The Archduke’s words left a bitter taste in Valoria’s mouth, causing her heart to ache.
More specifically, it was his words regarding the state of the empire and how she had lost her way that struck her the hardest.
Pressing her lips together, she sighed softly. ’Are things really that bad? Have I unknowingly fallen under soone else’s control...?’
But just as those thoughts passed through her mind, her body suddenly froze. A strange, unknown fog rolled over her consciousness, and the thoughts that had just appeared were instantly erased completely by that mysterious haze.
It was a tragedy, a deadly one, yet the Empress herself was completely blind to it and had no idea that sothing like this was happening to her unknowingly.
The Arch Duke was definitely wrong in one regard. It was not that she had beco weak-willed, nor that she had simply gone blind to reality. Rather, at this mont, she was not entirely herself anymore... or perhaps more accurately, she was still herself, but her stronger traits had been sealed away by this strange fog deep within her sea of consciousness, suppressing her into her current state.
And it was becoming increasingly clear that the Empress was being manipulated by hidden hands operating behind the scenes, yet neither she nor anyone else was aware of it, nor did they know for how long this manipulation had already been going on.
And just like that, before the words of the Arch Duke could sink any deeper into her mind, they were erased. What remained was only the mory of the Arch Duke’s anger toward her. As for the rest of what he had spoken, she regarded it as nothing more than aningless garbage.
Thinking this, her eyes brightened and cleared of the haze that had surrounded them monts ago.
The Empire is still vastly stable, she thought to herself. Yes, there are so conflicts, but they are small. The people are happy, and the state of the Empire remains serene.
And with that thought, she dismissed everything else.
So be it. If he wants to be so dramatic, then let him be. If he cannot look beyond the short term, then that is his loss anyway. It would not make much difference whether he stands with or not during these negotiations.
Thinking of that, she let her back rest against her seat before briefly closing her eyes as the weight in her chest slowly faded into nothingness, even though a faint heaviness still remained, one she neither noticed nor paid any attention to.
She only opened her eyes again when one of her subordinates passed down a ssage.
"Your Majesty," the subordinate’s crisp voice ca through the dedicated communication channel, "the Void Fleet has cleared us to move ahead. The Stargate is about to open."
Hearing that, Valoria nodded her head slightly and stated calmly, "Good. Proceed forward according to the route they have given. I will be there in a minute."
The subordinate imdiately accepted the order. "As you command, Empress."
At the sa ti, outside, the Imperial Fleet as well as the Ducal Fleet began to glide forward, moving separately yet alongside one another as they advanced toward the enormous ring-like structure anchored in space.
Faint traces of fascination could clearly be seen written across many of their faces. They were excited, yet at the sa ti apprehensive as well.
After all, space gate, or Stargate, technology was possessed only by the very top powers of the galaxy and was incredibly rare. Not everyone had the luxury of passing through one before, much less experiencing it firsthand.
As the small fleet closed in on the distance, a strange sensation washed over both Empress Valoria and the Arch Duke. Despite remaining within their respective ships’ command bridges, their divine senses, which were sweeping through the structure of the Stargate as it activated, noticed the surrounding spatial fabric and layers being affected by a mysterious force produced by the gate itself.
The space, especially the empty area within the center of the massive ring, began to warp, distorting the surrounding region at the sa ti. And with each passing second, the spatial fracture only widened further until the inner area of the Stargate beca completely covered by a brilliant swirling blue-white portal that had blood within the ring, casting an ethereal light across the hulls of the Elphenium Empire ships.
Watching this display of localized spatial manipulation carried out with such ease and mastery, a technology still far beyond the current reach of the Elpheniums, made Empress Valoria feel both bitter and excited at the sa ti.
While the Arch Duke looked at the magnificent sight before him, the respect and fear he held toward the Celestial Void Empire increased even further. At the sa ti, he silently prayed for his daughter’s safety and wished that she had not suffered any harm during all this ti.
Even though he knew of his daughter’s uniqueness and her mysterious connection to fate, sothing that had helped him survive many tragedies and allowed his state to rise rapidly and beco even stronger, seeing the changes in Celeste made it impossible for him not to worry about his daughter like any father would.
He remained apprehensive toward the Void Fleet because they were far stronger than him, and even if they had truly done sothing to his daughter, he might not have any way to seek justice for her. That thought alone chilled his heart even further...
But before he could sink deeper into those thoughts, and before Valoria could continue fantasizing about how she would propose cooperation, Celeste’s figure suddenly materialized directly before both of their command bridges without the slightest notification or warning.
Celeste spoke flawlessly and calmly. "You both are cleared for transit, Empress Valoria and Arch Duke Elder Grove. For any delay caused, I wish to apologize to both of you."
Hearing this, both the Duke and Valoria quickly put on composed expressions, even though the corners of their mouths twitched slightly at her sudden appearance.
"You speak too humbly, Lady Celeste. What wait do we even have to complain about?" both of them replied with light chuckles.
"Then I have to thank you for your kind words," Celeste continued with a faint smile. "Please proceed directly toward and into the portal ahead. It shall safely bring you and your fleets across the mana storm surrounding the Sol Region..."
Celeste further ntioned that, once they arrived, another official would et and escort them toward the core star system, sothing both Valoria and the Arch Duke accepted readily.
Celeste carefully kept herself in check and deliberately avoided ntioning Vivian to the Empress, who was still largely in the dark about everything. It was a surprise Celeste had intentionally kept for her. As for the Arch Duke, she had not made it clear who the official on the other side would be, though she had already inford him privately that Vivian was waiting there.
And knowing him, Celeste was certain he was already overthinking and cooking up countless possibilities in his mind. She had done this intentionally to avoid the topic being accidentally ntioned by him in front of the Empress.
It was just that she did not know their relationship had already begun to crack and that the two of them were slowly drifting apart. Otherwise, she likely would not have gone through so much effort to hide it.
Anyway, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Celeste calmly said, "Please, both of you, proceed forward."
With that, her image vanished from the holographic screen, while the two fleets slowly advanced toward the blue-white portal ford by the Stargate before entering it and disappearing from the area soon after.
anwhile, imdiately on the other side, within the outer zone star system that also served as the base of the 3rd Defense Command, Vivian could be seen anxiously clicking her fingers against her command seat as she constantly asked Amber whether her father had arrived at the Pri Star yet and whether he had entered the Stargate or not.
Amber’s forehead throbbed slightly, as this was already the twentieth ti her lady, an admiral-level official no less, had asked her the exact sa question.
And just as Amber was about to reply once again, the Stargate not far from the fleet suddenly flickered open, forming the exit point. From within it, the fleets of Empress Valoria and the Arch Duke erged one after another.
Sothing Valoria instantly noticed with her divine senses. She imdiately stood up from her command seat, visibly excited. "He’s here..."
With stars practically shining above her head, Vivian imdiately spoke, "Amber, prepare a shuttle for ! I want to go there and et Father face to face!"
Hearing this, Amber frowned slightly, as this was neither sothing she could allow nor sothing Vivian should do under the current circumstances.
"Please get a hold of yourself, Admira", Thus, she spoke in a far more formal tone than usual.
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