Gladiator✔️

Ritual

The relationship between Prince Vzeus and Lilith was complex as webs of silver spiders that it made pain engulf the entire heart of the prince as soon as his daughter was mentioned. Vzeus had never loved a mortal being as he loved his dear daughter yet for Lilith it was entirely opposite.

For princess Lilith, her imperial father had abandoned her as soon as she learned to walk, when her younger brother Yialos was born and he had acquired an heir, the noble father did not require his daughter anymore thus decided to discard her so far so that she can never visit him in all 9 years of departure to The Great Eastern Deserts, it felt as if he abhorred to even see her face.

There was nothing in the mortal realm that Prince Vzeus lacked, behind the veils he had acquired riches to even purchase the capital city along with the imperial palace. His consort had given birth to a pair of healthy son and daughter for him and the imperial throne was waiting for him to reign yet what one lacked was much larger than those jingling of gold coins- his daughter was living like a corpse.

There was a melancholic feeling of simply performing rituals and paying respects when she saw him, nothing reflected in those pools of honey irises except pain thus Vzeus had stopped visiting Lilith knowing that he will only cause her anguish to deepen instead he sent her most luxurious of silk brocades that even the empress could not afford, asked his officers to suggest books on war tactics and archery since she liked it.

He even constructed a castle in the Eastern Deserts for her to freely learn swordsmanship and horse-riding without caring about the eyes of others watching. Vzeus spent his days wondering if it all will ever change...to reach the highest position in the world he had paid a heavy price. Yet despite all those, he never told Lilith about the dark practices in imperial palaces.

Why was he banished?

What happened that he had to leave the capital?

Why imperial princess had a fate worse than death and why did he wish to erase her entire existence from the records unless he himself sat on the throne?

Initially when he was seventeen there were three princesses in the palace out of which the eldest one was sent to the Karam barbaric lands to be the chief's wife.....she was raped to death and then returned to Gaerin in the name of being sullied and bringing dishonor. His emperor father did not care and sent another two of his daughters instead for them to die in a year. The fate of an imperial princess was worse than a commoner.

He sent Lilith far away to be safe, helped Zexzerus sit on the throne because he wanted his daughter to be protected in the Sultan's reign even if he perished. For the goodwill done by her father, Lilith could have a noble title and live well.....Casagon would make sure of that yet when the servant announced that Zexzerus was in a comatose state......a huge premonition fell upon him.

First the Emperor of Ambrose fell into misfortune

Next it was the Saintess that disappeared

Now Zexzerus

And even his little Lilith

When Vzeus closed his eyes, the words of Helixis when she blessed Lilith at her birth echoed in his ears.

It was as if the goddess of the world was writing a new beginning and all of them were the great sacrifice in the ritual.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"Your majesty.....we must go now." General Casagon's soldiers secured the imperial palace as the rebellion forces tried to enter the castle grounds in failure.

Casagon looked at the crying princess of Daxtros as Zexzerus refused to open his eyes and was sleeping like a god in eternal bliss uninterrupted by any chaotic war.

"This one will never leave my emperor husband!" Princess Nevix was the betrothed of Sultan of the east and they were going to marry in the upcoming month yet destiny had something else written in their fates. When Nevix was born, the oracle did a prophecy that she was cursed with a miserable fate and the ones closest to her heart shall have misery as well.

Her father Emperor Qiza refused to accept such a girl with an evil streak as his own flesh and blood yet her mother Empress Caronisia of Daxtros had walked barefoot to the temple of Saintess Helixis to plead for help. The Saintess could not lift the curse yet had blessed her with tremendous fortunes countering the evil- that is even in most dire conditions where everything was lost and no path can be seen Nevix would still have something good out of it.

Just like her marriage in the coarse Eastern Deserts was considered to be the start of her misfortune instead she met Zexzerus who loved her wholeheartedly.

Till now Nevix had never felt such helplessness.

"Her highness Saintess has disappeared, her majesty must understand that your presence might put the emperor's condition in grave danger since this general can feel the premonition of something atrocious in this one's heart." Nevix knew what he was saying.....since it was unknown that the Saintess was alive or not, her own blessings were not known to be intact.

If she did not left the kingdom it might implicate her Zexzerus but what if in her absence something happened to him..

"The princess shall not worry and leave for Daxtros from the secret passage, this general will take away the Emperor as well."