CHAPTER 65: THE TIRSHTAIN EMPIRE 2

(Third Person POV)

The Imperial Capital, The Emperor’s Office.

Orlax sat at his desk, reviewing the documents sent to him by the Court.

"Of course, they wouldn’t send anything useful."

He tossed aside the worthless papers, which only stated that the nobles had behaved well and hadn’t committed any recent offenses.

"Fine. I’ll eliminate you one by one."

Orlax took out his phone and made several calls at once, then remained seated, waiting.

After a few minutes, several people gathered in his office, standing silently.

"Alright, Riana and Alex, I have a mission for you, arrest several individuals and bring them to the palace."

Orlax pulled out a tablet displaying eleven images of different people—members of the Imperial Court.

"These are members of the Imperial Court, all corrupt individuals who have been spreading chaos throughout the Empire."

Both Riana and Alex looked silently at the faces of the targets.

"I want you to take a copy of this document. For every person you arrest, bring evidence of their crimes. Everything is clear in this paper."

Orlax handed several copies of the document—written by Alice—to Riana and Alex.

As they read silently, expressions of anger began to appear on their faces until Riana suddenly burst out:

"Those bastards! How dare they do such things in our Empire!"

"That’s right. From embezzlement, to the deliberate killing of innocents, illegal trading, and the rape of innocent women—those scoundrels committed every imaginable crime."

Even Alex, who was usually calm, had a furious expression as he looked over the crimes committed by the Court.

"How did you get this information?"

Riana asked, curious as she read the detailed reports.

Even Alex was curious about the information that not even the previous Emperor had known.

"Well, that’s a secret."

Orlax placed a finger on his lips, refusing to reveal the source.

’I don’t want to expose Alice’s abilities. She won’t be able to use them if people know she can read their thoughts.’

Even though Alice can still use her ability on those who know about it—like she always does with Orlax—someone can protect their secrets by simply not thinking about certain things. That way, Alice can’t read their internal thoughts.

"Tsk. Fine, don’t tell me. I’ll go arrest those scumbags."

Riana left with a scowl, frustrated by not knowing the source of the intel. Alex followed her silently.

Orlax sat in his chair in a relaxed position for a while, thinking about what was to come.

"The Imperial Court is an organization that exists all over the world—even in other continents. Since I’ll be destroying their presence in the Empire of Tirshtain today, this massive organization will become our enemy."

This world consists of three continents:

The Northern Continent, For-Torn, ruled by five empires—this is where the Empire of Tirshtain lies.

The Central Continent, Mon-Torn, ruled by a single great empire.

The Southern Continent, Bon-Torn, ruled by two empires.

To preserve peace between the continents and empires, the Imperial Court was established.

Its purpose, to monitor the nobles and the state of each country to prevent anything that might disrupt peace.

Thus, the organization is considered the main reason wars haven’t broken out across the world.

The backbone of this organization is said to be the strongest person in the world.

Because of this, the empires never had issues with the Court monitoring their nations.

"Is the decision I’m about to make the right one? To make our empire an enemy of the entire world... I just don’t know."

Orlax rubbed his temple, overwhelmed by thoughts swirling in his head.

Finally, he took out his phone and dialed a saved number.

"Your Majesty, it’s an honor."

"Hello, Grand Duke."

After exchanging greetings, both fell silent for a moment.

"I wanted your opinion on something."

"Of course, Your Majesty. Go ahead."

"I... I’m going to destroy the Imperial Court within our Empire."

Elsewhere, in the house of Zephyrius, Armanthor sat in his office, stunned by what he’d just heard.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I’ve sent you an image—look at it, and you’ll understand."

Armanthor opened the message from Orlax and read the contents of the image.

"Sigh... All of this happened while we were completely unaware."

"So, what do you think?"

"Honestly... I don’t know."

Armanthor sat in his chair, thinking deeply about Orlax’s question before responding.

"If you stay silent, the people of the Empire will continue to suffer. But if you punish them, we’ll become enemies of the entire world. Either choice leads to a grim future."

"Yes... That’s exactly why I was so torn."

"In my opinion, do what you want, Your Majesty."

"What do you mean?"

"Even if you lead this Empire into war with the entire world, the people will follow you. You carry the bloodline that protected this Empire for over six thousand years. Even if they don’t like Orlax, they will follow the Emperor—wherever he goes—even if the destination is hell."

"... Thank you for your words. I think I finally know what I must do."

"Anytime, Your Majesty."

Orlax sat at his desk, reflecting on Armanthor’s words, a faint smile forming on his face.

"Then we’re heading straight to hell."

He grabbed a tablet and began reviewing a map of the world.

"Our Empire is surrounded by three others. The Eastern Empire, which I recently visited—they won’t start a war with us over the Court."

His hand moved across the map to the south.

"The Central Empire... They’re the ones I need to worry about. They have strong ties with the Court and may try to support them by attacking us."

Then he moved to the southwest.

"The Western Empire... They won’t get involved. They’re in the middle of a civil war over succession. But I can use them to keep the Central Empire in check."

Orlax spent hours in his office thinking through every possible outcome after the Court’s destruction.

As the sun began to set, a map was laid out on his desk, filled with annotations outlining his plan.

"We have three Grandmaster-level swordsmen, and one Grandmaster-level mage. That gives us four Grandmasters—more than any other empire in the world."

He set the maps and papers aside and sat back to relax after hours of thought.

"Alright then. Come at me, all of you. If you want war—bring it. Now, it’s time to act."

Orlax rose from his chair and headed to his room.

There, he found Sera sitting on the bed, playing with Alice.

"Papa!"

As soon as Sera saw him enter, she dropped her toy and ran to him.

He gently hugged her and lifted her under her arms before she could fall.

"Hello, Sera. What were you doing?"

"Playing with my sister Alice, hehe~"

Sera laughed joyfully in his arms, making him momentarily forget his worries.

’She’s speaking so well now... She learns fast.’

"Why do you call me sister but call Riana ’Mama’? That’s unfair."

Alice frowned at how Sera addressed her.

Orlax sat on the bed, holding Sera in his lap as he watched her silently.

"Mama is Mama. Sister is Sister."

Sera answered with a big smile, making Alice sigh.

"Tsk... That red-haired woman must’ve done something to her."

"Hehehe~"

Sera laughed at Alice’s jealous tone, and Orlax smiled too.

"What’s wrong? You’re not acting like yourself."

Alice grabbed Orlax’s hand, reading his emotions and thoughts.

He allowed her to do so without pulling away, letting her feel what was on his mind.

"Oh, come on! Why are you overthinking this? If someone comes to hurt us, we’ll just crush them. Simple as that."

She let go after reading his mind, smiling proudly as if she’d solved everything.

"Yes, you’re right. Let them come—we’re not afraid."

Orlax lay back on the bed, arms behind his head, eyes closed.

Alice lay beside him on his left side, smiling with her eyes closed.

"I won’t let anyone take anything from me."

Alice suddenly jumped up from the bed, causing Orlax to open his eyes.

"I’ll make dinner tonight."

A proud look spread across Alice’s face as she walked out of the room, heading to the kitchen to cook.

Orlax watched her curiously, then closed his eyes again as Sera lay asleep on his chest.

About an hour later, Alice reentered the room, carrying a tray with several dishes arranged on it.

"Alright, wake up! I brought food—let’s eat."

She set the tray down on a small table in the center of the room and moved to the bed to wake Orlax and the still-sleepy Sera.

Both of them slowly sat up, with Sera half-asleep, settling into Orlax’s lap.

They all began eating, and within a few minutes, every dish on the table was gone.

"Alice, I need to tell you something," Orlax said after they finished.

"Yes? Is the food that good?"

Alice looked at him with hopeful eyes, clearly expecting a compliment.

Orlax hesitated for a moment before answering.

"There are some things in life that people just shouldn’t do... and for you, cooking is one of them."

"What?! Was it really that bad?!"

Alice was stunned. She stood up from her seat, looking genuinely shocked.

"Come on, Alice... you used sugar instead of salt, the steak was burned on the bottom and raw on top, and—"

Orlax continued listing off every mistake she’d made, one by one.

Alice, defeated and embarrassed, eventually sat down in the corner of the room, lowering her head in shame.