The Celestial Emperor leaned in close to Sean and continued, "Now, the Lumina Realm is split into two factions."
One faction is the diehard conservatives, mostly made up of the older High Gods and Divine Lords, who firmly oppose Lucia Lu becoming their Divine Empress.
The other faction is led by the young, who are more open-minded and don't care much about bloodline. They're moved by Soren Lann's determination. They even say that the two of them together are the most beautiful picture of love, and they refuse to let anyone tear them apart!"
Seeing Sean's grip about to crush his cup, the Celestial Emperor kept twisting the knife: "I know Soren well. He's a master at quietly wearing down people's resistance and getting what he wants. Those conservatives probably won't last much longer! He might even use this whole thing to crush his opponents and win both the girl and the realm..."
"He won't win both!" Sean suddenly snapped. "Lucia will never agree to it!"
"Oh, come on! Who can say how things will turn out? If I were a girl, and had a drop-dead gorgeous Divine Lord willing to give up everything for me, I'd be moved too!"
The Celestial Emperor eyed his son mischievously. "Besides, you know what they say—the pavilion closest to the water gets the moon first! Lucia's back at Peach Blossom Haven now, seeing Soren all the time... Soren's the thoughtful type: always protecting her when she's wronged, keeping her company when she's lonely, sending her little gifts to cheer her up, or creating those epic petal rain romantic scenes... Seriously, how many girls could resist that?"
Sean slammed his cup down and glared at the Celestial Emperor, his tone sharp. "What exactly are you getting at?"
"What I'm saying is... should your dear old dad go help you propose?"
Sean's eyes widened, blinking rapidly before finally stammering, "Do whatever you want!"
"Whatever?" The Celestial Emperor snorted. "You're that casual about it?"
Sean: "...Are we going tomorrow?"
"Hahaha!" The Celestial Emperor burst out laughing. "It's my rest days anyway—I'll have the betrothal gifts prepared at once. Tomorrow, we go to Peach Blossom Haven!"
Sean pursed his lips, a shy little smile tugging at the corners.
"Don't worry! My Little Five is outstanding—super competitive!" The Celestial Emperor said, "I'm sure you'll succeed!"
Sean stayed silent.
"Alright, your dad's heading back. You get ready too—dress up nice!"
Sean nodded.
The Celestial Emperor turned to leave.
But Sean grabbed him again.
"What now?"
"Thank you, Dad..."
"Oh my! That's so sweet!" The Celestial Emperor pinched his son's cheek just like when he was little, then turned and walked away.
Sean touched his face, utterly helpless.
...
The Celestial Emperor returned to his study and started reading memorials.
After reading them all, his face was full of frustration.
Every report from every region said the same thing: peace under heaven.
He spent years building the Three-Realms Joint Army just to fight the Demon Emperor, but where is the Demon Emperor?
According to the old Oracle of Drake Abyss, the Demon Emperor was supposed to show up this year!
And yet, not a single sign!
Now he's starting to wonder if the Oracle got it wrong.
His thoughts drifted to Bianca Whitefan's words.
She said, to solve the Demon Emperor catastrophe, he had to kill the Divine Empress.
What kind of logic is that, anyway?
The Divine Empress is his first wife, the mother of his children—even if he's wronged her these years, it was his fault to begin with.
How could he possibly kill her just because of something Bianca said?