The Violet Lightning Empress Dons Golden Armor and Dotes on Her Sole Servant - The Empress's Coronation

Fine stone dust continued to drift down from the collapsed ceiling. Red flames still burned in the distance. Smoke poured in from beyond the broken pillars. And yet, the throne room was silent. As if this place alone had been cut away from the rest of the world. Victoria Valentine stood at the center of that silence. Her golden bikini reflected the firelight, making her skin appear to burn. Her long golden hair, reaching to her waist, was partially singed from the heat of battle—straight strands and curled ones now mixed irregularly. In her violet eyes, flashes of gold like lightning occasionally raced. Her bare feet pressed firmly against the shattered marble floor. "This is the end." Her voice was low, yet it carried clearly. At the far end of the throne room, beneath a crumbling canopy, a man wearing a crown trembled. Werner III, King of the Ardaav Kingdom. Fifty-five years old. Frail, and a man whose real power had been seized by the First Prince. His face was pale, his lips turning purple. His fingers dug into the armrests of the throne. Before the throne, four men sat huddled together as if clinging to one another. The Four Grand Dukes. The men who were supposed to hold the greatest power in this land. But now, there was no trace of their former authority. Their clothes were disheveled, their hair unkempt, and every one of them stared at the floor, simply trembling. Victoria slowly surveyed them. (*Ah. How long I have waited for this sight.*) Something deep in her chest grew warm. This was the place she had finally reached at the end of her revenge. For this moment, she had chosen to cast aside her humanity. Half a step behind her stood Kuro. His short black hair was disheveled, and the bangs falling over his sharp eyes cast shadows in the firelight. In place of the silver earring in his left ear, a golden hair ornament swayed. He gazed silently at Victoria's back. Victoria quietly extended her right hand. "Kuro. The documents." "At your command." Kuro drew a folded bundle of papers from his chest. Evidence that the underworld's information network had spent weeks gathering. He stepped forward and placed it in Victoria's hand. His fingertips brushed against her palm for just an instant. Their warmth touched. That alone made Kuro's chest tremble. He alone stood beside this empress. That fact filled his heart with both joy and terror. Victoria spread open the bundle of documents. The rustle of paper echoed unnaturally loud in the hushed throne room. "Well then, shall we begin?" Her voice was cold, and yet somehow delighted. "First, Duke Olcott. And Duke Kariyaan." The two men whose names were called flinched. "Over the past seven years, both ducal houses have recorded illicit profits totaling approximately eight million rain in the kingdom's military supply procurement. During wartime, you secretly resold medicine and provisions—meant for the front lines—to enemy nations via Estrada. The estimated death toll from this corruption numbers at least in the thousands." Duke Olcott raised his head. "N-no...! That's... that's nonsense...!" "Then please, take a look at this." Victoria pinched a single sheet of paper between her fingers. On it were detailed maps of smuggling routes and densely written sworn testimonies from witnesses. "This is a bribe receipt addressed to Herman Drake, the customs commissioner of Estrada, written by your most trusted confidant. Handwriting analysis has already been completed. I commissioned an appraiser in the underground district. Ah, you weren't aware? Also, the matter of you torturing and killing a beastkin woman captured in your territory for your own amusement. The witness is here, very much alive." Duke Olcott's face grew even paler. "Next, Duke Grayson." The man whose name was called pressed his hands against the floor. "Ah, no, I...!" "For you, three charges. The murder of prostitutes. Funding illegal gambling. And the crime of slaughtering the peasant uprising in your own territory using your private soldiers. There is more, but let us leave it at that for now." Victoria dropped the documents one by one onto the floor. The papers fluttered down, scattering at the feet of the four dukes. "What exactly have you people been supporting in this country? You defiled and trampled the souls of the soldiers who died on the battlefield, and yet you had the nerve to keep living without a care. On the battlefield, every time you lined your own pockets, I watched my subordinates die before my eyes. Do you remember their dying faces? You converted their deaths into gold." Her voice, quiet yet sharp, sliced through the air. The four dukes could no longer even lift their heads. At that moment, a voice close to a scream rose from the throne. "V-Victoria Valentine...! My daughter...! Please, please, have mercy...! I knew nothing...! It was all Leonhart, acting alone...!" Victoria's gaze slowly turned toward the king. "You knew nothing, you say?" Her lips twisted into the shape of a smile. "You simply watched. Watched your son do whatever he pleased—to my father and mother, to the wounds I suffered on the battlefield, to the people. No—you knew, and you averted your eyes. Do you have any idea how much blood your silence has produced? A king, claiming to know nothing? Don't make me laugh." Werner III let out a strangled sound from his throat. "A-are you going to kill me...?" Victoria did not answer. She simply took a step toward the throne. Her bare feet pressed against the cold marble. One step, then another. Her footsteps beat out a rhythm of despair. "These were my father's last words." She stopped, and drew a deep breath. "Victoria, listen well. My daughter is a hero. But heroes are eventually used by others. Do not trust the king. Protect only those you believe in." Her voice did not tremble. No—she was suppressing the trembling through sheer force of will. To let her parents' words resound in this place—that, to her, was the greatest mourning of all. "He was right. My father trusted the king, and he was killed. So I decided to protect only those I believe in." She turned and looked at Kuro. Kuro's black eyes met her violet gaze directly. (*My lady.*) His chest burned. For this person, he had lived until this day. To stand beside her. Victoria turned back to face the king. "Werner III. Your royal house ends today. I will devour this country whole." The moment he heard those words, the strength drained from the king's body. He rose from the throne, slumping as if collapsing. With trembling hands, he lifted the heavy crown. It came off his head easily. Weeping, Werner III staggered down the steps of the throne. The dukes held their breath, watching. The king approached Victoria and held out the crown with both hands. "T-take this... take it... do as you wish with this country...! So please, just spare my life...!" The king's tears fell to the floor. Victoria extended her right hand. Her fingertips touched the crown. Cold. Heavy. The symbol of the Ardaav royal house, passed down for three hundred years. She lifted it effortlessly with one hand. "Your life has no value. I will neither spare you nor kill you. From today, you are no one. Erase your name from this country." Werner III collapsed on the spot. Victoria extended her left hand to Kuro. "Kuro. Come." Kuro hesitated for a moment. But she did not permit that moment. Her violet eyes fixed on him, hard. Waiting. Eyes that said: I won't let you escape. Kuro took a step forward. Then he placed his right hand over her left. Her fingers entwined tightly with his. Side by side, they walked toward the throne. They climbed the steps, one by one. The throne room reduced to rubble. Smoke flowed in, and firelight illuminated the two of them. (*I'm with my lady...*) Kuro's heart pounded painfully. The two of them stood before the throne. Victoria slowly placed the crown upon her own head. It seemed to fit far better than it had on the previous king's head. Catching the firelight, the crown gleamed brilliantly. The Violet Lightning Empress. No—from today, that was no longer the case. Victoria gazed beyond the collapsed outer wall visible from the throne room. Below the royal castle, the city sprawled with sparks dancing in the air. Countless figures could be seen around the castle walls. The masses. Over the past few hours, thousands had gathered before the royal castle. They looked up at the ruined castle, and someone was shouting something. That voice rode the wind and reached the throne room. "Empress...!" "It's the Violet Lightning Empress!" "The king has fallen! Long live the Empress!" Long live, long live. It spread through the crowd like a wave. Someone shouted, it chained, and before long it became a thunderous chorus. "Long live the Empress! Long live the Empress!" These were the same people who had once betrayed Victoria. Now they sent their fervent voices to the new ruler. Victoria listened to those voices in silence. (*...Ah. How shameless.*) Something cold flowed through her chest. Her revenge was complete. But this was not the ending she had wished for. The people, with the same mouths that cheered heroes, betrayed heroes—and now they praised a new hero once more. Their cheers were nothing but flattery directed at power. (*Perhaps this is what it means to devour this country.*) Rule could only be built upon such hollow cheers. Kuro's hand squeezed hers back, a little tighter. Victoria, still gazing outward, opened her mouth. "Kuro." "Yes." "You are my one and only consort." That voice, amid the fervor of the crowd, reached Kuro's ears alone with perfect clarity. Kuro's breath stopped for an instant. She turned to face him. Then, from her chest, she produced something small and silver. A silver earring. The keepsake of Kuro's late mother—the one that had been torn off by Felnak that day. The one Victoria had kept in her pocket ever since, wiping away the scent of blood, polishing it to a shine. She reached her left hand toward Kuro's ear. "I'll return this to your ear. With my own hands." Kuro stared at her face, stunned. "My lady..." "Don't move." Her fingertips touched his left earlobe. Those hands—the hands of a hero who had led thousands of soldiers on the battlefield. The hands of an empress who had dyed the underworld in blood. But now, the fingers touching Kuro trembled faintly. She pierced the silver earring into his ear. Gently, carefully. The silver gleam sparkled at Kuro's ear. "It's back." Victoria smiled softly, like a young girl. Tears welled up in Kuro's black eyes. "My lady... I..." Her lips sealed his words. Victoria wrapped her hand around the back of Kuro's head and, of her own accord, pressed her lips deeply against his. The cheers of the masses echoed again and again in the distance. Sparks of flame rode the wind into the throne room. Before the ruined throne, the two shared a long, long kiss. (*My lady... I am yours...*) Kuro closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. She slowly pulled away from his lips and, at that close distance, whispered: "With this, you are mine. I won't hand you over to anyone. My Kuro, and mine alone. The single human love of the empress who devoured this country." Kuro wrapped his arms around her back. "Y-yes... my lady. I am yours. From the very beginning, I always have been." With a trembling voice, he pressed his forehead against her skin. The golden bikini glistened, wet with his tears. That burning skin. Skin he knew to be hard as steel. But the place his forehead touched was, unmistakably, warm and soft. The cheers of the masses reached their peak. "Glory to the newborn Valmheit Empire!" Someone shouted. It was a voice that came from the direction of the old Valentine territory, south of the royal capital. (*Ah.*) The night wind blew against Victoria's back. The

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Episode 7

Name: The Violet Lightning Empress Dons Golden Armor and Dotes on Her Sole Servant
Author: Novelia

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