Banquet (4)

In the corpse-littered throne room, Empress Audrey sat atop her throne with her legs crossed and her head resting in her palm.

She waited for Roy Versai, the Head Speaker of the Senate to be escorted out of the room before she spoke again.

"What of the others?" she asked in a detached tone.

"Senators Craim Serg and Christine Roberts have already been dealt with. Senator John Bradie has gone missing, we believe he has been planning to flee ever since he learnt of your planned return to power." Elric responded.

Audrey did not reply immediately, seemingly losing herself in thought. After a few seconds, she clicked her tongue and waved her hand.

Suddenly, the entire room was covered in crimson flames. Strangely, however, the Praetorian Guardsmen in the room did not seem perturbed by the flames, they simply continued standing guard in complete silence.

Additionally, the strange flames did not spread, or even char the floors and walls. As though they had consciousness, the flames clinged to and burned away the flesh and blood that littered the floor, seemingly not having an interest in consuming anything else.

Soon, the flames died down and revealed the polished ivory floor, not a single trace of the massacre that had previously occurred was left, not even ashes.

"Continue to search for him. As soon as he's found, kill him," spoke Audrey.

"By your will," replied Elric.

Audrey tapped her fingers against the throne's armrest for a while before she stood.

As soon as she stood, the black body suit that covered her body morphed into the exquisitely beautiful and regal red dress that she had worn when she had addressed the attendees of the banquet.

After a second, the body suit had completely changed into the dress.

"I will return to the banquet, I expect a report on John Bradie's death by the end of the event.", said Audrey, in her characteristically indifferent tone.

Elric did not reply, saluting Audrey by slamming his left hand to his chest and bowing slightly.

Seeing Elric's response, Audrey left the throne room, escorted by the Praetorian Guard and her maids who had been waiting outside.

Elric, who had remained in the throne room suddenly recited something under his breath, before his figure suddenly vanished.

After returning to the banquet, Audrey quickly became the centre of attention. Most of the attendees amassed around her fervently praising her and expressing their utmost loyalty.

Audrey, used to such things, only responded tersely. She did care particularly about interacting with those present, after all this was only an event to announce her return to power, and to reveal the birth of her son.

As Audrey thought of her son, Audrey became slightly annoyed, after all, it was not like Adam could participate in the banquet.

After Cephiros' revelation, he and Adam returned to the main bedroom, along with a few of the maids and Praetorian Guards.

As Audrey was thinking of clearing her schedule tomorrow to spend it entirely with Adam, a man stepped forward and bowed before her.

The figure wore a black suit made of a high-quality fabric that had a subtle shimmer, giving the suit a unique and eye-catching appearance.

The shimmer was reminiscent of the night sky, with tiny dots of light that catch the eye in a mesmerizing way.

The fabric had a silky texture that looked as though it'd feel luxurious to the touch, and it was perfectly tailored to fit the wearer's body, accentuating their shape in a flattering way.

The suit jacket has a slim cut and features a single-breasted design with two buttons, adding to its sleek and modern appearance.

However, the most eye-catching detail of the man was not his elegant suit, but his ears, which were noticeably elongated and pointed, and his hair which was a shade of black so deep that it seemed to devour the light itself, which contrasted heavily with his pale skin.

The man, an elf, raised his body, revealing a face that looked closer to that of a teenager than an adult. His shimmering silver eyes gazed upon the Empress with a sense of familiarity, and his lips were curved into a mischievous smile.

"Thales, what a shame, I'd thought that Maria would've surely made you into a fine paste by now," Audrey spoke, with a rare smile on her face.

"Haha, I can assure you it's not from a lack of trying, You know how my wife gets," The elf replied, in an almost defeated tone.

No one present seemed surprised by the Empress' uncharacteristic expression when talking with the elf, neither were they by the elf's lack of honorifics when addressing the Empress.

The elf, Thales, began walking beside Audrey.

"Speaking of, where is she? Maria? Shouldn't the return of a dear friend be enough to drag her out of her laboratory?" Audrey asked while pursing her lip slightly.

"Ah, well, It's hard for her to move about recently, considering the fact that she's pregnant and all that," Thales replied with a shrug.

Audrey paused only for a second before continuing her steps.

She laughed faintly. "How did you convince her? I still remember how she'd kept swearing that she'd never bear a child, and that she'd rather turn herself into a lich," she asked.

Thales smirked and raised his head in an arrogant manner.

"Haha, look at this face, how could she ever reject my beauty? Besides, I can be very persuasive," he replied with a grin.

"So you just kept begging her until she gave in then?" Audrey asked bluntly.

Thales expression froze for a bit before he let out a languid laugh.

"Pretty much. She finally gave in after I promised to become the test subject for a few of her strange machinations..."

"Sounds accurate," Audrey said after chuckling lightly.

"What about you? Why didn't you tell us you were pregnant?" Thales asked, seemingly sounding a bit hurt by his friend's secrecy.

Audrey raised her hand and muttered something shortly under her breath. Suddenly the various sounds of the banquet disappeared, and an air of silence quickly enveloped the space.

No one seemed to notice, however, as the various attendees of the banquet continued chatting, despite the lack of sound.

"An Isolation spell?" Thales asked in confusion.

Audrey did not respond immediately. Her face hardened slightly as she seemed to mull over her choice of words.

"The ones who killed Asher came after me. After I'd gotten injured, I initially isolated myself to recover...but when I did, I discovered I was pregnant. I didn't want to risk it."

At the mention of the name Asher, Thales' gaze flickered a bit, before he sighed.

"I understand. But why didn't you just contact us?", he asked, his tone indicating that he already knew the answer.

At his question, Audrey's steps suddenly stopped. While her face remained stoic, Thales could see the cogs turning in her head.

After a second, she produced an "Ah..." sound before continuing her steps.

Thales silently watched her for a second before he asked "You forgot, didn't you.'.

Audrey clearly staggered a bit before she turned to respond to him.

"I am the Empress of Aegis, The sovereign of hellfire and the Saintess of Hostomel, how could a person of such an exalted status forget such a thing?"

"So you forgot didn't you" Thales responded without a change in expression to Audrey's words.

The tips of Audrey's lips twitched slightly before she raised her hand and dispelled the Isolation Spell.

The sounds of elegant music and continuous chatter returned to the pair's ears, as they made their way to the VIP section that had been separated from the rest of the banquet to be used by the Empress and her closest friends and confidants.

Audrey occasionally had to converse with important administrators and Merchants, however, the number was small as those qualified to hold a conversation with the Empress, even among the prestigious guests of the banquet, were few and far between.

Soon the banquet ended, and guests began to leave.

Thales had long left, saying that he didn't want to leave his wife, Maria, alone for too long.

As Audrey did not need to see every last guest out, she had returned to her room on the second floor. Before she entered the room, her dress quickly morphed into a simple black body suit.

Entering the room, Audrey's stoic expression collapsed as a warm smile quickly plastered itself over her face.

In the corner of the room, the Archangel, Cephiros, stood motionless, as though he were not a being of great importance but instead a mere statue.

On the bed, Adam's sleeping figure could be seen.

As his chest continuously raised and lowered, Audrey gently laid next to him and began caressing his face.

The smile on her face grew as Audrey continued to watch him sleep.

As she continued to observe Adam sleep, Audrey heard a knock at her door and a voice sounded from the other side.

"Your Majesty, John Bradie has been found. However, he was already killed at the time of our arrival."

The voice was that of Elric, the Praetorian Guard commander.

"After a search of the compound he was staying in, we found signs of his killer's identity. We've also found evidence that he had been in contact with his killers for an extended period of time before his death, at least 5 years." He continued.

"Get to the point Elric," Audrey said, imbuing mana in her voice so that it could only be heard in one direction so as to not wake Adam.

Elric was silent for a second before he continued his report.

"John Bradie is suspected to have colluded with the Republic of Lemea."

Audrey did not respond immediately. The smile on her face had long since been wiped away, but now, there was a slight frown on it.

"Investigate everything related to John Bradie immediately, apprehend everyone who has ever interacted with him and interrogate them thoroughly," she said with an edge to her voice.

"I have already made preparations, Your Majesty," Elric responded.

"I will personally head to the site of his death, make the necessary preparations," Audrey spoke.

Elric was briefly taken aback by Audrey's orders before he quickly replied.

"By your will,"

Elric then stood and left to make the necessary preparations.

Audrey turned her gaze back to Adam as she watched him in silence.

After a few minutes, Audrey sighed before she got up.

"I'll be back soon, Adam," she whispered, before kissing him on the head.

As Audrey left, she gazed towards the corner of the room and nodded towards Cephiros.

The Archangel nodded in response.

As she left the room, Audrey's expression became stoic, but her eyes revealed an intense and burning hatred.