Chapter 1690. Wake Up Call.

Chapter 1690: Chapter 1690. Wake Up Call.

The Empress’s palace was grand, but it felt hollow. Yasenia couldn’t help but find that sense of incongruity odd. The maids and eunuchs walking around all wore tense looks, as if one simple mistake would cost them their lives.

This was not the palace of a happy empress, not at all. Tatyana spoke through spiritual sense to Yasenia and the others.

"It is normal. The Emperor is focused on his cultivation. This is the most common type of relationship between a ruler and their counterpart. As a talented individual, the Emperor never really took the Empress in out of love, but out of necessity for an heir. Most likely, the Empress has been sitting here for thousands of years, disregarded but also unable to do anything because, in the end, she is the Empress of the empire."

Evelyn clicked her tongue. "I really wouldn’t want to be in her position."

As they reached a crossroads, a cold-looking, slightly aged maid welcomed them. She looked like someone in their 50s, but still dignified, with traces of her beauty intact. The only reason she looked slightly older was the white hairs at the sides and faint wrinkles here and there.

"Welcome, Lady Dravory. Please follow me. I will guide you to the Empress. This one’s name is Lala."

Yasenia blinked at that unusual name, but she didn’t say much. Instead, she smiled faintly and nodded. "It will be our pleasure. Please show the way, Miss Lala."

Lala turned around with practiced and elegant steps, her long skirt barely doing any movements as she led the way.

Every maid that saw Lala would lower their heads in respect, some of the low-rank maids straight up kneeling on the ground until she passed. Clearly, her position was not low. She was most likely the head maid working right by the Empress’s side.

The Empress’s palace was... dull. There was a lot of luxury, but it felt colorless.

The Empress was sitting on a table, looking at a chess game on the table. In her hand, a new general piece was moving slowly as she fiddled with it. Her face was solemn and beautiful, but it felt as if she had not smiled in years.

When she raised her phoenix-like eyes, Yasenia and the others bowed slightly. "We greet the Phoenix of the Empire."

The Empress’s cold voice reached them. "Rise. Also, with a true Phoenix by your side, that nickname sounds more like mockery than anything else."

Yasenia was not nervous even at her scathing comment. She smiled, her lips gaining a touch of coldness. "Speaking in such high regard about my wife is something I appreciate, Empress."

"Wife?" The Empress glanced at Cecile’s stomach and her lips arched in an unamused, cold smile. "If that’s the case, you might want to check who she has been with lately."

Yasenia’s eyes turned cold. "It seems that Your Majesty the Empress has called me here to speak her mind. If that’s the case, go ahead. We will listen for as long as needed."

The Empress shifted her gaze from Cecile’s stomach and glanced at Yasenia. "You have some nerve. Are you not fully aware of who you are in front of?"

Yasenia answered with a dry remark. "I am in front of the Phoenix of the Empire... Although she looks more like a caged bird than anything else."

The Empress leaned back, glancing at her up and down. "Well, it is somewhat refreshing to see someone who doesn’t tremble in fear and drops to their knees just because of one of my remarks. Either way, you are the new head of the Dravory Family, right? Sit. I want to ask you to do something."

Yasenia stepped forward and sat in front of her. The empress spoke. "How about we play one game before we move on?"

Looking at the oriental chess board, Yasenia spoke indifferently. "As the Empress wishes."

The Empress smiled, amused. "You really disliked my remark, didn’t you? Don’t take it too seriously. I am not someone who pokes her finger in the wounds of another."

Yasenia ignored her. She could explain that Cecile’s child was hers, but what was the merit? Getting back at the clearly bitter Empress in front of her? Yasenia would be giving away information about herself just for a petty remark.

The woman in front of her didn’t even deserve to know she had both female and male sexes.

The game followed silently, and the Empress won the match. Yasenia didn’t bother trying at all, so she made a remark after losing. "The millennia of practice seem to have made Your Majesty an expert. Very good play. Congratulations on your win."

The Empress, meanwhile, was looking at the table with a thoughtful look. "You are more deeply hidden than I expected. Here I thought you were just another person trying to latch onto our Imperial Family’s prestige. It seems I was wrong."

Yasenia didn’t answer. The Empress raised her head from the game to look into Yasenia’s cold and indifferent golden slit eyes. "You show your emotions too easily."

"I show emotions that are worthless even if known. Your Majesty, is this all you wanted to say?"

"No. Marry my son. You are talented and good-looking. You can make a good future Empress."

Yasenia blinked, thinking she had misheard. Still, seeing the Empress turn to Lala and speak, her expression shifted. "Prepare the date for marriage with the Third Prince. This would make it so that the embarrassment would be a feat of the future consort. It should be enough compensation and punishment for what she did."

The Empress suddenly heard laughter. Both Lala and she paused, turning to look at Yasenia, who was chuckling and looking at her with mockery. "A useless Empress thinking she is something is truly... amusing. What a waste of time."

Lala’s face turned fierce. "You dare to insult the Empress? Guards!"

A large number of soldiers appeared around the Empress Palace, all of them with powerful strength. There was even one Half-Step powerhouse among them. The Empress looked at Yasenia coldly. "This is your last chance to repent, Lady Dravory. The insult of stomping on my Son’s pride is not something you can escape."

Yasenia stood up and spoke aloud. "Your Majesty, are you going to continue watching this farce, or are you going to show up and control your wife?"

The Empress and Lala froze for a second, and a moment later, the tall figure of the Emperor appeared. His face was indifferent as he looked at the Empress. "I didn’t expect you would do something like this. If I knew, I would’ve prevented this meeting."

"What is the meaning of this?" The Empress looked coldly at the Emperor. "She insulted our Son. Isn’t that enough to punish her?"

"She has already been punished and paid the price. Your intervention is both unnecessary and harmful. Lady Dravory, go back for now."

Yasenia turned around without giving another look at the Empress. "I understand... Ah. One last thing."

Yasenia paused and looked back at the Empress and Emperor. "If this happens again, I will erase this empire from the surface of the world. I hope there is not a second mistake."

The Empress and Lala were stunned, looking at Yasenia as if she were crazy. Yet, to their utter stupefaction, the Emperor nodded. "It won’t happen again. It seems that the First Princess wants to meet you as well, so I hope you are somewhat lenient with her."

Our dragoness didn’t answer right away. Instead, she turned around and spoke. "As long as they are not rude, I won’t mind."

Tatyana and the other disappeared, leaving only the Emperor, Empress, and Lala behind. The Empress looked at the Emperor with a glaring look. "Why do you bow your head to that slu—"

SLAP!

Her head snapped to the side, and Lala stiffened.

The Emperor looked at the woman with the Empress’s crown with a cold look. "This is the first and last opportunity I will give you. If you dare to bother them secretly or overtly, you will be banished to the cold palace. I won’t let your short-sightedness become the end of my family’s lineage."

The Emperor spoke as the Empress slowly turned her head back, her eyes filled with shock. "Oh. And if you contact that secret demon lover of yours again, I will kill both of you. I was ignoring you because you are nothing to me. Moreover, I will be ascending soon. From now on, though, I will kill that guy if you don’t kick him away the next time he slips inside."

The Empress stiffened even more. It looked as if she had been afflicted by a petrifying spell.

The Emperor ignored her and walked away.

***

Yasenia walked silently, the rest of the girls following behind and glancing cautiously at her. "Love, are you okay?"

Our dragoness, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of it and nodded. "Yes. I was just thinking that I am still far too weak. It seems that I have been lazing around far too much lately."

Andrea asked, her face full of disbelief. "Lazing around? Love, you use 20 hours on average a day to practice, cultivate, and study your profession. If you are lazing around, the rest of the world is the very personification of sloth."

Yasenia shook her head. "Time is not what matters. I didn’t really put in much effort while I was working; I took it easy. I could’ve done much more than what I have if I had been more serious."

Cecile grabbed her hand. "Yasenia, the fact that you couldn’t just crush the army the Empress summoned doesn’t mean you are weak. The people protecting the Empress are the Imperial guards, the strongest force of this Central Area. If we could crush them as we are, it would be strange."

"Even then, if we had gone to the Empress first instead of the Emperor, things might’ve twisted beyond our control."

Tatyana chuckled. "It is good to be motivated. I also think that you can do a bit more if you focus."

The girls looked at Tatyana for a moment and then sighed. Angel spoke with a grumble. "Tatyana, you are sometimes too strict. Isn’t it alright if she doesn’t try her best?"

"She has rested enough." Tatyana was unconcerned. Yasenia’s mentality was different from others. She blossomed under pressure, and lately, few situations had applied that pressure to her.

Her desire to catch up to Tatyana was constantly pulling her forward, but that extra spice was missing. Now, Yasenia had finally found something that challenged her in a helpless way.

The large army led by a Half-Step was beyond them. A Half-Step was different in terms of strength. Only with full preparations, like when fighting the Evil Heart, would they have an easy time. And that easy time was only when all the maids, wives, and their respective summons gathered to fight it together.

Therefore, Tatyana could only give the Empress a big thank you in her mind. ’Yasenia is awake again. Seeing those golden slit eyes regain their usual hunger is truly... exciting.’