not said a moment ago.
Senate Many old guys were questioning her. They wrote letters, sent people, and some even visited her in person - not to congratulate her, but to question her.
They asked her, "Who is the new emperor? Where does he come from? Why does he sit in that position?" They asked her, "Why did Senate not participate in the decision-making of the throne change? This has been the rule of the empire for thousands of years!"
Senate was in a commotion in the meeting hall. Some people banged the table, some threw cups, and some pointed at Sangis's nose and scolded her for "traitoring the country and seeking glory."
She listened expressionlessly throughout the whole process to all the accusations, all the doubts, all the baseless speculations and malicious slanders, and then she said, "Your Majesty said it, let's wait until everyone is gathered to discuss it."
It's not "Senate can be discussed", it's not "My lords, please be patient", it's "Your Majesty said it".
Some guy said that he wanted to see His Majesty Caesar, talk to him face to face, and make the enthronement ceremony a little more frugal.
"The empire's treasury is not rich, and money is needed for post-disaster reconstruction. As an emperor who has just ascended the throne, why do you spend so much money on a grand ceremony?"
These are their original words. Sangis's expression at that time was very calm.
What she was thinking was - if you have the ability, just say it.
She was very much looking forward to seeing those old guys standing in front of the golden three-headed dragon, pointing at his nose and saying, "You are spending too much money," and then being chopped into charcoal by a bite of golden lightning.
But she couldn't let anyone else go, because that would seriously damage the empire's image and create a mess for her to clean up.
No, we really can't let them go. Those old guys, as well as the old ministers who think they have seniority and have hundreds of years of experience, are going to teach the new emperor how to govern the country.
Why didn't you say anything when Red Dragon was in power?
When the Red Dragon was in power, those old guys were as well-behaved as cats. Red Dragon Emperor No need to preach, Red Dragon Emperor just looked at them and it was enough to shut them up.
Now, before the new emperor opens his mouth, they dare to come out.
It's not because they have become bolder, it's because they haven't met the new emperor yet - no, it's because they haven't "feeled" the new emperor yet. That's different.
Are you still pretending to look down on the situation? Your brain has been muddled by hundreds of years of sleep?
Even at this time, there were wealthy nobles. The entire empire was rebuilding after the disaster. Food, housing, medical care, and transportation all required money.
Some nobles are donating money, some are donating food, and some are donating their family mansions as temporary shelters.
Some nobles were thinking about how to make a profit from the coronation ceremony. The quotation for contracting banquet catering was three times the usual price. The supplier of decorative flowers was a distant relative of a certain Grand Duke.
Even the souvenirs prepared for the envoys attending the ceremony were secretly ordered to a certain jeweler who was related to a certain elder Senate.
Sangis raised his eyebrows. Hey, let's go back and deal with it. There are still many things.
Her figure disappeared around the corner at the end of the corridor.
In the main hall, the guard continued to read the ancient book that was as thick as a brick.
"... The existence of the abyss was sealed under the earth by God of Light, and it will not wake up for ten thousand years.
His blood turned into plague, his breath turned into poisonous mist, and his nightmares wandered in the darkness, looking for a body to possess.
From generation to generation, people have sung the great deeds of God of Light, but have forgotten the evil ones lingering in the darkness, still waiting for opportunities..."