CHAPTER 677: EMPEROR ROZWALD’S EXPLANATION

"It’s because of that girl..." Emperor Rozwald said. "Oh, before I explain further, although the damage has already been done, I ordered the information about the Barisan continent to be retracted two days ago, once I found out about this. So now, there’s no such information available for people to buy anymore."

Aldrian’s expression did not change, but the emperor continued.

"I know I can’t do anything about the ones that have already spread, and this kind of situation was truly unexpected. It all happened because of that girl, my son’s fiancée."

"The daughter from the Valroy family?" Aldrian asked.

The emperor responded with a nod.

"Yes, Verine Valroy. She’s the one who caused the information about the Barisan continent to spread through the information center. It was also because of my lack of attention that she was able to take advantage of the situation and even ordered the release of that information."

"When it began spreading, I was in the middle of seclusion, which I had to break because I received news about someone’s appearance. That person was you, Senior."

"However, not long after I came out of seclusion, I found out what had happened at the information center and eventually discovered who was behind it. The person who became the source and ordered the spread of that information was Verine."

"I was truly furious. I immediately ordered the information to be retracted and punished those who released it based solely on her words. The people at the information center assumed that, because of her status and the fact that she will become my daughter-in-law, it was acceptable to obey her in this matter—even though they themselves felt the information was questionable."

"I confronted her for using her status to manipulate an organization under the imperial family. But I could not do anything excessive to her because of her position as the young miss of the Valroy family. In the end, I could only file a complaint directly to the Valroy family about what she had done, but their response was to ask me to generously forgive her for her presumptuousness."

"They also tried to explain their reasoning, and I have to admit it was quite convincing. Even so, I still ordered the information to be retracted because it does not align with my interests," Emperor Rozwald said.

"What kind of reasoning did they give for you to say that it was quite convincing?" Aldrian asked.

"Well, their reasoning was that she was spreading information that had already been circulating in other stars. In other words, the information about the Barisan continent was not spread exclusively by the information center in this empire—other stars had already obtained the same information and distributed it through their own organizations," the emperor explained.

"And I have already confirmed it, Senior. The information about the Barisan continent has indeed spread to other stars. Even if we hadn’t released it, others still would have learned of it, because it had already been spread from their own stars. So, that’s the situation..."

Aldrian nodded in understanding. It was indeed convincing, and it meant the Barisan continent was in a much more dangerous position than he had anticipated. Now that the information was known outside, those from other stars would likely act upon it as well.

"After the Valroy family gave their response, I decided to postpone the wedding to an undefined date. I’m not in a rush anymore, so this was the least I could do."

"I see. So where is Verine?" Aldrian asked.

"She has already returned to her family. At the moment, my son is with her. We still have to maintain appearances for the outside world, so we cannot let it seem like there’s a crack in our relationship. If she returned alone without my son, there would be too much speculation, and we don’t want to attract unnecessary trouble because of it," Emperor Rozwald answered.

Aldrian was slightly disappointed. If that woman were still here, he could have used her the same way he used the infiltrators. As a young miss of the Valroy family, she likely knew things those infiltrators did not.

"Still, I can’t help but think about the information regarding the Barisan continent. I just don’t understand where this kind of information came from. Verine said she received it firsthand from the other stars and simply passed it on to the information center. Even I can’t verify whether it’s true or not," the emperor said, then looked at Aldrian carefully.

"Senior, if I may ask... is the information about the Barisan continent true? I mean, if it is, then the only explanation that makes sense is that someone infiltrated the Barisan continent and relayed the information from there."

"Well, not all of it is false, and of course, there are people who relayed the information because I already know who they are." Aldrian replied.

Both the emperor and Butler Norris widened their eyes at his words.

"Then—"

"Well, I already turned them into my slaves and had them act as my agents..." Aldrian replied, before explaining the infiltration attempt by the Barevisk family, and how those people ended up becoming his spies. He also gave a general overview of the Barisan continent.

Emperor Rozwald asked several questions, some about the true state of the Barisan continent, and others about Aldrian himself which Aldrian answered.

As time passed and more information was revealed, Emperor Rozwald and Butler Norris found themselves repeatedly shocked. They could no longer see Aldrian the same way. His existence was abnormal.

Like others who learned the truth about him for the first time, they felt he could not be understood through common sense.

Emperor Rozwald let out a long sigh, slumping back against the sofa as he rubbed his face a few times before sitting upright again. He knew it was better to set aside the absurdity of Aldrian for now, thinking too deeply about it would only drive him crazy.

"So, Seni— I mean, Your Excellency, from your story I can gather that the Valroy family is the one truly working behind the scenes. But I still don’t understand why they’re doing this. I mean, there’s no benefit for them in any of it," he said, clearly confused.

This was something that puzzled Aldrian as well. The Valroy family seemed to have some intent to harm the Barisan continent. He tried to make sense of their actions, but without solid proof, many of his assumptions remained uncertain. He needed more clues to uncover their true intent and why they had done what they did.

"Well, I don’t really know. But whatever the case, what they’ve done has already harmed the Barisan continent and gone against my interests," Aldrian said. "I will go to them and demand an explanation in the future."

Both Emperor Rozwald and Butler Norris felt a chill. If Aldrian chose to act personally, they had no idea what might happen to the Valroy family.

One thing was certain: they could not withstand this man’s retaliation. There was no way that family could stand against someone who had fought an immortal. Emperor Rozwald already knew from that battle alone that Aldrian was unstoppable if he chose to move against any organization in this star cluster, or even in the entire galaxy and beyond.

This thought made him anxious for what lay ahead, especially with the devils still lurking in the Fallen Star Cluster.

After a few moments of silence, Aldrian turned his gaze toward the emperor.

"Are you going to stop me if I go to the Valroy family?" he asked.

Emperor Rozwald was stunned for a moment, but then he shook his head.

"No, I mean, our relationship wasn’t particularly close to begin with, not until they proposed an alliance through marriage. So I don’t want to meddle in Your Excellency’s business. In fact, after the battle on the Barisan continent, I’ve been considering canceling the engagement. I no longer believe the alliance is necessary."

"Of course, that would cause backlash and damage our relationship with the Valroy family. But I believe it would be worth it in the long run, as the imperial family can still maintain its interests without interference from other stars in the future."

"After hearing Your Excellency’s story, I’ve made my decision. I will cancel the engagement once my son returns from Akares Star," the emperor said with determination.

Aldrian nodded, then smiled.

"So you no longer care about the alliance because you think you don’t need it anymore after seeing my battle that day, right? You must believe that, with that display of strength and my reputation, the devils in the Fallen Star Cluster won’t dare to start a war. I heard the threat of a great war was the reason you agreed to the alliance in the first place," he said.

Emperor Rozwald nodded. There was no need to lie about it. If Aldrian already knew, then so be it.

"To be honest, yes. With Your Excellency’s power and reputation, it should be enough to deter those devils from attacking this planet. That’s why the news that smeared the Barisan continent and Your Excellency was completely against my interests." he answered.

"If I were the one spreading information through the information center, I would have done the opposite. I would have raised Your Excellency’s reputation as high as possible, so that others, especially the devils, wouldn’t dare to do anything foolish against the Ancient Blue Gate World," he added.

Aldrian understood that his reasoning made sense. He smiled as he picked up the cup and took a sip of tea.

After a moment, he looked at the emperor.

"Where is this Fallen Star Cluster?" he asked.