The Last Place Hero’s Return - Chapter 262

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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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Chapter 262. Intermission – The Empress’s Reward (2)
Silence settled over the room.
“…Huh?”
Camelia tilted her head, peering down at me with an expression of utter bewilderment frozen on her face.
“I told you to lick. Why are you just sitting there?”
Swish, swish.
A pristine bare foot swayed before my eyes like a coin used in some hypnotic trick.
“…Is this truly a reward?”
“If the opportunity to lick the Empress’s foot is not a reward, then what could possibly be one?”
“….”
“Hehe. Or are you perhaps embarrassed? Fear not. My heart is as vast as the sea.”
“No, that’s not it….”
What in the world is she going on about?
“Do not offer pathetic excuses. I am well aware that men consider being trampled beneath the feet of a powerful woman to be a reward.”
“…Where did you obtain this information?”
“Hehe. Curious, are you?”
Camelia’s lips curled into a smirk as she activated her Hero Watch.
A blue holographic window materialized in the air, displaying the deeply suspicious text: “Community of Those Who Wish to Be Trampled by the Empress.”
“This is….”
“According to what Raonel told me, I heard that virtual gatherings through Hero Watch—what they call communities—have become fashionable among the Hero Academy candidates recently.”
“That may be true, but…”
I’d never heard of such a deranged community before.
“So after much inquiry, I discovered that there exists a community within the Hero Academy where candidates devoted to me have gathered.”
“…Is that true? That… Community of Those Who Wish to Be Trampled by the Empress?”
“Indeed.”
“….”
I was already well aware that numerous candidates within the Academy worshipped the Empress.
‘It would be stranger if they didn’t.’
Consider it.
She possessed the greatest power on the Continent, possessed beauty beyond measure, and on top of that wielded strength that could be called demigodlike. How could she possibly lack admirers?
Of course, rumors circulated about certain flaws in her personality, but given her standing as Empress, the majority opinion was that it was ‘rather appealing.’
But.
No matter how one looked at it.
‘What in the name of madness is this Community of Those Who Wish to Be Trampled by the Empress?’
The most shadowy community hidden within the candidate society.
Confronted with the murky desires swirling beneath the mask of anonymity, I could not help but shudder.
“There, I found many who would gladly die if only they could be trampled beneath my feet even once.”
…You people.
What kind of nonsense have you written in there?
“However, no matter how I consider it, it feels somewhat uncomfortable to trample beneath my feet a subordinate who has faithfully carried out my orders.”
“…So your solution was to lick her feet?”
“Hehe. The Community has quite a few members who want to lick rather than just be trampled.”
“….”
I’m going to lose my mind.
“Anyway. I already know what young male candidates like you desire, so don’t be shy—go ahead and kiss my feet.”
“No, that’s….”
“Or do you prefer being trampled instead?”
“That’s not what I mean….”
How could I possibly explain that only a tiny fraction of candidates actually used that Community of Those Who Wish to Be Trampled by the Empress with such depraved desires?
“In any case, I bear some responsibility for what happened this time, so let’s just skip the reward.”
“…What?”
Camelia’s expression shifted to one of bewilderment—she clearly hadn’t anticipated a refusal of her reward.
She withdrew her bare leg, which had been extended toward me, and continued speaking.
“You… surely my reward wasn’t unsatisfactory?”
“No, that’s not it….”
“Then why are you refusing my reward?”
“….”
“Could it be… that I don’t appeal to you?”
Perhaps memories of being rejected when she’d confessed her feelings were surfacing.
Camelia’s expression, which had maintained an air of composure throughout, darkened rapidly.
Her eyes wavered like those of a frightened child.
I bit my lip as I gazed at her.
‘This isn’t like you, Empress.’
Just moments ago, she’d been confidently declaring that all things in the world lay beneath her feet, that whatever she desired would inevitably fall into her hands—so when had she become such a coward?
‘Or is this… Camelia’s true self?’
The real face hidden beneath the name ‘Empress.’
Suddenly, I recalled the memory of when I’d entered her room to search for the secret passage.
‘Compared to the ornate Reception Hall, her room was remarkably modest.’
Perhaps she had been striving all this time to appear as befitted the title ‘Empress’—resplendent, dignified, and cold.
“I’m sorry… I got ahead of myself again….”
Camelia sat there with a deflated expression, her legs trembling faintly.
The sight was so reminiscent of Lanez that I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
Never did I imagine the day would come when I’d see Lanez’s image overlapping with that of the Empress herself.
“…Why are you laughing?”
“Ha. No, it’s nothing.”
Regardless.
I couldn’t just stand by and watch the Empress transform into a Lanez-like figure.
‘Camelia is the person whose fate I’ve altered who will have the greatest impact on the future.’
Even the Three-Nation Allied Forces would have taken decades longer to form in my previous life, yet Camelia’s mere existence had accelerated its formation by over a decade.
For the sake of future cooperation, I needed to ease her troubled heart.
“It’s not that I’m dissatisfied with the reward.”
“Is, is that so?”
“Yes. It’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but… the Empress has remarkably beautiful legs.”
It wasn’t flattery.
Before meeting her, I would have unhesitatingly chosen Elisha if asked to pick the most graceful legs on the Continent.
But Camelia, like Elisha, possessed a tall and slender frame, and her legs boasted a captivating elegance that was mesmerizing to behold.
“Ah, beautiful…!”
Camelia’s eyes widened dramatically.
Uuaauu!
Camelia let out an inarticulate moan, her legs fluttering with excitement.
“Ahem! But, but, why did you refuse the reward?”
“Well… um.”
How was I supposed to explain this?
“I prefer kneading over being trampled or licked.”
Forget it, I don’t even know anymore.
“You prefer kneading…?”
“What if I simply gave you a light foot massage as the reward instead?”
“Hmm. Would you truly be satisfied with just that?”
“Yes.”
Right.
Wasn’t it better to think of it as a massage and knead rather than be trampled or licked?
“Well, if you prefer that, then so be it.”
Swish.
The Empress returned to her relaxed expression and extended her leg.
I slowly wrapped my hands around her pristine foot.
“Haah…!”
Flinch.
Camelia’s body trembled slightly.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m, I’m fine. Continue.”
I moved my hands at the Empress’s command.
“Uh, kuh… haah…!”
Knead, knead.
With each passing moment of the massage, Camelia let out increasingly breathless moans.
She gazed down at her own legs with an expression of bewilderment.
‘Why… why does this feel so good?’
I had received foot massages from the Imperial Palace attendants before, so I thought nothing of it, but with each movement of Dale’s hands, waves of exquisite pleasure rippled through my entire body.
If I were to exaggerate, it felt like floating on clouds in paradise.
‘His, his skill isn’t even that exceptional…’
In terms of skill, the Imperial Palace attendants who had received professional massage training were naturally far superior.
Why was it?
Every time Dale’s touch reached me, I felt my entire body ignite with warmth.
‘I knew I had feelings for him, but….’
I never imagined I’d fallen this deeply without even realizing it.
‘How strange this is.’
It was true that Dale had saved my life.
Yet I myself had never anticipated falling for him to such depths.
‘Perhaps it was that moment….’
With my eyes gently closed, I recalled our memories together.
That day when I killed a cherished retainer by my own hand.
In the lightless Cave, the image of him offering me a cup of wine surfaced in my mind.
At that moment, he had surely….
-When someone precious dies, everyone grieves.
Yes.
Those were his words.
He saw me not as the Empress, not as the sovereign ruling the Empire, but as a single human being.
‘Now that I think about it, he was the first.’
I was born the daughter of an Emperor.
From birth, I stood at the center of power, and after awakening the blessing of the Seven Stars, I ascended to the pinnacle of authority.
No one had ever regarded me as an equal human.
They worshipped me as a demigod transcending humanity, as the Empress bearing the weight of the Empire.
And so.
I met those expectations.
Or rather, I had to.
So that all those who trusted and followed me would not crumble.
So that the tens of millions of loyalties resting upon my shoulders would not be in vain.
I could not exist as a ‘human being.’
‘How absurd.’
And yet here I was, falling for him simply because he saw me as human.
Was this not the sort of trivial, hackneyed tale that only young girls would fancy?
‘And yet….’
What if it is trivial?
What if it is hackneyed?
“That shall suffice.”
Camelia slowly reached out and caressed Dale’s cheek.
A warmth I had never felt before seeped deep into his heart.
‘I shall not let this slip away.’
A yearning I felt for the first time in my life.
The fierce flames of desire burned wildly within my heart, as though my throat were parched.
‘Yet I shall not rush.’
Had I not already made that mistake once before by rushing ahead?
She was not foolish enough to repeat the same error.
‘Slowly.’
One step at a time, one step at a time.
I would approach him with utmost care.
And….
‘I shall make you mine.’
Everything I have ever desired has fallen into my hands.
That is the life I have lived, and the life I shall continue to live.
‘So then.’
This time too, it shall be so.
‘He said there were three lovers, did he not.’
The Saint of Holy Kingdom, the daughter of the Archbishop of the Frozen Lands, and the Spider of the Evil Eye.
‘If I were to join them, that would make four, would it not….’
Well, it is precarious, I suppose.
But I can overlook such a matter graciously.
‘At least it is not five.’
Mm-hmm.
Camelia nodded to herself, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

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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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