My Seven Wives Are Beautiful Saintesses-Chapter 235 - 234: Before Eternity Answers

The days following the invitation didn’t explode into the kind of panic you’d expect when the gods of the universe call for a meeting.

Instead, everything just felt compressed. The Astralis Empire kept running with its usual scary precision. The trade corridors pulsed, ships moved on schedule, and the military did its rounds like nothing was wrong. To anyone watching from the outside, Astralis was still the same unstoppable machine.

​But inside the Imperial palace, the air was thick. Vahn didn’t say a word about the meeting to the public. He didn’t call the big council or let rumors turn into a full-blown freak-out. He just started getting ready. Quietly. On purpose.

​The first big thing he did was step back from running the daily expansion of the Empire. He didn’t make a speech about it, but Celestine noticed the second it happened.

She found him one evening in the private archives, surrounded by glowing shelves of records that regular people aren’t even allowed to know exist.

​"You’re stepping back," Celestine said, her voice echoing in the quiet room. "I can feel the shift in the command structure, Vahn."

​Vahn didn’t look up from a holographic scroll. "Only from the direct orders. I need my mind elsewhere."

​Celestine walked up to him, her arms crossed. "That’s a huge deal, dear. You’ve never let go of the reins like this."

​"I know," he said, finally looking at her. "Which is exactly why I’m doing it now. If I wait until I’m forced to, it’ll be too late."

​She looked at him for a long time, trying to see if he was scared or unsure. She didn’t find any of that. He just looked focused.

"What are you even looking for in all these old dusty records?" she asked.

​"Patterns," Vahn replied. "I’m looking for the unwritten rules. I want to find the moments where other Sovereigns stepped in without leaving their names behind."

​Celestine frowned. "You think this has happened before? Other empires getting a ’friendly’ invite from the big six?"

​"Yes," Vahn said simply. "Not a lot. But enough to leave some nasty scars on history."

​They walked together through the rows of towering shelves. These weren’t just history books; they were records of empires that had grown way too fast and then suddenly hit a wall they couldn’t see.

Vahn stopped in front of a projection and turned it on. A beautiful, glowing star cluster appeared, but something was off. It looked dead.

​"Vaelor Prime," Celestine whispered. "I remember reading about them in school. They unified three whole star arms in less than a hundred years. Then they just... fell apart."

​"The official books say they collapsed from the inside," Vahn said, his voice flat. "But the books are lying."

​He tapped the projection, and a hidden layer of data showed up. There were weird distortions in the fabric of space that didn’t look like natural decay at all. They looked like fingerprints.

​"Sovereign interference," Celestine said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

​"I’d call it a Sovereign assessment," Vahn replied. "They decided the Vaelor were a problem and ’corrected’ them."

​Celestine took a slow breath. "So this meeting isn’t exactly new. It’s just rare."

​"And it’s never harmless," Vahn added.

​They kept looking through the records. Some Sovereigns acted like distant gods who never touched anything. Others acted like judges who wiped out any civilization they thought was getting too dangerous. But what really bothered Celestine was what was missing from the files.

​"None of these other empires had kids involved, did they?" she asked softly.

​Vahn’s jaw tightened so hard his muscles stood out. "No," he said. "They didn’t."

​That night, Vahn did something he hadn’t done in a long time. He asked Celestine to go to bed early. He wasn’t tired; he just needed some time alone with his son, Valen.

​When Vahn walked into the bedroom, Valen was already buried under a pile of blankets. Soft star projections were drifting across the ceiling, making the room look like it was floating in space.

Valen was clutching a small toy model of a corridor ring like it was a teddy bear.

​Vahn sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey, buddy," he whispered.

​Valen opened one eye, looking sleepy. "Papa? Did you win the fight with the shiny lady?"

​Vahn gave him a small, sad smile. "No, Valen. We just talked."

​Valen made a face. "Talking is way harder than fighting."

​"Yeah," Vahn agreed. "It really is."

​Valen sat up a bit, rubbing his eyes. "Mama said you might have to go away for a little bit. Is that true?"

​Vahn nodded. "Just for a short time."

​Valen’s face fell, and his brow furrowed. "Did I do something wrong, Papa? Is that why you’re leaving?"

​That question hit Vahn harder than any planet-cracking blast ever could. He reached out and grabbed Valen’s hand, his voice firm and warm.

"No. Never. You didn’t do a single thing wrong, Valen. This has nothing to do with you being in trouble. Okay?"

​Valen looked at him, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth.

"Then why do you look so serious?"

​Vahn realized that if he lied now, he’d break something important between them. "Because sometimes grown-ups have to talk about really big things before they decide what happens next. It’s just a big meeting."

​Valen nodded like he totally got it. "Like when you and Mama talk about the Empire and get all quiet?"

​"Exactly like that," Vahn said.

​Valen hugged his toy model tighter. "Are you coming back, though? For real?"

​Vahn looked his son right in the eye. "Yes. I promise you I will."

​Valen yawned, finally relaxing. "Okay. You always come back."

​"I always do," Vahn said. He stayed there until Valen was fast asleep, listening to his steady breathing. When he finally stepped out into the hallway, Celestine was waiting for him.

​"He asked you the big question, didn’t he?" she asked quietly.

​"Yeah," Vahn said.

​"And you promised him you’d be back."

​Vahn met her gaze. "I did. And I’m going to keep that promise even if they try to stop me."

​"Especially then," Celestine added.

​The next part of Vahn’s preparation wasn’t about politics or maps. It was all internal.

He went down into a sealed chamber deep beneath the Spire. This wasn’t a place for training; it was for alignment. In this room, the laws of the Empire were thin, and he could just be himself instead of "The Emperor."

​He didn’t try to make his Void power bigger.

He just watched it. The Void was acting like a restless animal. It was built on winning, on taking over, and on being the boss. It didn’t like being told to wait, and it definitely didn’t like being unsure. Vahn knew the meeting with the Six would be the ultimate test of his self-control. He focused on being clear and calm rather than being the strongest person in the room. He held onto the memories that mattered—Valen’s laugh, Celestine being by his side, and the pressure of the people he was supposed to protect.

​Slowly, the Void started to settle down. It wasn’t exactly behaving, but it was at least listening to him.

​Above him, the Empire was doing just fine. Celestine took over the daily stuff without anyone even noticing. She ran the councils and approved the ship movements with a firm hand. She didn’t even have to use Vahn’s name to get people to listen to her. The Empire obeyed because they trusted the system Vahn had built, not just because they were afraid of him. That thought made Vahn feel a lot better.

​On the fourth day, Vahn’s spies found something huge. The Six Sovereigns weren’t actually on the same page. They were moving around in their own domains, shifting the laws of their space as if they were arguing with each other without using words.

​"They’re debating each other," Celestine said when she showed Vahn the reports.

​"Yeah," Vahn replied. "They’re trying to figure out if I’m just a weird fluke or a huge mistake that needs to be erased."

​"And they’re talking about Valen, too," she added.

​Vahn’s face went dark. "Yeah. Him most of all."

​Celestine put her hand over his. "He isn’t going to that meeting, Vahn. No way."

​"No," Vahn said firmly. "Not now, and not ever unless he grows up and chooses to go himself."

​They sat in silence for a bit. Then Celestine asked the scary question.

"What if they insist? What if they say he has to come?"

​Vahn’s eyes went cold. Not angry, but certain. "Then they’re going to find out the hard way that I didn’t build this whole Empire just to give up the people I love."

​The final part of the plan came on the seventh day. The invitation didn’t come in the mail or as a text. It just appeared in his head as a sudden understanding.

Vahn knew exactly where and when the meeting was going to happen. It was a neutral spot outside of any empire or trade corridor. A place where the rules of reality overlapped so much that nobody could be the boss. It was a place where you couldn’t actually hurt anyone, but the things you said would have massive consequences.

​Vahn told Celestine that evening. "I’m going tomorrow."

​She just nodded. "I’ll keep the house in order while you’re gone."

​They stood on the balcony one last time, watching the lights of the capital city. "You’re not afraid of them, are you?" Celestine asked.

​"I am," Vahn admitted. "But I’m not afraid of what they can do to me. I’m afraid of what I might find out about the universe."

​Celestine leaned her head on his shoulder. "Whatever they say, Vahn, you aren’t doing this alone. We’re right here."

​Vahn closed his eyes. "I know. And that’s why I’m going to make it back."

​Way out beyond the borders of the Astralis Empire, the six Sovereigns were getting ready. One was worried. one was excited. One felt bad about it. One was hungry for power. One was just doing the math. And the last one was waiting with a quiet, dangerous kind of hope.

​The meeting was finally happening. And for the first time in a long time, the future wasn’t something Vahn could just force into the shape he wanted. The future was finally going to answer him back.

​