Legacy of the Void Fleet

Chapter 430: Ch

After countless twists and turns, she had been led toward Vivian, a person around whom even fate itself seemed to bow.

And through her, Celeste had been brought here, to the Celestial Void Empire, where she had finally gained the strength and opportunity to take her revenge.

On the other side, Valoria led her fleet along the designated pathway allotted to her, and not long afterward she reached the assigned coordinates.

Soon, her forces arrived at the unscheduled rendezvous point where the Archduke of House Eldergrove was already stationed alongside his personal forces and space navy.

As Valoria’s fleet came to a halt near the archduke’s forces, she immediately opened a private communication channel.

The moment his figure appeared upon the holographic screen, Valoria spoke with slight hesitation and unease hidden within her heart, though she masked it beneath a lightly joking tone.

"Archduke, if you were coming here, you should have informed me beforehand, no?"

Slowing down, she crossed her arms before continuing.

"You should have accompanied me on the journey to this place instead of traveling alone with your own forces, Archduke. It would have been far more comfortable and much easier for us to plan our strategy together and discuss the matters we specifically came here for."

"Empress..." The archduke did not immediately reply to her . Instead, he first gave a proper bow befitting her and his status before finally speaking in a cold tone. "You know perfectly well why I chose to travel alone with my own forces rather than alongside you."

"For I worry about what may happen to me. If your household could target even my daughter, then how am I any different? Naturally, I worry for my own safety if I were to travel with you."He paused for a moment before continuing, as though he had finally made up his mind regarding something. "Your household, Empress, is entirely out of your control, whether you choose to believe it or not. And even the empire itself is no longer..."

He stopped and chosed not to finishing/complete the sentence.

Then solemnly, he spoke about something entirely different. "Had it not been for my forefathers, who held deep-rooted respect and values toward the empire they helped create alongside the First Emperor, and had they not wished for it to avoid collapse, I would have already raised my hand and my forces against those fellows you cannot control despite being the heir to the throne."

"You have truly lost your will, Empress."

"Throughout all these years, you have done nothing but hesitate to raise your sword against those who committed evil and are directly responsible for the current state of the empire, even when you possess proof of their actions."

Empress, who had pressed her lips tightly together as she listened to the Arch Duke’s overbearing tone, instantly had her eyes widen in shock upon hearing this.

’How did he know about it?’

Yes, Empress was indeed aware of many things happening within the Empire, and just as the Duke had said, she had deliberately avoided taking action against them, thinking that a few things would not cause much harm. There were also other reasons, some of them crucial to her plans, for which she had made these sacrifices while gritting her teeth, a fact not many besides her absolute confidant knew about.

But now, she suddenly felt like a complete fool for believing that, and terror slowly began building within her chest.

"That girl, Celeste, along with her household, was also one of the victims who paid with their lives because of your attitude of sitting back and watching while hoping things would somehow resolve themselves on their own."

Hearing this, she was even more shocked, and the terror in her heart increased severalfold in an instant. The conversation she had with Celeste and the way Celeste had spoken to her suddenly clicked together in her mind... everything finally made sense now.

"Foolish." Seeing the terror in her eyes, the Arch Duke could only shake his head, thinking about just how careless, or perhaps overly confident, she had been to believe she could hide those things, especially when they carried such massive consequences.

He knew very well that the reason behind the attack on his daughter, along with the constant probing attacks launched within his own ruled territory, had all started after word of this matter spread into the open.

It had become the catalyst behind the attacks he and his family had suffered, as those people and the forces backing them had begun mounting their schemes to create a rift between his household and, more importantly, the Empress herself, even using members of her own household in the process.

And the funny thing was, he could say with absolute certainty that it had worked one hundred percent. There was definitely now a rift between him and the Empress.

And yet she, the Empress, who should have known all of this, had remained completely in the dark the entire time. She had even been actively trying to defuse the whole situation without ever knowing its true root cause.

That disappointed not only him, but even some of the higher officials within the Empire Navy, officials with whom he shared close ties. It was also one of the main reasons why his household had not suffered a far greater setback and had only endured relatively smaller losses.

Because he still had the backing of the Empire’s military, which had not yet fallen into the hands or influence of those people who wished for nothing more than to exploit the Empire for their own benefit, all while playing the Empress like a clown.

Pushing these thoughts aside for now, he held back the anger building within his chest, anger that told him to, then and there, make this otherwise once-great Empress understand just how foolish she had become for reasons unknown, to the extent that she did not even realize how much she was being controlled by the very people she hated the most.

But he did not do that, for he knew this was neither the time nor would it help him in any way. More importantly, he knew his limits and when not to cross them, and this was one of those moments. Even though she had become only a shallow shell of her former self, he still ought to respect her, her position as his ruler, and above all else, the bond she once shared with his wife and daughter, both of whom she had wronged as well...

Swallowing down his anger, Arch Duke Elder Grove distanced himself emotionally from the Empress while mentally drawing a clear line between them.

"Let me make one thing clear, Empress. The reason you and I have arrived here are for two entirely different purposes," he said flatly, without the slightest fluctuation on his face.

"You are here first to attend the ceremony and then to deal with matters related to the Empire. As for me, while I am also here to attend the ceremony, I am here at the same time to meet my daughter. Therefore, these two motives are entirely unrelated to one another."

He paused briefly before continuing."And perhaps you have already seen Celeste, right? She was, or perhaps still is, my daughter’s best friend. If she has joined the Celestial Void Empire, then I have reason to believe my daughter might have joined its ranks as well. If that is true, then this matter becomes even more separate from yours and entirely unrelated to the Empire..."

Leaning closer toward the visual feed, his eyes narrowed sharply.

"So please be mindful of what you say to me, Empress, and I shall do the same for you. If not, then be my guest... try me and see what happens then."

With that, he pulled himself back and laid against the couch he was sitting on before speaking once more in a warning tone.

"And let me make one thing absolutely clear once again. Our visits here have no relation to one another. Do not involve me in your games. Doing so would cost you far more than it would cost me."

Things could have been different. You could have had my support...

The Empress’s eyes momentarily showed confusion, along with a faint glimmer of hope, before dimming once more as she heard the Arch Duke continue.

"That is, unless you can personally sort out the mess the people within your own family, along with others, have created. If you cannot do that, then do not involve me at all. That is my last warning to you."

And with that said, the Arch Duke did not even wait for Valoria’s reply. He voluntarily severed the communication link, leaving the Empress staring silently at the blank metallic walls as the holographic screen disappeared before her eyes.

Pressing her lips together, she sighed softly.

Are things really that bad? Have I really unknowingly fallen under someone else’s control...?