Heaven, Earth, Me-Chapter 1193. Meeting Empress Long.

The woman waiting for Yasenia and the Crown Prince was an elegant black-haired woman with sharp facial features and an aura profound enough to make the surroundings surrender to her. Yasenia's pupils constricted faintly when she saw the woman. 'This strength... I would have a lot of trouble gaining an advantageous position during a battle.'

The Crown Prince and Yasenia spoke without bowing. "We respectfully greet Mother Empress/Esteemed Empress."

The woman didn't smile and looked at them, or more clearly, she was looking at Yasenia with an extremely unfriendly and penetrating gaze. "Why didn't you bow down to me?"

Yasenia answered calmly, her face maintaining a neutral smiling expression. "Because Lord Crown Prince didn't bow down. I, as his future wife, won't bow down to anyone he doesn't bow down to as long as I am by his side."

The Empress squinted and put pressure on Yasenia. The dragoness felt as if an entire mountain had suddenly been placed on her shoulders. However, she stood straight, her bearing unchanged, and her facial expression as peaceful as before. The Crown Prince was worried at first. After all, Yasenia was a mortal Dragon. However, his worry soon became surprise when Yasenia received the full brunt of the pressure without moving an inch.

The Empress was also surprised internally, but she showed nothing on the outside. "A mortal Dragon cannot become the Crown Princess. Your strength is too weak."

Yasenia answered softly. "As long as Lord Crown Prince wants my position to be challenged, and as long as there is a Dragon that can defeat me, I'll obediently take a step down. Otherwise, my spot will remain as is."

The Empress stood up, her royal robes rustling softly. Then, she disappeared and reappeared in front of Yasenia, punching forward. Yasenia stayed still.

BOOM!

The punch grazed Yasenia's face, exploding behind her with enough strength to raze down the reinforced buildings behind. That punch had enough strength to kill a hundred mortal cultivators.

The Empress looked up at Yasenia, who was half a head taller. "You have guts." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Yasenia answered calmly. "Lady Empress, without guts, I wouldn't have tried to marry Lord Crown Prince even if I loved him one hundred times more than I do now."

The Empress laughed once, her cold lips arching very faintly. She turned around and shook her head. "You are certainly an interesting woman. However, you have no background, no merits, and no strength. You are just a beautiful vase." Sitting back down at her table as maids and other servants rushed to clean up the mess she had made, the Empress talked. "Leave. I'll let you live due to your courage. However, you can't be the Crown Princess."

The Crown Prince frowned. "Mother Empress—"

"Silence." The Empress's cold eyes fell onto the Crown Prince, and he sighed. Yasenia squeezed his hand reassuringly, making the handsome man look at her. After flashing a smile, she looked at the Empress.

"Lady Empress, as I've said before, the only way to push me out of this position is by being challenged and defeated under the Crown Prince's agreement," Yasenia spoke seriously. "Naturally, if the Crown Prince wants me to stay by his side regardless of what others say and doesn't want me to accept challenges, I won't accept them. My soul is to serve my future husband, and going against his wishes is something I won't do."

The Empress stirred the tea on the table with a wooden spoon and took a sip. A faint frown appeared between her eyebrows. The servants around rushed in, taking the cup and substituting it with one that had been recently heated up. After taking another sip, her sharp eyebrows relaxed to a neutral stance.

The Crown Prince finally talked. "Mother Empress, I want to marry Yasenia. She is much more than a vase, and she can prove it. Just give us a year and I'll be able to prove it."

"A year?" The Empress paused and sighed. "Sadly, a year is too much." Her gaze turned toward Yasenia, and she spoke. "I'll be brutally honest. Our Empire is on the verge of war, and things are not looking good. We need a strong Empress for the next Emperor, not a vase. Regardless of how strong you are, unless you break through into the Mythical Core Beast Realm, all your other qualities are useless. Even your powerful bloodline is useless."

Yasenai was not upset. 'Finally, a hint toward my mission. I guess that the path I could've taken was the military one. With my strength, I could've influenced the war as well. However, this position makes it easier to intervene.'

She looked at the Empress and said. "Then, let me fight the daughter-in-law you had in mind. If I win, Lady Empress will allow my marriage. If I lose, I'll go to the barracks and become a military officer who will serve the country for the rest of my life."

"You..." The Crown Prince looked at Yasenia with surprise. Her words were a double death sentence in his ears. After all, if the incoming war had even Sixth Realm dragons nervous, Yasenia becoming military personnel would be like throwing herself into a fire pit.

Moreover, with her beauty, the barracks could quickly become her prison in another sense.

"Why go so far?" The Empress was confused. "You should've guessed already that the daughter-in-law I chose is in the Sixth Realm. You can't win. Even if you enter the military and quickly accumulate merits, you won't be able to marry as a wife into the Crown Prince's house. At most, you will become a concubine."

Yasenia didn't move her gaze as she spoke firmly. "I want to be by the Crown Prince's side and make this country spread the wings that the other races have been clipping. My love for both this country and him goes equally deep. Therefore, I will risk everything if I can have a chance to be by his side."

Pure ambition and determination flowed out of Yasenia like a flowing river. Mother and Son paused and looked at her profoundly. The Crown Prince spoke. "Mother, even if she loses, I want to take her as a concubine. She will become an important figure in the future, and ruining her potential will be a loss for our country."

The Empress snorted and looked at her son. "You've been completely bewitched by her beauty."

The Crown Prince smiled handsomely. "I have. I feel that there is no shame in admitting it when the opponent is my Yasenia."

The Empress leaned her chin on the palm of her hand and crossed her legs. "Sigh. Okay. I've also taken a liking to the young girl. The fight will be arranged in a week from now." She paused and looked at her son. "Don't mate with her. She is probably a virgin, and making sure she keeps her virginity until she reaches the Sixth Realm will make her more fertile. Right now, regardless of how much you mate with her, creating progeny is impossible."

The Crown Prince coughed, his face somewhat embarrassed. "I won't. Don't worry, Mother."

The Empress looked at the clearly disappointed Crown Prince with a deadpan expression. "Yasenia, live with this empress during this week. I fear that if you go to my son's residence, your legs will be facing the ceiling tonight."

Yasenia almost choked, and the Crown Prince's expression darkened. "Mother... Don't word it so vulgarly."

She ignored her son and grabbed Yasenia's hand. "Come, come. Ignore that child."

Yasenia looked back and used her long and beautiful tail to wave goodbye. The seductive tail movements made the Crown Prince's heart itch. He really wanted to hug the soft body in his arms and devour it whole. Still, he shook his head and turned to leave.

Meanwhile, the Empress spoke. "You really know how to seduce males."

Yasenia laughed softly. "I also know how to seduce females~."

The Empress laughed, not expecting such an answer. She glanced at her and raised her eyebrow. "If those words have a deeper meaning... I'll execute you."

Yasenia looked into the Empress's eyes fearlessly. "I am under your orders for a week, Your Majesty. If that's what you think, I'll have no other option but to lie on my back and wait for my execution."

"Lies." The Empress looked ahead and chuckled. "You are not someone who would go out without resistance." She then sighed softly. "Yasenia, I understand your determination. However, the difference in strength between Fifth and Sixth Realm people is beyond your imagination. Are you sure that you want to continue this farce? Once in the fighting arena, I can't stop it, and you might get killed."

Yasenai asked, curious. "Is the Empress really worried?"

"I can see your sincerity for the empire." The Empress spoke gently. "I can sense that your love for my son is not as deep as your desire to protect our Empire. Most likely, you decided to marry my son to earn influence quickly, right?"

Yasenia didn't answer. Even if it was evident, that information could not come out of her mouth unless she was forced. The Empress also understood that and changed the subject. "Come, let's play some Cheron."

"Cheron?"

The Empress commented. "It is a type of chess but for Dragons."

Yasenia blinked twice. "Huh? Chess, but for dragons? How does that work?"

They arrived at the Empress room, and Yasenia saw a board appear in the center of the room on top of a table. She walked toward one of the two chairs and sat down. Then, the Empress taught Yasenia how to play.

That night, both of them played together. Yasenia was learning, so she was not good enough to beat the Empress. However, she came close a few times, making the Empress's face gain touches of surprise. The reason that the chess was for dragons was a simple detail that added a layer of difficulty.

The pieces were covered in Dragon Auras of different levels at the start of the match. The auras were random, but equal on both sides. Moreover, the chess pieces were ordered by Beast Core Ranks, and the table was a 128x128 grid of black and white. Moreover, each piece had a bloodline with special moves.

Being blunt, it was like normal chess but on crack and with dragon auras.

By the time morning arrived, Yasenia and the Empress had become much closer. During the exchange, they could learn quite a lot from one another. Moreover, Yasenia knew how to earn rapport with people using her charms. "Come with me, Yasenia. We'll take a bath and then go eat breakfast."

Yasenia asked curiously. "Don't you need to work, Mother?"

"No. I am usually quite free unless it is an emergency."

After the night, since she was accepted by the Empress, she ended up calling her affectionately. While one would think it was too much progress for one night, it was not exaggerated, considering our dragoness's skills.

Still, when she heard the Empress's invitation for a bath, a trace of hesitation flashed in her eyes. 'I don't know how royalty takes people with my constitution...'

The Empress dragged her along with a smile. "What, are you being shy now? Tsk, tsk. Come take a bath."