Unlike any other human power that had ever arisen on the Delayer Continent, the structure of the Radiant Sun Empire’s imperial family was unique in all of human history.
Every member of the imperial family—whether prince or princess—was born with their own set of responsibilities from the moment they drew breath.
Commanding troops, scientific research, culture, diplomacy.
This made their relationship with the reigning emperor, in most cases, feel less like father and child and more like superior and subordinate.
Even more peculiar was the fact that the imperial family across generations seemed to follow an unwritten rule.
Unless the emperor passed away, no ruler would reign for less than two hundred years or more than four hundred. And no matter how many sons or daughters they had, every emperor would always have exactly nine designated heirs to assist in governing the empire’s affairs.
It was as if they harbored no fear of rebellion from the heirs at all.
From the moment these heirs were born, they were destined to hold real power. Each would receive their own position, their own palace, and their own fiefdom.
Nine people, nine territories. Together with the emperor, ten individuals formed the highest and most central ruling stratum of the empire.
In the end, the one among the nine who achieved the greatest accomplishments would ascend as the next emperor, while the former heirs would step down to become ordinary nobles, relinquishing their palaces, lands, and authority.
Throughout history, exceptions to this were extremely rare. In nearly ten thousand years, only six such exceptions had ever occurred.
They were the six other exceptionally great emperors who, together with the founding emperor, were later revered as the “Seven Revered Emperors of the Radiant Sun.”
Without exception, each of them had rebelled against the empire in their youth, only to return during times of crisis and save the empire from the brink of destruction.
When they returned and became the rare tenth heir—guaranteed to become the next emperor—the empire would build them a brand-new palace as their exclusive residence.
After they ascended the throne, that newly built palace would become the new imperial palace, and the previous emperor’s residence would be demolished.
This had always been the case.
And now, as the last person the world believed to be—and naturally the last surviving—revered emperor, the “Night Princess,” “Ye Lalar · Tianluo,” resided in the “Night Palace.”
It stood tall in the “Heavenly Cold Domain” in the empire’s northeast, a once barren and impoverished region where most areas were covered in permafrost year-round.
This was the homeland where the imperial princess had been born, bordering the “Heavenly Desolate Ice Plains” in the northern reaches of the Delayer Continent—an area so vast it far exceeded the limits of what humanity could currently explore.
Remote, destitute, filled with starving corpses and wasteland—these were the words that once defined the land.
Though it was not frozen for ten thousand miles, arable land suitable for human settlement remained scarce.
Even after the empire had stood for ten thousand years, this territory—among the few that had never been seized by any other human power—had never been claimed by any noble as their own fief.
Here, there were only fortresses and strongholds built one after another to resist potential beast tides surging from the ice plains.
Of course…
All of that changed the moment the “Night Palace” rose upon this land.
A creation that defied the heavens, magic that reshaped the world. Though the climate remained rather cold, people no longer doubted the future this land possessed.
To the people living here now, Her Majesty the Night Princess symbolized prosperity, bountiful harvests, and the guiding light of their future.
The people of this land constantly felt blessed to have been born on the same soil as the Night Princess, sharing the same bloodline.
They were Her Majesty’s most loyal servants and most devout believers. Every day—whether upon waking, at lunch, or before sleep—there was always a moment dedicated to bowing toward the imperial palace.
And the place they faced was the “Night Palace.”
It was a palace shaped like a grand cathedral, heavily adorned with variant dark-attribute mana stones that emitted a night-purple glow: “Night Demon Stones.” The entire structure carried a dark tone, magnificent, solemn, and sacred.
Every single building material had been offered as tribute from across the empire and even the continent—priceless treasures rarely seen in the world.
Every pattern and carving had been crafted by the most devout and loyal subjects after fierce competition to earn the right to work on it, each line radiating powerful mana fluctuations.
Because of this, the Night Palace was perpetually enveloped in vast dark-attribute mana. For ten miles around, it remained shrouded in an eternal night that did not hinder one’s ability to see clearly.
…
Just like its master.
Tianluo Calendar, Year 9998, January 6th
Roughly half a year before the imperial princess’s escape…
“Shoo~ shoo~”
A noble, untouchable night-purple figure slowly materialized from the single-person teleportation array that led directly into the palace.
The knights piloting Magitech Knights and the royal court mages standing guard around the area, from nobles down to every attendant and maid, all dropped to their knees the moment they saw the figure. They pressed their foreheads tightly against the ground, terrified that even their gaze might profane the majestic presence.
“Your Majesty! Imperial Princess! Your Highness!!!”
“My Lord!! Please bestow your glance upon us!”
Outside the Night Palace, fervent believers blocked by the guards frantically tried to push forward, desperate to catch a glimpse of the imperial princess’s glory.
They all wore cloaks with black as the base color.
The mysterious and beautiful night-purple patterns embroidered on them proved their identity.
—The “Night God Church,” or what was now called the “Imperial Princess Church,” which revered the Night Princess as a living deity and offered her worship and reverence.