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Chapter 871 CONFLICT WITH THE IN-LAWS

"I know," Nikolai said in response to Geoffrey Kinsley\'s frantic report while walking towards him in a hurry. "Nero is in the throne room."

"The throne room…" Geoffrey turned to where the throne room was supposed to be. "The throne room is gone!"

Yes, that exactly what happened.

The door to the throne room had disappeared, hence only the boring wall with its boring color remained.

Geoffrey gasped out loud. "The Crown Prince had been swallowed by the throne room…"

"Nero is fine. I can feel that he\'s still alive and well," Nikolai said. He was worried about Nero, but he couldn\'t let it show in front of other people so they would remain calm, too. "But I better hurry up."

He looked at the trails of the Moonglow scattered in front of him.

It was as if it was asking him to follow it.

[It\'s pointing to the Crown Prince\'s palace, but Nero isn\'t there. Who else is there then…]

Ah.

Nikolai clenched his jaws when the realization hit him.

[Could it be…?]

***

NIKOLAI sighed while looking at Nero\'s knights who knelt in front of him and bowed their heads while begging for his forgiveness.

The group was, of course, led by (the teary-eyed) Melvin Lucchesi.

[Why is my son\'s secretary such a crybaby?]

"It wasn\'t your fault that Nero disappeared," Nikolai said, sighing. "Nero was summoned by the throne, so he\'ll be staying in the throne room in the meantime."

He couldn\'t carelessly say the exact situation because they were in the hallway in front of the Crown Prince\'s bedroom.

Hence, he only said things that would put Nero\'s knights at ease.

"I-Is it time for the His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince to ascend to the throne, Your Imperial Majesty?" Melvin Lucchesi asked nervously, his head still hanging low. "Should we start preparing for the Crown Prince\'s coronation ceremony?"

Ah, so this was why Nero chose the crybaby as his secretary.

[Melvin Lucchesi is indeed reliable.]

"Geoffrey Kinsley will explain everything to you," Nikolai said, walking past the children as he entered the Crown Prince\'s bedroom. "Go and follow him."

The door behind him closed.

It was rude of him to enter a room that an unmarried woman was using, but he didn\'t have the luxury of paying attention to his etiquette.

[As expected…]

Nikolai let out a frustrated sigh when he found Dahlia asleep on Nero\'s bed while being surrounded by Moonglow.

That damned throne.

His murderous thoughts were interrupted when Dahlia opened her eyes and got up suddenly.

"You shouldn\'t be moving abruptly yet, Dahlia," Emperor Nikolai said. "But I\'m glad that you\'re up."

Dahlia looked nervous while looking at the bluish balls of light surrounding her. "Your Imperial Majesty, aren\'t these…"

"Yes, the lights you see are coming from the Moonglow," Nikolai confirmed the Black Witch\'s thoughts. "To be precise, those lights are from Nero\'s Moonglow."

Dahlia looked more anxious now.

"Nero is in the throne room," he said. "The throne has summoned him."

Dahlia gulped, clenching her hands tight. "I-Is it time for Prince Nero to ascend the throne, Your Imperial Majesty?"

"Dahlia, do you know what all the emperors of the past had in common when they ascended the throne?"

The Black Witch kept her mouth shut while waiting for him to continue, and so he did.

"All of them– no, all of us were already married when we sat on the throne. It\'s a requirement for the next emperor to be married."

Dahlia suddenly turned pale. "Your Imperial Majesty, I will not marry the Crown Prince."

"I can see why you thought I was asking you to marry Nero, but I\'m not here to do that," Nikolai said calmly. "I\'m only saying this because I want you to understand the current situation and help me come up with a solution."

Dahlia\'s face turned red as if she was embarrassed. "I-I apologize for getting ahead of myself, Your Imperial Majesty…"

"You don\'t have to apologize," he said. "Like I said, I can see why you misunderstood me."

The Black Witch nodded shyly. "Your Imperial Majesty, did I hear you right earlier? Your Imperial Majesty needs my help…?"

It must have been a surprise for the Black Witch to hear the emperor say he needed her help.

"I want to protect my family with my own power, but I won\'t risk their safety just because of my pride," Nikolai said. "Hence, I\'m afraid I need to ask your help to solve this matter, Dahlia. Both my wife and my daughter hate it when children like you are dispatched to dangerous situations. However, this time, it\'s inevitable. The throne wants you, Dahlia."

The Black Witch looked conflicted.

[Of course, it\'s not easy for her to decide things related to Nero.]

"The throne room has disappeared."

Dahlia covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Then what happened to Prince Nero?"

"I\'m not sure."

"Your Imperial Majesty isn\'t sure…?"

"I can feel that my son is still alive, and I know the throne won\'t kill him," Nikolai said. "Of course, that doesn\'t mean everything is fine. I\'m anxious, and I want to save my son as soon as possible. However, I can\'t do that at your expense, Dahlia."

If he was the old Nikolai that Neoma used to call a \'scumbag,\' then he would have already dragged Dahlia to the throne in order to save his son.

But he had already changed.

[I must not do things to other people\'s children that I don\'t want to happen to my children.]

"Dahlia, I won\'t force you to marry Nero," Nikolai said calmly. "But judging by the fact that the throne is asking for you, then I suppose you\'ll be the key to the throne room."

"Does Your Imperial Majesty believe that the throne room will appear if I went there?"

He nodded. "But I won\'t force you to do something that you don\'t want to do, Dahlia. Since the throne is going out of its way to get you, we can assume that it doesn\'t mean well. Hence, your life might be put in danger if I bring you to the throne room. So, don\'t force yourself."

"If I don\'t do it, then how does Your Imperial Majesty plan to rescue the Crown Prince?"

"I can always just destroy the Imperial Palace."

"Excuse me?"

"Mona, Juliet, and I destroyed the Imperial Palace before to force open the door that leads to where the Soul Beasts are imprisoned," he explained. "That door is under the throne."

The Black Witch gulped. "Your Imperial Majesty, please calm down. Prince Nero might get hurt if you suddenly destroyed the Imperial Palace…"

Oh.

[She\'s still worried about Nero despite being put in a tight spot.]

Come to think of it, wasn\'t Dahlia his daughter-in-law in the first timeline?

[I should treat this child better.]

"I\'ll give you time to think, Dahlia," Nikolai said in the gentlest way possible. "I\'ll be back after taking care of another urgent matter."

Dahlia nodded and bowed her head politely. "Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty."

***

"YOUR GRACE was summoned by His Imperial Majesty?"

Rufus nodded at Duke Jasper Hawthorne\'s question. "It sounded urgent, so I\'m using the portal to go straight to the palace."

The young duke visibly looked worried. "I hope it\'s not related to Princess Neoma…"

Oho?

Rufus couldn\'t help but smile at the young duke. "It looks like you really care about Princess Neoma, young man."

Yes, he was teasing the young duke.

As a result, Duke Hawthorne\'s face turned red. "It\'s not like that, Your Grace. This may be impudent of me to say, but Princess Neoma is like a little sister to me."

"Uh-huh."

"It\'s true, Your Grace," the young duke insisted, his ears turning redder the more Rufus teased him. "M-Moreover, Princess Neoma is already committed to Commander Ruto."

Right.

Rufus remembered that Princess Neoma was already in a relationship with the young commander.

[But I think Hanna mentioned that the two broke up recently?]

"If I were His Imperial Majesty, I\'d like it better if my future son-in-law would be you rather than Commander Yoan," Rufus said to the young duke. "It\'s not like I have anything against the young commander. But unlike him, you\'re a full citizen of the empire, Duke Hawthorne. Moreover, I feel like Princess Neoma wouldn\'t achieve her dream leisure life if she ended up with the divine son of a powerful god."

It was just his opinion, of course.

And he knew that his opinion wouldn\'t matter to the Imperial Princess.

[Even so, I\'m worried about her future.]

"Having said that, I know I do not have the right to meddle with Princess Neoma\'s life," Rufus said, smiling sadly. "I am not his father in this timeline."

"Please don\'t say that, Your Grace," Duke Hawthorne said while shaking his head. "Princess Neoma wouldn\'t think that you were meddling with her life for simply expressing your opinion. Knowing her, I\'m sure she\'d appreciate it."

"Thank you for saying that, Duke Hawthorne," Rufus said, his smile turning bright this time. "I guess I\'m just suddenly worried about Princess Neoma\'s personal life because my precious Hanna is getting married soon. I hope Princess Neoma finds happiness with someone special the way my daughter did."

***

[HAAAH.]

It took Nikolai all that he had to stop himself from letting out a frustrated sigh in front of Rufus and Amber Quinzel.

Yes, he summoned the Quinzels to his private tea room.

He didn\'t really want to do it because Amber Quinzel hadn\'t fully recovered yet, but he had to.

[They deserve to know the truth.]

"Your Imperial Majesty, I\'m assuming you did not summon us here to hear a report regarding my mission," Rufus said in a polite yet nervous voice. "Please don\'t mind us and just get straight to the point."

Amber Quinzel nodded politely in agreement with what her husband had just said.

"Then allow me to speak frankly," Nikolai said, putting down the teacup on the saucer quietly. "Rufus, Amber, the throne has rejected Hanna to be the new empress."

Rufus and Amber Quinzel looked shocked by his revelation.

[Ah, was I too blunt?]

"Your Imperial Majesty, this is the first time I heard the throne choosing the new empress," Amber Quinzel said, the shock evident in her slightly trembling voice. "Moreover, just what does my precious Hanna lack for the throne to reject her?"

Oh.

[I may have used the wrong words… I wish Mona was here.]

"Your Imperial Majesty, if the throne rejected my daughter, then does it mean the throne has chosen someone else to be the new empress?" Rufus asked, his voice full of controlled anger as his golden eyes glowed dangerously. "Is it her?"

Of course, he knew who Rufus was talking about.

"It\'s not her fault, Rufus," Nikolai said as calmly as he could. "Let us not pit the young ladies against each other."

***

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