“The One That Lives in the River of Life and Death”
The Holy Priestess recalled being warned about that existence long ago. Throughout her life, if she had found the goddess to be afraid of someone, it was the being that slept in the depths of the River of Life and Death.
The worldly laws restricted the goddess from descending into this world, but it was different for that existence, which was already present in this realm.
It was not an exaggeration to call it the forbidden existence of this world, one that even the Four Overlords feared.
Fortunately, that being never left the river. For it, the world was insignificant. As far as she could remember, there had never been any movements or disturbances in the river.
“If that thing had arrived here, then even this hall wouldn’t have been a safe place. So it can’t be the one,” the golden words appeared in front of the Holy Priestess, catching her attention.
The Holy Priestess believed the words of the Holy Priestess. Unlike the goddess, the forbidden existence could directly interfere if it wanted. If desired, it could destroy all four continents in a second. Why would it rely on others to pull such tricks?
There was only existence that could affect the goddess but that existence wasn’t responsible. It was clear. That left only one other possibility.
The Holy Emperor had used some long forgotten treasure to pull off something like this.
Was it because he knew about the existence of the goddess? Or was it because he was worried that the Cardinal might arrive earlier, so he used the treasure, not realizing its true effects? She wasn’t sure.
The Holy Priestess was going down a spiral of possibilities, already believing that the Holy Emperor had used some godly treasure.
Meanwhile, Eren was completely unaware of the conspiracy theories that were being formed about him.
If he heard her thoughts, he wouldn’t even know how to respond. What treasure? What restriction? He didn’t even know what was inside the sacred hall, let alone avoiding it intentionally.
If it wasn’t for the system’s warning, he might have forced his way inside that place, only to be greeted by the statue of the goddess.
Eren didn’t realize that he had avoided a bullet thanks to his system. Unfortunately, there were other bullets that he couldn’t avoid.
He didn’t know why but he felt that there were some hostilities between Great Elder Zia and Xiu Ying. They weren’t even talking with each other properly.
From the moment he returned, Xiu Ying was sticking close to him. Meanwhile, Zia was constantly casting suspicious glances at him.
His clone was simply trying to avoid his gaze, as if not knowing how to explain the situation.
“Do you know what this situation is?” Eren asked his clone which appeared like it knew something.
“Believe me. You don’t want to know. The less you know, the better,” the clone answered, using his thoughts transmission.
Eren could directly retrieve the memories from his clone. But normally, he tried to avoid it as this just brought insignificant memories that gave him a headache.
Unfortunately, the situation demanded it now. Even though his clone was telling him that he was better being left ignorant about this situation, Eren still felt like knowing.
He retracted the memories of his clone. Just as he expected, most of these memories were insignificant. They were related to the issues of the Empire and reorganizing the Royal Army after it had been cleansed by him with blood.
It was near the end of these memories that he found what he was looking for. And the more he saw, the worse his expressions became.
Now that he knew everything, he was truly at a loss. He even wondered if he should’ve listened to his clone and remained oblivious to it.
Xiu Ying was his lover. There was no denying it. However, Zia also liked him? That was new information. The two woman had already started fighting over him?
He could interfere and select Xiu Ying, but it was only going to offend Zia. If she was upset, it was also a loss for him. It also wasn’t as if he didn’t like her.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t select both of them or that was going to offend Xiu Ying. This was truly a mess.
“I wonder how they will react if they find out about the Sect Master.” Eren rubbed his forehead, feeling his headache increasing. He really had to solve this problem so that it wouldn’t become worse in the future.
Eren was starting to stress out when a guard arrived to inform him. “Your Majesty, someone is here to meet you.”
“Is it the Holy Priestess?” Eren asked the Guard. Who else could be important enough to make his guards come here right away?
“It isn’t the Priestess. It is… Ah, I think it is better if you meet that person yourself.”
The Guard felt hesitant about mentioning the identity of the person, which made Eren confused even more. Was it really such an important person that the guards were hesitant about mentioning it in front of outsiders?
“You don’t have to worry about their presence. Just tell me who it is,” Eren proudly told the guard.
There was nothing for him to hide. Moreover, why would he worry about privacy in front of the others? He was one of them after all.
The guard nodded and took a deep breath. “Your fiancee is here. She wants to meet you.”
“Cough cough…”
Eren had just drank water which he coughed out subconsciously, almost choking on water.
His fiancee? When did that happen? The Holy Emperor had a lover? Why didn’t he know about it? There was no mention of it in the novel of this continent up to the point the Transmigrator had read.
He was already troubled by the conflict of two women and now there was supposedly another lover that he had to meet? He didn’t even have to look towards Xiu Ying to feel her sharp gaze on him.
