In the Name of Empress-Chapter 424 - 296: Everyone Is a Shipper
Some rejoice while others fret.
Upon learning that Roland proposed to the Empress, it was naturally a time of celebration throughout the Sussex Empire.
As the Empress reached adulthood and took the throne, her marriage gradually became the focus of public attention.
Marriages of the Imperial Family and high-ranking officials often have nothing to do with love, but are tied to politics.
As political figures, separating emotion from interest is a basic maneuver.
According to conventional logic, female monarchs often marry significant foreign figures, allowing their children to inherit the family name and the throne.
The reason for not marrying within one’s own country’s nobility is simple: it could disrupt the political balance, even potentially causing the most crucial crown to change hands.
Imperial authority is above all else, and even the smallest risk is not allowed to exist.
To ensure that members of the Imperial Family are willing to accept these rules, outside of marriage, these political elites can freely pursue love.
Having children with their spouses, and enjoying love with their lovers.
This is the unspoken rule.
Sofia was forced to kill her husband because he went too far.
To humiliate Sofia and her family, the rebellious former Emperor left Sofia as a mere mascot in the cold palace, never touching her, while playing wildly outside.
To be fair, none of his lovers were as beautiful or graceful as Sofia, but he simply disliked the Prudon people, and disliked the marriage arranged by his mother.
Sofia was insulted, Sofia was furious, he died.
Sif’s marriage has recently become the biggest topic of discussion among the citizens of the Sussex Empire during their idle conversations.
They acknowledge the feelings between Roland and Sif, but don’t believe they will marry.
Roland’s power is simply too great.
If Roland held ill intentions, he could fully use the marriage to change the dynasty of the Empire. At that point, the Imperial Family of the Sussex Empire would have become the Lundebel Clan.
This is politics.
The citizens of the Sussex Empire felt a bit regretful.
Though they knew that it was more appropriate for the Empress to marry foreign nobility, they still felt it was a pity.
They would much prefer the Empress to marry for love.
The Empress, dazzling and beautiful like an elf, even had to endure worldly erosion, which truly pained them.
Roland’s open proposal filled them with excitement.
The Empress agreeing on the spot excited them even more, leading them to pop open champagne immediately.
A hundred million citizens instantly became enthusiasts, not caring what surname the Imperial Family bore, only wanting to see the Empress wear the wedding gown and marry her beloved.
News of Roland’s proposal quickly spread across the Rodinia Continent.
Rupert finally couldn’t hold back, writing an engaging story in the dead of night under an anonymous name.
The Empress did not allow him to make unfounded reports about the Imperial Family.
But what he wrote was all based on true stories, not rumors, so it was fine.
The Sun broke records once again in terms of both unit price and sales.
The special hardcover edition, featuring images of the proposal scene, sold out despite being priced at one Su Pound.
Many people couldn’t read, but few were blind.
Many bought a copy to take home simply as a keepsake.
After The Sun announced that all net profits from the sales of the special edition would go toward the Empress’s wedding, the newspaper’s sales network was nearly trampled flat by enthusiastic crowds.
The adoration and fervor Sif enjoyed couldn’t be matched even by the biggest stars in the entertainment industry.
There are many old-timers who don’t like actors, but few Sussex people dislike the Empress.
If you don’t cheer for the Empress’s love, what are your principles?
As this question arose, those Sussex people who hadn’t yet had the chance to buy the special edition hurried to line up at the newspaper’s sales outlets.
Taking advantage of this newspaper and special edition buying craze, Roland seized the opportunity for the Minister of Culture and Education to send people to promote compulsory education among the commonfolk.
"If you can’t read, you can’t even understand the Empress’s love story, only look at a picture!"
This down-to-earth slogan instantly awakened fools who previously considered education dispensable.
True, without education you can’t even understand a newspaper, isn’t that frustrating.
Roland designed elementary educational materials for these people, recruiting primary teachers from various countries on the Rodinia Continent to conduct literacy education.
His language teaching material template came from another world.
Since he didn’t need to pay cross-dimensional royalties, he used it with peace of mind.
After further simplification, Roland took advantage of this surge in popularity to compile four basic courses: Basic Linguistics, Basic Mathematics, Basic Nature, and Basic Military Science.
Upon seeing the materials he compiled, the Minister of Culture and Education couldn’t help but criticize them for being too simple and too crude.
In response to the Minister’s objection, Roland maintained his stance.
Be it art or science, there must be a foundation.
What he aims to do is spread the basics.
Some also reminded him that war with the Vladimir Empire was imminent, and allocating a large amount of resources to the slow-reaping compulsory education was misplaced prioritization, hoping Roland would change his plan.
Wait until the war is over, then implement compulsory education!
At least seven cabinet ministers signed this suggestion, including the wise William and Roland’s confidant Ados.
Roland circled the suggestion, simply wrote "read", and then instructed his secretary to file it in the archives.
The cabinet ministers’ opinions were good, but it’s a pity they didn’t understand the value of Inheritors.
Having felt the power of the Ice Crystal Blue Ring, Roland clearly knew how terrifying Sofia’s power was.
She indeed revealed her data bars, no longer in an invincible state.
But Sofia’s data was overly flamboyant, filled with an overwhelming sense of numerical inflation beauty.
And yet this was her strength before she secluded herself for training.
As her return day approaches, will Sofia’s power really not grow again?
Roland felt urgency, he urgently needed an opportunity to break the deadlock.
Leveraging the proposal hype to promote compulsory education was the breakthrough he envisioned.
He wants to be the father of compulsory education in the Sussex Empire.
Even if this becomes the act that digs the grave for absolute imperial authority in the future.
The living have the right to worry about tomorrow, the dead do not.
With the mindset of "since it’s already done, might as well do it thoroughly," Roland publicly proposed to Sif with the Ice Crystal Blue Ring.
It was romantic but also a solid slap in Sofia’s face.
Even directly proposing to Sofia wouldn’t have been so insulting.
Roland, of course, couldn’t propose to Sofia, not for fear of rejection, but for fear that she would directly agree and have him organize the wedding, which would leave him dumbfounded.
Calling off a wedding is a major insult not only back home but here as well.
Sofia’s patience isn’t so great, she can’t wait three years, she would immediately expose him.
Without public provocation, Sofia wouldn’t be angry; provoking too much, excessive anger is also not good.
So Roland chose to use Sofia’s engagement ring to propose to Sif.
The insult was strong, but not absolute.
Roland and Sif planned to embark on an empire tour.
The Sussex Empire is vast, they planned to visit each province, allowing more subjects to witness the Empress’s graceful bearing and promote compulsory education.
"Do you want to learn about the Empress’s story? Want to read and see the news? Join the compulsory education! Every imperial citizen has the right to receive no less than three years of compulsory education."
"Compulsory education is free!"
In Sussex language, free and freedom are the same word.
This promotional slogan has a double meaning.
Compulsory education is both free and liberating.
Before the empire tour begins, Sif still had one thing to do.
Test the power of Sofia.
With Roland protecting her, Christine prepared for emergency rescue. She was going to challenge Sofia—
’s ring.
The challenge was set at White Mountain.
Standing on the Flower Sea, backed by a Ginkgo Tree, with Roland by her side, facing the diminished Ice Crystal Blue Ring, winning was certain, but what she wanted was not just victory, but a total victory.
She wanted to melt the ice amidst laughter, blooming like flowers, leaving the most beautiful smile for Roland.
Even a slightly disheveled hair wouldn’t count as a complete victory.
Under the Ginkgo Tree, Sif’s expression was calm, as if on an outing.
Before her was a spread of a tablecloth and an array of food.
A bottle of Milan Champagne, to be opened after verification ended.
Although the food was excellent, Roland truly had no appetite, after accompanying a few bites, he once again emphasized the power unleashed by the Ice Crystal Blue Ring.
Sif collected her thoughts, her expression serious, nodding solemnly.
While she longed for a complete victory, she would never be overconfident.
After eating her favorite Golden Apple, she abruptly stood up and said with a smile, "Let’s begin."
Roland and Christine wasted no time, directly casting buffs on her.
Holy Light flowed from their hands, slowly falling upon Sif.
With all the standard buffs in place, Roland adjusted his status, ready to use Divine Protection to save her at any moment.
Christine also placed an entire barrel of Holy Water beside her.
If the Holy Knight, best at protecting allies, and the Divine Priest, best at healing and dispelling, together couldn’t save her, then except for a descent by the Goddess, no one could.
It’s just a diminished ring, there won’t be a problem.
Roland made full preparations but didn’t truly believe anything would go wrong.
After exchanging another glance with Sif, Roland took out a Magic Scroll, activating the ring.
A deep blue chill erupted, instantly enveloping Sif.
Looking at the exquisitely beautiful, sculpture-like Sif, Roland’s face lost all color, becoming equally pale.
No, there’s something wrong with this ring!
The color of this chill is clearly problematic.
The chill that froze him that day was blue, but never as deep as today’s.
The difference was like the color disparity between Uranus and Neptune. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
The chill driven by extraordinary power, the closer it got to absolute zero, the deeper the color became.
It’s said that the extreme cold of black ice can approach absolute zero infinitely.
Deep blue chill carries a deadly low temperature beyond the tolerance limit of carbon-based life.
Without the slightest hesitation, Roland released the Divine Protection.
Christine was also startled, grabbing the Holy Water barrel and pouring it over.
The Holy Water possesses a nearly constant temperature, which is the most suitable for humans to taste.
The pale milky condensed Holy Water splashed onto the ice sculpture, making a "sizzling" sound, as the hard ice melted like ice cream under the sun.
Roland cast a glance at Christine with a reconciliatory look, slightly relieved.
Fortunately, it was just the ring, not Sofia herself, frightening but not fatal.
Just as Roland sighed in relief and continued observing, the ice that was just melting suddenly solidified, with the Holy Water also freezing.
A faint white added a touch of liveliness to the original pure blue.
If this were ice cream, Roland would think the maker brimmed with artistic imagination.
But this wasn’t ice cream, it was his wife Sif.
Roland’s soul nearly froze.
The last drop of Holy Water froze, the surrounding temperature plummeted.
Christine, unable to withstand the chill’s onslaught, was forced to retreat.
She was about to pull Roland away with her but saw a tall figure lunging towards the ice sculpture.
Roland’s robe fluttered in the air, he was shirtless, fiercely embracing the ice sculpture.
