The Martial Unity

Chapter 3326: More To Human Civilization Than Met The Eye

She gazed at him with an uncomfortable expression even as she fell into thought.

The bright light of the morning Sun illuminated her silver hair as her sparkling sapphire eyes grew hazy with thought.

”...I find the concept of monogamy uncomfortable,” she admitted. ”We elves have far too much love to offer for one person to contain, that is why we give it to multiple people.”

Emperor Rael shrugged. ”It is not a relationship of love.”

Mother Alicia gazed at him pointedly. ”You said you were willing to adjust your mentality to match our conceptualizations of love.”

”Yes, but a political marriage leaves very little room for such emotions,” Emperor Rael remarked. ”I do not marry for love, nor do I reproduce for love. Everything I do is for the Kandrian Empire and now for human civilization as well.”

”Does that mean you have never experienced love in a relationship?” she asked with a curious tone.

”...” Emperor Rael remained silent as his expression softened.

His golden eyes sparkled with a gentle affection as he recalled memories of old.

Mother Alicia smiled. ”So you have.”

The Emperor of Harmony huffed lightly. ”It was a long time ago. I was also in a... desperate and despairing state of mind as I searched the world for a cure to a disease I suffered. I didn’t find the cure, but I did find love...”

She gazed at him deeply. ”...Is Prince Rui the fruit of that love?”

Emperor Rael smiled briefly.

”He is. Rather remarkable of you to pick up on that.”

Mother Alicia smiled. ”I recognize love when I see it. However, if he is the sole fruit of love out of all of your offspring, then why are you not more concerned about his well-being?”

”I am concerned, am I not?” Emperor Rael raised an eyebrow. ”It’s what I have been most fixated on?”

”...Indeed, but... I can’t help but get the feeling that it is a projected stance.”

Emperor Rael smiled with an impressed expression. ”You are indeed very astute. I suppose more than a millennium of life comes with a powerful intuition.”

”So you admit I was correct?” she raised an eyebrow. ”Are you not concerned about the well-being of your son?”

”...” Emperor Rael didn’t want to reveal that he had a way of knowing whether his son was well or not.

He chose a different way to handle the question.

”I have faith in Rui’s abilities.”

His tone was sincere.

It was the truth.

His smile deepened.

”No one can defeat my son. That is something I have grown increasingly certain of.”

Mother Alicia’s inquisitive gaze bore deep into Emperor Rael’s eyes, before a warm smile emerged on her face.

”That is a wonderful thing.”

”I have been blessed with a wonderful son, indeed.”

”...” Mother Alicia gazed into his eyes as she studied before him, eventually heaving a deep breath.

”I accept your proposal.”

Emperor Rael raised an eyebrow.

He hadn’t expected her to accept the idea he had come up with then and there.

”That’s rather quick,” Emperor Rael remarked. ”Do you not wish to discuss it with your sisters?”

”There is nothing to discuss,” she replied calmly. ”It is my choice and my choice alone. I may be... inadequate in many ways to your human sensibilities, but I hope that our relationship brings our civilizations closer. I hope that... it brings our hearts closer, even if the purpose of this relationship is devoid of heart.”

Emperor Rael studied her with a strange expression. ”Do you truly expect any intimacy in such an arrangement?”

A bittersweet smile emerged on her face.

”We elves believe that love is essential for fertility.”

Emperor Rael frowned. ”I recall reading that. I assumed that that was a cultural value. Surely it has no basis in actual biology.”

”You did say that you would adjust to our cultural values if I could promise a monogamous relationship,” she reminded him.

Emperor Rael heaved a sigh, wondering if he needed to get the Psycher to hypnotize him.

”I will try my best.”

She smiled at those words.

”That is enough.”

Soon enough, they had arrived at the manifold.

THUD...

The flying carriage landed on a pathway in a forest in the middle of an empty clearing.

Outside were two Martial Sages who stood at guard over apparently nothing.

STEP

Emperor Rael and Mother Alicia got out of the carriage as the former nodded to the Martial Sages, who simply pulled a device, pressing a button.

Within a minute, the very fabric of space and time shook as Mother Alicia’s eyes widened with shock.

A noticeable gravitational wave emerged from out of thin air as the manifold unfolded, unveiling what had essentially been hidden from the very fabric of reality.

”Wha—!” Mother Alicia staggered where she stood as the manifold bloomed before her, unveiling a giant Martial training center that spanned a hundred kilometers in diameter. ”What is this technology?! Not even the best experts in space and time among my fellows, Mothers of Nature, would be capable of weaving reality to such an extent!”

It wasn’t just the magnitude of the complex and extraordinary space-time manipulation that shook her.

It was the sensation that she had gotten from the event.

It reminded her of another anomaly that the mind-boggled and mystified elven civilization to this day.

The disappearance and the reappearance of the Lost Continent.

The latter, especially, challenged the very foundations of everybody’s perception of reality.

It made them wonder how much of reality they even understood, despite all their science.

What else lurked right beneath their noses, hiding in plain view?

She turned, gazing at the Emperor of Harmony with a shocked expression.

The dark elves had tried their best, in the past six months since the Unfolding to interrogate human civilization about the Unfolding.

How could a continent just appear and disappear?

Human civilization had always played dumb.

They pretended to be just as shocked as the elves about their return to the true world.

Only now did Mother Alicia realize that they had lied about their return to the true world.

Only now did she realize that this civilization has more to it than met the eye.

Emperor Rael smiled at her reactions, offering a hand to her.

”Allow me to escort you, my lady.”