Interstellar Age

Chapter 166 Apprehended

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Erich had seriously begun to suspect that he was a beacon of bad luck. Admittedly, many of the problems he had in life were the fault of his own foolish actions, but this was not something he could have ever anticipated, nor was it something he was responsible for in the slightest. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Alfheim Princess had apologized to Erich for making an attempt on his life, and then clutched his head to her bosom. Which, to the Asterion dynasty, was not only a sign of proposal but also an enormous taboo. And Celestia had chosen to do this wild act in front of the Alfheim Quadrant's many leaders. 

Among them were Emrys and Yumi, who gazed upon Erich's predicament with not only shock, but lament. The Asterion Dynasty and its Empress were the overlords of this quadrant of space. If Lunaria wanted to execute Erich, for whatever reason, she could do so, and nobody would make a move to stop her.

Nobody except for Ayumi, who was just about to make a move of her own, when her aunt grabbed hold of her wrist, and stopped her from getting herself killed. Yumi gave her niece a stern look as she silently shook her head. As if she were communicating with her body language that there was nothing they could do to save Erich now.

Meanwhile, Celestia continued to stand in the way of the Alfheim Royal Guards while shielding Erich with her own body. There was an adamant look in her golden eyes, as she utterly refused to abide by her royal mother's orders. Lunaria was naturally furious about this, and could not help but express her wrath with some particularly vile words. 

"Celestia... As my most beloved daughter, I will ignore the fact that you have disgraced our sacred bloodline by embracing this outsider, at least enough to spare your life. But only if you stand down! If you choose to remain defiant, you will die with him!" 

Despite the Alfheim Empress's threat, Celestia did not budge, and continued to cling onto Erich, in a way that made him deeply uncomfortable. He had yet to even properly understand what the hell was going on, and thus had made no moves of his own. Instead, Celestia remained defiant, as she called her mother's bluff. 

"Very well... If that is what fate has in store for us, then so be it!" 

Celestia was particularly confident that her mother would not execute her, because that was not what the Sages had seen. But Lunaria had truly gone mad. She had given her daughter an out, one that would seem reasonable to the other heads of state. But the girl stubbornly refused and dared to mention the word fate in front of her. 

It was only now that Lunaria realized there was more to this "prophecy" which her daughter had heard from the Sages. And that this was likely the reason that she had decided to act so brazenly. Because Lunaria could not, for the life of her, comprehend her daughter's recent erratic behavior, unless it was a matter of fate. 

Of course, if it was a matter of "fate" then it explained everything. Because Celestia was just like her grandmother, a woman who took the words of those old fools as if they were destined to happen. If those bastards had told the girl that she was destined to fall for this man. Then it was entirely possible that she would simply accept it, especially after her little rebellion against fate had failed so spectacularly. 

With this in mind, Lunaria was driven into a corner, and thus she had no choice but to order the arrest of both her daughter, and the man she was now clinging to so shamelessly. 

"Guards, seize them both!" 

Immediately, the guards set their blasters to stun and shot both Erich and Celestia. The two of them instantly fell to the ground as their consciousness faded. Where the guards quickly placed cuffs around their hands, before dragging them off to the cells.

Once this commotion was settled, Lunaria gave a speech to all of her guests, about her intentions towards her errant daughter, and the man she had so brazenly clung to. 

"I, Empress Lunaria Asterion, hereby sentence my daughter, Celestia Asterion, and this Germanic male to death for crimes against the Asterion Dynasty. They shall be executed in the morning. As for the rest of you, please don't let this unsightly business spoil your mood. Continue to enjoy the ball in my stead. Because I am afraid I will have to be absent for the remainder of the evening. If you will excuse me, I have some other matters to attend to." 

After saying this, Lunaria departed from the ballroom, where she went. Nobody knew. But whatever had just happened, nobody would dare speak of it until they were back in the safety of their own homes. 

---

Erich awoke some time later alone in a cell. His mind was jumbled from the stun weapon, which had knocked him unconscious. He was having a hard time remembering just how he had ended up in this room. That is until he heard a shrill voice. One which he immediately recognized. 

"I'm curious... For as long as I have known my daughter, she has never shown any interest in the men around her, nor has she shared my same desires towards the men of your species. Until now, I simply thought she favored the ladies. So how did you, of all people, manage to woo her to the point where she is so willing to die alongside you? I mean, this is not the first time you have spoken to her, is it?" 

Erich simply chuckled when he thought how ridiculous this whole situation was. He shook his head, while laughing, which caused Lunaria to frown, before answering her question in a pitiful tone. 

"That's what I want to know.... I had one interaction with your daughter when she requested that I pay tribute to her at the war games. She seemed rather fond of me at first, and even made a comment about how beautiful my eyes were. Then she sent a team of assassins to eliminate me. And now she pulls this. Is she perhaps mentally unwell?" 

Lunaria simply scoffed in response to this statement before revealing her thoughts on the matter. 

"If she was, do you think I would have named her my Heiress? No, she's mentally sound, it's just she suffers from the same delusions as my mother. She believes in fate, and its so-called prophets more than she does reality. I don't know what those old fools said to her, but I think I have an understanding about why she has been behaving so irrationally lately. 

It's a pity, Erich... I have looked into your past, and you have a lot of potential as a politician. You could have led your Empire to greatness. But because of my daughter's foolishness, you must now pay the price for her actions with your life." 

Erich could not help but find the whole ordeal laughable, and he expressed this sentiment by chuckling. He had no idea how he had ended up as someone chosen by fate. But he found the whole thing to be ridiculous, which he was quick to give voice to. 

"Before today, I thought I was the only one who was capable of seeing into the future. It turns out that such an ability is more common than I thought. I don't know much about my powers, but I know that a lot of it is open to interpretation. Unfortunately, your daughter didn't realize this, and made such a monumental mistake...."

  Lunaria's brows raised when she heard this remark, never before had any race outside of her own species, except for perhaps maybe the Dark Elves, produced a sage. While the Alfheim Empress was deeply skeptical of the abilities which the sages claimed to have. Primarily because they refused to elaborate on how they worked. She was still curious about whether or not they were actually real. 

Because of this, she posed a question that nobody had ever been able to answer until now. 

"Are you saying that you are a Sage? How does that work?"

Erich shook his head once more before explaining his ability in the best way he could manage. 

"I don't know for sure. For most of my life, I have only ever been able to see seven seconds into the future. Because of that, my visions are much more precise. But, recently I have been able to see a full thirty seconds into the future.

And I realized that not everything is certain, there are several paths forward, one of which will become reality, and because of that, it is open to interpretation.  If I choose the wrong path, then it will lead me to an incorrect prophecy. The future is not finite like your daughter believes. It is uncertain, and always changing." 

The sages of the Alfheim Dominion, had always refused to answer questions about how their abilities worked, and because of this, Lunaria had always thought they were hogwash. Especially after several of their claims were proven to be false.

But if what Erich said was true, then they really did see the future, but because they were looking so far ahead, they had simply chosen the wrong path, which lead to an incorrect conclusion. Because of this explanation, Lunaria suddenly became hesitant to execute Erich, and had found herself interested in how his brain worked. 

Thus, she shifted from the furious expression of a disapproving mother-in-law to a sultry smile as she leaned in close and made a proposition to Erich. One that would determine his fate. 

"Let's play a game, shall we? You say you can see thirty seconds into the future? Very well, if you can successfully determine my next course of action, I will let you live. How does that sound?" 

Erich gulped when he heard this proposition. The woman was essentially asking him to play Russian roulette. If he guessed wrong, he was as good as dead, and there were only a few outcomes that could possibly happen in such a short period of time. 

But then again, if he refused to play this little game, then he would most certainly be executed. Thus, he sighed heavily before accepting the Alfheim Empress's offer. 

"Very well... I suppose I really have no choice." 

Upon hearing this, Lunaria grew incredibly excited at the prospect of witnessing a minor prophecy unfold in real time. And bit her lower lips as she watched Erich close his eyes and enter a deep state of meditation.

It felt like a lifetime had passed in only a few seconds, but when Erich finally opened his eyes, he gazed upon the Alfheim Empress with a deep look of confusion, before speaking his thoughts aloud in a voice that was filled with horror. 

"That's not possible...."