Celestial Emperor Emerges

"Tsk! I’m not going to stoop to her level. Come on, let’s go see the Celestial Empress!" Leon Zane shot Chloe Zhu a sideways glance and left with Grace.

When they arrived at the Celestial Empress’s chambers, her complexion looked a bit better than yesterday, but she was still gloomy.

The princess needed daily acupuncture to help extract the Storm Core from the Empress.

Leon Zane handled everything, while Grace just handed him things from the side.

When they finished, the Celestial Empress called out to her: "Grace Zhu."

"Celestial Empress." Grace replied demurely, eyes lowered.

"Did you get the Chaos Pearl?" The Empress scrutinized her.

"Princess Luminia found out I’m the daughter of the Phoenix Empress and tried to kill me, but Crown Prince Evan Xiao happened to save me." Grace said. "To save her own skin, Princess Luminia handed the Chaos Pearl over to the Crown Prince."

According to Evan Xiao, they only got the Chaos Pearl thanks to Grace.

But the Celestial Empress didn’t believe a word of it.

Her? Really?

Still, the Celestial Empress was convinced Grace would take all the credit for this!

She was just about to interrogate her thoroughly, but didn’t expect Grace to say that.

For a moment, the Empress was at a loss for words.

"Is there anything else you need, Celestial Empress?" Grace asked. "If not, I’ll take my leave."

"Go!" The Empress waved her hand, a little annoyed.

So Grace followed behind Leon Zane and left.

"Wait!" the Empress called out again.

Grace turned around.

"Just now you said... Princess Luminia knows you’re the daughter of the Phoenix Empress?" The Empress narrowed her eyes. "Even I only just found out. How did she know?"

"Two possibilities," Grace replied. "Either someone in the know told her, or... she’s got a spy in Drake Abyss. And that spy is inside the Celestial Palace! Right near the people who know the truth."

The Celestial Empress frowned.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving," Grace said.

The Celestial Empress ignored her.

For the next few days, every time Grace visited, the Celestial Empress didn’t pay her any attention.

All Grace did was hand over stuff each time—she was basically just a background character.

After four or five days, the Celestial Emperor finally emerged from seclusion.

Naturally, Grace didn’t get to see the Celestial Emperor come out—she only heard about it from Leon Zane.

Word was, the Celestial Emperor’s injuries were almost healed, and the Empress was planning a banquet to celebrate!

Grace figured Evan Xiao must be out too, so she wanted to go find him.

But then, out of nowhere, one of the Celestial Emperor’s dragon attendants came to find her, saying the Emperor had summoned her for an audience.

So Grace followed him over.

Arriving at the Emperor’s palace, where he lived day to day, Grace knelt and performed a formal bow. "Grace Zhu, commoner, greets Your Majesty the Celestial Emperor!"

The Celestial Emperor lifted her up gently with a wave of divine power. "No need for formalities."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Grace stood up and looked at the Emperor.

Seated at the top was a middle-aged man, tall and striking, impossibly handsome, with a smile at his lips, eyes full of warmth, and glossy black hair—he was simply too gorgeous for words.

Grace glanced at the Celestial Emperor, then at Evan Xiao beside him, and couldn’t help but think: Only a dad like this could have a son like that...

Evan Xiao caught her dazzled look and his face darkened.

"So, you’re Empress Eva’s daughter, Grace Zhu?" the Celestial Emperor asked.

"Yes," Grace replied.

"How old are you this year?"

"Eighteen."

"Hmm... Just eighteen, and you’ve managed to cultivate to this level as a mere mortal? Impressive! Truly impressive!" The Celestial Emperor looked at her with genuine admiration.

Grace smiled. "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty."

"And the child? Did you bring them?"

"The child?" Grace glanced at Evan Xiao.