"What do you intend to do with the Emperor's corpse?" Dante asked because with the demise of the Emperor now, a royal burial would alert the Ministers, the Church and most likely the demons lurking around the palace.
"He was an incompetent partner to begin with. He was barely a means to share my burden but now I've been reminded about how useless he is, " The Empress replied in a cold and heartless tone in contrast to her usual weak and arrogant tone.
"As for his burial, I'll see to it that he gets one worthy of the plebian that he is without the world knowing he is dead until I want them to know," she continued.
Hearing the Empress words, Dante slowly turned his head sideways in disappointment on how both Emperor and Empress felt towards one another.
With the Emperor known to be one of the strongest warrior of his era before being married to the Empress to strengthen the belief of the royal subjects, one would think he and the Empress had a really good relationship going on between them based on the fact that the Emperor was really determined to save them all.
'Wherever you are I hope in your next life you find someone else who's willing to reciprocate the affections you have towards them, ' Dante thought before inquiring from the Empress.
"And how do you intend on obtaining the required soul energy you'll need for the puppets?"
With the puppets purely aimed to temporarily put on the mantle of the royal family, Dante's inquiry was based on how much soul energy the Empress thinks she'll be able to obtain within the specified period of their recuperation.
"The church receives a bimonthly supply of soul energy from the denizens across the three Imperial courts. Obtaining half of what will be sent to the church by the end of the month isn't something too arduous for me to do,"
The church currently receives a bimonthly supply of soul energy from its devoted followers across the imperial court which will be used as a religious rite in seeking favor and appeasing the gods.
The Empress aims to obtain half of these soul energy which could be used for all four puppets for a duration longer than five years.
This should be enough for the Empress and her children to completely be healed and have their skin as flawless as it once was before. Although Landon had yet to inform them of how years will be needed to completely heal all three royalties
The puppets will look more like dolls with their face, skin and physical shape analogous to that of the royal family. This is a kind of magic only a Master Puppeteer is capable of doing.
The soul energy implanted in the puppets only aids in making them act more lifelike, making it more difficult for any one to easily differentiate them from a living person.
With nothing else to do or say any longer, Dante aim to excuse himself and head out of the room before....
"Wait!!" The Empress uttered.
"Y....you are not allowed t...to speak about what you saw in my r....room. Are we clear?" The Empress stuttered.
" Crystal," Dante replied bluntly after he understood what she meant.
"If you do... I will make sure to end you myself," The Empress continued.
Hearing her words and sensing her domineering aura , Dante couldn't help but chuckle inwardly as he headed out of the room.
'Don't worry Empress, I'll make sure to be the only man who gets to see you naked once again,' Dante thought inwardly with an ominous smile plastered on his face.
Now the only thing that remains will be for the Empress and her children to remain in seclusion while the Puppeteer Landon is gonna introduce to the Empress will most likely be staying in the palace as he performs daily and some times monthly checks on the puppets.
"All done?" Seeing Dante approaching the hall he currently was, Landon inquired with a big smile on his face.
"Yeah, she's requesting your presence as well," Dante replied while winking towards him.
"Will money be involved?" Witnessing how Dante was in a good mood, Landon was hoping money was part of the discussion that was made between the Empress and him.
But Dante replied with an indifferent shrug which turned Landon's smile upside down as he aimed towards where the Empress was.
******
Standing outside of the late Emperor's quarter, Dante gaze upon the moon with his mind pondering about how things were going to be once the word got out of the Emperor's demise.
With his mind already drifted far away, he was abruptly woken from his stupor by the angelic voice of a familiar face.
"Every single one of the talisman has been set ablaze,"
"Thank you Cecilia. Now all the phantoms are currently vaporized right?" Dante replied with his eyes still firmly fixed towards the night sky.
"That is correct," Cecilia replied while facing Dante as though she had something to say.
"You'll be leaving soon right?" Cecilia inquired in a rather sad tone.
"That's right. Since I've got nothing else to do here, I'll be heading back home very soon," Dante replied but suddenly he felt the air of melancholy surrounding the fallen Angel and so he was forced to turn towards her.
Seeing the eighteen year old Fallen Angel depressed face similar to that of Mia, Dante instinctively brought his hand towards her head.
*Pat*
Cecilia's body trembled a little and a small smile flashed on her face Dante instantly retracted his hand from her head after realizing she wasn't Mia.
But the bizzare thing happened. Cecilia's body shivered a little and before Dante's hand could land by his side, Cecilia had used her super human speed to quickly return his hand back on her head.
She then looks at Dante with a blank look.
Dante understood what she wanted and so he began to gently stroke her jet black colored hair again and again. This allowed Cecilia to display a satisfied smile.
'I guess now she likes it,' Dante thought inwardly before uttering something to her.
"Good job on saving the princess and her family. Don't forget to come visit me whenever you feel lonely. Remember I said I'll welcome you always with open arms."
Cecilia's whole body trembled as Dante says those words and soon her face turns away and she looks at the wall by her right, trying to conceal her beet red face.
Of course Dante's hand was still stroking her head ever so lightly.
"Could you take me to where the Imperial library is?"
Innumerable minutes passed by and Dante inquired about the whereabouts of the library. Cecilia nodded in response before leading the way to where the library was.