After a few long minutes—

Step Step Step

"…" Caesar's brows drew together ever so slightly as he watched Renara stride into the grand hall.

It had been no more than a handful of hours since she stood on the blood-soaked soil of planet Azakra, raising high the severed head of a planetary emperor, her voice echoing across the stars as she declared war.

Now, astonishingly, she was here before him, unshaken, wearing the same battle-forged garments crafted for combat, the same gleaming white crown symbolizing her dominion, the same expression carved with pride and defiance, the same uncompromising, iron gaze that could cut through steel.

Her footsteps rang clearly against the polished floor as she crossed the massive chamber. With deliberate poise, she halted before the chair that faced Caesar. Her attention flicked to the towering wall where a projection replayed the recording of the military parade, its images still pulsing with fire and fury. Without hesitation, she seated herself gracefully, her voice calm yet sharp as a blade.

"It seems I don't need to speak too much. As always, the Shadow Swords fulfilled their duty."

This time, however, her demeanor was nothing like before. She crossed one long leg over the other, leaned slightly back, and rested her hands firmly on the armrests of the chair, but with the commanding authority of a ruler who had come to negotiate on equal terms, if not higher.

"…" Caesar caught the shift instantly. A faint smile tugged at his lips as if amused by her boldness. Then he turned his gaze to lock with hers directly, his tone edged with irony.

"You're right—there's no need for words. I already watched you commit political suicide, live, in both sound and image."

"Oh?" Renara's smile deepened, her eyes narrowing with amusement. "So you think the same as well? That's exactly what the Five Hall Leaders told me."

"Of course they did. It's the simplest truth," Caesar said with a dry chuckle. "You've severed every road to escape. Before today, your troubles were merely internal disputes with the Twilight Spectrum Empire, and some border skirmishes with the surrounding powers. But now? Now you've painted yourself as the villain of this starfield. Everyone will rally to crush you."

"But they will not succeed." Renara's gaze drifted away for a moment, as though she were already peering into the future. Her voice was low but unwavering. "I am strong, and they all know it."

"I would never deny that." Caesar nodded gravely. "You've proven your strength before the eyes of countless powers more than once. Yet strength alone will not shield you. They do not hunger for your life— they hunger for what you possess. They want what remains of your empire. They want the vault hidden deep within Azakra." His hand lifted, pointing toward her like a judge delivering a verdict.

"And these treasures are not something you can slip into your pocket while clashing with legions on every side."

Renara gave a slow nod, lips curving into a subtle smile. "And so… the solution?" she asked, her tone laced with provocation.

"Of course you need to find a protector to-- …?!" Caesar's expression hardened, his brows knitting into a sharp line. "You already know the solution, don't you? That's why you came here!" He suddenly froze, realization dawning, and his voice rose in disbelief. "No. No, absolutely not!"

"What is wrong with it?" Renara leaned further back into her chair, her posture radiating calm dominance. "Surely you're prepared?"

"Prepared?!" Caesar slammed his palms against the armrest of his throne as he surged to his feet, his voice thundering like a storm. "Are you joking with me? You march across the starfield, enraging every great force, and then expect me to stand in the line of fire for you?!"

"And why shouldn't you?" Renara lifted her shoulders in an almost careless shrug, as if his outrage barely touched her. "The Cradle Empire already battles half the starfield's powers—and triumphs. What is the harm if you face the other half as well?"

"Renara!!" Caesar's roar cracked through the chamber like thunder, shaking the silence around them. "I know full well that one of your Nine Paths is Seduction, but if you think that path works on me, then you are truly delusional!"

"Renara—without titles?" she teased, her chin rising higher, her smile lingering like a knife's edge. "Very well. But tell me, why claim I'm trying to seduce you? I haven't even begun to act yet."

"That is the only explanation for this insanity!" Caesar's arm shot outward, finger stabbing the air toward her. "Do you honestly think you can just walk into my hall, demand my protection, and pile twice the weight already crushing me? If I stand with you, I won't just be burdened, I'll be branded the one who shields a demonic power!"

His hand sliced violently through the air. "I don't care what treasures you're dangling before me, and I don't care about the vault in Azakra. The Nine Paths Empire has no ties to us! The best I can offer you is a promise—that we will not join the alliance rising to tear you apart!"

"…But you wouldn't be protecting a demonic power," Renara replied smoothly, her tone calm, measured, and yet cutting like cold steel. "You would be protecting yourself."

"…What do you mean by that?" Caesar's brows furrowed again, confusion sharpening into suspicion.

"....."

Renara held her silence for almost a full minute, her fists tightening so harshly that her knuckles whitened, the veins in her hands straining as if they might burst. It was as though she were crushing all the weight of three decades into her palms.

At last, with a sharp breath, she lifted her trembling hands, pulled off the radiant white crown — the symbol of her throne, her heritage, her burden — and hurled it toward Caesar. The crown spun through the air with a flash before landing in his grasp.

"The Nine Paths Empire," she declared, her voice cold and resolute, "no longer exists."

"Hah?!" Caesar's features twisted in shock, his composure shattered. Even as the crown rested heavily in his hand, his mind seemed disconnected from the moment, as though reality itself had slipped beyond his reach.

"...That day," Renara continued, her gaze shifting away into the distance, "after you revealed the truth to me — the truth of what had been happening behind my back — I left this very hall and withdrew from the world. I spent nearly a year in seclusion, burying myself in thought, searching endlessly for a path forward, a way to preserve what remained of my empire, a way to shield its name and hold it together. But no matter how many times I turned it over in my mind, I found nothing."

She let out a faint, bitter breath. "...Perhaps the only path was to rally the five Hall Masters to my side, to forge a hidden faction, to press quietly against the other four elders and against my sister — never revealing to the public what I had learned from you. Perhaps, if I had succeeded in such a dangerous balance of secrecy and manipulation, the empire might have remained intact, its reputation spared. Perhaps then the illusion could have survived."

Her eyes hardened, her voice turning low. "But those four corrupted elders… their strength was overwhelming. Nearly all of the empire's lifeblood and authority was already clenched within their fists. And my sister — she stood with them, they raised her and she upheld them in return. If I had chosen to begin that game of daggers in the shadows, it would have been my ruin. I would have lost everything before the first blow was struck."

A humorless, self-mocking smile curved her lips. "I know my own limits well, Caesar. When it comes to politics, to schemes woven in silence, to the arts of subtlety and manipulation... I am not made for that world."

"So your answer was to tear it all down?" Caesar's brow furrowed sharply, his voice carrying both disbelief and sorrow.

"Everything was already collapsing," Renara replied, her tone steady, almost mournful. "The corruption had seeped into the empire's heart and spread like a rot, choking its veins. That truth was laid bare when I seized the first Hall Master and forced her to speak. She confessed everything — that they had orchestrated my father's death. Tell me, Caesar... what was left of the empire worth saving after that revelation?"

Caesar exhaled slowly, his words emerging heavy with gravity. "So that is your answer... From that day until now, nearly thirty years have slipped by. When you told me you may join us one day, but only on your own terms — is this what you meant? This ruin? This deliberate collapse?!"

Renara's smile returned, thin and cutting, almost cruel to herself. "Is it not to your advantage? If I had listened to you back then, if I had accepted your offer, the Nine Paths Empire would have lingered as a shadow — intact in appearance only. I would have been a puppet dressed in imperial robes, a planetary empress in name but nothing more." She spread her hands wide, as though releasing the ashes of something long burned away. "But now I am ready to dissolve it all. There will be no pretenses, no hollow throne, no Nine Paths Empire left to shackle me. We will join you completely, with nothing held back. After today, the Nine Paths Empire will cease to exist in every sense."

"I... I cannot understand..." Caesar shook his head slowly, confusion written deep across his face. His arm extended toward the great wall where the recording of the declaration still burned like a scar. "You just stood before the stars and proclaimed war upon your enemies. You declared with fire and steel that you would rebuild the empire and reclaim what was rightfully yours!!"

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