The seven Blood Pillars shuddered in unison, immediately dropping their gazes to their noses and hearts, not daring to glance at that pale blue potion again.
Yize had deliberately excluded Chise, clearly abiding by the promise he had just made to Riya—not to use it on any woman.
This distinction slightly eased the tension on Riya’s face.
Yize no longer looked at them. He turned his back to Tina and continued questioning.
His questions began to touch upon the empire’s most central anomaly:
“I always feel that the royal family doesn’t seem to care much about the nobles’ lives?”
Yize’s voice was exceptionally clear in the silent hall.
“Since the Blood Race launched its full-scale offensive against the Aolai Empire, aside from the initial symbolic mobilization, the royal family has provided almost no substantial large-scale support. Sitting by and watching border noble territories fall one after another— that’s not normal.”
Upon hearing this, Sara’s face showed deep shame and helplessness:
“Junior, this matter… indeed, our royal family mishandled it.”
She glanced at Tina, her unfinished words filled with bitterness.
As a crown princess, she had ambitions, but against the tangled web of old powers and the invisible authority of the Ten Holy Temples, there was so little she could do.
“Senior Sister, the responsibility for this matter does not lie with you.”
Yize shook his head, his tone calm.
“You simply don’t have enough power to interfere and change all this.”
His gaze returned to Tina, and his question cut straight to the core: “Tell me, what is the royal family’s and the Ten Holy Temples’ true plan and attitude toward the Blood Race’s invasion?”
Tina’s lips parted and closed. Under the potion’s effect, she could not hide the truth:
“The Blood Race’s invasion… was expected. To some extent, it was even tacitly permitted and exploited.”
Her cold words were like a verdict.
“One of the purposes was to use the Blood Race’s strength to weaken and purge those old noble factions that had grown too powerful and were outwardly compliant but inwardly rebellious toward the royal family. Let their territories and private armies be consumed in war, even… destroyed.”
Boom!
Something seemed to explode in Angelica’s mind.
She recalled her father, the former Duke of Yarsed, a man renowned for his loyalty and valor.
It was in an “accidental” border conflict over a decade ago that he had ventured deep to rescue a royal supply convoy besieged by a “massive number of magical beasts,” ultimately fighting to his death, leaving no remains.
“The second purpose,”
Tina continued, laying out the cruel scheme,
“was to further centralize power and resources into the hands of the royal family and the Ten Holy Temples through the pressure of war and the sacrifice of nobles.”
“War is the best excuse to break the old balance. At the same time, we were also observing the Blood Race’s new forms and strengths, evaluating the possibility of… cooperation or control.”
“And the Yarsed family was one of our core targets.”
Tina’s gaze went vacant for a moment before she answered:
“Old Duke Yarseld had too high a reputation, too great a strength, and was too stubborn about certain old traditions.”
“He had detected anomalies among some of the mixed-blood priests of the Ten Holy Temples and had started a private investigation into the truth behind the severing of diplomatic ties between the Elf clan and the empire… He had to be eliminated. That ‘siege by magical beasts’ was a pre-arranged trap.”
“Indeed… Mother was right! Father’s death was definitely connected to the royal family!”
Angelica’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Vast mana surged uncontrollably from her body, shaking the rubble around her.
She trembled—not from fear, but from overwhelming rage and bone-chilling sorrow.
“Our Yarsed family has served the imperial royal family diligently!”
“And in the end, we became mere sacrifices in a power purge?!”
She had long known about the empire’s corruption, about the filth in the upper echelons.
But when the executioner’s blade truly fell, when the naked truth of her beloved father’s murder was exposed, the pain of betrayal and trampling still tore her heart apart.
Moreover, it was precisely because of her father’s death
that she had endured that period of pressure from her mother over the following years.
And that had led to Riya’s identity change and the rift between them.
Yize watched the emotionally distraught Angelica in silence, then turned his gaze to Sara, who stood pale and unsteady on her feet.
The darkness and cruelty of political maneuvering—he was not entirely ignorant of them.
But such naked scheming and sacrifice still sent a chill through his heart.
This was not his domain of expertise, but he knew that some problems had to be solved.
He looked at Sara, his gaze calm yet carrying an undeniable weight:
“Senior Sister Sara, are you interested in becoming the first empress of the Aolai Empire?”
At these words, the sky was shattered!
Sara jerked her head up, her face as white as paper, as if she had heard the most blasphemous statement:
“Junior! You absolutely cannot say that! My father… His Majesty the Emperor is still on the throne! And my younger brothers…”
Her words came out broken from shock and fear.
Usurpation?
Seizing power?
This was a forbidden zone she had never dared to ponder!
“I think,”
Yize’s voice was not loud, but it overpowered all the noise, clearly reaching everyone’s ears,
“The Aolai Empire has fundamentally developed problems. Its operation relies on exploitation, lies, and the trampling of lower-class lives. The old system—like these Ten Holy Temples—looks splendid on the outside, but inside, it has long been hollowed out by worms.”
He took a step forward, his gaze sweeping over the terrified nobles and the bewildered priests, finally returning to Sara’s face:
“To solve the problem now, minor repairs and patches are useless. I suggest… restart.”
“Restart?”
Sara repeated faintly.
“Yes. Break the old framework. On the ruins, build a brand-new nation.”
Yize’s tone was decisive.
“A nation that no longer relies on deceiving and scheming nobles. A nation that might truly accommodate different races, operating on laws and justice rather than conspiracy and bloodline.”
He paused, looking into Sara’s eyes:
“And considering the friendship between us, as well as your character, ability, and the ideals still lingering in your heart… I think you are the most suitable person to lead this new nation out of the mire.”
Sara’s heart pounded wildly. The picture Yize painted was too shocking, too… distant.
But the light it contained faintly stirred her withered ideals.
“Of course,”
Yize’s tone abruptly turned cold, his gaze like a blade of ice, slowly sweeping across the entire Ten Holy Temples.
An invisible pressure spread, making everyone who met his eyes tremble in their souls.
“Before that, your junior here will help you eliminate all obstacles.”
He stressed the word “all.”
That meant the vested interests of the old royal family, the hardliners of the Ten Holy Temples, every decayed force that might hinder this transformation.
The nobles remained silent, holding their breaths to the softest, afraid of drawing the attention of that demon-like youth.
They had no doubt that Yize had the power to fulfill his words—look at the submissive Blood Pillars, the High Priestess nailed to the cross, the dried corpses of nobles everywhere!
“But… what about my father? And the empire’s legal traditions, the nobles’ support, the military’s loyalty…”
Sara’s voice was weak, enumerating countless difficulties. This was not merely a change of power, but a subversive revolution!
“Senior Sister Sara,”
Yize interrupted her, his tone as calm as it was cruel,
“You’re a smart person. You should understand that I’m not discussing this with you now, nor am I asking for your consent.”
He raised his head slightly, looking at the towering dome of the Ten Holy Temples. The painted saints blurred in the shadows:
“If you are unwilling or unable to take over this empire, then the new ruler will definitely not be your father, nor anyone else in your royal family.”
His words carried the finality of an ultimatum.
“I will use my methods to persuade them to hand over their authority. Then, perhaps I will refer to the Stana Federation model and completely dismantle the Aolai Empire, reorganizing it into a free federation of autonomous territories.”
“By then, the surname Ulysses might no longer hold any special meaning.”
A free federation!
The nobles shuddered.
That meant everything they currently possessed—titles, territories, privileges—could vanish into thin air!
Sara was completely frozen.
Yize had given her a choice—an incredibly difficult one, yet perhaps the only one that could give the empire a new life and allow the Ulysses family to continue in another form.
Accept it, and she would bear the guilt of usurpation, stepping onto a thorny and unknown path.
Refuse it, and she would watch her family’s centuries-old foundation be utterly overthrown and reorganized under Yize’s unstoppable power—perhaps turned to ashes.
Riya stood beside Yize, silently observing everything.
Her gaze occasionally swept coldly over Tina, who still stared at Yize with an infatuated expression, but most of the time it rested on Yize’s straight back.
Her man was using the most direct, most domineering method to try to reshape the future of this nation.
Not for power, but for what he believed was right, and as a response to the suffering she had endured.
Inside the Tribunal Hall, time seemed to freeze. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Sara’s pale face, waiting for her answer.
Yize did not urge her further; he simply waited in silence.
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