Chapter 62: Throne of Beleth

Brother Licht, after a few exchange of curses with Deim, took me away to his secret villa in the outskirts of the capital. Deim wanted to follow us but I refused, reminding him of what he needs to do.

"Deim, aren't you going to war?"

"But Sol, I can't take it if you leave me..!"

Brother Licht smacked his head and snapped his fingers, teleporting us to where he would hide me from the Empress Consort.

According to Helia, the Empress Consort is starting to gather influence since the appearance of the mysterious Imperial Princess Borealis, and the imperial court is divided into three factions: the Orthodox Imperial, the Non-Orthodox Aristocratic, and the Neutral Noble faction.

The Orthodox Imperial faction is composed of those nobles and the majority of the Imperial ministers who side with the Emperor, the Empress Regnant and the Sirius Grand Dukedom.

The Non-Orthodox Aristocratic faction, lead by Marquis Mauvais and Empress Consort Mathilde, is composed of elitists, the higher-ranking nobles of the empire.

The last faction, the Neutral Noble faction, is composed of those with the titles Count, Viscount and Baron, and the high-ranking Imperial Knights.

As the leader of the 2nd faction, the Empress Consort uses Borealis, my twin sister, as stepping stone to grasping an absolute rule over Heliontha, which Father Emperor and Brother Licht must stop immediately. She's gaining more power, even more so after my disappearance and the emotional instability of the Imperial family.

"Will I really be safe here, brother? You know how Her Royal Majesty thinks?"

"That vixen doesn't deserve to be addressed formally, even if it's just courtesy." He muttered in annoyance.

"Fine..." I sighed. "Doesn't she have a wide information network throughout the empire? How are we supposed to escape her surveillance?"

He patted my head.

"Don't worry too much, Sol. I might look useless but I'm one of the most powerful Light mages in Helionthan history."

"Pfffft, brother! You can keep on dreaming!" His eartips turned red in sheer embarrassment. "Well, I guess you already entered the top 10..!" I continued laughing.

I just want to tease him once in a while. But seriously, he's not just in the top 10 but in the top 5. He's not just a great Light mage but also a transcendental swordsman which he turned to when I was away.

I heard he already beat the Brûlurian Crown Prince when he issued a duel.

"Brother, aren't you busy with hiring enough men to overthrow her?"

"Sol, the Imperial knights' loyalty towards us has started to waver ever since she oh-so proudly declared to support Borealis as a legitimate heir to the throne. She's not just shameless, she's also stupid."

Brother is not wrong, declaring support for an heir to be the next ruler is quite a bold and careless mistake of hers. Everyone knows that brother's legitimacy over the throne is absolute, as he is skilled in politics, as well in war. He is also loved by the people, securing his title as the heir apparent of the Emperor, our father.

Borealis has just stepped into the world of the nobility, so regardless of how much she studies, she won't be able to keep up with brother's momentum while standing her ground against nobles. And since this era is patriarchal, she has almost zero chance to take the seat of the Emperor.

Here's the thing, if Brother Licht won't be crowned as the Emperor, the throne could most likely be passed to me, a legitimate Imperial princess born from the Emperor and Empress Regnant, the reigning legal wife of the Emperor.

The support from the Empress Consort and her brother Marquis Mauvais won't be enough to support Borealis, a newbie in the matters of the court. Under my brother, the Crown Prince, are the Imperial Monarchs themselves, me, an Imperial princess with considerable influence in the Imperial court and the vassals, and the Sirius Grand Dukedom.

So why are they so keen on Borealis acquiring the throne? Am I missing something?

"You've been quiet for some time now, Sol, is there something wrong?"

"I was just thinking of the true objective of the Mauvais siblings. They are pushing Borealis to acquire the throne too much to the point that I may assume they are pressured by some unknown forces."

"Now that you mention it, it's not like the marquis to move his pieces like this..."

Marquis Mauvais is a cunning man, I heard from Brother from a few years back that he's the one who snuck his sister to Father's bed. He also fed the Emperor a strong aphrodisiac, that's why he wasn't able to refuse the seduction of the then-Lady Mauvais.

"What if you're right..?"

I tilted my head in confusion. "About what?"

"About them being controlled by someone else. You might not know this because this information is from the Emperor's shadow himself, but there's this secret organization called Throne of Beleth* which opposes the Imperial rulers of the six empires."

Throne of what? This wasn't mentioned in the novel. I thought the villains are only Helia, Borealis and the Empress Consort. Then what is this?

"I know this is a lot to take in but Sol, you have to strengthen your mind for what I'm about to tell you. The Throne of Beleth have been at odds with the six emperors since the rule of the great Galaxian Emperor. After his death, that organization spread their influence throughout the divided Galaxia governed by the then-six Archdukes. Until now, they are still not completely eradicated."

"What in the actual heck? Brother, why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't supposed to tell you in the first place, Father forbid me to. But Sol, I decided to tell you because such organization is eyeing our empire now, targeting not the entirety of Heliontha but only you." I gasped in shock.

"M-Me..?"

I'm screwed, am I?

"That's why I allowed your engagement with that damn guy, so that Lunaria could protect you as the Crown Princess."

Kill me now.

(A/n: Beleth (also spelled Bilet, Bileth, and Byleth) is a mighty and terrible king of Hell, who has eighty-five legions of demons under his command. He rides a warhorse, and all kind of music is heard before him, according to most authors on demonology and the most known grimoires. According to Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Ham, son of Noah, was the first in invoking him after the flood, and wrote a book on mathematics with his help.)