Ch.224Chapter 224 – What a Monarch Needs is Tolerance

Embryo XII sat in a position where he could face Pathos and Cheonhyeryeong.

He realized what he had done wrong.

‘This is a disaster. I shouldn’t have said that hair loss is a natural order of things to defeat that man…’

Indeed, the root of the problem was that he had asked with his own mouth whether hair loss was natural.

If hair loss were truly natural, people wouldn’t be desperately searching for all kinds of treatments.

However, Embryo XII himself had been born with abundant hair, and neither he nor any of his family members had ever experienced hair loss.

In fact, except for the thinning of hair due to aging or temporary alopecia areata caused by stress, they had never shown any symptoms of hair loss.

The only time hair loss progressed was when the body had aged to the point of being near death.

As a result, in the Tilasio royal family, hair loss was considered a natural phenomenon.

Hair loss was something that naturally occurred with age, and until then, it was expected that one’s hair would not fall out regardless of what methods were used.

That’s why Embryo XII found it strange that his people perceived hair loss as a disease and tried to cure it.

In that sense, he had asked Pathos whether hair loss was a natural phenomenon.

At least for him and his family, hair loss was a natural phenomenon that came with aging.

“Your Majesty. Countless people in this world rely on all sorts of folk remedies to cure their hair loss. How do you think they would react if they heard Your Majesty say that ‘hair loss is a natural phenomenon’?”

Embryo XII could not say anything in response to Pathos’s words.

What if he went outside and spread word of what he had said?

‘The king said hair loss is a natural phenomenon?’

‘How is hair loss natural! Someone who doesn’t understand our feelings cannot rule over us!’

‘Oh, no!’

Embryo XII stopped thinking about it.

He could clearly see the future of the Tilasio Kingdom collapsing miserably due to large-scale protests and uprisings by people who couldn’t accept that hair loss was a natural phenomenon.

“Ahem, ahem. It seems I have spoken too rashly.”

“I’m glad you understand.”

Embryo XII sighed and pondered what to say next.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“Shouldn’t I return to the Empire and prepare for the war against the Demon Cult?”

“I see… Very well. You may leave.”

After Embryo XII dismissed him, Pathos rose from his seat, paid his respects, and left the palace.

As he exited the palace and tried to get a carriage to return, something unexpected happened.

“I-I’m sorry. A sudden requisition order for carriages has been issued, so you cannot use any carriages.”

Due to the sudden requisition order, not a single carriage was available.

Seeing this sudden carriage requisition order, Pathos and Cheonhyeryeong had the same thought.

Carriages were a comfortable means of transportation between cities, so why issue a sudden requisition order?

‘Ah, this man… he’s being petty because things didn’t go his way.’

If Pathos and Cheonhyeryeong had been ordinary people, they would have found horses to travel, but…

“Can we use the Celestial Horse Dimensional Step to move directly to the Academy?”

“What would be impossible for me? Come into my arms.”

Pathos had a reliable ally in the Celestial Horse.

Cheonhyeryeong held Pathos in a princess carry and prepared the Celestial Horse Dimensional Step.

Before leaving the Tilasio Kingdom, she glared at the royal palace with fierce eyes.

“Then, let us depart.”

But that was brief. Cheonhyeryeong, carrying Pathos, took a step, and the moment her foot touched the ground, the surrounding scenery changed instantly.

“We have arrived.”

Cheonhyeryeong had transported them from the capital of the Tilasio Kingdom to the Glesius Academy in just one step while carrying Pathos.

Pathos got down from Cheonhyeryeong’s arms, but as he was about to return to his quarters, Cheonhyeryeong stopped him.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I have somewhere to visit briefly. Would you mind returning to your quarters first?”

“Um… alright, then.”

Pathos nodded when Cheonhyeryeong said she needed to go somewhere.

With Pathos’s permission, Cheonhyeryeong smiled brightly, said she would be back, and cast the Celestial Horse Dimensional Step.

And the place she headed to was…

“King of the Tilasio Kingdom.”

The royal palace of the Tilasio Kingdom.

“Hmm? Aren’t you Count Pathos Severio’s fiancée?”

Embryo XII expressed his confusion when Cheonhyeryeong appeared before him.

How could someone who had left the palace suddenly appear?

“That is correct. And I am a Celestial Horse.”

“Celestial… Horse?”

Cheonhyeryeong revealed her identity, but Embryo XII seemed not to understand what she meant.

This was understandable, as the Tilasio Kingdom led by Embryo XII had no communication channels with the Eastern Continent.

Unless a country focused on trade, most nations prioritized trade with the Gelebrio Empire rather than the Eastern Continent.

This was because the Gelebrio Empire had been trading with the Eastern Continent for a long time.

Moreover, it was cheaper to obtain spices through merchants working in the Gelebrio Empire than to send their own ships.

This was due to the Gelebrio Empire’s policy of maintaining its hegemony by sharing the profits gained from trade with the Eastern Continent with other countries.

As a result, Embryo XII, the king of the Tilasio Kingdom, had almost no information about the Eastern Continent.

Since merchants from the Tilasio Kingdom did not travel to the Eastern Continent, there was no way to gather news from there.

“What is a Celestial Horse?”

“The Celestial Horse’s return brings ten thousand demons to submission. I am the pinnacle of demons who make the heavens kneel.”

Cheonhyeryeong proudly explained who she was, but Embryo XII showed a truly bewildered reaction.

He genuinely did not know who the Celestial Horse was.

“You’re a madwoman. Royal Guards! Drag this insane woman away! And throw her in prison!”

Embryo XII called for his royal guards, referring to Cheonhyeryeong as a madwoman.

However, for some reason, the royal guards did not appear even as time passed.

“Royal Guards! Royal Guards!”

“Calling for the royal guards is futile. I have already taken care of them.”

The royal guards that Embryo XII was calling for had already fainted from the killing intent released by Cheonhyeryeong.

“Damn it! I don’t know why you dare to appear before me, but there is a very powerful swordsman staying in this palace! When he appears, you’ll be finished!”

“Heh. A powerful swordsman? Do you mean that old man?”

As Cheonhyeryeong extended her hand, the wall shattered, and the captain of the Tilasio Kingdom’s royal guards, with his limbs crushed, flew into her hand.

“The, the captain of the royal guards?”

“Y-Your Majesty… run away…”

The captain of the royal guards, who had reached the level of Sword Master, was Embryo XII’s pride.

How proud he must have been to have a Sword Master, rare even in the Empire, as his subordinate.

However, now Embryo XII’s pride, the captain of the royal guards, was being held in Cheonhyeryeong’s hand with his limbs shattered.

Only then did Embryo XII realize how powerful the woman standing before him was.

“W-what do you want?”

Embryo XII looked at Cheonhyeryeong and asked what she wanted from him.

“A ruler of a country should have the generosity to show mercy to others even when things don’t go according to their wishes, but I see no such attitude in you.”

“What?”

“A carriage requisition order. Did you want to obstruct my husband and me with such a thing? How amusing.”

Embryo XII broke into a cold sweat at Cheonhyeryeong’s words.

It was true that he had issued the carriage requisition order out of spite because things hadn’t gone his way, but…

‘I never expected someone to come directly and protest about it.’

No matter how high the status of an imperial noble, they couldn’t outrank a country’s monarch.

So even if the Empire lodged a complaint, he had created an escape route by saying, “There was an urgent matter in the country, so I issued a carriage requisition order”…

This was the first time someone had come directly to confront him about being petty with the carriage requisition order.

“Umm…”

“Just because things don’t go your way doesn’t mean you can mistreat guests from another country. Moreover, weren’t you trying to use my husband’s abilities for your own greed?”

“!”

The moment Embryo XII looked into Cheonhyeryeong’s eyes, he felt as if his entire body was being stripped bare.

“Why, are you surprised? My divine eyes see through your innermost thoughts clearly.”

“…”

Cheonhyeryeong removed her smile and released her killing intent.

“Remember this. If any harm comes to my husband because of this incident… I will make you and everyone living in your country pay the price.”

“Huk!”

Cheonhyeryeong’s words, accompanied by her killing intent, were deeply engraved in Embryo XII’s mind.

After Embryo XII fainted from the killing intent, Cheonhyeryeong finally smiled and left the palace.

Afterward, it is said that Embryo XII, once he regained consciousness, never even turned his head in the direction of the Gelebrio Empire until the day he died.