Chapter 1304: 62. I’ll Win

There are many unsolved mysteries in this world.

The origin of Evil Gods, the stories from a thousand years ago, why Ariel's chest is so flat, and...

Why Celicia, the dignified Empress and ruler of the Empire, usually as cold as ice in temperament and as proud as a snow lotus in bearing, becomes unbelievably adorable the moment even a little alcohol touches her lips.

Muen didn't understand.

Muen was thinking.

Muen failed to think.

It wasn't because he was too stupid, but because while he had his eyes closed and was pretending to be asleep, a smooth, soft little hand was currently roaming back and forth across his chest.

It should have been an extremely intimate and beautiful scene, but to Muen, it was terrifying beyond words.

Because compared to those unsolved mysteries, there were some things that didn't require much thought at all to know they were truths.

For example... no matter how easily someone got drunk, there would always come a moment when they sobered up.

And for example... Her Majesty the Empress, who had only just been teased and ravaged, who had even been guided by a certain someone into making adorable sounds like a kitten, then exposing her belly like a kitten and voluntarily parting that mysterious garden, was undoubtedly the most terrifying person in the entire world."

He had once made the Empire's greatest authority and power submit, and now, he was about to suffer the backlash!

"It's only been a while since we last met, yet you've really gotten much bolder."

That cool little hand first gently stroked his cheek, then caressed his chest, before finally circling around one particular area.

The area over his heart.

Muen hurriedly controlled his heartbeat to keep her from discovering that he had already woken up... or rather, that he had never actually fallen asleep in the first place.

"Tell me, just how should I punish you now?"

The woman beside him, who had returned to her icy demeanor, seemed not to care at all whether he was awake as she continued leisurely:

"I had already decided how I was going to punish you before, but now it seems that punishment alone is nowhere near enough.".

"......"

"To profane and violate the Empress of the Empire... according to Imperial law, even hanging you directly from the city gates wouldn't seem excessive."

"......"

"But how could I possibly bear to hang you? Even though you did such despicable things to me just now, I still love you."

"......"

"I love you, my dear Muen."

Those words were exactly as gentle as when she had been drunk, tenderly confessing the love the Imperial Empress could not suppress even after being schemed against and humiliated.

Yet at the same time as those burning words reached him, Muen felt {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} an intensely stimulating chill suddenly appear on his chest along with that little hand.

At first it was only cold, but then it turned into a stabbing pain. Muen could even faintly hear the sound of ice forming...

No way...

Was she actually going to freeze him into a block of ice?

He had only gone a tiny bit too far, taking advantage of the chance when she had turned into a little kitten to try out every possible position. Was there really any need to be this cruel?

Crack, crack...

Hiss... That hurts, that hurts! Damn it, she isn't actually trying to murder her own husband, is she?!

The chill grew more and more terrifying, yet Muen continued maintaining his "deeply asleep" posture.

He still hadn't figured out how he was supposed to face Her Majesty the Empress in this state, so...

Let the wind blow and thunder strike; a dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water.

What, you say any normal person would've woken up by now? Can't I just be a heavy sleeper?

Muen secretly gritted his teeth and remained completely unmoving.

And the chill coming from her fingertips seemed to be deliberately toying with him, increasing little by little, step by step.

Muen could even feel that gaze calmly fixed on him, as though she were curious just how long he could keep enduring it...

Crack crack crack crack...

The sound of ice forming became increasingly clear. Muen felt that he no longer even needed to control his heartbeat, because it seemed that even his heart had been affected by the cold, beating slower and slower.

And Muen's endurance was nearly reaching its limit. Even though his tolerance for pain was exceptionally high, he couldn't endure something like extreme cold, which exceeded the tolerance range of living creatures, for very long...

And so, just as Muen was finally about to lose patience and beg for mercy...

"Your Majesty."

Suddenly, a familiar voice deliberately lowered in volume came from outside the window.

"Veil?"

Life and death were separated by only a hair's breadth.

Muen clearly felt the Empress beside him stop moving and turn toward the window.

"What is it?"

"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you. Although you ordered that no one approach casually, you woke up unusually late today, so I..."

"Just because of that?"

"N-No..."

The shadow outside the window trembled and hurriedly said, "It's not only because of that. News suddenly came from Saint Maria Academy. The entire academy seems to have entered lockdown, and even the Grand Ritual has been fully activated... The Royal Mage Corps patrol discovered the abnormality and specifically came to ask whether it was your order."

"Lockdown? That wasn't my order."

Celicia frowned.

Although Saint Maria Academy appeared on the surface to merely be a top-tier school of magic... and in reality, that was indeed what it was, only a small handful of people within the Empire and even across the continent knew that because of a certain existence, its status was actually extremely special.

And for such a special academy to suddenly seal itself off without sending any warning to anyone beforehand... no matter how one looked at it, that wasn't normal.

"Has the academy itself sent any information?"

"They say the lockdown happened extremely suddenly, and no information has come out at all."

"Then it seems there really is a problem."

Celicia's eyes flashed.

She remembered that the relevant records mentioned Saint Maria Academy undergoing a self-lockdown thirty-three years ago, and the result of that lockdown had been nearly half of the academy being destroyed by a terrifying surge of magical power originating from within...

Therefore, no matter what, as the Emperor of the Empire, there was no way she could simply ignore something like this.

"You're lucky."

Celicia coldly glanced at the fellow on the bed who was "sleeping" like a dead pig and gave a cold snort before getting up to dress.

The punishment game could be saved for later.

Very soon, she pushed open the door and hurried away together with Veil...

......

A few minutes later.

Muen quietly cracked open his eyes, looked at the bedding beside him, which still carried strange smells and traces of liquid, and let out a long breath:

Thank goodness... I survived!

He couldn't believe that even in a crisis this extreme, he had managed to preserve his miserable little life.

He practically had to thank the heavens, thank the Goddess, and thank fate itself for this gift!

To think that even a yellow-haired villain like him could have a day when his luck exploded this spectacularly. Many thanks!

"From what they were saying just now... something happened at the academy?"

Muen shook his head and quickly stopped caring.

Anyway, he didn't believe that anything truly serious could happen to an academy with that old loli sitting there. It was probably something like the headmaster accidentally blowing up a building during an experiment and everyone needing to hurry over and clean up the mess.

Good! Blow it up!

From now on, I'll definitely donate another building or two to the academy in House Campbell's name!

Even if I don't have the money, I'll sell Father's estates and donate one!

Muen made a grand vow in his heart while moving with remarkable efficiency, quickly getting up, dressing, and leaving before Celicia could finish her business and come back for a surprise attack.

But when he left, he still kept his guard up and didn't use the main entrance where his father was located. Instead, he quietly slipped out through the rear of the estate.

From this moment onward, he would never trust anyone again!

"Hmph. I refuse to believe you can still sell me out now, you old bastard!"

After leaving the ducal estate's grounds, Muen turned back for one final glance at the residence and couldn't help sneering.

......

......

Not long after Muen had left, a travel-worn and furtive figure appeared outside the main entrance of the ducal estate.

"I'm here. Muen should be home too, right?"

Ariel poked her head out from the shadows and carefully looked around.

Unfortunately, with the ducal estate's ability to isolate itself, it was genuinely difficult to tell anything from outside.

"Oh, I know I'm already familiar with this place. I can just go straight inside and check. I don't need you to tell me that, Teacher!"

Ariel stomped her foot in embarrassment and argued with someone for a few sentences before jumping out from the shadows and openly walking toward the ducal estate.

When she reached the estate's guarded area, she instinctively pulled out the family crest Muen had given her before. But she discovered that the guards hidden in the shadows merely glanced at her. They didn't even verify whether the Campbell family crest in her hand was genuine before letting her pass without another word.

"I can... just get through with my face now?"

Ariel blinked, warmth flowing through her heart.

Needless to say, Muen had definitely given them special instructions.

"Oh, I know now isn't the time to act lovestruck. Teacher, why have you gotten more and more nagging lately?!"

Ariel stomped her foot again before finally entering the estate.

The courtyard was extremely spacious and quiet. Of all the many maids Ariel remembered seeing here before, not a single one was visible now.

Just as she began to feel confused, she spotted a powerful figure at the far end of the courtyard, in front of a pile of something that looked like ruined garbage.

"He looks... kind of familiar!"

She couldn't see clearly from behind, because the man was kneeling on the ground and pounding both hands against it in a posture that looked extremely familiar to her. Just one glance made Ariel feel as though some inexplicable bgm was about to start playing.

"It's... His Grace!"

And when she clearly saw that resolute, furious face like that of a lion, Ariel was immediately startled.

As the Empire's most famous warrior, even back when she had looked down on Muen the most, she had never underestimated the Lion King in the slightest.

Yet now, such an existence actually looked this grief-stricken... and miserable?

Who had done this? Who could make the dignified Lion King bow his head and submit?

"Your Grace... no, Uncle."

Ariel suddenly changed how she addressed him and asked in an extraordinarily gentle and virtuous tone, "What... exactly happened here?"

"......"

The Lion King said nothing.

The awkward silence lasted a very long time.

Just as Ariel began wondering whether she'd said something wrong, whether calling him "Uncle" already was perhaps a little too eager and presumptuous...

The Lion King suddenly raised a hand and pointed in a certain direction.

"That brat... went that way."

"Huh?"

"Heh. He thought sneaking out through the back entrance would let him escape my eyes? Does he even know whose territory this is?"

His beard trembled in the wind.

The lion-like man raised his head.

For a moment, the man seemed to regain all of his majesty and glory. In his sharp eyes was nothing but contempt for his prey:

"He's in that direction. Go. Go on. You'll catch up to him soon."

......

......

"Thump."

Inside the Grand Library, so quiet there wasn't another soul around, Hamreign abruptly closed the book before her and took a deep breath, stirring a faint breeze throughout the entire library.

"I've more or less confirmed it."

On the table before her, all kinds of books were piled into a small mountain. At her reading speed, it wouldn't take her long even to finish every book in the entire library, much less these relatively niche categories.

Although there wasn't much material, for her, it was already enough.

"As expected, everything is still within my control. How could that fellow who's shut herself inside a sea of flowers for who knows how many years possibly understand this sort of thing?"

Hamreign abruptly rose to her feet, causing the pages of the nearby books to flutter and reveal content that would make anyone blush and their heart race.

Yet her expression was solemn. Within her blazing golden pupils there was only the determination to win and the loneliness of one who stood unrivaled:

"I'm definitely going to win this bet!"