Chapter 1296: 54. The Empress’s Pride

"Answer."

Even though she had lost her composure somewhat, allowing that alluring spring scenery to sway repeatedly before Muen's eyes, Her Majesty the Empress still remained high above, and the decree she issued permitted no defiance.

That jade-like foot symbolizing authority had effortlessly torn through all of Muen's defenses, leaving him no choice but to tremble pitifully like a little lamb that had been completely stripped bare.

"Miss... Miss Dragon only came here to travel. She doesn't have any other intentions." Muen's expression was miserable. In the end, unable to endure any longer, he finally answered.

"Miss Dragon?"

Celicia sneered. "You certainly call her rather intimately."

"Cia, listen to me. Actually..."

"Call me Your Majesty right now!"

That white-jade bun-like foot pressed down harder once again, domineeringly forcing Muen's upper body, which had only just tried to sit up, back down.

She looked down from above, her gaze contemptuous, the chill emanating from those eyes making him feel as though he had been cast onto a frozen plain.

Yet that jade-like foot changed its method, beginning to tease his chest faintly and intermittently, subjecting him at the same time to the scorching torment of wicked flames."

"Calling her so intimately... It seems your relationship with her is quite good."

"Hiss... Y-Your Majesty, my dear Your Majesty, listen to me. As things stand right now, the relationship between Miss Dragon and me is absolutely pure and innocent. It's only because of certain things that happened during this journey that she regards me as some kind of special companion. It is absolutely not what you're imagining."

Muen naturally once again entered that state where pain and pleasure continuously tore at him from both sides. He was suffering beyond words, yet still had to force himself to explain.

"Right now?"

Celicia's smile became even colder. "In other words, later on you will..."

"That's not what I meant. And the important part isn't whether it's now or later..."

Muen was utterly helpless. "Your Majesty, don't let yourself be misled by rumors spread by certain dog bastards. I am Belrand's number-one good man, not some scumbag. How could I flirt with every beautiful woman I happen to meet?"

"Aren't you?" The coldness turned into disdain..

"Absolutely not!" Muen replied with a perfectly serious expression.

"Hmph."

Already accustomed to the shamelessness of the bastard beneath her foot, Celicia merely snorted coldly:

"Then what about before? That dragon suddenly appeared and took you away. Don't tell me you had no relationship with her back then. Otherwise, with so many men in this world, why did she specifically steal you?"'

In the end, she still could not let go of that wedding.

She had calculated everything, prepared everything to perfection, and could practically be said to have successfully deceived everyone. If not for ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) a certain little bitch getting lucky and accidentally stumbling into the Imperial Palace, then her plan could have been called flawless.

And even with that tiny imperfection back then, the overall situation had still remained largely under her control.

The Empire was her home ground. She possessed the authority of the Empress. On top of that, those shameless sluts were constrained either by their identities or by appearances and could only struggle against her from the shadows. Thus, even when fighting one against four at the time, she had possessed a considerable chance of victory.

Once the wedding succeeded and everything became an established fact, legitimacy, morality, and the general momentum would all stand on her side. She would then be able to effortlessly crush those shameless sluts. No matter how many methods each of them possessed, what could they possibly use to fight her?

As long as she remained alive for even a single day, those women would forever only be allowed to use what she had already discarded!

Even becoming secret lovers would require them to kneel and thank her for the favor!

But... in the end, it had all amounted to nothing.

An unexpected existence had suddenly entered the scene and, in an overwhelmingly unreasonable manner, completely shattered her plan. Not only had all her preparations become meaningless, she had even been forced to temporarily join forces with those shameless sluts, letting the entire continent watch her become a joke.

It was simply humiliating!

Of course, she also knew that having her man stolen away by a mighty Calamity was not actually considered humiliating in the eyes of the Empire or the continent. Calling it a joke was mostly limited to people enjoying the gossip. Nobody would question her majesty because of it, just like in those stories where a kingdom's princess was carried away by an evil dragon—aside from the princess's beauty and charm being loudly celebrated afterward, one never heard of any kingdom losing its dignity over it.

But to her... it was still humiliation!

That dragon, that Calamity... how transcendent, how impossible to contend with. If she did not regard this as humiliation and use it to sharpen herself and move forward, was she really supposed to sit helplessly and watch whether the "princess" came back or not depending entirely on the dragon's mood?

How would that be any different from the fate she had originally envisioned for those shameless sluts?

She was not one of those shameless sluts. Her pride would never allow her to accept such an ending!

"Ci... Your Majesty, my dear Your Majesty, you're really overthinking this."

Muen could feel Celicia's emotions surging, so he hurriedly continued stroking her little foot as he comforted her:

"The reason Miss Dragon came back for me at that time had absolutely nothing to do with abandoning someone after getting what she wanted, or pregnancy, or anything like that. She came looking for me because of serious business and dragged me off to work like a beast of burden. I was also screwed over by some old bastard back then. Your Majesty, you have to believe me!"

"I believe you."

"If Your Majesty still doesn't believe me, then the only thing I can do is smash my head into tofu to prove my inno... Eh?"

Muen froze and blinked. "You really believe me?"

"You're my future husband. What reason would I have not to believe you?"

Celicia's cold little face was filled with unquestionable certainty:

"Actually, you don't need to explain so much. As far as that dragon is concerned, I don't particularly care. Whether she has some unclear and ambiguous relationship with you isn't important in my eyes either."

"......"

The corner of Muen's mouth twitched.

Who the hell was she trying to fool?

If she didn't care, why was she being so fierce?

This damned tsundere really was...

"Do you genuinely want me to step on you to death?"

"I'm terribly sorry. Please continue."

"Hmph."/

Celicia's jade-like foot continued stepping on Muen, but as her thoughts shifted, the weight of her movements clearly changed as well.

If what came before had been a gentle spring breeze and fine rain, then what came now was summer thunder and hail.

But whether thunder or rain, all were still favors granted by the sovereign, so Muen could only properly experience them.

"Those shameless sluts place their hopes on other people, which is why they care so much and keep trying to probe her. But I don't have such boring ideas at all. What kind of relationship that dragon has with you simply isn't important, and I can't even be bothered to test her."

"Huh?"

Not important, which meant...

"This does not mean I am deliberately indulging you in fooling around!"

The jade-like foot stomped down viciously.

It nearly knocked the breath out of Muen.

"Cough, cough, cough. Please, go on..."

"What I mean is, since I will be the one who wins in the end anyway, what does it matter if a few more enemies appear?"

Celicia swept back her hair, and it was as though a sacred radiance suddenly descended upon her, illuminating her like a sovereign among mortals.

No.

She already was an Empress, the supreme Empress of the Empire. At this moment, she was merely displaying the bearing that rightfully belonged to her.

Domineering, proud, untouchable.

She held a sword in her hand, and behind her it was as though thousands upon thousands of soldiers stood in formation. She was the sovereign of the mortal world, and even when facing the legendary dragon Calamity, she showed not the slightest trace of fear.

Gulp......

Muen heard himself swallow, his heart also pounding rapidly inside his chest. At this moment, Her Majesty the Empress stood as though atop a mountain peak, looking down upon him, while a tiny traitorous subject like him could naturally only raise his head and gaze upward.

Even that glimpse of spring scenery suddenly seemed incomparably noble.

"Whether it's that dragon or those shameless sluts, they're all the same in my eyes. There are only two kinds of women in this world: the wife who joins her husband beneath the ringing bells of the church, and... shameless sluts who can only covet what belongs to someone else and sneak a taste."

"No, that classification is really..."

"That dragon is merely one of the latter. Does being a stronger shameless slut somehow make her no longer a shameless slut? Since I can defeat the other shameless sluts, she will be no exception."

Celicia's voice was cold and lofty, brimming with confidence, as though the so-called shameless slut she was talking about was not a terrifying Calamity at all, but merely a vixen who relied on beauty to steal men.

That bearing left even Muen staring blankly for a moment.

So that incident had not filled her heart with hatred.

It had merely... ignited her fighting spirit.

Whenever the already proud Empress decided to accomplish something, she would inevitably do it to perfection, and she would never retreat, regardless of what kind of formidable enemy she faced or what kind of situation she encountered.

This was her.

This was the Empress of the Empire, Celicia Leopold.

Proud, cold, looking down upon the masses like a snow lotus atop a high mountain, like a silver blade. She would never submit to another, nor would she ever admit defeat and beg for mercy.

"Beautiful."

The word slipped out of Muen's mouth.

If anyone asked when his Empress was at her most beautiful, then naturally it was when she stood so high above everyone like this.

It practically made a person want to remain beneath her feet forever.

"You seem rather happy."

Celicia suddenly lowered her head.

"Am... am I?" Muen shook his head vigorously in denial. "Happy? How could I possibly be happy? I'm suffering terribly... Hiss, gentler."

"Hmph. Even if I don't care what happens with that dragon, do you think I would let you off so easily?"

Celicia sneered. At the same time, her jade-like foot changed its movements once again. It no longer merely teased his chest, but slowly traveled downward along the contours of his firm muscles, soon reaching an extremely dangerous place.

"Y-Your Majesty."

Muen immediately sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly begged for mercy. "I've already said I'm innocent. I was forced into it. I'm a victim too. How could..."

Strange.

Wasn't the normal story supposed to be that some heroic prince, knight, or brave hero rescued the princess who had been carried away by an evil dragon, and from then on they lived happily ever after?

He had never heard of a princess who had been abducted by an evil dragon needing to be punished afterward!

Not to mention that the punishment he had suffered recently had happened far more than once or twice. He was practically being tormented until he exploded on the spot!

Unreasonable!

What third-rate author had written this damn plot? It was completely unreasonable!

"A victim? That's what I thought originally too. But now that you've come back, you don't look anything like what a victim should look like..."

Her slender eyelashes, seemingly draped in frost and snow, fluttered as those cold eyes lowered and slowly swept back and forth across Muen's body.

Celicia, whose temperament had always been cold and detached, unexpectedly curved her lips into a meaningful smile at this moment:

"According to the information I received, you actually traveled around everywhere with that dragon? Is that really how a 'princess' forcibly stolen away by an evil dragon is supposed to behave?"

Of course it would be unreasonable to punish a princess who had been "forced."

But after the princess came back, not only did he refuse to denounce the evil dragon, he had instead been all lovey-dovey with the dragon. That was something very much worth pondering.

Although she did not care what happened with the evil dragon, this bastard's attitude......

Was extremely irritating.

"So, I'm still going to punish you."