CHAPTER 68: WE ALL KNOW YOU DID YOUR BEST

"Why?" Alfred asked, the old emperor seeming to be overcome by a strange feeling after his daughter’s words.

"I never expected... to see Luke so happy," Penelope replied.

Hiera’s children were very close to each other. Although rare, casualties had occurred during the succession struggle, but this had not happened in a long time.

Even in Alfred’s time, when Liam had started the succession war, only a few drops of blood had been shed, and that had been during the duel between the last two princes fighting for the throne.

Alfred had three siblings. Two sisters and one brother.

None of them were in the Hiera Empire anymore.

Two of them had gone together to a small continent to study the true nature of magic, specifically the ancient spells used by Andromeda, in a magic tower.

The other had gone to the dwarf continent, the northernmost point of the world, to train as a blacksmith in a rather unexpected and amusing turn of events.

Since Hierans could live much longer than ordinary humans, even a dwarf’s thousand-year lifespan might not affect them.

Under normal circumstances, a Hiera could only die when they wanted to, since they are made out of fire, like Liam, who had lost his mind and finally tasted the death he deserved.

Him being 46 years old was not even close to the oldest emperor, so Alfred was young, at least as an emperor. And had a lot of weight on his shoulders. That was precisely why, when Luke’s gift appeared, he made a move he thought would lighten the burden on his shoulders.

It could have been a failed move for a father, and indeed it was. Still, it would be accurate to say that because they lived by the rules, the Hieras had managed to survive until now.

When Alfred saw what Luke had achieved, he understood... The Hieras had survived because they were Hieras by surname and blood.

From the sibling perspective, Penelope was much stronger than Luke. She had been training in knighthood under Callum and in magic under Kevin for much longer.

Callum was, in the truest sense of the word, the best swordsman in the world and a man who was quite skilled in magic, while Kevin was perhaps among the top hundred magicians in the world, which was a difficult rank to achieve in a world with tens of billions of people.

So Penelope knew she would win. At least in terms of power.

When it came to politics, however, Penelope was far behind her younger brother Luke.

To be honest, each of the seven princesses had managed to raise their political views a notch by following Luke’s political views and his good or bad behaviour towards the people.

There were very few men or women in the empire who were on Luke’s level.

At least in terms of politics.

Of course, someone who was good with words could even deceive the python in the snake hole.

Penelope had thanked her father for this. Penelope, Luke’s sister, also knew that Luke wanted to be an emperor, but even this dear sister could see that his happiness did not lie there in the palace.

It was as if the points and paths of fate did not point to the capital and the throne of the imperial palace.

However, there was something like Zoey existing.

Penelope was aware of the legend... or rather, she was aware of the dozens of legends surrounding the Hieras.

There was a legend that when someone like Andromeda, who could directly control the Ancient Dragons, appeared, her love would be limited to only one, meaning that the long life Andromeda Ariadne Hiera lived with her only love would be repeated.

This legend even stated that when harm came to Hiera’s chosen one, they would lose their mind. Whoever that person was...An emperor, perhaps an empress.

Of course... This was just a legend.

Luke might not have been that person, although Luke was aware that he was that person, but for a Crown Princess like Penelope, who had not seen Andromeda’s memories, this was just a legend.

"I understand... Then, are you proud of me?" Alfred had asked, for he did not know whether his children still loved him, and so he felt the need to ask such a question on this joyous day. Even to his daughter.

When Penelope heard these words, she did something she had never done since childhood and took her father’s hand, saying, "We have always been proud of you. You made many mistakes... no, you had many choices that you made, and we saw what those choices cost us, but... those choices weren’t always bad... were they?" She then looked at Alfred and giggled.

"I..." the old emperor muttered, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Father," Penelope said, cutting Alfred off.

"We know the truth now... We also know why you didn’t tell us before," Penelope said.

"It’s not just me; Luke and the others are proud of you too... I know it will continue like this until I, Penelope Aria Hiera, take the throne. You should be angry with yourself, after all, what you did was foolish, seriously foolish, I say this with all due respect..." the young woman added to her words and then immediately said to her father:

"We all know you did the best you could."

The feast continued with these words. Luke finally managed to speak properly with Kassadin and the others and apologised to his five mothers.

There was a strange look of happiness and pride on his uncle Shen’s face, but Luke could see the sadness in Shen’s eyes with a single glance.

As night turned to morning and the clock struck six, the wedding ceremony and ball held under the name of the feast had come to an end.

The feast would, of course, continue, but the massive event that had lasted nearly 16 hours had come to an end.

When Luke and Zoey finally retired to their bedroom, it was clear that they had managed to have a passionate night.

The night had been so long that they had slept for more than a day.

When the clock struck two in the afternoon, Luke and Zoey finally opened their eyes.

Lying in bed, they couldn’t help but smile at each other, their feet intertwined. It was clear they were very happy; they were no longer engaged, but married.