The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

“Qualification to compete? Dream on.”

Celicia set down the letter in her hand and let out a cold sneer.

“That little princess named Afrella only made me wary because she once went through hardship together with a certain blond idiot. In that sort of situation, it’s easiest for feelings to quietly grow. But what is Sevier supposed to be? Just a lovestruck fool with a one-sided crush.”

Although Celicia had always been dissatisfied with a certain blond idiot’s romantic life, there was one thing she had to admit.

That guy truly was “devoted”...

“Devoted” to only stealing cabbages that already had feelings for him.

Toward all the others who had no real connection to him, he generally still kept himself clean and respected boundaries.

So a mere Sevier—even if she became the King of the Kingdom and obtained qualifications that, in some sense, allowed her to stand on equal footing with Celicia—would still be no threat at all, so long as she was prevented from getting close to that blond idiot long enough for feelings to grow over time.

She thought she had the qualifications to sit at the table?

Heh. Just a virgin’s fantasy.

“That Pink Bear bastard specially wrote me a letter just to talk about this kind of nonsense? I wonder whether he’s handled the matter I told him to arrange.”

Once she confirmed Sevier posed no threat whatsoever, Celicia’s attention quickly returned to something far more important.

One of her own arrangements.

Compared to Sevier’s so-called threat, compared to the matter of the new King of the Kingdom, that issue was much more important.

And it could not be delayed any longer.

Once again, she realized this with perfect clarity.

“Hm? Arrange something? Is there still some major matter in the Empire that requires Your Majesty to arrange personally?”

Veil, who was helping organize documents, poked her head over with confusion.

Having major affairs was one thing, but if there really was something that important, why did she, the personal affairs officer constantly at Celicia’s side, know absolutely nothing about it?

That was very strange.

“It is a major matter, but not some earthshaking one. Just mind your own work.”

Celicia remained expressionless and had no intention whatsoever of explaining.

“Oh.”

Veil obediently answered with a small sound, knowing full well that once Her Majesty the Empress decided to hide something, there was absolutely no way she could pry out the truth.

“How is the new treaty draft progressing?”

“Mm! The final version has already been completed!”

Veil immediately straightened her chest and placed a document before Celicia.

It was the Kingdom’s defeat treaty, finalized after this period of “negotiations.”

After endless disputes, the treaty had finally reached its current final version. All that remained was for the Kingdom’s new king, who was still within Imperial territory, to return home, ascend the throne, and stamp it with the Kingdom’s seal.

Then this war, which had drawn the attention of the entire continent, though strictly speaking had not lasted very long, would finally come to a complete conclusion.

With the Empire’s absolute victory.

After this war, no one on the continent would dare doubt the methods of the young Imperial Empress any longer.

“Very good.”

Celicia quickly scanned it. After confirming there were no problems, she handed it back to Veil.

“Make several copies as soon as possible and distribute them to those noisy Kingdom nobles. Tell them to shut up.”

“Understood. I’ll handle it immediately. But...”

Veil hesitated.

“I do have one question...”

“Ask.”

“Why did Your Majesty reduce the severity of the terms?” Veil scratched her cheek, utterly confused.

Truthfully speaking, among the various proposals the Kingdom ministers had submitted after endless discussions—submissively and resentfully—the price they had originally offered was far harsher than this final version.

Take the actual benefits, for example. The war reparations of one hundred trillion Aimier had been slashed directly to fifty trillion with a casual wave of Celicia’s hand.

Cut in half.

The cession of territory from the northern plains had also been greatly reduced, replaced instead with two eastern ports.

Aside from that, there were mineral resources, horses, magic materials, and supplies like silk, tea, and coffee included as additions. Those had not decreased much, but many outright transfer rights had been changed into lease rights, complete with time limits attached.

Honestly, looking at these treaty terms, Veil actually had the strange feeling that the usually cold and ruthless Empress—who had casually purged nobles within her own country—had become...

Too merciful.

It was practically like taking meat already at her lips, politely cutting it in half with knife and fork, and only eating one portion.

Had Her Majesty started dieting lately?

“You don’t understand?”

“Mm.”

“It’s simple. To reduce chaos.”

Celicia turned her head and gazed through the window at the city beyond.

Saint Blancfazesiya.

It possessed grandeur and scale nearly equal to Belrand’s, yet lacked some of Belrand’s majesty, carrying instead a faintly softer quality.

And deep within it still lurked darkness that, even now, had not been fully eradicated.

Celicia had no obligation to clean up the Kingdom’s hidden dangers for them. But she had already realized that after this war, this nation would become far more fragile than most people imagined.

The Salvation Society’s actions had already been buried completely in the depths of time, but many things would not change so easily.

And the problem was this:

The Kingdom could be defeated...

But it could not collapse.

Whether it was reform rising from below, or cleansing descending from above—

Under unbearable external pressure, neither could realistically be avoided. And whichever path they took would inevitably plunge the already hollow Kingdom into tremendous chaos.

And chaos was the perfect breeding ground for things even more terrifying than darkness.

“The Church already sent people to negotiate with me. They approved of the person I chose becoming the Kingdom’s new king, but the condition was that the Kingdom could not be subjected to excessive pressure or exploitation. The stability of the entire continent must come first above all else.”

Celicia said calmly,

“In their words, this incident has already become large enough. New disturbances cannot be allowed to emerge.”

“The Church again!”

Veil puffed out her cheeks.

“When the Kingdom started the war, why didn’t they think that would create chaos?”

“It seems the Salvation Society affair made them sense something.”

Celicia narrowed her beautiful eyes.

“Perhaps, just as some people have said, the days ahead will not be peaceful for the entire continent. Under those circumstances, the Church will probably tighten its control over every nation.”

In this war, the Empire had undoubtedly achieved overwhelming victory and demonstrated its authority to the entire continent.

But everyone knew the most terrifying existence on this continent was not the Empire.

It was the Church.

It was simply that during the relatively peaceful ages of the past, the Church rarely interfered too deeply in mortal affairs.

But now, nations—and even various powers—seemed to smell something different in the air.

“I’m departing to return to the Empire.”

Celicia suddenly spoke.

“Huh? So soon?”

Veil froze.

“I’ve been away from the Empire too long. There are many matters that need handling. Besides...”

“Besides?”

Celicia did not answer, only counterasked:

“Where is Lord Lorne?”

“The Lion King is at the western military camp.”

“Prepare the carriage.”

Celicia rose directly to her feet.

“Before leaving, there’s something important I need to discuss with him.”

......

......

“Oh, you foolish king!”

“Scum! Butcher! Criminal of the Kingdom!”

“Go die!”

In the middle of Saint Blancfazesiya’s broadest road, a prison cart slowly passed by.

Inside the cart sat a skinny old man with disheveled hair and miserable appearance, his body covered in many wounds that had yet to heal. He looked even more pitiful than the beggars along the roadside.

“Old bastard, go die!”

Yet not a single person pitied him.

Rotten eggs, vegetable leaves, even stones flew through the gaps in the iron cage and rained down upon the old man.

Using those things, the people vented the most primitive form of hatred.

And the old man inside the cage could only curl up helplessly, watching those lowborn commoners he had once completely despised “humiliate” him in their own ways. No matter how hatred tore through his heart, he could do nothing.

He no longer even had the strength to curse back.

Once the most exalted king, he was now enduring the vilest punishment.

Yet even now, he remained unwilling to accept it, muttering endlessly under his breath.

“Shut up... shut up! You filthy commoners...”

“I am the great ruler... I am the great ruler who would have led this country into prosperity... Just watch, you ignorant fools. Without me, this country will eventually walk toward destruction...”

“Haha... I won’t die either... because my Olive will return to save me... my Olive... she definitely...”

The crowd escorted the prison cart onward until it reached a certain location, where silence finally fell.

But the silence did not last long.

Accompanied by a single shout, thunderous cries immediately erupted in response and echoed across this long-weakened city.

“The king is dead!”

“That incompetent and foolish king is dead!”

“He was cut more than three thousand times before finally being hanged!”

“Good riddance!”

......

......

“Three thousand cuts... What a familiar number.”

From the high viewing platform atop the bell tower, the late-autumn wind of the royal capital felt refreshingly cold. Watching the cheers below spread throughout the city alongside the autumn breeze, Muen could not help smiling faintly.

As if those three thousand cuts were not torture, but overdue retribution.

“I didn’t expect you would personally come watch this happen. After all, that was your father.”

Muen sighed toward the person beside him.

“Precisely because he was my father, I had to watch with my own eyes, didn’t I?”

Afrella sat casually on the edge of the bell tower, completely unconcerned with the dizzying height, leisurely swinging her legs.

Under her robe, her pale calves crossed and lifted lightly, like white doves taking flight above the tower.

“Only by watching him die can I truly say farewell to the past.”

Afrella pressed a hand to her chest and softly said,

“From this moment onward, I am no longer Princess Afrella of the Kingdom. I’m just an ordinary girl who grew up in an orphanage. Pero. The former Pero.”

“A...”

“Call me Pero!”

The girl who had abandoned everything once more, yet also gained everything, revealed a playful smile like the one she had at the very beginning.

“Could it be that Mr. Bruce prefers noble princesses? Even though you already have plenty of those around you.”

“...Please don’t slander me, Miss Pero. Standing before you is the continent’s universally acknowledged devoted good man!”

Muen said with a stern face.

Though he broke character after barely a second.

“All right, what I mean is... you can still reconsider. Becoming the King of the Kingdom is something countless people dream about. As for this so-called ‘Pope of the Black Sun Cult’... honestly speaking, I don’t think that’s some especially bright future.”

After all, he was not some genuine god. Nor could he, like true gods, offer sufficient rewards simply in exchange for faith and devotion.

Sometimes he still secretly prayed to the Life Goddess himself, hoping that thanks to his relationship with Liya, he might freeload some benefits from Her.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the Life Goddess was too busy, She had never responded.

In short, for a “person” who still needed to pray to other existences himself, his current existence was far too weak to be worthy of worship.

“It’s enough if you just believe in yourself. Expanding an actual religion is really...”

“But there are already many people who believe in the Black Sun now.”

Pero spoke extremely seriously.

“Don’t forget, those who believe in you did not lose their memories to time. They still remember everything you did.”

“...To them, it may have been nothing more than a dream.”

“If it happened, then it happened. Even if everything starts over, that still won’t change.”

Pero puffed out her cheeks and stared at Muen cautiously.

“You’re not planning to do all those things... and then just wipe your hands of it and pretend it has nothing to do with you, are you?”