Chương 163: Chapter 153 - Paul's Reminder

Amber"With this demonstration of true power," the other official woman holding the pillow with the crown and sword spoke. Amber was relieved that she spoke normally instead of rhyming like the other two.

"Having gods at the tip of your tongue, you are officially recognized by the two saints, Head Priestess, Crystal Cathedral, and the Holy Empire as our new Holy Empress. The Church hereby bestows upon you all power and authority to govern. Your words are now law. Please accept these tokens of position. The Crown of the Holy Empire and this, the Undrawable Sword." An Undrawable Sword? What sort of gift was that? Chelsea lowered herself enough for the Head Priestess to place the crown over her veil.

The woman adjusted it carefully before lifting the sword from the ceremonial pillow and presenting it with both hands. Chelsea accepted it gingerly, examining the weapon for a moment before holding it against her side.

"The ceremony will now come to a close," the woman explained.

"Thank you all for being in attendance and witnessing such a large event in our empire's history." Amber considered that. Was this really such a major event in the history of the Empire? How often did new Holy Empresses appear? What happened when there wasn't one? Chelsea had mentioned the position being vacant before, but once again, she had skipped over most of the information Amber actually wanted. Then the scale of it finally occurred to her.

Back on Earth, the United States got a new president every four or eight years. Holy Empresses seemed to appear far less frequently than that. Chelsea was a bigger deal than a president. Amber's eyes widened as the ceremony officially ended. Guests began rising from their seats and slowly filing toward the exits. Chelsea remained near the stage with the three ceremonial women and the two goddesses. Amber found it interesting that there hadn't been a single man involved in the actual coronation.

She wondered if the Holy Empire had always been this heavily matriarchal or if that was specific to the Church. The elevator seemed like an incredibly slow way to move this many people between floors, but no one appeared to be in much of a hurry. Chelsea eventually separated from the group and floated toward them. She pulled her wings inward as she approached, keeping them tucked close enough that they wouldn't hit anyone still moving through the front row. Amber could feel Chelsea's attention settle on her.

"You there. Child." Chelsea's voice was stern and authoritative. Amber stared at her. Was she talking to her? Chelsea lowered herself until she was directly in front of Amber. The veil still obscured most of her face, though Amber could just barely make out her features through the material.

"Why do you have to have such adorable little cheeks?" Chelsea asked.

"It makes it hard not to see you as such a cute, lovable little baby." Amber giggled. For a second, she had genuinely thought she had somehow done something to make Chelsea mad during the coronation. She reached toward the veil and managed to catch the edge with her fingers. Amber lifted it enough to reveal Chelsea's face underneath. There was the demon she knew. Chelsea gave her a wide, toothy grin and clicked her teeth together a few times.

Her two prominent fangs made the expression far more threatening than a human would.

"Careful, getting this close to a hungry demon. Don't you know we eat little kids?" Amber giggled again. She reached out and pressed one finger against Chelsea's nose while trying her best to make a proper booping sound. All she managed was a soft oo. Chelsea growled.

"Stop being so cute!" she drawled.

"Your Grace?" Someone spoke from behind Chelsea. Chelsea rolled her eyes and released a quiet scoff before replacing the expression with the sweet smile Amber had seen her use around members of the Church. She floated backward enough to face the speaker.

"Yes?" she asked innocently. It was the woman Amber assumed was the Head Priestess. She was the one who had placed the crown on Chelsea's head and presented her with the sword.

"When we arrive down in the dining hall, you will have a special seat for anyone who wants to visit with you." As she spoke, her attention briefly moved toward Amber. Amber recognized the look. The woman was clearly trying to understand why the newly crowned Holy Empress had abandoned the stage to play with a baby.

"There may be a line, so please try to keep it brief with as many of the lower house nobles as you can."

"Sure," Chelsea said with a nod. She turned back toward the family.

"You three want to escort me in?"

"Of course, Littlest Niece," Dewey replied excitedly.

"Technically, I'm not your littlest niece anymore." Chelsea pouted beneath the veil, though none of them could see it. She reached out, and Fiona handed Amber over. Amber settled against Chelsea's chest and was surprised by how soft the ceremonial dress felt. With all the embroidery and elaborate decoration, she had expected the fabric to be stiff or scratchy. Instead, it was comfortable enough that Amber relaxed against it. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Chelsea adjusted her hold and looked down at her.

"Whoa, Amber, nice neck control! You've really got a handle on it. How long until you can boss me around?" Amber giggled and blinked a few times.

"Seriously? Three months?" Chelsea sighed dramatically.

"You're going to be a little baby tyrant, aren't you? Fiona let you check out any of those books yet?" Fiona answered before Amber could attempt any sort of response.

"She sat by herself earlier without assistance. Once she can sit, then I agreed she could read them. She promised she wouldn't be a mage, though." A familiar voice came from behind Fiona.

"What's wrong with being a mage?" Amber shifted in Chelsea's arms as much as she could and found Ivy standing nearby. Elves in this world were all ridiculously pretty. At least every one Amber had encountered so far seemed to be.

"Please, not another debate," Fiona replied.

"I'm not good with words. Chelsea already made me feel stupid."

"Okay. Not a debate, then," Ivy replied. Yes. Get her, Ivy. Change her mind. Ivy was a mage herself. Well… she was a sorceress… close enough… which meant she should be perfectly equipped for this argument.

"What is your reason for not wanting Amber to be a mage?" That was the question she had been waiting for someone to ask directly. Chelsea had argued in favor of Amber studying magic, but she had never forced Fiona to explain exactly why the idea bothered her so much. Fiona sighed.

"Look at me. Look at Dewey. We're large people bred to be big, powerful warriors. Mages are small, weak people who, yes, do damage, but stand behind us. Our children will be big like us. I know they'll excel at being powerful warriors."

"Huh," Ivy replied with a nod. Amber stared at her. No. Don't give up now. Argue. Say literally anything besides huh. Ivy looked toward Amber.

"She has the mental capabilities of someone like Chelsea, right? Have you thought to ask what she wants?" Everyone turned toward Amber. Suddenly, she felt very small. Their attention settled on her all at once, as though they expected a three-month-old baby to settle the question.

"Hold on." Chelsea shifted Amber against her chest and turned, shielding her from most of the attention.

"She is, what, three-ish months? She has time to make that decision. I didn't get to make that choice for myself. I'd like her to have every opportunity and know what each class means first." Her voice softened as she looked toward Fiona.

"Fiona, I hate to say it, and I'm not trying to tell you how to parent, but choosing her class for her could very well drive a wedge of resentment between you two. I don't want to see that. I know she doesn't want that." Amber rested her head against Chelsea. So wise. They eventually made it down to the dining hall, where one of Chelsea's usual Holy Knight escorts announced their arrival. Chelsea was still carrying Amber who wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that.

She liked being held by Chelsea, but being carried around by the newly crowned Holy Empress in front of half the important people in the Empire made her feel unusually vulnerable. The dining hall was different from the throne room. There were children here. Not many, and only a handful of Chelsea's enormous collection of adopted kids seemed to be present, but Amber recognized a few of them from her earlier visits. Chelsea made her way toward a large chair raised slightly above the rest of the room.

It wasn't quite a throne, but it was clearly meant to make her visible while guests approached. Chelsea floated them over and settled into the chair with Amber still in her arms. She had barely resumed telling Amber about some boy at the Guild Hall who had apparently fallen in love with her when a man approached with enough urgency that Chelsea stopped.

"Holy Empress." He bowed.

"King Paul," Chelsea replied. Her tone was polite, but short enough that Amber suspected there was history there.

"It's incredible to see the heights you have reached. Congratulations on everything." King Paul straightened from his bow and looked over Chelsea with an expression Amber couldn't quite place. Pride might have been part of it, but there was something more restrained beneath it.

"I appreciate your kind words," Chelsea replied in a short tone. She shifted Amber higher against her chest and adjusted the blanket covering Amber around her legs. The movement was gentle, but Chelsea's attention remained fixed on the king.

"I hope you have not forgotten the reason you were summoned to our world." Amber's attention zeroed in on this conversation. Lore? Chelsea's fingers paused against the edge of the blanket.

"A god beast, right? Are you ever going to elaborate on that?" King Paul glanced toward the people milling around the dining hall. Several nobles had already begun forming a loose line nearby, waiting for their turn to speak with Chelsea.

"Certainly, but it will need to be a private discussion," King Paul explained.

"Sorry, very sensitive information."

"Right." Chelsea shook her head in annoyance before settling back into the chair.

"Would your son happen to be here?"

"Cedric? Ah, no. He's back in Nordrak." Chelsea frowned and looked at him more directly.

"Cedric? I don't remember ever meeting a Cedric. I meant Roderick? I think his name was?" King Paul's looked confused.

"Roderick? What would you want with him?" he asked curtly.

"He made a good impression on me, and I wanted to see if he would be interested in studying abroad in the Holy City. Our libraries are a sight to behold."

"I see. No, he is not with us today. One of my other sons is, but I doubt he would be interested in libraries," the king added with a chuckle.

"That's all right. Run the idea by him, and if he is interested, feel free to send him my way."

"I will do that. I won't take any more of your time, as there seems to be a line forming. I wish you all the best and look forward to our meeting." He bowed formally before disappearing back into the crowd. Amber had no idea what to make of the exchange. Was that the man responsible for summoning Chelsea? What exactly was a god beast? There were too many questions and absolutely no way for Amber to ask any of them. The next group approached before she could dwell on it. Amber vaguely recognized them.

They were some of Ashleigh's Valkyries from Valhalla, though Amber couldn't remember their names. She knew one of them had something to do with pain. Chelsea smiled when she saw them.

"Passion, Deceit, Suffering. Thank you all so much for coming today!" Suffering. Not Pain. What a bizarre thing to be called. Amber wondered if that was actually her name or simply another title everyone had agreed to use.

"Hav… or… Chelsea. Wait, do we call you that? Or Empress?" the smaller woman who wasn't an elf asked.

"Whatever you feel most comfortable with. Technically, I still have the Havoc title, so I can pretend to play Valkyr dress-up whenever I want," Chelsea replied with a laugh. The three women laughed with her. One of them leaned slightly closer to Amber.

"So who is this little one? Another of your children?"

"Nope. This is my cousin. You all met her when we visited Valhalla that last time."

"Oh, yeah," the elf woman replied.

"You were carrying a baby." The other smaller woman moved closer and adopted an exaggerated baby voice.

"Aren't you a pwetty wittle one!" Amber stared at her. Chelsea leaned toward the woman.

"Deceit," she whispered.

"She's a reincarnation. You're talking to someone the same age as me." Deceit froze.

"Oh," she replied. Her expression shifted as she looked at Amber again.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know?" Amber giggled. That was fair. From everyone else's perspective, she was still very much a baby. The largest woman finally spoke.

"Is she the girl you were friends with from your hometown?" Amber liked that wording. Hometown. It sounded much better than saying she was Chelsea's friend from the planet where they used to live.