Chapter 824: The Bloody Rose

Chapter 824: Chapter 824: The Bloody Rose

Somewhere in the Bloody Empire, inside a palace steeped in a scarlet aura, a woman of mature beauty sat at a table. Opposite her sat the Bloody Emperor, whose presence imposed a deathly silence throughout the chamber.

"Father, have you still not found him?" asked Anne, her voice laced with desperation. "Thanks to him, I escaped that place. If not for him, your daughter would still be trapped there. You must find him no matter what, father, so I can repay my debt."

This plea had repeated itself over the years. The Crimson Emperor was angered, but also disappointed. He could not comprehend how it was impossible to track down a brat and an isolated island. He had sent letters to neighboring empires, but no one knew of that boy, no one knew of that island, and no one had heard of anything his daughter described. Had he not found her himself the moment she teleported back, he would not have believed a word. Seeing her safe brought relief, but also distress.

His daughter was the betrothed of the emperor of the Dark Scorpion Empire. Upon finding her, the first thing he verified was her purity; thanks to the heavens, his daughter remained immaculate. Though she had lost cultivation time, it was nothing that imperial resources could not mend.

However, the real issue was the boy carved into her heart. He knew how stubborn his daughter was: she had fled beyond the continent and subsequently become trapped in an array whose location remained unknown. Everything about it was far too strange.

He needed to find that brat at all costs to dissolve the knot in his daughter’s heart, ensuring she would accept the marriage. As long as that remained unresolved, there was a risk the alliance would be illegitimate, prompting the emperor to seek vengeance. He did not fear the youth directly, but rather his grandfather, who doted on him above all else. The mad old Scorpion would be willing to unleash hell at his grandson’s request. Yet the heavens seemed unwilling to favor him; letters had been dispatched across the continent, yet not a single clue had surfaced.

"I am sorry, my daughter," said the Crimson Emperor with a sigh. "The person you speak of seems not to exist on this continent. In a few months, I will travel to the neighboring continent for a meeting with the Leviathan Emperor, who wishes to propose a business deal. Knowing how unhinged he is, it is undoubtedly a war. I will make sure to fetch that brat for you, I promise."

"Thank you, Father!" replied Anne, a sliver of hope rekindling in her voice.

Upon leaving her father’s chamber, Anne walked to her quarters and collapsed onto her bed, weeping in the quiet of the room. Had Ethan seen her now, he would not have recognized her. She was different from what he had known: before, she was beautiful, but now her appearance bordered on the divine.

Anne... Anne Blackwood, the Bloody Rose.

Yet here, she was no wanderer or rogue cultivator; she was Anne Bloody, the primary daughter and first princess of Emperor Bloody—a monster beyond comprehension. In the continent of the Golden Dragon, the empire shared its domain with other formidable powers, where perhaps only the Abbot of the Smiling Buddha could be considered matchless. But in this realm, Emperor Bloody reigned supreme; at most, only the Black Scorpion Emperor could rival him with his cursed poison capable of wiping out kingdoms in a single day.

"Where are you?" whispered Anne into her pillow, tears soaking the silk. "Did those bastards kill you? Why didn’t you want to escape with me? Was I not enough for you? Why can’t my father find you? Are the heavens destined to curse my happiness? Is it not enough to make me that monster’s whore?"

When Anne had fled back then, her betrothed was merely a prince—not even the direct heir, just one of many contenders for the throne. But now that she had returned, he had become the new Emperor of the Dark Scorpion Empire. Upon seeing her again, his obsession remained as unyielding as the day she disappeared, demanding to claim her immediately.

Anne had been forced to feign memory loss just to buy time. However, her father’s pressure grew heavier by the day.

Escaping again crossed her mind, but she knew the harsh reality: escaping from an inexperienced prince was nothing like fleeing from an Emperor with the full power of a domain at his command. Furthermore, the new monarch had issued a direct threat: if she vanished again, he would unleash an all-out, blood-soaked war.

Knowing that the lives of billions hung on her shoulders was a crushing weight. Anne was no longer the impetuous youth of the past; she now understood the weight of her responsibilities. Running away was no longer an option, and she had resolved to face her fate.

Her sole remaining wish before surrendering to her destiny was to repay the young man who had saved her life. If she could get her father to locate him and grant him a reward, she could secure Ethan’s future. For the Crimson Emperor, bestowing a fiefdom, a duchy, or making him a king over some region was a trivial matter. Only then, by ensuring Ethan’s standing and safety, could she clear the debt weighing upon her heart.

Anne walked toward her chamber window, gazing out into the night sky with distant eyes. She wondered silently if he, in some far-off corner of creation, was looking at the exact same moon.

At that precise moment, countless leagues away, Ethan stood beneath the firmament, fixing his eyes on the very same silver glow.

Three days had passed since the Emperor granted him access to the Imperial Royal Treasury, yet there were still no answers. Not even with the imperial decree and the entire intelligence network of the crown had anyone been able to find the faintest trace of his family. How far had that dimensional portal cast them? Where were all his women? Where were Cassandra, Sara, Chloe, Emily, Lilly, Martha, Lena... and his right-hand man, Jason? ℯ

Were they even still alive? Had his sacrifice been in vain, or had it truly meant something?

A faint gust of night wind ruffled his hair, and the thought of Anne crossed his mind once more. Where was she? Had she managed to escape back then? That day when he refused to leave alongside her, where had she gone? Was she safe, or had the perils of this vast world overtaken her?