Death... and me

Calina didn't know where to start. Become Empress? Who? Her? First of all, would you kick a future Empress in the butt then? No, wait! What did he mean by Death?

Roan didn't give her much time to think, though.

"You don't want a war to happen between the Sasamil Empire and the Chrole Empire to happen, right? Then the answer is simple, become the next Empress. You might be at the bottom of the barrel, but you're still a princess with rights for the Throne."

Calina and Malaka were shocked by those words.

"Wait, wait, wait! What are you talking about? Sure, I have a bloodline from the Sasamil Family. However, I also have half a Chrole Imperial Family bloodline! There is no way a half-blood like me can ascend to the Throne. All the princes and princesses would join hands to get rid of me in the very first moment I prove to be a threat."

"No, first of all, why did you change your mind all of a sudden? Just a few seconds ago, you were so unwilling that I felt more like a burden. That doesn't make sense at all!"

Rean then patted Calina's head while laughing.

"Don't mind the details. The important part is that Roan decided to help you."

Well, they would die if they don't do anything. Anyone's opinions would change in a blink of an eye in that situation.

Calina then glanced at Rean from the corner of her eyes before asking.

"Since when did I give you permission to act this close to me?"

Rean showed a puzzled expression as he responded.

"You are Malaka's friend, right? I thought you would like this kind of treatment as well."

"Could it be that you dislike it?"

Calina's face got a little red as she saw Malaka arrive beside Rean just to get her head patted as well. She and Malaka had almost the same age, but Malaka seemed to not care about her image at all. In fact, she seemed to enjoy Rean's pampering very much.

"... I don't... hate it."

Rean laughed out loud as he continued to do that. Sure enough, as much as she pretended to act like an adult, a twelve-year-old girl was still more or less a kid.

Still, Calina quickly regained her bearings and shook her head as she returned to the topic at hand.

"No, forget it now! I can't become the Empress. There is no way it will work. We can't fight against all the other descendants. They're gonna kill us!"

Roan snorted in response.

"Kill you? I'm sorry, but they're already very willing to do it. Didn't Valeu just try it a moment ago? You are already on a path of no return. Regardless of which of the princes or princesses ascend to the Throne, the Chrole bloodline here in Sasamil will be wiped out. At the very least, you will all be severely restricted in your actions."

Calina couldn't help but ask.

"I can understand that it will happen if Prince Lamares takes the Throne, but why would the others do that?"

Sure enough, without hearing Roan's analysis, it would be hard for her to understand. At the moment, she thinks that the other princes and princesses have nothing against her.

Rean then looked at Roan before asking through their Soul Connection.

'Just explain to her the whole theory. She might be only twelve, but she's quite smart. I believe she will understand her situation once you put it into words.'

Roan nodded. That was the fastest way indeed. Of course, Roan omitted the Soul Gem System's existence and everything related to it.

Calina was once again shocked by what she heard. She knew that all Roan said was only his own theory. However, she was still a princess of the Imperial Family. As soon as Roan talked about why the actual Emperor hasn't decided the next Emperor yet, Calina immediately understood that Roan was probably right. She only had to think back to remember how the other princes and princesses with pure Sasamil bloodlines treated her to reach this conclusion.

"What should I do...? I have no idea when someone might appear to attack me. No, the other people from political marriages with the Chrole Empire are probably in as much danger as me as well."

Roan then asked something.

"Have you heard about some of them being attacked or anything like that?"

Calina pondered a bit and immediately remembered a few things. It was not like she couldn't tell odd happenings.

"Yes. I heard about Uncle Ganmon being ambushed by an assassin of the Shadow Reaper Organization. He is much older than me but still has half of his bloodline from the Chrole Empire. Because he escaped in the end, I didn't put much thought into this. There was also a rumor that the Imperial Office manager's wife suddenly passed away. I didn't know her, but I know that she was also someone from Chrole."

Roan nodded.

"Seems like you were not the only one. These two you just mentioned are just the ones you know about. There are probably more of them in the same situation as you in there. Anyway, we already confirmed your status. Now we need to work on the way to make you turn into the next Empress."

"Ah! Are you talking seriously? I don't want to say this to the people who saved my life but, you guys are just way too weak to change anything."

Rean laughed after hearing that. Of course, they knew that. They even complained about that with Sister Orb before.

"It's okay. We're all in the same boat."

Those words puzzled Calina once again.

"Same boat? How come? As long as you don't get involved with me, you should be just fine."

Roan shook his head.

"You don't need to know why. All you need to do is trust us for now. The question here is, if we can make you the next Empress, would you believe us?"

Calina then asked Roan another question instead of answering his one.

"Why would you help me become the Empress? You said it yourself. There is a chance that the first prince is right, and we might be facing an attack of the Chrole Empire. In that case, helping him would be the right thing to do. Don't you want to protect the Empire?"

Roan couldn't care less about that anymore. Empire? Fuck that! What use will that have if they die? It had nothing to do with who was wrong or right, but she had to become the Empress so they could save themselves.

"Who doesn't want to become the reason for an Emperor or Empress to rise to the Throne, right? Let's just say that it will be much better for Rean and me if you take the Throne instead of the others. Sure enough, you would reward us well."

Malaka then hugged Calina's arm before saying.

"Trust Roan. He is super dark but super smart. If he said this much, then there is definitely a way to do this."

Roan didn't mind Malaka's words. Better dark than dead.

Calina couldn't help but feel a little jealous of how much she trusted her brothers.

"Malaka..."

Calina then went silent for a few minutes, not saying anything. Surprisingly, even Roan didn't mind waiting for her this time. In the end, she gritted her teeth and nodded.

"Alright! I'll do it! If I do nothing, only Death awaits me in the end. But you better understand that I have no allies whatsoever. At most, I would get my father's support. But even that would be difficult since he wouldn't believe that I have any chance."

Roan didn't seem to mind, saying.

"Don't worry. If everything works the way I think it will, then your chance will appear by itself in the next few years. At that moment, you just need to grasp it. Rean, I, and the happy-go-lucky girl on your side will help you with the rest."

This time, even Rean was surprised by what he heard. Roan hadn't commented about this chance at all.

"What are you talking about? What kind of chance is that?"

Roan shook his head, replying.

"There is no point in telling you about it now since I'm not 100% sure either. When the time comes, you will know."

As Roan said that, he thought to himself.

'Old geezer, I know very well what you're planning. You better not grow afraid of doing that when the time comes.'

Rean and the others could only nod in the end. If Roan wasn't willing to say, not even God would be able to force his mouth open.

Calina then took a deep breath before asking.

"What should I do?"

Roan nodded and then explained with a cold smile.

"When the time comes, you will need to have the strength to fight for the Throne. I don't mean raw power, but you have to prove that you have the talent and mind to become an Empress candidate. If you can't even do that much, then you are doomed from the very start. Hehe... I hope you are at least confident about your own capabilities."

Suddenly, Malaka's body on her side began to tremble. Soon after, she looked at Calina with an expression of pity. It was as if she was looking at a dead body.

"Wh-what? I'm very confident in my capabilities, okay? Say it, what should I do first?"

Roan nodded with a satisfied expression, saying.

"First off... I need you to die."