After everything that happened, they showed the video of the event to everyone in the empire. Everyone could see on the screens what Seraphine and the council of elders had tried to do and how they didn't succeed.
The people of the empire could now see the truth about Seraphine and the elders. They found out that these leaders and the Empress's own sister weren't the good and generous people they were thought to be. The video also cleared up the mystery behind the deaths of 31 elves and the reasons why Cassian had taken the lives of more than 4,000 people who were protesting.
This video cleared up all the wrong ideas that the people had. It also showed everyone that the rumors were true about their goddess, who was going to marry the King of the Istarin Empire, Aditya.
Really, no one saw any issue with their goddess marrying Aditya. Of course, some elven men were not happy about this, but there was nothing they could do. They were really jealous and envious of Aditya. Aditya was more than a good match for their goddess. Also, being friends with a strong kingdom from another land would be a good thing for their own empire as time went on and everyone understood that.
Previously Seraphine and the elders were spreading their propaganda and made people believe that this was going tear the Empire apart. But now that all the misunderstandings had been cleared up no one had any problem with the marriage. And Amelia's words further calmed the public.
When the video came out, Amelia spoke to all the people in the Celestial Terrain Empire. She made it clear that Riya was still going to be the next Empress even after marrying Aditya. Even if Riya was the wife of a King from another place, she would still be the ruler of their own land. And the first baby Riya and Aditya would have was going to be next in line after Riya.
The Empress also said that those who helped Seraphine would be punished in the right way. Some would spend their life in jail. Others would face a worse fate – they would be put to death for everyone to see. This was so everyone in the Empire could learn a lesson and not try anything like this again. This was the first time in the history of the Empire, the people were going to witness public execution.
There was another reason why Amelia went with the public execution. She did not want anyone in the Empire to think that their Empress was very soft and kind and wouldn't sentence anyone to death. She wanted the message to be clear and loud - Those who cause harm and injustice were going to suffer the consequences of their actions.
She also said that the job of the Council of Elders would change. The authorities and the political powers of the Elders are going to be reduced to nothing. All powers will be concentrated in the hands of the Empress to make sure that no one misuses their authority and their political power.
The Empire was going to have a Prime Minister. This Prime Minister would work with the elders and tell the Empress about everything they did and talked about. Amelia said they were going to pick new elders and find the right person to be Prime Minister.
This new Prime Minister would have the power to ask the elders about what they were doing. The elders and the Prime Minister would have to meet often and talk about all the important things happening in the Empire. After their meetings, the Prime Minister would have to tell the Empress a short version of what they talked about and decided. The Empress would meet with the Prime Minister to go over important things and make big decisions. Then, the Prime Minister would tell the elders what they needed to do next, according to what the Empress decided.
Amelia took Aditya's advice and made everyone who worked for her, including even her Royal guards, maids, chefs, and even the gardeners sign the Soul binding contract that would prevent them from misusing their powers and authority and prevent them from spreading any sensitive information about the Empress or about the Royal Family.
Even the new Prime Minister and the new elders would need to sign the Soul Binding contract with Amelia. This would make sure that all the Elders and the Prime Minister are always loyal to Amelia and aren't abusing their status. This step would eliminate any chances of corruption among the elders and the other Royal Officials.
Making all of these decisions did not happen within a single night or within a few days. It took 12 days for these new rules and policies to be successfully implemented.
In those 8 days, a large amount of wealth was secured. The Elders and the Seraphine had amassed billions of royal gold coins in their pockets. Around 25% of this secured wealth was going to be invested in the Empire's military.
A total of 12 Peak 5th-order cultivators had been killed within a single day. This resulted in a huge loss in the Empire's military powers. Amelia realized that and understood the need to invest a lot of gold coins in the military. Since the elves' numbers were not that high, to begin with, Amelia was going to focus on quality rather than quantity.
At the same time, taking Aditya's advice, Amelia took many different steps to end if not reduce the discrimination between the elves and the other races that came from foreign lands to live in their Empire.
Scene change_____
Aditya could not sleep for some reason. Unable to sleep, he decided to go out for a walk. While walking out, he couldn't help but think about Amelia.
These days, Amelia looked like she wasn't herself. Since that day's event, Amelia had kind of changed. She had learned her lesson and had changed her ways. In many ways, she now had become much more strict.
'The betrayals and the deaths of Seraphine and Thalos have impacted a lot of ways.' Aditya thought in his mind. After all, Amelia wasn't as tough as Aditya. Aditya had seen and experienced the cruelty of mankind but Amelia was new to this.
While thinking about her, Aditya stopped walking as he saw Amelia sitting on a wooden bench and drinking wine from a wooden mug. It was the same wooden bench on which they talked last time. While holding the wooden mug, she was looking into the distance in a daze. She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not even realize that someone had walked behind her.
"Aunty, are you not going to sleep?" Amelia was startled for a second before she looked to her right to find Aditya sitting next to her.
"What about you?" Instead of answering, she asked him the same question.
"I could not sleep. Back at home, I am always sleeping with someone but now I feel very lonely sleeping alone. It's tough to fall asleep alone." Aditya said half-jokingly. Usually every single night, he would exercise with Alicia and Julia for hours before falling asleep. But now sleeping alone was proving for him to sleep.
"It's nice being so young. Young people are always full of energy." Normally if Aditya said such words, Amelia would get kind of angry and would warn him to not forget about her daughter but now she was feeling nostalgic.
Aditya just grabbed the bottle of wine that was between them and poured some of it into his mouth before gulping it down. Amelia curiously watched Aditya drink.
Once he was done, he put the wine bottle down and looked at Amelia. "You're not that old you know. If anything, you look more like Riya's older sister or twin sister than her mother. Besides, for us cultivators, age is merely nothing but a number since we can't get old. In the last 1000 years or 10,000 years, I will still remain young. So age doesn't really matter."
Hearing his serious words, Amelia smiled before taking a small sip of wine. The wine that both of them were drinking wasn't some normal wine. It was a special elven wine that could even make Peak 5th-order cultivators like them drunk. "I will take your words as a compliment."
Both of them stared at the lake in silence. The moonlight was reflecting on the lake. It was a very beautiful sight. And it was also very peaceful.
"Do you regret it?" Aditya broke the silence and asked while staring at the lake.
Amelia did not respond immediately. She finished the rest of the wine in her mug in one gulp. "My family isn't that big Aditya. I lost my father at a very early age. I can't even remember the face of my father anymore. From my mother, I learned that my father was a brave man who died as a result of being stabbed in the back by his own brother." When her father died, she was only 4 years old. So it was normal for her to not be able to remember the face of her father.
"Seraphine and my mother were the only families that I had. Once mother retired, she just went to the Main continent and started living a quiet life in exile." Amelia cherished her family very much. Regardless of how evil and corrupted Seraphine was, at the end of the day, she was still her sister. And now that sister of hers is no longer alive.
Aditya just silently listened to her words. He let her vent out.
"It definitely hurts." Saying these words, Amelia finally broke down sobbing. Till now, she hadn't shed any tears. But now she couldn't hold her tears anymore. The longer she buried her tears in her heart, the more heavy and burdened she felt.
The pain of betrayal from the people that she trusted her. The pain of losing her sister and her nephew and the pain from disappointment. If not for Aditya, then Seraphine would have succeeded.
Seeing Amelia breaking down crying like that, Aditya felt sad for her. He put the wind bottle on the ground before he stood up.
Amelia widened her tearful eyes finding herself in his embrace. He was standing in front of her and hugging her face. Amelia could feel a gentle hand slowly patting her head from behind.
"It's alright. It's not your fault." It was as if his words were what she needed at that moment. Amelia wrapped her hands around his back buried her face in his chest and started crying.
Amelia cried for a long time. Even though she was a grown woman and was 1000 years old and was the Empress of the Celestial Terrain, she was crying in his embrace like a little girl.
After sobbing for more than 15 minutes, Amelia stopped. She realized that this was the first time in her life a man had held her so intimately and cared for her like this. Realizing this, her face slightly flushed red and her heartbeat quickened.
Aditya was so manly right now. This might have been the first time she had shown her vulnerable side to a man.
Amelia then quickly shook her head. Amelia knew that Aditya wasn't taking any advantage of her. Rather he was just comforting her. He did not mean anything else. Besides, Aditya was her daughter's man. How could she have such thoughts about him?
Amelia gently pushed herself away from Aditya. "Sorry, I didn't mean...!!!"
She could not even finish her words when he interrupted her. "It's alright. I don't mind." Saying that he sat down next to her. This time the distance between them had closed.
Really Thank you very much to all those who send support with valuable golden tickets. I hope we can keep it up!!!
For the sake of character development, the scene between Amelia and Aditya was necessary. I tried my best to not make this scene cringe.
