Chapter 102: For the Crown (7)
"I"m Kwan Dae-ha." I looked down. They were a distance away from where I was, so they had to stretch their necks and raise their heads to look at me. "Nice to meet you." My introduction caused silence to blanket the noisy council hall, while a gentle light clearly spread across the already-bright council hall.
"Oh my G.o.d."
"What the h.e.l.l is this..." All the n.o.bles who made eye contact with me trembled. The nearby Duke Amon, as well as his growling aides, stepped back hesitantly with slightly weak legs. Their carefree demeanor from earlier on had disappeared, as if entirely washed away.
I looked around at the 1,132 n.o.bles. Two others carried the t.i.tle of "Duke" just like Amon, who stood next to me, while there were 25 Marquis who represented a planet and about 300 Counts who represented a nation. Everyone else were Barons and Viscounts who were powerful in their own right.
"Let"s see." I first directed my gaze at the man who stared at me contemptuously. The Leonhardt Empire was a superior civilization that was regarded as a Futuristic Era from Earth"s perspective, so I noticed he was dressed in extremely foreign clothes for being in the Leonhardt Empire right now.
"Keucckkkk..." He groaned once we made eye contact. He raised his spirits to the extreme, as if trying to put up with my gaze. However, it was a useless attempt as his spirit melted like b.u.t.ter in a heated frying pan. Thoroughly exposed to my gaze, he had to bear it while stubbornly gritting his teeth.
"To tell you the truth, I don"t have such a bad impression of the Leonhardt Empire. In fact, it was pretty good," I spoke slowly as he shivered and clenched his teeth. His eyes were gradually filled with fear before turning away. I could see him instantly sitting down with a thud. I added, "However, as I came into this council room, all I felt was unpleasantness."
My gaze kept shifting and making eye contact with tens and hundreds of n.o.bles, who cowered and plopped down on their seats with a groan. All of them were intimidated by me, an individual human. However, not all of them gave in to me the moment eye contact was made; similar to that one man before.
The next person I locked eyes with was a woman who stared at me with doubt and curiosity. Her eyes had never left me ever since I stepped onto the podium. She was a vintage-looking beauty, who was about 180 centimeters in height. Her hair was braided high and held in place with a hairpin. Her expression also stiffened upon eye contact, but her reaction was quite different from the others. She eventually gave a gentle smile and slightly lowered her posture in a show of respect. It meant that she felt respect, rather than repulsion or hostility towards the soul energy I released. Her existence reminded me of the fact that not all of them were enemies.
I put away my soul energy before speaking up, "...Cel and I will be a married couple two days later."
Some people knew and some people did not. The marriage of the s.p.a.ce Idol, Celestia, was a big event, but it was nothing more than gossip most of the time. Most importantly, the death of the Emperor caused the event to be entirely buried in the minds of the people.
"So, if there is anyone who tries to look down or scorn at her again, from this moment forward..." My voice was loud and clear, while a great power—a ray of light—was flaring up. The incalculable soul energy and the powerful Divine Spirit blazed, shining everywhere. I stared at them all. "I will hold the whole Empire accountable."
The n.o.bles couldn"t even look at me properly. It didn"t matter whether they were people who possessed enormous authority, or if they were powerful ability users, even the three Dukes who were at the peak of the realm of transcendence couldn"t lock eyes with me.
Whoooosh… A transcendental soul energy spread like waves.
No one looked at me, but it no longer mattered at this point. This was because even if they closed their eyes, or lost their minds, they couldn"t help but clearly feel my existence.
"Stop… Stop it. No, please, I"m begging you to stop," Duke Amon spoke in a fatigued and weary voice.
Since I was already done saying whatever I wanted to, I turned around and stepped down from the podium.
"Dae-ha, you..."
"Leave it for later." Celestia seemed to have a lot to say, but I stopped her from continuing and held her hands. Just like before, I dragged her along with me. It was unsurprising that I did not go out the way I came. I was using a path behind, which the VIPs used separately.
"Wait, wait a moment!" There were two transcendents on the path, and they were the two other Dukes apart from Duke Amon. One of them was the dark-skinned man whom I first made eye contact with. He gritted his teeth and growled, "The Spiritual Pressure... It is against the Union Act to emit Spiritual Pressure."
Spiritual Pressure was a pressure that the high-rank beings inflict on the low-rank beings on a spiritual level. It was a pressure that weighed on the other person with the power of the soul itself, and was an act that could only be done if there was an overwhelming difference in power between opponents.
The dark-skinned man was not wrong. This was not the right thing to do, since the Union Act clearly stated that it was an act of crime for transcendents to release their soul energy in front of low-rank ability users. They thought it was no different from mental domination. In other words, it was violence on a spiritual level.
The Spiritual Pressure of a transcendent itself had a tremendous impact on mortals. Even if the transcendent did not do anything in particular, inferior beings would naturally submit to the transcendents who did not suppress their Aura. This also occurred if the inferior beings continuously faced against the transcendents over a period of time.
Of course, in order for such an overwhelming effect to take place, there was a certain disadvantage—the level of the soul would have to be between a transcendent and a common human. These details were definitely widely known, so it was no wonder that the dark-skinned man was stirring up such a commotion.
However, my expression remained rather indifferent. I answered, "So what?"
"Wh-What did you say?"
"So, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to run over to the Union and tell on me?" I raised an eyebrow. I knew it was against the Union Act, but so what? It was true if a transcendent released his soul energy, it would be recognized as a crime according to the Union Act. However, it was a relatively light offence. There was no way the mere act of releasing soul power would be considered a huge crime.
Needless to say, even if my action was reported to the Union, the Union wouldn"t take any sort of action. The Union was a symbolic alliance that united the Great Universe as one, but it was not based upon a concept of government to maintain public order. I thought to myself, "If they went that far, they would be an interference in the internal affairs of a country."
The Union Act was stipulated in detail, but that was just a kind of guideline that was not entirely managed by the Union. The Union would only make a direct move in extreme cases where there was a threat to the Union itself.
To be honest, the Union Act technically did not allow transcendents to go around slaughtering mortals, and were also refrained from using force privately. Yet, the Leonhardt Empire and the Tekea Federation went to war for every single matter. That was also against the Union Act in principle, and they were both affiliated with the Union.
"Th-That"s..."
"Stop acting up." As I swiftly took a step ahead, the dark-skinned man backed off in surprise. He was a Martial Arts-type transcendent with strong combat abilities, but the power and peace that he long enjoyed had dulled his combat instincts. In terms of mere specifications, though, he was still a pretty strong fellow. In terms of an actual fight, however, he wouldn"t even be able to win against Major General Chun Hyun-il. I looked at him and added, "The reason why I"m not punishing you is because I "have yet" to do so."
"...!!" The dark-skinned man"s brown eyes trembled greatly. He blatantly stared at me for a moment and finally let out a deep sigh, "The world...really works in mysterious ways. I thought he was just a supporting actor. I wouldn"t have expected the Fourth Imperial Princess to bring such a man along, and let him be her husband."
The mood calmed down before he took a step back and bowed. Then, he said, "I, Schliemann Osman, vow to spare no efforts to support the Starlight camp towards victory from this moment henceforth." After that, he turned around and returned back to the main council room.
A moment later, the black-haired woman looked at me and smiled. She had been watching the scene unfold with a wide smirk. "It seems I have yet to introduce myself. I am Jeong Yu-ri, leader of the Shadow Household." Despite being a woman, she was even taller than your average man at 180 centimeters tall. She was also wearing high heels. She, who was tall enough to look down at me, lowered her posture to politely express her respect. She was a transcendent that possessed a great power in her body, but she gave off a graceful impression and air.
However, the atmosphere was broken by Celestia"s words. "Eldest Grandaunt. [1]"
"Oh, oh my! Hoho! Hohohoho!!! W-Wait a minute!"
I hurriedly grabbed Celestia"s arm and pulled her back to one side. We began squabbling over a few things, such as "Are you really going to act like this?"; "What are you doing by not taking my side?"; "Do you think I"m in the same position as Rosta! Why are you putting your household on the line by spouting unnecessary things about a close acquaintance!"
"Excuse me."
As Celestia turned around, she put on a graceful vibe again. It was quite fun seeing her feign ignorance, but I overlooked it. I addressed the incredibly tall woman, "I introduced myself earlier, but I"m Kwan Dae-ha."
"It"s really nice to meet you. Honestly, I never would have expected this situation even in my dreams, but..." She smiled gently. Then, she looked at Celestia and continued, "You said the wedding ceremony is in two days, right?"
"That"s correct." I nodded.
"Then, to celebrate you being part of the Starlight camp, I will prepare a wedding ceremony for you at our household. I promise you the most spectacular and dazzling wedding."
"You have my thanks."
She took a step back as she gently nodded and politely expressed her respect. Then, she disappeared into the main council room.
"...Dae-ha." After everyone else went away, Celestia approached me with a scary look. She didn"t look the least bit delighted about this sudden situation. However, this was unsurprising, especially when considering her temperament.
"Yes, Cel?"
"You, are you sure you"re the Dae-ha I know?" Celestia looked at me with suspicion. She was expressing a reaction that was very common with people who knew me from before.
"That"s right, it"s me."
"Even if you say so..." Celestia still looked at me with doubtful eyes. However, I couldn"t do anything, no matter how intensely she stared at me. There was no concrete way for me to prove just who I was. Just then…
"It"s about time."
"... Time for what?"
"Time for Cinderella"s magic to disappear."
Cinderella was always Cinderella, regardless of being in a dress and riding on a magical carriage, or being in ragged clothes and scrubbing the floor. No matter how different those two Cinderellas were, they were undeniably the same person. However...
Clack. After the "door" closed, I couldn"t come to an agreement with what I had just thought of five seconds ago. I let out a groan. "Hahhh…"
My memory was completely intact. Not only did I remember what I did then, the memory of my state of mind and the considerable amount of the information I had read still remained with me. I knew for a fact that I didn"t have some sort of dissociative ident.i.ty disorder. That was without a doubt me, but it was a problem that me at that time was a complete lunatic.
"Erm, hey... Dae-ha?" Celestia carefully called out my name. She was fl.u.s.tered by the sudden change in the vibe I exuded. It was unfortunate that I was in no mood to answer her.
All I could do was groan, and I was about to cry. "This cra… This crazy bullsh-" And just like that, I lost consciousness.
1. For those who are interested to learn a bit more about Korean, the term is actually 큰할머니 (Keun-hal-meo-ni) which translates literally to "big grandmother" and it refers to the siblings of one"s grandparents.