After an absence of two weeks Yunan returned home to find his in-laws at home, Lady Mito looking a bit older and Hoshi looking as haggard as usual, apparently his troubles only grew with age, most likely the problem of an heir was the current cause of his troubles, as usual Hatsu was standing behind the emperor like a statue, it has been a while since Yunan saw him, he was a 79th level adventurer, a powerhouse in his own right, but he was serving someone as weak as the emperor.
Yunan thought that Reina had missed her parents and brought them over so he did not care much, he just waved at the guests and paid his respects before heading to the bath, after two weeks away and 5 months of intense fighting and getting lost in the maze-like burrow of the digging hares, he sought the comfort of the bath knowing that Ophelia would be coming to check on him and help him relax a little bit.
After a good bath, Yunan sat down with his father-in-law and had a good conversation with him, both lady Mito and empress Hana were present but kept quiet and let the men talk it out, Hatsu chose to use the spirit cave for the time being, of course he did not trust Debauchery with his liege, he only left after the exotic son-in-law returned.
"So, you know i have very few children" the emperor started discussing after the table was cleared and only lava wine and lotus fruits were left on the table, and the leaders of the next generation are mostly from the brothers and cousins and other branches of the family, since Reina who was supposed to be the next guardian has gotten married to you and left the position open, the usually obedient and silent branches turned restless, and since the Oracle has failed to choose the next guardian candidate, things turned sour fast, hidden alliances with outsiders, plans for rebellion and so on were uncovered and dealt with"
"Last week we were invaded by some religious federation, they used the excuse of the lack of an Oracle approved heir to the position of a guardian as a springboard to occupy the palace and placate the population. Currently, they published that the Oracle has chosen a guardian and her failure to do so before was due to the illegitimacy of the current ruler"
Hoshi heaved a distraught sigh and downed his cup of wine, behind him, both Mito and Hana were equally demoralized and feeling guilt, most likely it was their own conflicts that spurred this type of horrible destiny to befall the eternally blessed sun islands,although things may seem to be good for the moment, an isolationist country like the sun islands being open to a religious federation that advertises its protection of all religions would lead to a theocratic dictatorship over the land.
Yunan was not very bright about these things, he might understand how to play the game of thrones he was by no means good at solving things like betrayal, therefore he was thought for a moment before asking emperor Hoshi seriously: "father-in-law, do you require Reina to retake her position as the guardian or do you want her first child to shoulder that responsibility?" after thinking about it, there should be no other way to gain the endorsement of the Oracle, even if the new government had plans about it.
The current guardian Hatsu was old, it took almost 7 generations to assign Reina as the next guardian since he was chosen, therefore, either Reina would have to fulfil her own destiny or leave it behind to her posterity, meaning her children or grandchildren. Yunan was 70% sure that was the case, and that the oracle would only be able to choose a different guardian if Reina died or left behind no bloodline.
"That is her duty, she is a kitsune bound by the laws of our blood" Hana was as stiff as always, too stiff for her own good, even when asking for favours, still Yunan was not the type to pay her too much heed. He turned to Reina who was sitting behind him and asked for her opinion with a simple gaze. "I will do as husband says" Reina was too good to be true, just like always, and Yunan felt that he has yet to deserve her.
"Then take Balin, Dustan and a mech, go burn down a few countries, take revenge, get the boys some celestial maidens to serve them and burn down the imperial palace of the sun islands, execute all who were in on it, use the kitsune bloodline to determine the traitors, the Oracle should help, that would count as fulfiling the duty of a guardian, rebuild the palace and bring all who has the bloodline back to the sun island, let the Oracle choose a new government, and start over again, break all diplomatic ties and return to isolation, use anything you need from the warehouses, if the girls want to go out for sightseeing take them too, leave Lucian and Leader out of it and send Fae to pillage the burned federation".
And that was that. Hana had her face turn from pale to green to purple in a cycle, Mito was mortified, Hoshi, on the other hand, broke into a sweat, this was basically a hostile take over, it was a very direct and radical way to deal with a problem that can be solved with Reina showing up, Yunan was more interested in the deterrence factor, he wanted it to be something to be remembered for millennia
This whole thing was probably some heir being impatient and trying to rule ahead of time, before the fight of the throne started, unfortunately for them, Yunan was not good with diplomacy thus annihilation was their end.
It took less than 3 days for Reina to deal with everything with the help of the Oracle, Balin and Dustan were very happy with their new harem of celestial and holy maidens that waited on them, Hoshi was reinstated as the rightful emperor under the blessing of the oracle, Fae as gotten enough loot to smile happily for a decade, mostly because there were enough ingredients for beautification taken from the temples where the holy maidens were brought up to give her eternal youth and ageless beauty.
As for the reward from the Oracle for bringing back order to the sun islands, Reina got herself a prophecy, "... shall sire a god-king, a dragon among men, to rule was his birthright and to rule is his destiny … " is what Riena remembered from the whole thing, Yunan only chuckled at the prophecy, that was basically, literally, what a son of Reina and Yunan would be, dragon bloodline and the prince of two countries, if he did not rule by birthright he would rule due to endless potential.