Helios Orb Chronicle – Chapter 582

Side Athena

Today, we have been invited to the wedding reception of Emperor Folias, which will be held in the grand hall of the Dragon King’s Castle.

Emperor Folias is already married to Princess Heldinna, but there are no other Dragon King’s Consorts besides her.
For this reason, or perhaps not, Emperor Folias performed marriage ceremonies with three other women at the Valentia Headquarters of the Priests’ Guild, and will hold the reception after returning to the Dragon King’s Castle.
The women married are my twin sister, Iris Willness Silver, Countess Lavigne Melusine, and Remy, an receptionist at Headquarters of the Hunter’s Guild and a friend of Lydia and Ludia. They will be the second, third, and fourth Dragon King’s Consorts, in that order.

The formal attire for noblewomen in Valentia involves wrapping a cloth nearly five meters long around a slender dress and draping it over the shoulder opposite the dominant arm.
I believe guests call this attire a “sari dress.”

However, the four Dragon King’s Consorts who entered with Emperor Folias are covered on both shoulders with cloth.
The Dragon King’s Family’s sari dress is nearly eight meters long, allowing it to cover both shoulders rather than just one. This is used to distinguish them from nobles and commoners as a characteristic of the Royal Family, as I was later told.
Also, the color of the dresses is based on the dragon race’s attributes. Princess Heldinna, the Wind Dragon, is green; Iris, the Silver Dragonian and also an Ice Dragon, is silver; Princess Lavigne, the Ice Dragon, is white; and Princess Remy, the Earth Dragon, is yellow-based.

This time, we are also invited as nobles. Yamato, Mana, and Sir Yuri are there as heads of the Three Houses, and Prim is attending as a representative of pregnant Emperor Neige. Lydia and Ludia are invited as friends of two of the brides.
Since I am the bride’s older sister, I have also become the representative wife of Yamato on this occasion.
Everyone else is absent due to pregnancy or work, but I felt a little envious.
The dress I am wearing is a “Wa-dress” that we wore at our own wedding reception, but it has been altered with some arrangements.
I could have had a new one made, but I was running short on Royal Silk Cloth, so this time it’s just been altered. I decided to have a new one made when I get more.

“We are deeply grateful for your presence at our wedding reception amidst your busy schedules. It is thanks to the support of everyone, including His Majesty the Celestial Emperor, that we are able to celebrate this joyous day. I pledge here that, along with Heldinna, who has become the First Dragon King’s Consort, and the newly appointed Dragon King’s Consorts Iris, Lavigne, and Remy, we will work to invigorate this country and contribute to the further development of the Amister-Philias Federation Heavenly Empire.”

The four Dragon King’s Consorts lined up beside Emperor Folias, and the address began.
These kinds of speeches are usually very long, but I started a trend of shorter speeches at our reception, so Emperor Folias briefly summarized his address and vows before immediately proposing a toast.

“Now, to the continued success and development of everyone, a toast!”
“““Cheers!”””

The toast is over, and from now on, it’s a night of revelry.
However, a minimum level of etiquette is still necessary.
I heard that the nobles present are fine, but many nobles in Valentia are particularly fussy about such etiquette.
Well, most of those nobles are fools who misunderstand their position, and most of them were arrested yesterday.
Oh, right. I wanted to ask Iris something and tell her something.
The toast is over, so I should be able to go now, right?

“Hey Yamato, is it okay to go to Iris now?”
“No, they are currently directly congratulating Emperor Folias and the others, so it’s not possible until that’s over. There are many people from the Royal Family and other nobles, so I don’t think it will be over in an hour.”
Ugh, it’s going to take that long?
But we also have to go to greet them later, so if I think about it, that’s natural.
Well, I don’t have anywhere else to be urgently, so it’s fine to go after, I guess.

“I see. Then I’ll go after it’s over.”
“You mean what happened yesterday? I wanted to hear about it too, so let’s go together when it’s over.”
“Yeah!”
It might be even better if Yamato comes with me.
Well, there are various dishes laid out, so I’ll eat a lot until then.
What? Nobles are coming to greet us too?
Do we have to go greet the Royal Family?
Mom and the others are here too, so I have to go greet them as well.
It’s not me who should be going, but Prim or Mana, but… Today, I’m the representative wife of Yamato, so I have to go, don’t I?
It’s going to be tough, but it can’t be helped.
Well then, I’ll hurry and greet them so I can secure time to eat!

Side Mana

The reception ended safely, and I accompanied Yamato and Athena to the Royal Family’s private salon.

The Dragon King’s Castle is built on a vast site and is a five-story building.
The first floor houses several large and small halls and the Dragoner’s Guild. The second and third floors are for administrative departments and facilities. The fourth floor has the Audience Chamber and guest reception rooms. The top floor, the fifth floor, is the private area of the Dragon King’s Family.
There is also a separate palace on a small island in Lake Wilm Lake, where they often spend their holidays.

The salon we were guided to this time is on the fifth floor lobby. Emperor Folias, Princess Heldinna, Princess Iris, as well as my brother and sister-in-law Ciel, were already invited and seemed to be waiting for us.
Oh, sister-in-law Elis and sister-in-law Maruca are absent this time.
I heard that sister-in-law Ciel has little experience in such events, so she was entrusted with gaining some.
Honestly, she just dumped it on me because it was too much trouble.

“Hmm? Prim doesn’t seem to be here?”
“She went home earlier. Tsubaki is starting to speak a few words, and next month is the Ceremony of Heaven’s Succession, so she went to prepare for that.”
“Ah, is it that time already?”

Tsubaki, whom Prim gave birth to, and Mizuki, whom Flam gave birth to, will celebrate their first birthday next month and undergo the Ceremony of Heaven’s Succession.
Tsubaki is technically the next in line for the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House, but succession rights have not yet arisen, so she is still a candidate. Furthermore, Tsubaki is also to be granted succession rights to the Vald Beast Duke position, which is causing various complications.
Currently, the nobles of Valt are interfering with the decision of where to hold the Ceremony of Heaven’s Succession, which is taking up a lot of time.

“That must be troublesome, but what has Emperor Neige said?”
“He… said to do as I think best. His Majesty is currently pregnant, so if there are no particular issues, the child will inherit the Beast Duke title. However, if something were to happen to that child, I don’t know what will happen to Valt, so we can’t let Tsubaki lose her succession rights.”
“That’s understandable. However, the interference from the nobles is also a concern for me. If it gets too bad, could you inform me here?”
“Thank you for your concern.”

Even Emperor Neige, who is pregnant, has been advising us, but we can’t burden him too much, so Prim is currently handling everything.
Many of the nobles who interfere are trying to gain control of Valt in the future, but there are also some who are genuinely expressing their opinions considering Prim’s position as a Beast Duke’s daughter.
However, Tsubaki is the strongest candidate for the next Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble, and the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House is one of the Three Houses with succession rights to the Celestial Emperor’s throne, making it difficult to hold the Ceremony of Heaven’s Succession in Valt.
Yamato and Prim think so, and Emperor Neige secretly thinks so too, but there are many opinions for holding it in Valt.
They probably think that Valt will be favored if Tsubaki, who had the Ceremony of Heaven’s Succession in Valt, ascends to the throne as Celestial Emperor.
Indeed, there are several nobles who think like that.
However, Tsubaki is also my brother’s niece by blood, and a successor candidate for the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House, so he has sufficient reason to speak up.
Therefore, if my brother speaks up, the nobles of Valt will have no choice but to remain silent.
It’s not good to be too obvious, but since she’s his niece, a few things won’t be a problem.

“And about the story of Iris being targeted, Your Majesty?”
“Regarding that story, it will be a bit long, but would that be alright?”
“Please proceed.”
With that, Athena prompted me to get to the main point. The main point is about the nobles who tried to take the life of Princess Iris, the second Dragon King’s Consort and Athena’s twin sister.

The perpetrators, accomplices, and masterminds were all Eastern nobles of Valentia. They began to stir three years ago, after Duke Narshstadt Nizhegg was disgraced by Yamato.
Narshstadt was executed for treason along with his entire family for colluding with Abaricia. That man desired the throne of the Dragon King and once poisoned Princess Heldinna, whom Emperor Folias married immediately upon his enthronement.
It is said that they couldn’t reach Narshstadt at the time, but suspicion was always present. Eventually, nobles loyal to Narshstadt were framed for all the crimes and were demoted and executed.
However, with the disappearance of Narshstadt, the Eastern nobles of Valentia were greatly weakened. Furthermore, with the establishment of the Amister-Philias Federation Heavenly Empire, it is no exaggeration to say they lost all their power.

Panicked by this, the Eastern nobles rallied dragon knights who were rejected from Dragoner registration and hunters with poor conduct. While outwardly obeying the Dragon King’s Family, they were secretly building up their forces for rebellion.
They were suppressed by the Dragoner’s Guild several times, but it seems those were decoys.
Furthermore, they aimed to regain their power by having their daughters and younger sisters become Dragon King’s Consorts.
The obstacles to this were the current Dragon King’s Consort and her fiancées. Princess Heldinna, the First Dragon King’s Consort, was no longer able to bear children, so she was not a threat. Princess Remy, being of commoner origin, was not expected to rebel against nobles like themselves.
The remaining targets were Princess Iris and Princess Lavigne. Princess Iris is the daughter of the Holy Mother Dragon Gaia, and Princess Lavigne is the daughter of Count Melusine, a Western noble family, so it was not easy to lay a hand on them.
However, when the news of Princess Iris’s pregnancy spread, Princess Iris became the higher priority target for an attack.

“I had heard up to that point, but the thought that they considered Princess Remy, being of commoner origin, to be easily manipulated is irredeemably foolish.”
“I agree. Regardless of their origin, a queen of a country ranks higher than nobles. Moreover, she is also a hunter, so she would easily defeat anyone with less than sufficient skill.”
“I completely agree, but that is precisely what the Eastern nobles of our country took for granted.”

Emperor Folias condemned them as a disgrace to his own country, and I can only agree.
It is true that the influence of nobles in Valentia was strong, and many nobles disrespected Emperor Folias. However, with the establishment of the Federation Heavenly Empire, their influence, including that of the Western nobles, has been curtailed.
The Western nobles had always revered the Dragon King’s Family, so this did not cause any significant damage and thus no problems arose. However, it dealt a severe blow to the Eastern nobles who had relied on their power, and I heard that some families have fallen into ruin.
That is why they plotted to regain their influence by producing Dragon King’s Consorts, but they ultimately failed to realize that this act would be their own undoing.

“Since Iris is a Dragonian, they probably didn’t expect her to conceive easily either, which is likely another reason for their haste. After all, at that time, Lavigne was more of a threat than Iris.”

Well, that’s likely true.
After all, Princess Iris lived in the Crystal Palace in Mount Willness until she evolved into a Hydragonian, so it was not easy to attack her.
However, the situation changed when Princess Iris evolved into a Hydragonian and, furthermore, became pregnant.
This is likely why they rushed to poison her. However, being a High Class dragon, the poison was ineffective. Instead, it allowed them to identify those involved, which led to the large-scale arrests yesterday. It was essentially self-destruction.

“However, as a result, only two noble families remain from the East, so handling the aftermath will be quite challenging.”
“Eh? Only two families remain?”
“Yes, they seem to have staked their future on the recent attack and assassination plot. As for the remaining two families, they simply didn’t participate out of fear, so they will likely have their territories confiscated, even if they are not demoted.”

The Eastern nobles were truly wiped out.
However, they were a group that brought nothing but harm, so it is probably a good thing for Valentia.
Although the cleanup will be incredibly difficult, Emperor Folias does not seem to be in despair, so the day when Valentia’s problems are resolved may not be far off.
Until then, they will likely work to resolve the situation with the cooperation of the Uroboros Ducal House, whose head married Emperor Folias’s elder brother and owns territory in the East, the Lindworm Ducal House, Princess Heldinna’s family, and the Melusine Ducal House, Princess Lavigne’s family.
There is little we can do regarding Valentia, but I sincerely hope for a swift resolution.