I'll be honest. This is the first time I've seen such a long line. This long line I'm talking about is the empress's horse-carriage escort. I now understood why the empress doesn't easily leave the palace. It's not because she doesn't like to, but because there is too much to prepare when the ruler goes out on a tour. The ruler's horse-carriage is pulled by eight horses in a very extravagant fas.h.i.+on. The Valkyries all wore white robes and rode on white horses around the empress's horse-carriage. The cavalry were around the more outer-section of the formation. In the rear were the horse-carriages carrying the empress's maids who attend to her. And then there were the guys and ordinary soldiers. And they even transported food and gold for the sake of coming with me to that city.

The extravagant escort was like a huge snake. The denizens who saw the empress' horse-carriage all had to kneel down and salute her. Mom sat in her horse-carriage and looked out from behind her black veil. She sighed and said: "This took two weeks to prepare for so mommy isn't willing to leave like this. It's honestly too much trouble, tires the people and is a waste of money."

"You're basically a bird in a cage then mom. You conquered this land yet you are locked in the tiny palace."

I looked at mom with sympathy. Mom is the kind of person who can't sit still. She likes horse-riding, swinging her sword and running around freely outside. Mom isn't a chicken with no wings. She's an eagle that toils outside. Mom is now entertained with luxury in every way, but mom must miss those years where she was on the battlefield with her soldiers in the harsh weather most. Mom pulled off a long-distance raid on her own in the desert back then. The entire world was hers. But mom can only move about in that small palace now.

"This is mommy's choice. As the empress, mommy has to be responsible for these people. Since they believe in me, I can't be wilful." Mom smiled and held me in her arms. She stroked my head and softly continued, "All mommy wants is a world with you. Mommy has never hated mommy's ident.i.ty as the empress and inability to leave. Mommy's only regret was not bringing you back with mommy back then…… However, mommy would probably have regretted it even more if mommy brought you into a dangerous place."

Mom's hand calluses are a result of all those years, but they were still warm nonetheless. Mom used to be a stranger to hugging and stroking me. However, she now does all that incomparably gently. At mom's side, I found mom slowly became a kind mother at my side from her role as the venerable empress.

Mom let go of me and suggested: "Son, you should go and ride out in front so that everybody can see you. They can't look up at me, but it'd be good for them to see you and get to know the next emperor."

"Alright."

I pulled open the horse-carriage window. Nier turned around to look at me. Only the royal family knows about Nier and me for now so Nier still rode alongside us as a Valkyrie outside. However, those who are attentive would be able to tell. Nier had the royal family's coat of arms on her chest. That is an honour a Valkyrie would never have.

I must confess. Something else happened today that led to Nier still being a little unhappy… And that was that she found her Valkyrie uniform surprisingly a little tight for her……

She looked at me and in a courteous voice void of emotion like in the past asked me: "What is it, your majesty?"

I looked at her and replied: "Bring a horse over. I'm going to ride in front."

Nier nodded and then came back with a horse not long after. I opened the carriage-door. It takes some skill to jump from a moving horse-carriage onto another horse… I got onto the horse, tapped it with my foot and then hustled up to the front of the escort. The cavalry now behind me picked up their horns and blew them.

Why do elves and humans do this? What, are the two races from the same school?!

The people around raised their head up and looked at me. The cheered for me…… Of course, I don't know how many of those cheers were actually sincere. I personally believe them to all be fake because I've never done anything worthy of their wors.h.i.+p. Destroying the church and absorbing Castor doesn't provide them with any obvious benefit. According to what mom said, it will be hard for me to win the peoples' support unless I achieve military accomplishments.

From my side, Nier sneakily reached her hand out and grabbed a corner of my cape. I looked at her but she didn't look at me. However, I noticed that she wore a grin that was hard to spot. While she wore a cold expression in front of others, she was still tightly holding a corner of my cape in secret.

Nier is seriously… way too cute……

I really wanted to pull Nier into my arms. But I'll probably get beaten to death by her if I did since we can't announce our relations.h.i.+p publicly right now. We haven't gotten married yet after all. I personally feel that it would be best for me to accomplish something praiseworthy before being lovey-dovey in front of everyone like with the deer hunting festival on the elven side. I would be able to be with Lucia now if that crisis didn't take place that time. But then I probably would've missed out on Nier.

What do I need to do to win the acknowledgement of the people here in humanity? I've been acknowledged by the royal family. Now how do I get the people to acknowledge me? Mom is an empress that can't be questioned. She is the empress of victory that conquered virtually the entire continent. But as for me… I don't even have a t.i.tle.

t.i.tles aren't just what you want them to be, but what everyone believes you to be worth. Only that way will you have credibility. I really want a chuunibyou t.i.tle, but I haven't accomplished anything for people to respectfully address me as something something king, or something something emperor.

I smiled and waved at the people. I heard horse hooves behind me and Freya soon appeared next to me. She smiled and said: "Onii-sama, you look like you are really pleased with yourself now."

"Do I? I'm just revealing myself in case people don't recognise me."

"Did you not used to think that the less number of people recognised you, the it was easier to move around? Are you no longer willing to go around as a commoner? I guess it is fair. You will soon have your own domain. That is your most important place."

Freya chuckled cheerfully and continued, "Manage your domain well. Then follow her majesty's orders to advance and maybe very soon, you will become the next emperor. But you must also consider how you are going to get all of the ministers and officials of the empire to submit to you and obey you."

"I really want to know too."

"Are you not looking for a way right now?"

Freya winked at me and then continued, "If you can get the people in your domain to acknowledge you, then you will be able to get the people of a nation to acknowledge you. If you can get the people of a nation to acknowledge you, then you will be able to conquer all the lands. That was the path her majesty walked, and it is the same for you. Onii-sama, please do not disregard or dislike the domain as being small for it is your starting point as the emperor!"

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