NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1163: Exposed Right Away
The imperial palace was huge. It took up at least a quarter of the city. In fact, the capital city was actually twice the size of the Azilia Kingdom's capital.
Nathan and Evelyn had to take many turns before being able to reach the meeting place.
The meeting place was actually a courtyard. The emperor had picked a beautiful courtyard. It looked like the trees and bushes had just been replaced with new ones, as the previous ones had withered.
The bubbling sound of the flowing water filled the serene atmosphere.
They crossed the bridge and finally arrived at the gazebo, where the conversation was about to take place.
This meeting was attended by eight people. Nathan, Evelyn, Marquis Lindwurm, and the emperor were obvious. For the emperor's safety, two old men stood next to him. They erased their presence, but those with strong enough senses could easily locate them.
Surprisingly, there were two more women next to the emperor. Originally, he thought the emperor would be trying to contain him by using marriages, but he noticed that both women were much older than he was.
The first one looked like the empress. She had a gentle and calm aura, but her figure was emanating pressure despite her being a summoner weaker than Nathan.
The second one was a woman whose eyes were covered by a blindfold. Unlike the empress, the moment the woman saw Nathan, her body had been shaking nonstop. As a result, she tried to hide it by sitting down and covering her hands and legs so that no one could notice her shaking.
"I greet Your Imperial Majesty." The marquis greeted the emperor. Nathan and Evelyn bowed like the marquis. "I have brought Nathan Reckmoon and his fiancee, Evelyn Reckmoon, here."
"Thank you for your hard work." The emperor nodded.
Since the emperor didn't tell him to stay, the marquis nodded back and took his leave.
"Please take your seat. This is an unofficial meeting, so no need to be nervous." The emperor extended his hand.
Nathan didn't have a change of expression, but his eyes were secretly examining the emperor.
The emperor looked like someone who was in their early forties. He wasn't as old as he imagined him to be, but his eyes were much deeper than the Azilia Kingdom's king. It was as if the moment he let his guard down, the emperor would be able to see through him.
The emperor was a summoner as well. However, his path was cut short, not because he was talented, but because he spent a considerable amount of time handling the dynasty's matters.
Despite showing calm and elegance, Nathan could feel that the emperor was much more calculating than the marquis.
Nathan's body tensed up. He had heard about the emperor from Bella's report. The emperor was wise.
He ruled through reward and punishment. Despite his age, he was able to tame all nobles who used to act in front of the previous emperors. And the biggest reason for his achievements was the blindfolded woman next to him.
She was known as the Grand Prophet. The emperor married her as his second wife because of her power. It could be said that the Grand Prophet was similar to Mae.
"I am the 34th Emperor of the Erwih Dynasty, Van Terenite L'Erwih. I have heard of your achievement from Marquis Lindwurm. To be able to come up with the cloud-repelling device is amazing for someone at your age."
"I'm honored to receive your praise. I just hope a lot of people can be saved by this device."
"Your device will definitely be able to save a lot of people." The emperor nodded. "I will make sure to distribute your devices throughout the entire dynasty. With enough food, the dynasty will definitely be able to recover."
"It is thanks to your grace that the dynasty can recover."
The emperor had given a few probing questions and closed his eyes as though he had seen through Nathan. The emperor smiled. "On behalf of the citizens, I'd like to express my gratitude to the Hero of Moonlight."
"That's…" Nathan widened his eyes in surprise.
"You must have heard it from Marquis Lindwurm. The reason for me summoning you to the imperial palace is so that I can reward you personally. Thanks to you, tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of people, can still be alive."
Nathan looked down. "I don't think I receive that much praise."
"You definitely deserve it." The emperor smirked. "A few days ago, I received a prophecy that an opportunity would appear.
"At the same time, a few days prior to that prophecy, my people sensed an indescribable fear all around the dynasty.
"I have always wondered if this opportunity is able to somehow save my people from whatever released that kind of sensation, but it looks like the opportunity is something else.
"No, should I say that sensation is not a threat to begin with?"
"Pardon? My apologies. Your subject is too dumb to follow your wise words." Nathan lowered his head.
"Let's drop the pretense, shall we?" The emperor's voice turned chilly all of a sudden.
"!!!" Nathan widened his eyes, not understanding where this was coming from.
To his surprise, the emperor said, "I have figured out everything. I have told you that on behalf of the citizens, I'd like to express my gratitude to you, the hero of Moonlight…
"If it's a hero coming from my people, I will have to call you the Hero of Moonlight. This title has been passed down to the person who manages to save the dynasty in its time of crisis.
"However, you didn't act surprised, meaning you don't know the meaning behind that title, when even the people from the empire are supposed to know.
"I don't know where you come from, but you don't have to hide it anymore.
"My eyes can see through any illusions. Still, for that illusion to be able to fool even my right and left guardians… It is an illusion with Divinity, isn't it, someone from a faraway land?"
"!!!"