The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap - Volume 7 - Chapter Pr

Prologue

The Imperial Nation was one of the four major nations. Compared to the other nations—the Nations of the Spirit, Dragon, and Beast Kings respectively—the majority of the Imperial Nation was composed of humans. Also, the number of individuals who could use magic in comparison to demi-humans was exceedingly small, and none were built with powerful bodies like dragonkin. Therefore, despite it being one of the four major nations, if they were to come to blows with any of the other three nations, they would most likely be rendered powerless.

Be that as it may, it was a fact that the Imperial Nation boasted overwhelming authority and national power among the other human nations, and seeing as how many of those were situated around it, it naturally became the flagship nation for the human race.

The Imperial Nation itself had always been a congregation of many different nations. Long ago, the entire area had been a virtual sea of smaller countries, all of which had waged war ceaselessly for supremacy. By absorbing these countries little by little, the Imperial Nation had managed to become the juggernaut it was today.

The current ruler of the Imperial Nation was Emperor Adularia. Rulers weren’t decided by strength as they were in the Nation of the Dragon King, but instead by bloodline. Since Adularia was an only child, there had been no battle over the succession to the throne. However, Adularia was still in her teens when she became emperor, so her fiancé, and later the imperial consort, Corundum, had helped the far-too-young and inexperienced leader through the early years.

The couple was still happily married after decades together, and they had four children, the imperial princes—the firstborn, Roy; the second, Mariano; the third, Samadan; and the fourth, Orio. The princes were not very far apart in age, but none of them were particularly close or distant from one another. They were simply regular brothers. All of them were exquisite examples of imperial princes, but because Adularia was still young herself—in her forties—a successor had yet to be named.

Perhaps that was the reason a battle for succession had been silently brewing behind the scenes via the nobles. The silver lining was that since Adularia was in good mental and physical health, there wasn’t a more bombastic conflict in progress, but it was still the biggest headache that she currently faced. It was only exacerbated by the fact that her first son, Roy, and her third son, Samadan, were leading the initiative.

Corundum and his aides began to discuss whether it was time to name a successor in order to prevent further chaos from ensuing...and that was when it happened. Adularia suddenly fell ill. While optimistic at first that she would soon recover, her symptoms only grew worse. With the cause of her illness unknown even to the nation’s doctors, she finally got to a point where she couldn’t leave the bed.

Alas, given that not a single medicine they tried helped, as a final measure, Corundum and his aides sent a messenger to the Dragon King—to seek the special medicine made from dragon blood. As Adularia’s condition worsened and worsened, the imperial consort awaited a response on tenterhooks.