(City of Lunarian- Inner Region)
(Grand Central Plaza)
"Make way for our new emperor! Long live our new king!"
"Emperor Raul is so handsome! Is that our new queen next to him?"
"Saintess Marie… truly the most beautiful flower in the entire capitol city…"
Loud whispers and cheers echoed through the central plaza as a crowd formed around the procession slowly moving through the city.
An incredibly attractive young man with short black hair and a lean muscular body stood proudly in an open carriage and waved at the adoring crowd.
Standing next to him was a young woman with silvery hair and a voluptuous figure that made both men and women in the crowd blush.
Her facial features were perfect, and her eyes shone with both purity and righteousness.
She appeared to be an angel sent down from the heavens themselves to bless the believers of the Lord of Light.
Saintess Marie clasped her hands together in prayer and a wave of holy light erupted around her body.
These golden rays of spiritual energy fell onto the crowd and healed all their injuries and minor ailments.
The cheers got even louder as the people felt the love and protection of their soon-to-be king and queen.
Emperor Raul Francis was in a good mood as he wrapped his arms around his fiancé and smiled warmly at his subjects.
The last of his half siblings had been mysteriously killed a few nights ago and now there was no one standing between himself and the throne.
Saintess Marie and the Inquisitor faction of the Varion Church had raided and imprisoned several high-class nobles so there was little opposition to his sudden ascension.
The emperor stared at his future queen with love in his eyes since he could not imagine that he would be lucky enough to marry the most beautiful woman in the continent.
Saintess Marie seemed to sense his gaze and glanced at him with a lovestruck expression on her blushing face.
The atmosphere soon turned sweet as the couple shyly exchanged looks of adoration.
Meanwhile the crowd continued to cheer loudly as the row of carriages moved onwards towards their destination.
A squad of both regular and holy knights surrounded the royal couple's carriage to ensure that no harm befell them.
The emperor's carriage finally arrived in the middle of the plaza where a raised wooden platform had been constructed a few days ago.
Emperor Raul stepped down from the carriage and held out his hand for Saintess Marie to accompany him.
His fiancé obliged and the pair walked towards the raised platform hand in hand.
The saintess searched the crowd for a certain familiar face but was disappointed to see that the person she was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
Emperor Raul stood on the raised platform and stared confidently at the crowd below who looked at him with adoring expressions.
The prestige of the royal family was quite high in the capitol city and most commoners held both awe and respect for their rulers.
The late emperor was a far-sighted man who knew that gaining the love of the people was key to maintain the stability of his rule.
Emperor Raul cleared his throat twice and stretched out his arms towards the heavens.
He opened his mouth and spoke the words that he had already prepared,
"My people… I am the thirty seventh emperor of our great country! I solemnly declare to dedicate my life to raise the prosperity of our nation!"
"In an era of unprecedented peace, I will be the ruler to raise the standards of living and ensure that none of my people will ever go hungry again!"
"With the help of the Varion Church… the saintess and I will create a dynasty the likes of which have never been seen before!"
"A dynasty based on the values of equality…"
Saintess Marie stood quietly behind her future husband while resisting the urge to yawn as his speech dragged on and on.
Fortunately, the commoners seemed to love the promises that the new emperor spoke about, and their cheers could be heard from miles away.
As for whether or not those promises would actually be fulfilled…
Saintess Marie scoffed at the idea of the new emperor being able to convince the other nobles to give up some of their power and create an equal society.
Those corrupt old officials and nobles were nothing more than parasites eager to suck the wealth away from the commoners.
Well… it was not that she particularly cared if it happened.
Saintess Marie's only concern was the strength of the Varion Church.
The God of Light had given her a mission to cleanse the church and ensure that his believers followed his teachings.
The saintess plastered a polite smile across her face as she mentally accessed the connection between herself and Claire to find her location.
Saintess Marie secretly winced as she felt a backlash slam against her mind. There was always a price to be paid for exploiting the connection between them.
She turned towards a certain direction and saw two hooded figures standing on a balcony a fair distance away.
Claire… and the dark elf princess…
A cold chill entered the saintess' eyes as she felt the love in Claire's heart towards that… that… inhuman… monster.
Bitter cold jealousy emerged in the saintess' heart as she watched the two of them lean against each other.
She was envious.
How could Claire so easily abandon her mission? How could she fall in love with someone who was not from the church?
Claire's romantic entanglement with that dark elf princess brought no benefit to the Lord of Light and it only made her drift further away from the church.
How could Lord Varion choose such a disloyal vessel as his 'blade'?
"And that is why I will become your salvation! I promise that I will be the greatest emperor in the history of this continent!" Emperor Raul's prideful words snapped Marie out of her daze.
The emperor finally finished his speech and he turned to his future queen to escort her back to the carriage.
The succession ceremony would take place in the Imperial Palace Complex in the afternoon and all the nobles in the capitol were invited.
There was still quite a bit of preparation to be done so the new emperor wanted to go back to the palace quickly.
Saintess Marie stared at his outstretched hand briefly and just for a moment…
She was tempted not to take it.