“Your Highness, please rest assured. Regarding Soren, I will pretend to compromise and make him believe that I’m choosing to submit. This way, he’ll lower his guard toward us.”
Wade escorted Stella to the carriage boarding point.
“At the same time, I will secretly gather strength and wait in full readiness for your command. When the right moment comes, we will respond to your call together with the others and rise up to overthrow Soren and help you ascend the throne of the Saint Luo Empire!”
“I’ll be counting on you, Wade.”
Stella nodded in response. She was clearly very satisfied with Wade’s attitude.
“The turning point that will change the future of the empire will arrive very soon. Once I’m ready, I’ll notify you and the others.”
Wade bowed. “Yes!”
The carriage arrived in front of Stella. Alef stepped forward and opened the door. Via and Stella boarded together.
The coachman cracked his whip, and the carriage carrying Via and Stella, escorted by guards, departed.
Wade stood by the roadside and watched until the carriage completely disappeared from view before letting out a sigh.
“The turning point of humanity’s fate has finally arrived. I never thought that I would one day hold the qualifications to actively step into the tide of a new era.”
“Stella, your performance just now was excellent. That passionate and determined aura gave Wade confidence and made him choose to stand on your side.”
Inside the carriage, Via sat on the sofa across from Stella.
“Was that something you practiced in private, or did you come up with it on the spot?”
“I didn’t rehearse it. I just felt that if I couldn’t show a resolute attitude, I wouldn’t be able to make others follow me wholeheartedly. So I had to say those words,” Stella replied.
“If that’s the case, then I can give you a high score. You really are suited to become emperor.”
“Really? Being praised by you makes me very happy.”
“Is that worth being happy about? You must have heard plenty of praise before.”
“Before, I did hear quite a lot. But most of it wasn’t sincere,” Stella said. “Even the sincere ones couldn’t really move me. Because… it depends on who’s saying it.”
Stella stood up and actively leaned toward Via. The distance between them suddenly became ambiguously close.
“Why?”
Via instinctively leaned back, but her back quickly hit the sofa and she had nowhere left to retreat.
Stella brought her face right up to Via’s. Their noses were almost touching. The faint fragrance from Stella’s hair washed over Via’s face.
“Because you’re the only girl I’ve ever slept in the same bed with.”
“Hey, you’re too close!” Via quickly grabbed Stella’s shoulders. “Also, stop using such strange ways of saying things, okay?”
“Via, saying that really hurts. It’s like you’re letting me down.”
Stella rubbed her eyes even though no tears were falling, pretending to be very sad.
“I just praised you, and now you’re trying to push your luck?”
Via frowned. “I think you need to remember — we’re allies right now.”
“Yes, but I suddenly thought of an idea that could take our alliance to the next level in the future~”
“What idea?” Via asked curiously.
“Marriage alliance.”
Via’s brain short-circuited for a moment.
“Marriage alliance? Between who?”
“Do you even need to ask?” Stella grabbed Via’s hand. “Of course it’s between you and me.”
“Huh?”
Via shuddered and quickly pulled her hand back.
“Don’t joke about things like that, okay?”
“So in Via’s eyes, this is just a joke. How sad.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Via, do you understand or not? A lot of the time, a girl’s true feelings are said in the form of a joke.”
“Well…”
Via actually started seriously considering what it would be like if she and Stella really formed a marriage alliance.
First of all, in this life she was female, and Stella was also female. Could two women even get married?
No Demon King had ever openly formed a marriage alliance with a human emperor before. This would definitely cause a huge uproar, right?
“So happy! Via is actually seriously considering it!” A brilliant smile appeared on Stella’s face. “Does that mean there’s really a possibility between us?”
Via held her forehead. “This isn’t something we should be discussing right now. Can you be serious for once?!”
“Fine. Then we’ll properly discuss the details of the marriage alliance later.”
Via felt a strong urge to refute, but she told herself to endure it. Otherwise, Stella would continue this ridiculous topic endlessly.
“By the way, what method did you actually use to make Wade take such a huge risk and choose to stand on my side?”
Stella was very curious.
“From what I know about Wade, he shouldn’t be someone who can be convinced so easily with just a few words, right?”
“Mm. If it were conventional methods, it would indeed be very difficult to make these fence-sitters make such a decision. However—”
Via smiled.
“I have a very powerful Chief Archmage by my side who helped me. I borrowed some of her special magic to let city lords like Wade personally see the things they subconsciously fear. Once they understood the pros and cons, they naturally made the choice from the heart.”
“Oh? What kind of mage actually possesses such incredible magic?”
“Her name is Sashaya. She’s the Abyssal Demoness. If there’s a chance, I’ll introduce you to her.”
Via glanced out the carriage window.
Sashaya had already returned to the Desolate Fallen Continent. After all, the Abyssal Demoness still had many things to handle and couldn’t stay by her side all the time. It was a bit of a pity.
“Via really does have quite a lot of powerful subordinates,” Stella sighed.
“Next, we need to start manufacturing public opinion. If we want to bring Soren down, there’s still a lot of preparation work to do. We need to create a spark that can ignite everyone’s dissatisfaction toward Soren.”
“Do you already have a plan?”
“I have some initial ideas. But besides this work, there’s one more thing I want to do.”
Via thought of someone, and her expression grew complicated.
“I need to go out for nine days.”