The banquet continued for the whole night. The next morning, Maeve and Ace left the Vorste city and started their journey towards the Imperial capital in a royal carriage carried by wind horses.
The carriage was red in color, was large enough to occupy 4 people easily, and was clad with gold and beautiful gems.
"We will be returning to where all of this started" Ace muttered with a serious look.
"Mhm… but this time, we are not the ones being targeted" Maeve smiled and Ace smiled back.
He was finally free. A big burden was lifted from his shoulders.
"What about your family, how will we deal with them?" Ace questioned after a while.
"Hmm? What? You have different plans for the three of us?" Maeve questioned to which Ace smiled.
"Thank you…" Ace whispered lovingly.
"For what?"
"For everything…" Ace answered as they hugged each other.
With their carriage speed, it should take around 20 days to reach the capital.
"Which attribute are you planning to train now?" Maeve questioned.
Ace smiled in answer and took out the Divine fire seed he obtained. Maeve's eyes widened in surprise but moments later, they return to normal.
Obviously, she knew that there was no way Ace would ever leave the Divine Seed after killing a Divinity. That would be such a waste.
"Is it Magma?" She guessed.
"Mhm," Ace nodded.
"Okay, now train, and I will train my soul,"
"Hey, don't you have the water attribute too? I have 1 water attribute core, it should be around the 7th layer. Why don't you absorb it?" Ace proposed.
"I do have water element but my affinity is a mere ranked C, I'd rather not waste the core" Maeve answered. Someone might say that even the Soul attribute she has only had a B rank affinity, what's the big difference?
Ideally, that should be correct, but Maeve's Soul attribute is slightly different from normal. Even though she only has a B rank affinity, her growth speed is not higher than an average S rank affinity and that is comparing it with the Basic attribute's S rank affinity. The stronger the attribute, the slower the growth.
So, it could be said that her actual affinity is way better than what was tested, it should be more around S rank or more.
"It is not like we have someone to use it on, just absorb it…" Ace urged.
"What are you talking about, we might not have someone now, but we might have someone who can use it later" Maeve answered while looking at her waist.
Ace smiled and kneaded her belly lovingly.
"Mhm… we might have…" Ace muttered.
"Okay, now go train…" Maeve interrupted.
"*Sniff* *Sni-"
"Staart! I have to train too!" Maeve repeated, knowing what he was about to say.
"Yeah, Yeah" Ace responded and sat cross-legged.
His expression then turned serious, he closed his eyes and started absorbing the Divine Seed.
Instead of training of her own, Maeve just sat there and watched Ace absorbing the Divine Seed with a warm smile. It was only after an hour, did she finally sat cross-legged and started cultivating her Soul.
…
Just like that, 15 days passed and the temperature inside the carriage increased significantly.
Maeve opened her eyes and saw Ace covered in sweat as the Divine seed in his hand started fading.
"Stop the carriage!" She ordered and the carriage stopped.
She and the driver left the carriage and stood a few distances away on the opposite sides.
As if sensing that Maeve has left, Ace's expression turned calm one and the temperature inside the carriage increased abruptly, even the gold from the corner started melting.
…
30 minutes passed by and the gold completely melted and the Royal crest became unrecognizable while Maeve furrowed her brows in worry.
Soon, scorching, black-red Magma appeared near the wheels and the carriage door opened.
Ace appeared with a big smile on his face as he controlled the Magma below his foot and stepped on it, even though the red-black magma looked unbelievably hot, it didn't hurt Ace at all. Ace then waved his hand and the magma below his feet moved towards Maeve while Ace just stood on top of it and appeared near Maeve.
"It's done, my magma attribute reached 8th Layer" He announced with a smile as his face came close to hers.
"Congratulations!" Maeve's worried face bloomed in Joy and she sealed Ace's lips.
~
After 1 hour, the temperature inside the carriage returned to normal, the driver was called back and the journey continued.
For the next 4 days, Ace stabilized his Magma attribute while Maeve continued with her cultivation.
On the last day, Ace and Maeve stopped cultivating and just chatted about random topics.
The next morning, their carriage entered the Imperial capital and was welcomed by cheers and roars.
"Long Live The Emperor and The Empress!"
"Long Live The Emperor and The Empress!"
Unlike the welcome Ace faced when he returned to Vorste kingdom, this welcomed seemed forced but Ace didn't care either way.
Their carriage appeared in front of Imperial Palace within the next hour and they were welcomed by General Luke.
"Greetings, Emperor and Empress" General bowed.
Ace and Maeve looked around the Palace and were satisfied by the General's work.
The Huge white and golden colored Palace was completely cleaned of blood. The Garden was filled with the flowers Maeve liked, the Halous Family insignia was completely demolished and was replaced by Vorste Family insignia.
"You did well, General Luke!" Ace praised and Maeve nodded.
"I thank the Emperor and Empress for the praise" Luke bowed.
"Please, enter inside your Imperial Palace, Your Majesty" Luke insisted to which Ace nodded.
Palace gates were opened and Ace was surprised to see the welcome, the red floor mat was covered with flowers as Maids and servants were lined on either side with their heads bowed.
"Long Live The Emperor and The Empress!"
They all greeted in unison.
Ace looked around the walls and saw many of his and Maeve's portraits were hanging majestically. He nodded in satisfaction and held Maeve's hand.
'I should raise Luke's pay' he thought and walked into the throne room, then he saw 2 new thrones right beside each other, clad in gold and precious Jewels.
Many nobles were standing on each side of the room with bright smiles on their faces as if they were happier than the new emperor himself.
The more Ace looked, the more familiar faces he saw, but everyone else didn't seem to realize who he and Maeve were.
"Your majesty, should we start with the coronation ceremony?" Luke questioned.
"You prepared that as well?" Ace questioned with a raised eyebrow.
'Do I really need to raise his pay?'
"Of course, I did, your majesty" Luke answered and Ace nodded.
Luke raised his hands and waved towards the leftmost corner.
Moments later, an elderly-looking man appeared with the Crown that was kept on red-colored cloth followed by some other soldiers who were carrying water, robes, and some other materials.
"Greetings, your majesty, my name is Hale Helgenz, the high priest of the Bright Sun Church. I was called here to supervise the coronation ceremony" he greeted politely to which Ace nodded.
Bright Sun Church had its branches all over the empire but they didn't have much strength, they just believe in The Sun God and don't involve themselves in worldly matters.
"Shall we start with the coronation, your majesty?" Hale questioned.
Ace nodded.
"Your majesty, I would request you to remove your coat and sit here bare-chested" The priest requested and pointed towards a stool.
Without waiting any further, Ace quickly removed the robes and sat on the stool.
*Gasps*
Many gasps were heard from the noble ladies when they saw Ace's body and toned well-craved muscles. Some even fantasized about the new emperor but didn't say anything out loud.
"This is the Holy water from our church; the emperor's upper body will be washed with the holy water before going through coronation".
*Clap* *Clap*
Ace nodded and the priest clapped his hands, 3 maids came forward as they sat on their knees and started cleaning Ace's upper body with a flustered look.
Many noblewomen stared at the maids with jealous looks while the males were already dazed and were unable to keep their gazes away from Maeve.
…
Maids worked fast and did their work within 5 minutes.
"Now I request the empress to dress the Emperor in his new robes" the priest continued.
Maeve nodded and picked the red-colored robe that had the royal insignia imprinted on them and dressed Ace with a genuine smile.
"Now, I would request the emperor to call someone senior or the person who he respects the most for the coronation" Priest requested while Maeve and Luke's face turned sour.
They both knew that the emperor doesn't have anyone that fits into that category.
Ace smiled and pointed towards Maeve whose eyes turned wide. Not only her, many nobles, and even the priest had weird looks.
"Emperor, this…" Priest muttered.
"You told me to call the person I respect the most right? She is the only one alive who is worthy of my respect" Ace answered to which Maeve smiled.
"Emperor, if it is something like that then I can call church bishop, he can do it ins-"
"I already told you, she is the only person alive who I respect. Your bishop or whatever doesn't make any difference. If you want to continue then do it or I won't be seeing you out" Ace declared with a cold look.
"I-I understand…" the priest muttered and Ace looked at Maeve who walked forward.
She took the golden crown adorned with jewels and placed it on the emperor's head.
*Claps* *Claps* *Claps* *Claps*
The nobles applauded, while the General roared,
"Long Live The Emperor!"
"Long Live Vorste Empire!"
And others followed.
"Long Live The Emperor!"
"Long Live Vorste Empire!"