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Chapter 588  Envy Faded, Leaving Only Admiration

“They’re...” Aron began with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They’re idealists, and it’s too easy to turn that idealism into extremism. That makes them highly volatile, and if they remain on Earth, they’ll have to remain under constant monitoring. Their potential to cause mass destruction is also immense—just look at what happened in Mogadishu. It took one person mere minutes to slaughter thousands, and if he wasn’t stopped, the best-case scenario is that he would’ve burned himself out after turning the entire city to ashes.

“Worst case, he wouldn’t have stopped at the city and would’ve eventually ignited the atmosphere. Our weather satellites already showed a global increase in temperature by 1.5 degrees. Global, not local. There’s an entire group in Lab City working on ways to reverse that temperature rise, because Hassan did more damage to the world in five minutes than thirty years of global warming managed to accomplish.”

“Worst case, he wouldn’t have stopped at the city and would’ve eventually ignited the atmosphere. Our weather satellites already showed a global increase in temperature by 1.5 degrees. Global, not local. There’s an entire group in Lab City working on ways to reverse that temperature rise, because Hassan did more damage to the world in five minutes than thirty years of global warming managed to accomplish.”

Aron laid out the truth because he trusted the people in the room with him to not panic. Besides, they were all smart enough to know if he tried feeding them any misinformation to begin with.

“No need to bring up bad news here. We’re here for a happy occasion,” Aron’s mother interjected. She would be damned before she let her son’s wedding get put on the back burner again. The children had been engaged long enough, it was time for them to finally tie the knot come hell or high water

......

A month later.

The imperial wedding day had arrived and a celebratory atmosphere had descended upon the entire Eden-Esparia archipelago. A large crowd of tens of thousands of people had already surrounded the park outside the first government spire to be completed. It was the core of the fortress city that, when it was completed, was to be named Eden, after the country that Aron had grown so far in.

The Eden Government Spire was the tallest building ever built by humans, stretching an entire kilometer into the air and overtaking the previous record holder—the now-destroyed Burj Khalifa—by a little more than a hundred and seventy meters. And wrapped around the base of the spire was a well-manicured and planned park, with a reflecting pool sandwiched between two rows of standing monuments like a diamond on a necklace set with emeralds.

The wedding was set to take place on the steps in front of the government spire, with the groom and bride’s invited guests and the lucky lottery winners seated on the plaza between the steps and the reflecting pool directly atop the imperial seal laid in mosaic.

The entire area had been decorated with meticulous attention to detail, and for the event, looked more like a botanical garden than a dour government edifice. And hanging behind the stage where Aron and Rina would be joined in matrimony was a gigantic, thirty-story-tall Terran Empire flag, above which was the imperial family’s coat of arms.

The venue was an oasis of peace and tranquility among a fortress city that was still very much under construction. If one were to turn around from their position facing the government spire, they would see tower after tower stretching into the distance in various stages of completion, along with cranes, gantries, and the normal detritus one could see at any construction site.

But considering that the day had been declared an imperial holiday, none of the construction vehicles were in use and the entire city seemed completely abandoned, though with a sense of the abandonment being very much temporary. Tools were neatly placed where they belonged, vehicles were neatly parked and stowed so as to minimize the possibility of accidents, and the streets, which had been laid before any of the buildings began construction, were clean and free of any debris so as to accommodate the crowd that had long been expected to descend upon the partially completed city for the emperor’s wedding.

Precisely an hour before the wedding was to begin, the imperial band stood from their seats and began playing soft music, barely able to be heard over the low roar generated by thousands of people in casual conversation. Then vessel after vessel began arriving, landing on the manicured lawn to either side of the plaza and dropping off their load of invitees before flying off again to pick up their next load of passengers.

And everything was being broadcast live for anyone who cared to watch it. But it wasn’t like they could watch anything else, as the imperial wedding had taken over every single television channel, and even professional livestreamers had decided to take the day off from doing their own thing and rebroadcast the wedding as amateur commentators. Those who wished to experience it in person, but hadn’t been invited or able to join the crowd surrounding the plaza and park entrances, could log into the public VR and experience it as though they were there..

The clock ticked down until, by ten minutes before the wedding was due to begin, all of the invitees had arrived and taken their seats, awaiting the beginning of this once-in-a-lifetime event.

……

Even those who were too lazy to attend the wedding in VR, or who were otherwise occupied, couldn’t help but sigh in amazement as Aron walked out of the front doors of the government spire. Already an extremely handsome man, the bespoke suit he was wearing was tailored to show all of his best features. It was as if his handsomeness had a dial that, previously sitting at a comfortable eleven, had been cranked up past its stops all the way to thirteen.

During all of his personal addresses to the world, he had never been trying to look his best. In some cases, any amount of primping and preening would be too much. But now that he had put actual effort into his appearance, the difference was staggering. Every woman on Earth, straight or not, was deeply envying Rina her luck in landing such a handsome, rich, and powerful man, and every man on Earth, also straight or not, wanted to be Aron right now. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The band continued playing until a minute before the ceremony was to begin, when they switched to the classic wedding march, signaling that the bride was about to arrive. Everyone’s eyes moved to the door of the building, including Aron’s. And precisely on time, the doors opened and two small children walked out, scattering rose petals on the red carpet Rina would be walking down to reach Aron’s side.

Soon, Rina followed, her hand held in the crook of her father’s arm. The father and daughter had their heads turned to each other in conversation, then Rina laughed and faced forward. Her gaze met Aron’s and she smiled, putting the Sun to shame with her radiance.

She was already beautiful enough to incite envy in everyone watching, but when she smiled... envy seemed meaningless. The gap between her and every other woman on the planet was too wide; it would be pointless to envy her, because no one would ever be able to compare. Thus, the envy faded, leaving only admiration in its wake.

When Rina and Aron came face to face, everyone couldn’t help but acknowledge that they were indeed a match made in heaven. It was the first time Rina had ever appeared in public, and no one could imagine a more perfect debut for the Empress of the Terran Empire.

Earlier, upon the announcement of Aron’s upcoming nuptials, many had speculated as to who he might be marrying, and whether or not the wedding was a political move to consolidate the emperor’s power. But that thought had quickly passed, as Aron had no need to consolidate his power; there were no challengers. There could BE no challengers. He held the political power, the military power, and immense wealth. In business, his companies had no peers, either. Thus, the wedding could only be one thing: a love match, which was something rare for people in power.

No announcement had been made as to the bride’s identity, and no clue had been leaked at all. So no one knew anything about her, much less that she had been married before. After all, both the Rothschilds and the Morgans had considered it a black mark on their reputations, and both families had gone out of their way to hide the divorce.

But that said, there were still a few people who knew about it.