The Celestial Terrain Empire had 10 elders who were in charge of various affairs of the Empire. Each elder was like a minister. Each elder held a very important position in the Empire. Each of the elders reported to the Empress. The empress and the 10 elders together discussed the internal and external affairs of the Empire.
Unlike a Minister, the 10 Elders together had equal political influence in the Empire as the Empress of The Celestial Terrain Empire.
There was a time when things weren't used to be like this. Back when the first Elven Empress ruled The Celestial Terrain Empire, there used to be 10 Elders but at that time, the 10 Elders didn't have that much political power in their hands. The 10 Elders obeyed the command of the Empress and did not dare to raise any objections. The Empress's words were absolute and no one had the right or the power or the courage to disobey the Empress.
But when the first Elven Empress stepped down from the Throne and Amelia became the Second Empress of The Celestial Terrain Empire, the Elders gained a lot of political power. These Elders misused the trust that Amelia had in them. They took advantage of her kindness.
Before there wasn't a special Elder aside from the 10 Elders. But when Amelia took the throne, she appointed her little sister Seraphine as the Special Elder. Aside from the 10 Elders, Seraphine acted as the Special Elder who gave advice to everyone including the Empress on all matters.
Unlike the 10 Elders, the political power and influence that Seraphine had in her hand was quite limited. She could only give advice and propose new ideas during meetings.
Technically, Seraphine's power as the Special Elder was very limited. But over centuries of time, she had developed her power and influence to the point where she could be considered the 11th member of the Elder Council.
Today, a very special meeting was called because this matter was related to the future of The Celestial Terrain Empire. This wasn't a decision that the Empress could take alone.
The marriage of the Goddess of Nature always has been a matter of debate between the 10 elders and the Empress. The 10 Elders wanted Riya to marry someone from this empire and keep the Royal blood Pure. In their opinion, Seraphine's son Thalos was the best candidate to become Riya's future husband. That way the Royal Elven bloodline could be preserved and everything would remain stable.
However, Amelia's thoughts were quite different. She felt that the aspect of preserving the Royal bloodline was nothing but a stupid joke. Eve if Riya and Thalos were to get married and have a child, then who the child was going to marry?
No, one.
Thalos and Riya were the only ones who had the Royal Elven bloodline in them. There was no one else who had the Royal Elven Bloodline. The bloodline cannot be preserved unless the children of Riya and Thalos marry each other which was nothing but a taboo. And no one was going to allow that to happen.
In the Elven Culture, the elves would rather die than marry their own siblings. This was one of the biggest levels of taboo for the elves. The thought of marrying siblings didn't even cross their minds.
At the same time, Amelia wasn't going to use her daughter for the sake of politics. She wanted her daughter to be truly happy. And getting married to Thalos wouldn't give Riya any happiness. Riya has made her opinion clear on this matter on several occasions. She wasn't going to marry her own cousin. She never was interested in him.
Amelia already has accepted the fact that the future of the Royal Elven Bloodline is already over.
In the meeting room,
The mood in the meeting room was really serious, almost heavy. Everyone there had a super serious look on their faces, showing just how important this gathering was.
They were all seated around a long, rectangular table. At the head of the table was Amelia, the Empress. She was sitting in the most important chair, ready to lead the discussion. "Okay, let's get this meeting started," she announced, glancing around the room.
The ten elders looked at each other, nodding as if sharing a silent agreement. They were ready to get into the issues at hand.
"Elder Celestia, why don't you start us off?" Amelia wanted to get through the other topics first, saving the issue about her daughter for last.
Just as she was about to let Elder Celestia start, her sister Seraphine, who was also a Special Elder, calmly interrupted her. "Hold on a second, sister. Before we dive into anything else, we really need to talk about something super important. It's a matter that could affect the future of our whole empire," Seraphine said in a calm tone, keeping her voice steady but filled with urgency.
Amelia felt a flash of annoyance at her sister's interruption, but she didn't let it show on her face. She maintained her composed appearance.
"Elder Seraphine has a point. This issue needs to be addressed first. We can talk about the rest later," chimed in the other elders, as they all turned their eyes to look directly at Amelia.
At that moment, Amelia couldn't shake off the feeling that the elders were trying to gang up on her, putting her under pressure. She had sensed that something like this might happen today, but she hadn't expected it to be so intense.
Choosing her words carefully, but with a firm tone, Amelia addressed the room. "My daughter, who is also the princess of our Celestial Terrain Empire, is now engaged to the ruler of the Istarin Empire. I've given them both my blessings. So, what's the big problem here?" Her face was emotionless as if she couldn't care less about what the elders thought.
This caught the elders off guard. They looked at each other, surprised and a bit shocked. The reason everyone looked so shocked was because they had never seen Amelia looking this indifferent and cold.
Seeing her, for a second, the elders including Seraphine felt that they were in the presence of the first elven Empress.
A few of the Elders seemed ready to back down, their eyes showing a glint of fear as they took in Amelia's uncaring expression. But Seraphine wasn't about to let this topic go so easily. If the matter was put to rest right now, her carefully laid plans would fall apart.
"Big sister, I think you're missing the real issue," Seraphine said, choosing her words very carefully. "We have just one princess in the Celestial Terrain Empire, our Riya. If she marries a non-elf, then who's going to be next in line for the throne? What happens to the future of our empire? We'd be left with no one to take over."
Seraphine's words struck a chord. Amelia had to admit, her sister had a point. But that didn't mean she was willing to compromise her daughter's happiness just to satisfy the Elders' demands.
It was true, that if Riya married Aditya, she would likely become the Empress of the Istarin Empire. And that left a question hanging in the air: who would then lead the Celestial Terrain Empire?
Hearing Seraphine's question, Amelia didn't answer. Rather she didn't have an answer. Seeing this the other elders seem to have found some courage and added more.
"Yeah, besides how can we let the Goddess of Nature get married to someone who isn't even an Elf?"
"This will bring us nothing but shame and criticism. By doing this we will also make the public our enemy."
"If Riya marries Aditya, then what will happen to the Royal Elven Bloodline? We must preserve the Royal Elven Bloodline at any cost."
"Thalos is the perfect candidate for Riya."
"Your Majesty, you should cancel this engagement and kick Aditya out of this Empire once and for all. He isn't the right man for your daughter. I heard that he is already engaged to multiple other girls. Our Riya won't find any happiness there."
"Your Majesty, we are saying this for the greater good of this empire. Please understand."
One by one everyone kept adding their opinions. Seeing all of this Seraphine had a sly smile on her face. Her plan was working. Everything was going according to the plan. 'And soon my dear sister is going to break down in pressure.' Seraphine was waiting for that moment to come.
The position of Seraphine was given to her as a consolation prize since her big sister Amelia became the Empress. Seraphine knew this and she wanted revenge. She felt that she was more suited to become Empress yet Amelia became the Empress. For centuries she has been waiting to take revenge and rightfully take all the power from her sister.
At some point, Amelia had enough. Hearing all of this, something inside her completely snapped. Especially the words ["Your Majesty, we are saying this for the greater good of this empire. Please understand."] hit her sensitive nerve.
Before being the Empress, Amelia was a mother and cared more about her daughter. When she heard one of the elders talking about how this was for the greater good of this empire, she snapped. Something inside her broke.
Booooom!!!!!!
The wooden floor and the wooden walls around Amelia completely cracked. Amelia unleashed her Aura. All the Elders instantly shut their mouths while staring at Amelia in complete utter shock and disbelief.
