This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 255

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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 255

Bloden’s brow furrowed slightly.
“It’s burned. There must have been an actual rebellion.”
“What? A rebellion? That’s serious!”
At my startled exclamation, Kimarise—without being asked—threw himself flat against the bird’s back, pressing his head down hard as he spoke loudly.
“My sincerest apologies! My lord commanded me to guard the Imperial Palace against such contingencies, yet I have failed in that duty.”
“Don’t worry about it. Raven’s here—what could go wrong?”
“Yet if the enemy numbers are too great, Raven alone may struggle to contain them. Moreover, we cannot have Raven’s skeletal cavalry roaming the Imperial Palace. Is that not precisely why it burns as it does?”
From what Kimarise said, much had transpired at the Imperial Palace since I fell through the Gate.
Among these events was the arrest of Anna, who had sided with Nelloa. Bloden, of course, knew full well what Anna had done to me.
Though Anna protested that she had merely been coerced, not a single noble stepped forward to defend her. Her actions against me were damning enough, but the death of the King of Ortix loomed far larger.
Yet as Bloden attended only to the most pressing matters of state while focusing on my rescue, a handful of nobles close to Duke Roan began to scheme.
‘The former Regent made a grave “mistake,” but we must consider the merit of her years safeguarding the Empire.’
‘True enough—when one’s life hangs in the balance, who would not speak such words? She shows remorse, does she not?’
‘The King of Ortix’s demise was tragedy, yet Ortix conspired with Utra to strike at us first. If we count it as an even exchange, what harm is there?’
‘Besides, it is not as though she raised an actual rebellion.’

So when Bloden traveled north to rescue me, he had left Raven and Count Enox to handle state affairs in his stead, deliberately ordering them to loosen their watch over Anna.
Though Bloden had always intended to execute Anna, allowing her escape and capture to play out among the nobles would prove far more expedient than issuing the sentence himself.
In short, this rebellion was precisely the scenario Bloden had been waiting for.
Yet judging by the present situation, he had not anticipated matters escalating to the point of the Imperial Palace catching fire.
The original plan was for Anna, once escaped from captivity, to lead a rebel force to the Palace, whereupon Kimarise would immediately suppress them and return them to custody.
Had Kimarise’s doppelgangers, disguised as Knights, subdued them swiftly, and Raven handled the aftermath, there would have been no reason for the Palace to burn at all.
“What’s done is done. But if there’s been this much commotion, the Palace will be crawling with people.”
Bloden glanced down at his own body, still bearing the appearance of a seven-year-old child.
“Looking like this, I’ll stand out. I need to figure out how to enter the Palace unnoticed.”
Ah, I should have kept that stone jar after all.
Bloden, catching the look on my face, gave a soft laugh.
“Don’t worry, Nuna. Raven should have a few bentos left over. We’ll eat, summon the Knights, and enter with a triumphal procession.”
“A triumphal procession?”
“Yes—I held a military expedition ceremony when we departed. If we announce that the battle with the Monsters has ended and enter while spreading that word, it will leave a favorable impression on the Empire’s people.”
‘Ah, so it’s about timing the propaganda of achievements for governance.’
Bloden sent Black Libia ahead to Raven first, then landed the bird in a secluded area.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
As Bloden’s feet touched the ground, the bird answered with a slow, graceful sweep of its enormous wings.
Watching the elegant wingbeats from beside Bloden, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“I’m truly grateful you carried us here. If you have no pressing matters, would you like to stay for a meal?”
The bird tilted its head. It seemed unmoved by the offer.
“Rest atop the Imperial Palace for now, and I’ll share bentos I’ve made. They say eating them restores one’s strength.”
“Chirp!”
“Trill!”
Scratch, scratch.
The moment I finished speaking, Heart and Serch at my side let out bright, cheerful sounds. And Camen was busily drawing circles on its own body with chalk.
The Spirits seemed to be persuading the bird to heed my words.
As expected, the bird appeared to be listening to what the three Spirits had to say.
“The bentos I make are delicious. You should try one before you go.”
The bird lightly brushed its beak against both Bloden and me, then spread its wings wide and soared toward the Imperial Palace Roof. Its movements and bearing were every inch those of a Divine Beast—auspicious beyond measure.
‘That sight will benefit Bloden’s reign. It will surely be recorded in the history books.’
I found myself imagining what the historical record would say.

[On the day Bloden Ilpein returned after shattering the chain of destiny that had bound his lineage for generations, a Divine Beast suddenly descended upon the Imperial Palace, blessing the Emperor and the future of the Empire.]

The truth, of course, was merely that the bird had come for bentos, but the people would never know.
At the very least, no noble would dare oppose Bloden now that he had returned with a Divine Beast at his side, and the Bards who heard of this would sing his heroic deeds and spread them far and wide throughout the world.
So too would it pass to future generations.
‘Good. Very good!’
That was when it happened.
-Message for you. Orders from His Majesty. From Raven.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
—chasing after. Not giving. Bento box.
Raven appeared like smoke alongside Black Libia, swept Bloden up into her arms, and held him tight.
“Ugh! That’s creepy—why are you doing this!”
Bloden’s skin erupted in goosebumps, his cry one of genuine shock at the unexpected embrace.
“You came back……so thank goodness…….”
“Well…….”
Raven’s face had gone ashen, and her voice was choked with tears.
Bloden, watching Raven intently, let out a small sigh of resignation and patted her awkwardly with his small arms.
“There was no way I wouldn’t come back.”
“But this morning, a rebel force led by Anna and Duke Roan reported that you and Miss Hailey had been devoured by a monster called Iturn.”
“Well, that much is true.”
Bloden shrugged.
“But we came back out. I’ll explain the details later. First, you’ve still got that bento box, right?”
“Yes. Two remain.”
“Leave one where it is, and give me one. Take out some other food too.”
A table, chairs, the bento boxes I’d made, and various other provisions spilled out from Raven’s Pocket Dimension.
While we ate, Raven spoke in fits and starts about everything that had happened.
When Kimarise lost his mind and fled the Imperial Palace, Raven had wanted to go north too, but he’d gritted his teeth and stayed to guard the palace.
But as time wore on, his anxiety had grown.
Even if Black Libia had flown over to report on the situation, there had been no word at all, which only made it worse.
Then, just before dawn today, small fires broke out here and there throughout the palace.
At first, it was a light arson by the rebel force to distract the Knight Order’s attention.
While that was happening, Anna and Duke Roan led their army into the palace, swiftly overwhelmed the knights, surrounded both Raven and Count Enox, and delivered the news about Bloden.
“They said they’d kill us if we didn’t surrender. The threat itself was trivial, but hearing that report about you—I went blind with panic and anger both at once…….”
Raven, who had been sniffling through her account, suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
We waited a moment, but Raven’s lips wouldn’t open. She fidgeted, unable to find where to look, so Bloden glanced over at Black Libia, who was sitting off to one side.
Then Black Libia said something almost impossible to believe.
—Smashed to pieces. Crash-bang. Half the palace.
“What? What do you mean? Even if there was a rebellion, they wouldn’t demolish the palace, would they?”
—All backwards. Hanging down. Rebel force.
We looked at the Imperial Palace again. Smoke was rising, but it looked far too intact for half of it to be smashed to pieces.
“What on earth happened?”
“Ah, well…….”
Raven, who had been hesitating, threw herself forward with her head to the ground.
“I beg your pardon! Your Majesty, I disobeyed your order and suppressed the rebel force myself.”
“Yourself?”
“In doing so, I couldn’t help but reveal my true nature…….”
Bloden looked incredulous. Then Black Libia, watching from beside him, added to the explanation.
—Monster shrieking. Run away. People everywhere. Skeletal cavalry. Palace.
Good heavens.
It turned out Raven had revealed what she truly was and summoned skeletal cavalry to capture every last rebel. In the process, people uninvolved in the rebellion had panicked and fled in utter chaos.
“And in all that, a massive Gate that opened up destabilized the ground, so the buildings nearby…… which then triggered a massive fire…….”
We looked at the Imperial Palace again.
It wasn’t visible from here, but on the far side of the palace, the landscape was nothing short of apocalyptic.
Bloden stood speechless, mouth agape, and Raven pressed on, choosing her words carefully.
“B-but I didn’t kill them. I only hung them upside down.”

* * *

As Anna and Duke Roan led their rebel force toward the Imperial Palace, handbills rushed out by the Roan Times were raining down across the entire capital.

“Extra edition! Extra edition! The Emperor has passed away!”
The newspaper boy screamed and wailed as he scattered the handbills.
“We’re doomed! It’s the end!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
People rushed to unfold the handbills, and confusion rippled through them all.
Just then, smoke began rising from the Imperial Palace. Soon after, people who worked in the palace came fleeing out in terror, screaming.
“Ahhhhh! Everyone run!”
“T-the Skeletal Monsters came out of the palace!”
A violent tremor shook through the capital, and part of the Imperial Palace crumbled.
“Ah, is the Empire finished?”
“Gods above.”
The people of the capital, gripped by despair, wept even as they gathered their belongings—desperate to flee the horrifying skeletal monster that had descended upon them.
By the time this frantic procession of evacuees had filled the Capital Main Street, something shifted.
“What—what is that!”
At someone’s cry, the eyes of those sprawled on the ground lifted toward the sky.
No one could believe what they saw. A colossal bird—vast beyond anything they had ever witnessed—swept through the air, its long wings beating with an elegant grace.
The creature circled the Imperial Palace once, then descended to land atop its highest roof.
“What is happening here?”
As murmurs rippled through the crowd, an old man leaning on a staff stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with sudden clarity.
“That bird is undoubtedly a Divine Beast.”
“A—a Divine Beast?”
“Look at the auspicious aura surrounding it. What else could it possibly be?”
Word spread like wildfire through the crowd—that the bird was a Divine Beast—and in that moment, a small spark of hope kindled in every heart.
From the Capital Outskirts, the sound of drums began to roll.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Then, a single courier on a white horse galloped toward the Imperial Palace, his voice booming across the city.
“The long battle is won! The Emperor arrives! Clear the way!”

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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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