Chapter 36: The Entire Court in Turmoil
Early the next morning, all the high-ranking nobles of the Western Empire received shocking news.
Empress Dowager Siana, mother of the current Emperor, had summoned her trusted ministers overnight and signed a series of documents, making several arrangements: confessing to her schemes to eliminate the heirs of the previous Emperor, Roman III, and orchestrating her son’s ascension to the throne; ordering her intelligence network to cease surveillance of Golden Griffin City and its surrounding areas; and donating all the thirty-four million imperial coins and countless jewels she had embezzled to the national treasury. The jewels hadn’t been appraised yet, but they were undoubtedly worth a fortune.
With their financial support cut off, Empress Dowager Siana’s followers scattered like birds, seeking new opportunities.
And at dawn, the Empress Dowager was found dead in her bedroom. The court physician determined the cause of death to be old age, but for some reason, her body seemed like that of someone who had been dead for a long time.
Although Empress Dowager Siana had used ruthless methods to put Emperor Beos on the throne, her actions didn’t implicate him. He remained Emperor, but he seemed lost and confused, having suddenly lost his mother. The Empress Dowager had held too much power during her lifetime, and now that she was dead, all that power reverted to the Emperor, leaving him, accustomed to a life of leisure, unsure of what to do. The sudden influx of money into the treasury further overwhelmed him. This money could certainly be used for many things, but the great Emperor had no understanding of the Empire’s current needs and didn’t know where to allocate it.
While the Emperor was unsure of what to do, his ministers knew exactly what they wanted. They gathered at the palace early in the morning, clamoring over how best to spend this windfall.
Some even skipped breakfast and rushed over. Everyone knew that when the Emperor was indecisive, they had a chance to influence the allocation of funds, directing them towards areas where they could personally benefit. Thirty million imperial coins, plus the jewels, were enough to cover the expenses of the entire population of Golden Griffin City for a year. The potential for personal gain was immense.
Fortunately, despite his incompetence, the Emperor wasn’t a fool. Although the nobles and ministers were all vying to convince him of the great benefits of spending the money on their respective domains, he didn’t make a hasty decision. Instead, he chose to hold onto the funds for the time being, waiting for a truly good idea to emerge.
“ABC, haven’t you ever thought of taking a cut from the Empress’s personal funds?”
Leona asked Abyss casually, leaning against a leafless tree, basking in the warmth of a bonfire, snuggled up with Flora, and enjoying some roasted meat. It was from the boar Abyss had hunted in the forest. Its meat had been stored in the Magic Catfish’s stomach, preserved in a state of suspended time, so it was still fresh and delicious.
Abyss had received an update on the situation in the city from a ghost he had dispatched. This invisible ghost had wandered around the palace all night, observing the chain reaction triggered by Empress Siana’s death.
“Take a cut? Why? I don’t need money,” Abyss said, gnawing on a bony pork rib. “It’s not like I can dig up graves just because I have money.”
“Don’t you have anything you want to do with money?” Leona asked, comfortably resting her head on Flora’s chest. “Like buying some rare herbs or opening a shop.”
“I do have a dream. I want to buy my own cemetery and build a large castle underground as an inn, a place for weary travelers to rest and tell me their stories,” Abyss said, his imagination taking flight as he gazed at the midday sun. “But my current goal is to obtain divine power and overthrow our dear Creator God. Opening an inn will have to wait.”
“Who would stay in a cemetery?!” Leona retorted.
Flora, feeling ticklish as Leona nuzzled her chest, asked, “Abyss, you said we should camp outside the city and rest, but nothing happened all night.”
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t even feel tired after you resurrected me, but you insisted we get a good night’s sleep.”
“Well, no one knows you’re undead,” Abyss shrugged. “I’m waiting for someone. He should be here soon, but I don’t know exactly how long it will take.”
“Who is he?” Leona asked curiously. “Your person?”
“I don’t know. He’s not one of us,” Abyss said, pulling out three gemstones from his pocket. “He’s from the Council of the Dead. He’ll definitely come to retrieve these gemstones at all costs. I’m staying outside the city to avoid harming the people inside.”
“You mean, the Council of the Dead will definitely come for you, to get the three gemstones and complete their ‘Face of Hell’?” Flora said.
“Yes, that’s right,” Abyss nodded, casually tossing the clean rib bone aside. “If we set off to do something else now, they wouldn’t be able to catch up. It’s better to wait here patiently. Even if they know I’m waiting for them, they’ll have to act. Otherwise, how will their Lord of Submergence be resurrected? We’ve already ruined years of their efforts. They won’t give up so easily.”
“So we just wait here? Is there nothing else we can do?”
Leona was bored and nuzzled Flora’s chest again. Even though Flora, as an undead, had a low body temperature, the soft, bouncy feeling against her head was quite pleasant.
“If you don’t mind, you can enter the Shadow Realm with me and be my assistant, developing some novel and fashionable necromantic spells,” Abyss said seriously.
“No way! Ugh! Are all necromancers so disgusting?!”
“Don’t generalize the actions of a few individuals to the entire group—but yeah, we necromancers are all like that,” Abyss said, even sounding a bit proud. “If you don’t like that, we can also go into the city during the day. If they’re from the Council of the Dead, they probably won’t attack during the day. As far as I know, almost all necromancers except me are nocturnal.”
“Why do you have to go out at night? For stealth?”
“Stealth is one factor, but the biggest reason is the vitality of the undead during the day. Undead are inherently photophobic, especially to sunlight. In strong light, necromantic spells can even collapse—of course, my unique necromancy is immune to sunlight, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“If there’s no problem, then why aren’t we leaving? Let’s go into the city and have some fun!” Leona exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She had already eaten half a pork chop and was full. “I want to go to my mother’s house. Although I don’t remember much about her, I still want to see what happened to her!”
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