"Sybill, what are you saying?" the first one who recovered quickly was Bishop Atlas, he glared at Rhea. "Sybills… cannot just marry without the— "
"The permission of the gods." Rhea interrupted him. "And… I saw it. I saw myself marry him. Isn't this the permission that you wanted to hear Bishop?"
"You— "
"Sister… I mean… Sybill… " Surprisingly, her sister Amanda Larsen spoke. "Isn't this too sudden? A marriage is just… I believe this is not the time for marriage right now. Please reconsider!"
"She is right. You have to think about everything thoroughly Rhea. You aren't just some noble anymore. You are the saintess, a priestess. People outside of this palace treat you like a goddess."
"Saintess…" The Emperor cleared his throat. Obviously, this person already knows about the engagement. After all, Mo Li already sent him a letter. However, he is still pretending not to know anything. What a good actor!
From the perspective of the emperor, a marriage with a prince would tie her with the empire. Isn't that something that he wanted in the first place? This would surely boost the morale of the people.
Who wouldn't want to have the saintess by their side?
The Larsens however is different. After all, people from the church are closely watching them. It would be natural for them to be wary of this engagement.
Rhea recalled that when she became the saintess, the people who benefited the most from both the church and the empire were the Larsen Family. Surely, being in the middle of the rivalry between the church and the empire is not something that they wanted.
"I already thought it through." Rhea smiled at her sister who seemed to flinched from her intense gaze. She completely understood her sister's point of view. As Prince Consort and future empress, Amanda didn't want Mo Li to become more powerful than the crown prince.
Rhea knew that her sister understood everything. The political meaning behind Rhea and Mo Li's marriage could topple over the prestige that the crown prince has built over the years. "The reason why I asked his highness Mo to escort mAe here despite the disapproval of the church is that I wanted this marriage to happen."
"But— But married — married women are supposed to stay with their husband all the time. How could you stay with his highness and support him while you are doing the duties of the saintess? Moreover, marriage would cause you emotional baggage which might affect the gifts from the gods!" Amanda Larsen insisted.
"Rhea, listen to your older sister." Rhea's father said.
Rhea only stared at the stranger of a man who raised the real Rhea. This man only favored Amanda for being brilliant and beautiful. He was proud that Amanda could cast minor spells. At first, she couldn't understand why this man favored Amanda over her.
Then she understood that it was all about politics. Amanda's mother came from a prominent family who could support this man's ambitions. How could he treat Amanda like he treats his other children from his concubine who only had a bit of beauty and beautiful bodies?
"Did you want me to listen to my older sister and not follow the visions that I saw?" Rhea snorted. "Father… to say things like this in front of the church and the empire. Do you want to lose your head?"
"You— "Almost immediately, her father's face turned unsightly. How ungrateful! Rhea was here to save them from the clutches of the church. And yet he was acting like a church dog.
"Sister, father didn't mean it like that."
"Is that so?" Rhea lifted an eyebrow. "Then…does this mean that father thought your words are actually more important than the words of the gods?" As expected, Amanda paled. She staggered from Rhea's aggressive words. Good thing the crown prince immediately caught her.
"You— You are both a noble and a saintess! How could you plant meanings into other people's words!?" The crown prince glared at her as if she was some beast who assaulted his beloved wife. "How could you do this to your pregnant sister!"
Pregnant?
The atmosphere immediately changed. Right now, the crown prince and the future consort are not wed yet. How could she be pregnant? Just like everyone here, the Emperor and the Empress turned their attention towards Amanda. This… situation is just…
A royal heir?
This could solidify the crown prince's position!
However, instead of being happy, this only angered the emperor. A royal heir is not something that anyone could just talk about publicly! Why would the crown prince reveal such details right now? Everyone inside this room knew that it was because of the engagement.
Mo Li's engagement threatened the position of the crown prince and an heir could change this!
Rhea snorted. What a weird man. Rhea could sense that Amanda was not pregnant at all. What was this crown prince planning? Isn't that too stupid? Rhea sighed. "Amanda's pregnancy is great news!" She faked a smile before she looked at Mo Li. "Since everyone seemed to agree with my engagement, his highness will immediately start the preparation. The wedding will happen in three days in the Larsen estate."
Again, another gasp echoed.
The attention was once again on them.
What does she mean by everyone agreed? Clearly, the Larsen's doesn't agree about this matter! Even the church would oppose such marriage!
"Ah, everyone is so surprised. Would you like the wedding to happen in the palace instead?"
Provocation has always been Lily's forte. To make the Larsen Family significant, she chose to do her wedding in that place! After all, one of her mission states that she needed to create a palace in the lands of the Larsens. How tiring.
A palace sounds like a lot of hard work. However, Rhea was already planning to ask Mo Li to assign some of his trusted knights for this project while she finished her other task. While thinking about this matter, Mo Li bowed at the Emperor and informed him that he will discuss some matters with him personally.
He took advantage of the chaos and took Rhea to the King's study while the empress was asking the doctors to examine the future consort. Rhea, on the other hand, gave Bishop Atlas a lopsided grin as she followed the king towards his study.
