Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 219

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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If irrefutable evidence ever emerged that Cecilia had killed the Previous Emperor, or if she confessed, I would take my own life. At my solemn vow, Sera gave me a bizarre look and asked why I was protecting Cecilia to such an extent.
“I’m not protecting her! Just watch!”
Cecilia walked out to the garden in front of the main gate with a perfectly serene expression, and I asked her point-blank.
“Cecilia! Did you kill the Previous Emperor!”
“I did not.”
“Evan! You can’t seriously believe her!”
Sera, I understand you don’t trust the cunning Cecilia, but you’re overlooking something crucial. This creature of darkness from the Deep Abyss Organization doesn’t feel guilt over killing her own father. She doesn’t think patricide would be a flaw in her character. She views these months of turmoil as nothing more than a process or mere happening on her path to the throne.
She naturally believes she’ll become Emperor! Whether Father died or not is completely irrelevant to her! Honestly, she probably doesn’t even understand why everyone’s making such a fuss over something she couldn’t care less about—whether she killed him or not!
“Cecilia! Did you kill Mother!”
“The Empress simply lacked fortune.”
See? See this! Cecilia doesn’t bother denying the things she’s done! Because she doesn’t even consider them flaws in the first place!
While everyone else suspected as much, no one dared ask Cecilia directly—but I did. And when she actually answered, everyone gasped in shock, and Seian collapsed to the floor.
Seian really needs some tonic. He faints at the slightest surprise.
After confirming that young Seian and his attendants Mark Two and Mark Three were carrying him to the couch, I raised my voice once more to put an end to this pointless conflict.
“Cecilia! There’s something you’re overlooking too! Sera doesn’t actually want to become Emperor! She’s trying to check the excessive power you wield!”
When I spoke so bluntly, Sera let out a startled shriek and demanded how I knew that.
That’s… even without knowing the original story, I can tell just by watching how you normally behave.
“If you guarantee Sera the position of First Imperial Heir even if you have children, and give her some mechanism or department to check the Emperor’s authority, she’ll hand over the throne without any resistance!”
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s absolutely possible!”
That shout came from Sera, not me. Sera, who immediately gave Cecilia an okay sign for fear she’d change her mind, declared that if there was just some mechanism to gather the Nobility’s opinion and block Cecilia’s reckless actions, she didn’t need to be Emperor at all.
“How difficult.”
Right, from Cecilia’s perspective, the human heart must be a difficult thing to understand. To celebrate the two of them finally being able to speak their true feelings just a few months after the Previous Emperor’s death, I went back and forth between Sera and Cecilia, bonking both their heads.
“Communication!”
Please, you lunatics, communicate and live in peace!
Most conflicts arise from a lack of communication, and in fiction, one of the biggest reasons the world falls into ruin is the absence of dialogue. Especially when parents and children fight over the fate of the world due to poor communication—that’s become such a common trope in creative works that it’s transcended cliché and become a classic.
“And though Sunbird probably didn’t tell you, there’s speculation that Sunbird and Duke Zibenstein are most heavily involved in the Previous Emperor’s assassination.”
“I’m aware of that. Sunbird went straight to Duke Zibenstein’s Townhouse the day the Previous Emperor died.”
Anyone with an information network in the Capital knows this. The Neftis Intelligence Chief knows, the Crown Princess’s attendant knows, and Letem’s informants know. Though there’s no way to know what conversation took place there.
Sera, who should have been kept in the dark, probably had her close aides block the information because she didn’t need to know.
“That can’t be! My Sunbird would never!”
“Ask him directly when he wakes up.”
He hasn’t told you because you haven’t asked until now. If you press him, he’ll admit he did go to meet Duke Zibenstein that day—just won’t tell you what they discussed.
“Sunbird! Wake up this instant!”
“Unfortunately, he took a sleeping draught, so he’ll be out for half a day.”
“It was a sleeping draught! Of course it was you, Evan! Thank you for thinking of Sunbird’s health!”
What kind of dark imagination was Sera entertaining that she was thanking me for giving Sunbird a sleeping draught?
“Call back the Nobility members we dismissed! I want this matter passed today!”
Before anyone changed their mind, we needed to formalize everything in writing. Sera and Cecilia agreed with my proposal and returned to the Grand Conference Hall. As Sera walked alongside Cecilia, she hesitantly asked again whether Cecilia had truly killed her father. Cecilia pondered how to punish such persistence, then—following what she’d learned from me—flicked Sera’s forehead sharply. Sera’s expression turned bewildered.

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The Crown Princess Faction’s nobility cheered at the agreement reached between Cecilia and Sera, while Sera’s supporters reluctantly acquiesced. Even if Cecilia became Emperor, the ties binding her to Sera wouldn’t sever. Sera would function as a counterbalance to the Emperor, and the nobility she’d gathered would support her while maintaining their own voice.
If they organized well and managed skillfully, they could wield more influence than the Crown Princess Faction’s nobles. Thus, the assembled nobility debated fiercely for hours, expanding or restricting Sera’s authority with passionate intensity.
After five hours of deliberation, Cecilia became Emperor on paper, and Sera became Crown Princess. The coronation ceremony would be scheduled later, but with the diplomatic and administrative leadership immediately decided and their supporting staff appointed, the nobility breathed sighs of relief.
“As Crown Princess, I hereby declare the establishment of the Oversight Bureau to monitor the 41st Emperor, Cecilia Crowell.”
The name was direct and fitting. The nobility who had supported Sera took on key positions within the Oversight Bureau, and Crown Princess Sera, as their leader, assumed the role of Bureau Chief. The applause when Sera announced her position as Crown Princess was louder than when Cecilia had been proclaimed Emperor. This must be the difference in popularity. You should learn from this, Cecilia.
“Mmm….”
The sedative’s effects had finally worn off. Sunbird awoke and glanced around before spotting me, startling visibly. Why did this bird react with such disrespect upon seeing a person’s face?
“How much time has passed? Where exactly am I?”
“The Grand Conference Hall of the Imperial Palace. The dismissed nobility reassembled and elevated Cecilia as Emperor, while Sera became Crown Princess.”
“!”
Sunbird gasped sharply at this sudden information, grabbed me desperately, and began to weep. “What have you done?!”
“What on earth have you done?! If he becomes Emperor in this situation!”
“It’s a joyous occasion, but we must clarify our position precisely because of it.”
The newly crowned Emperor Cecilia donned the imperial crown brought by attendants and declared she would punish Sera. It was inevitable—Sera had consistently obstructed her during her time as Crown Princess.
When Cecilia approached Sera and asked if she was prepared to accept punishment, Sera knelt on one knee, declaring she would accept any penalty. Witnessing this, Sunbird looked ready to use teleportation immediately and flee with Sera.
“Release her at once! Let me go to her!”
“Since we’ve waited this long, why not wait just a bit more?”
There’s no harm in waiting until Cecilia finishes speaking before acting. I persuaded Sunbird this way, but the man perspired nervously, growing increasingly anxious. He must have believed Cecilia would execute Sera. His past experiences had left him with no other expectation.
“I hereby confine my younger sister, Crown Princess Sera Crowell, to the Academy.”
“See? She’s not being executed.”
“Confinement is no different from death. Even if a confined royal meets any end, people won’t spare a second thought.”
Having endured so much, Sunbird spoke bitterly. Convinced he’d failed again, he crouched down and wept, when suddenly Cecilia spoke.
“I see, hmm, the duration then.”
Stop crying already, Sunbird. Weep not—look at reality straight.
I patted his back and directed him to look at Cecilia. The man lifted his head, eyes reddened, his nose running—he resembled a simple-minded vagrant wandering the streets.
“Until you earn your doctorate from the Academy, Sera.”
“Gasp!”
“?”
The 41st Emperor, Cecilia Crowell, had issued an Academy confinement order to Crown Princess Sera Crowell. The duration would be until Sera obtained her doctorate.
Sera wailed that the punishment was too harsh, pounding the ground, while Sunbird stared blankly and asked me what Cecilia had just said.
“What did His Majesty just say?”
“Well, he’s Emperor now, so shouldn’t it be ‘Your Majesty’?”
“What did Your Majesty just say?”
“That Sera will be confined to the Academy until she earns her doctorate.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, you madman. Go ask her yourself.”
“?”
Sunbird lacked the courage to actually approach Cecilia and ask, so he kept glancing between Sera and Cecilia with nothing but bewilderment written across his face. Muttering about whether this made any sense, whether this was really happening, I spoke to him with absolute certainty.
“No matter what past you’ve experienced, the future that unfolds will be entirely different.”
It will be different, and I’ll make sure of it myself. If I’ve promised Sera and Cecilia as Evan Mitchell, then I’ll make this same promise to Sunbird as the King of Ten Thousand Demons.
When I offered to seal it with a pinky swear, the man hastily wiped his tears and muttered like a patient afflicted with chronic distrust.
“But I still don’t know. You might just say you’ll confine me to the Academy and then disappear.”
“You really can’t trust anyone, can you.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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