This pitiful Emperor thought that the Imperial Consort was helping him and that he finally had real power. In reality, those nobles who acted subserviently before him were only bowing and scraping because of Mara.
In short, the Emperor didn’t care whether the Raifurut family disappeared or not.
Rather, he was happy and relieved that they were gone.
But a mysterious expert capable of summoning a meteor shower and annihilating the entire Raifurut family overnight put immense pressure on the Emperor.
Since that person annihilated the Raifurut family, would he, as a member of the Raifurut family, be targeted as well?
Moreover, the Imperial Palace had recently been infiltrated by a phantom thief, making the cowardly Emperor even more worried.
Therefore, the Emperor was so agitated.
“Go! Search! Keep searching!”
The Emperor roared.
“We must capture that mysterious expert and the phantom thief as soon as possible! Anyone who captures them… no, kills them, will be greatly rewarded! Those without titles will be granted titles, and those with titles will also be rewarded, even promoted!”
To quell his unease, the Emperor made a huge promise.
The nobles finally perked up, agreeing and then retreating.
Only the Emperor remained in the room.
“Ha…”
The Emperor, as if all his strength had been drained, collapsed in his chair.
“Where did the Imperial Consort go at this time…?”
The Emperor felt a strong sense of unease.
For ten years, he had become accustomed to following Mara’s instructions, and every time he did so, he achieved clear results, making him completely dependent on her.
This made the already incompetent Emperor even more incompetent, panicking whenever something happened.
When Mara was around, the Emperor would quickly calm down.
But with Mara gone, the Emperor felt unsafe everywhere, unable to relax, filled with anxiety.
Such an Emperor didn’t notice that a figure had appeared behind him at some point.
The cloaked mysterious person stood behind the Emperor, exuding a faint sense of danger, making the Emperor’s spine tingle. He instinctively turned his head and looked behind him.
Upon seeing this, the Emperor’s eyes widened.
“—!?”
He tried to scream in terror, but a hand covered his mouth.
“Mmmmmm…!?”
Muffled struggles came from the Emperor’s covered mouth, but it was useless.
The cloaked mysterious person easily dragged him away.
Soon, silent screams echoed in the room.
…
“Ugh… ah…”
After an unknown amount of time, the suppressed screams in the room turned into faint moans.
The Emperor of the Ragna Empire was tied up and hung upside down from the rafters, his head drooping, a cloth stuffed in his mouth, his face bruised and swollen like a pig’s head, not a single part intact.
The cloaked mysterious person paced around the room, searching through the bookshelves for something.
After a long time, he finally found an ancient book on a bookshelf.
There were no words or titles on the cover of the ancient book, only a painting.
A painting of a shimmering, willow-like branch.
“Found it.”
Shien smiled suddenly.