Word Count - 3,670 words
The Eldian empire is the strongest empire in the whole world, overpowering every small and big kingdom around the Eldian continent. Their country has the strongest order of the knights, and powerful dames that protect the homeland of every Eldians, the Eldian people, and the imperial family and imperial throne. Thanks to the strong military of the Eldian, in most of the wars they enter, success and victory is always on the Eldians.
Eldia have always been a flourishing empire, they are rich in land and resources.
While the Eldian people are hospitable and devoted.
There are three powerful clans that are known as the "foundations" of Eldia.
These clans are the; Jaeger clan, Ackerman clan and Reiss clan
The Jaegers are a clan of professional medical practitioners, the current head of their family is Dr. Grisha Jaeger, who is also the royal physician of the imperial family.
The Ackermans are a clan of strong knights and dames, the current head of their family is Duchess Kuchel Ackerman of Wall Maria and Rose..
The Reiss clan are the former imperial family before Emperor Fritz, the previous emperor, was ousted from his throne because of his tyrannical ruling. The Reiss clan were demoted from being royals to only as a noble family, but still have power in the imperial government. The current head of the Reiss family is Duke Rod Reiss of Wall Sina.
These three clans were also the reasons why Eldia have always been flourishing, but it's also thanks to the previous emperors who did a good job in ruling the Eldian empire.
Except for Emperor Fritz, he was a terrible ruler.
Eldia only experienced a dark age during Emperor Fritz's ruling.
He led their military into unnecessary wars for more land and power, there was a lot of bloodshed, killings, violence and corruption. He didn't care for his people, he only cared for his glory, honor and power as the emperor of the Eldian empire.
He gave nightmare to his country
And because of this, one man from a humble noble family stepped up, revolting against him.
His name is Erwin Smith.
Erwin made an alliance with the Jaegers and Ackermans, he also convinced the other noble families to side with him and revolt against the tyrannical emperor Fritz. The commoners also sided with him, and when they revolted against the emperor, Erwin and the people who helped them, succeeded in their revolt that hoped for light and blessing.
The people crowned Erwin as the new emperor, they appreciated his bravery to overthrow Emperor Fritz and save Eldia and every Eldians in the empire.
And with Erwin's ruling, the people loved him even more.
He's a great emperor who cares for his people and is devoted to his empire.
Eldia escaped darkness and was into the light again.
Erwin Smith is also known as "Emperor Smith" and the people gave him the title of...
"The Sun Lion of the Eldian Empire"
Emperor Smith gained the throne in the year 835.
And he's been in the imperial throne, ruling the Eldian empire for 15 years already.
Eldia stayed in peace and harmony while he's the emperor.
If the Eldian empire is the strongest empire, then they have an equal.
The Kingdom of Marley is the strongest kingdom around the globe, also overpowering the other kingdoms around their continent. Their country is known for advanced army weapons and strong warriors. Marley is also a fluorishing continent, just like Eldia.
King Willy Tybur is the current king of Marley, he's a great ruler who cares for his people and their kingdom. He was still a crown prince when Emperor Smith became the new emperor of the Eldian empire. The Tybur family has always been the royal family ruling the Kingdom of Marley.
Marley and Eldia were in a war during Emperor Fritz and the previous king of Marley's ruling of Eldia and Marley. The war was only to prove who is stronger and more powerful, and it was started by emperor Fritz. Five years after emperor Fritz was ousted from his throne, Erwin traveled to Marley to offer a peace treaty with the kingdom of Marley.
During that time, the king of Marley was suffering from a sickness, before Erwin could meet the previous king, his majesty had already died. Because of this, Willy Tybur, the eldest child and only son of the previous king ascended to the throne. Erwin was there when King Willy was crowned, and the peace treaty he was hoping to agree on with the previous king was accepted by the new king of Marley, King Willy Tybur.
King Willy didn't want any more war, he got sick of bloodshed, killings and violence.
That's why he accepted Emperor Smith's peace treaty.
Since then, Marley and Eldia were on peaceful terms.
But not until...
An incident caused another conflict between the two powerful countries.
--
Year 843
"Unknown group of criminals crossed the border, and killed the order of the knights who were guarding Marley's part in the border, your majesty. Because of this incident, King Willy Tybur was furious and accused us of breaking the peace treaty between our countries and waging war against them. King Willy had said that his kingdom is ready to strike back if we're really entering a war with their kingdom and people..."
Erwin shut his eyes, he brought his hand over his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. The emperor is in so much distress because of the incident that happened on the border last week. "Were Marley able to track down the criminals?" Erwin asked.
His royal knight and right-hand-man, sir Levi Ackerman, shook his head.
"Not yet, and because of that, the Marleyans are uneasy, knowing that a group of Eldian bandits are roaming around their kingdom. Our intel reported that the people of Marley are starting to build hatred for the Eldian empire. The situation could get even worse."
The emperor let out a heavy sigh. He leaned back on his seat, tapping his fingers onto the armrest of his chair.
"How come the knights guarding our part of the border were easily killed? Aren't they under your orders?" Sir Levi roamed his eyes around, making sure that no one else was around the throne room. "Is there something else, sir Levi?"
Emperor Smith stared at Levi with a serious face.
"Your majesty..."
Sir Levi kneeled down, staring down and a slight hint of guilt and regret was evident on his face. "While it is true that the knights guarding the border were under my orders, I wasn't able to keep an eye on them because of the left and right duties I have on my hands. I did a self-investigation three days ago...I hate to break it to you, your majesty...but it seems that someone is trying to cause a war between our empire and Marley's kingdom." Erwin's brows furrowed into confusion.
"I found a dead body near the border, and that dead body belongs to one of the knights guarding the border. He wasn't killed unlike the others. That knight...commited suicide by consuming a deadly poision that can only be found from the kingdom of Marley. And I found this note in that dead knight's hand. He was holding onto it very tightly."
The emperor took the small note of paper Levi handed to him, it's crumpled and dirty.
Erwin's eyes widened, reading what's inside the note.
"Destroy Marley, bring glory to Eldia."
The blond-man clenched his jaw, his fist balled, even more krumping the note into his large hand. Erwin glared at nowhere. "Sir Levi, I order you to secretly investigate this. Someone is certainly...trying to bring back the terror ruling of the late Emperor Fritz."
Sir Levi nodded, bowing at the emperor.
"Yes, your majesty."
–
The next day, Erwin summoned all his loyal subjects to discuss the conflict that arose between their empire and the Kingdom of Marley. Again, he's in distress, because some of his loyal subjects are pushing him to go into war with the Kingdom of Marley.
"Absolutely not. If a war brokes out again between Eldia and Marley, we will just repeat Emperor Fritz's ruling!" Duchess Kuchel Ackerman spoke, facing the left faction led by Duke Rod Reiss. "We revolted against the previous emperor to stop the dark ages, and you gentlemen, only want to repeat history?" Duchess Kuchels shook her head.
"Duchess Ackerman, you sure know how to open your mouth as a woman."
The female head of the Ackerman clan raised a brow at Viscount Hermann.
"Pardon?"
Viscount Hermann smirked at her. "I mean...all women can do is talk, but you women can't even see the bigger picture. Don't you see why we're pushing for a war against Marley? Those bastards are arrogant. Marleyan bastards who think of themselves too almighty just because they are advanced when it comes to weaponry. King Willy Tybur has the nerve to threaten us with waging war, he and his people think too little of us. What will you do if those Marleyan bastards stab us from the back and all we can do is run away because we didn't strike first?" Duchess Kuchel glared at the viscount.
"Are you suggesting that we attack first just because you feel insulted?"
The Viscount went silent.
Now it's Duchess Kuchel's turn to smirk.
"All you men know what to do is fill your ego and pride."
Viscount Hermann gritted his teeth, he clenched his fists as he glared at the female head of the Ackerman clan. "You insolent wench!!"
The Viscount wasn't able to continue his insult towards Duchess Kuchel when a sword was pointed at his neck. He stiffened on his place as he looked at sir Levi who's staring at him with cold, steel-gray like eyes. "Filthy words are not allowed to be said in front of the emperor, my lord. I suggest you keep quiet before I swing my sword to your neck."
Silence.
Everyone inside the throne room knows that sir Levi's reason for pointing his sword at Viscount Hermann's neck is because of the rule not to utter inappropriate words in front of the emperor, but it's also because his mother was about to be bad-mouthed.
"Put your sword down now, sir Levi."
Levi kept his sword with just one order from the emperor.
Viscount Hermann muttered a curse under his breath as he watched Levi go back to his position at the emperor's side.
"Duke Reiss..."
Erwin looked at Duke Rod Reiss, the head of the left faction.
"What can you say about all of this? Do you agree with your side to go into war with Marley?" The emperor asked.
Duke Rod Reiss kept his eyes at the ground as he spoke. "No, your majesty."
The emperor raised a brow. "Oh?"
Duke Reiss flashed a small smile, he looked up at Erwin. "I am different from emperor Fritz, your majesty. I do not wish for this empire and our people to suffer again."
Erwin stared at Duke Reiss. "I see...that's a good thing, Duke Reiss."
The emperor stood up from his seat, facing his loyal subjects.
"I'm not accepting the pleas of those who want war."
Viscount Hermann and the other officials who wished to go into war with Marley were all in disbelief by their emperor's decision. "Your Majesty! I What are we to do if Marley just waltzes in here to attack us?!" Viscount Hermann exclaimed.
"Don't worry, they won't. I have trust in King Willy, he's not a reckless man."
Erwin took a deep breath as he made his way out of the throne room, sir Levi immediately followed behind him while the officials bowed their heads as he left.
"I am leaving for Marley tomorrow to settle this conflict with King Willy."
–
Night time came and Erwin's still awake.
The reason is, he's accompanying his children tonight.
Emperor Smith is not just an emperor, but he's also a father of twins.
He's a single father.
Three years after becoming the emperor, Erwin found his love among the ladies-in-waiting of Emperor Fritz's empress. Her name was Marie D'aureville.
Erwin married Marie, a lady from a humble noble family. Marie was crowned as the new empress of the Eldian empire after marrying him. After two years of marriage, Erwin and Marie were blessed with royal twins. One boy and one girl.
Their names are Evan and Eleanor. Prince Evan D'aureville Smith of the Eldian empire and Princess Eleanor D'aureville Smith of the Eldian empire.
Erwin was the happiest man when his twins were born, but that happiness slowly faded when his wife began to fall sick. Marie suffered from a heart disease, it was incurable.
One year after his wife gave birth to their twins, three days before the twins' first birthday, Empress Marie D'aureville-Smith passed away from her heart disease.
Her death left an unhealing wound on Erwin, eventually that wound became a scar though it will forever remain with Erwin. The emperor is a heartbroken man behind his image as a great ruler of the Eldian empire. He keeps gaining achievements, love from people and undying loyalty from his men, yet he lost the one person he loved the most.
But Erwin stayed on his feet.
He didn't let himself fall weak even after losing his wife, instead, he used her death to make himself stronger, also Erwin has his twins that his wife left in his care.
Erwin is doing his best to become a good father to Evan and Eleanor.
The blond-man smiled upon seeing his twins were already asleep on their cribs.
He quietly made his way towards his twins.
Erwin stood beside the crib of his twins, he gently caressed their chubby and small cheeks. He can't help but pout at the cuteness of his twins.
Evan got his mother's features, wavy ginger-hair color and doe, brown-eyes, but Evan got his thick and bushy eyebrows.
While Eleanor looks more like him, blue-eyes and blond-hair, He's thankful that Eleanor has normal eyebrows just like his wife. Eleanor might hate him when she grows up and finds her eyebrows ugly because it's too thick and bushy.
Eleanor and Evan are now 2 years old.
"Hmm...?"
Erwin smiled when his twins smiled in their sleep.
"You two must be dreaming of your mother...say hi for me to her, loves."
The blond-man leaned close to his twins, pressing down a soft kiss on their forehead. "Have more sweet dreams, Evan, Eleanor."
--
(Kingdom of Marley)
Danaya smiled, seeing that her mistress was still asleep. She quietly closed the door, then made her way inside, going to the big window covered by large red and gold curtains.
The blond-woman slid the curtains to the side, letting the sunlight come in inside her mistress' room.
Danaya walked towards her mistress' bed, she stood at the side. "My lady, it is time to wake up." She softly said as she gently shook awake her mistress.
Y/n's brows furrowed, she looked back to see Danaya, smiling at her. "Good morning, my lady. Did you have a good night's sleep?" Her maid-servant politely asked.
The h/c-haired lady let out a small sigh, she sat up, eyes squinting when the sunlight dazzled her vision.
"What time is it?"
"It's already 8 in the morning, my lady. The king and queen are already in the dining hall, having their breakfast. You need to get ready now because they wish to have breakfast with you, too."
Y/n looked at Danaya, raising a brow.
"Why?"
Her maid-servant bowed. "That I do not know, my lady. We just need to get ready now, or we'll be late. His majesty and her majesty might get mad."
The h/c-haired lady let out another sigh, she got out of her bed then made her way to the bathroom where a warm water was already filling her bathtub.
Danaya was there to assist her in taking a bath, while her other maid-servants were preparing the dress and jewelry she will wear for today.
Y/n went out of the bathtub after rinsing her head and body. She wore a bathrobe that Danaya held for her.
The h/c-haired lady then went out of her bathroom. Her dress for today is already ready at the mannequin. For today, she will wear a royal blue-dress with black patterns. Her jewelry are a set of gold with real blue pendants.
Y/n sat on the chair in front of her vanity table, she let one of her maid-servants dry her hair while there's also another one who began to put on makeup on her.
"My lady...do you want to put on a darker shade of lipstick or a lighter one?"
"I'll use a lighter one with gloss."
"Yes, my lady."
The h/c-haired lady was done with her make-up and hair, she stood up from her seat and put on lotion by herself.
Danaya and two more maid-servants helped her in putting on her dress.
Y/n held onto her vanity table as Danaya tightened her corset that she wears around her waist. Her bosom clenched as the corset tightened even more. She's already used to this.
This is how her everyday works.
After putting on her dress, she wore her jewelry. She has earrings, a necklace, rings and a bracelet.
They even add some beautiful headdresses on her hair to make her updo hairstyle look more elegant.
"You look beautiful as always, my lady."
Y/n stared at herself in the mirror.
She's satisfied with how she looks.
"Thank you. Let's go now."
--
Y/n Tybur
She is the youngest child of the previous king of Marley, but Y/n is only a child of the previous king from a royal concubine. That is why she's referred to as "my lady" not "your highness."
Because a child of the king who was born from a concubine is not considered a prince or princess.
Y/n is King Willy's half-sister.
Even when they're only half-blood related, Y/n has a good relationship with her older brother, King Willy.
"Your Majesties…"
The h/c-haired lady bowed at King Willy and Queen Clementia. The royal couple smiled as they nodded at her.
"Good morning, Y/n. You look beautiful today." Queen Clementia said, flashing Y/n a soft smile. She adores Y/n a lot.
"Have a seat, Y/n." King Willy spoke.
Y/n sat on the chair across from her older brother. The Queen is seated on the chair on King Willy's right side.
The servants began serving her breakfast. "Lionel was supposed to join us, too. But that boy is outside of the palace again." King Willy said.
"Pardon him, your majesty. I'll teach him a lesson later." Y/n said. She frowned as she thought of Lionel.
That idiot Lionel…
Lionel is her younger brother, just like her, Lionel is also an illegitimate child.
They didn't come from the same mother, either. Lionel is a son of another royal concubine of the previous king.
"Please do, Y/n. Lionel should behave. The accolade will take place next week. If he wants to become an official knight, then he should have clean records. I won't pull strings for him."
Y/n only nodded at her older brother's statement. She picked up her cup of rosemallow tea then took a sip on it.
"Dear, you're turning 18 next month." The Queen spoke.
The h/c-haired lady looked at her sister-in-law. "Yes, your majesty."
Queen Clementia smiled at her.
"That also means that you're of age to get married. Me and your brother had discussed that matter last night. Are you interested in anyone?"
Y/n paused for a moment.
She gulped as she stared at her brother and sister-in-law. If I say I don't have anyone I like then they'll surely look for someone to marry me.
"I do."
King Willy's brows shot-up, while Queen Clementia looked amused.
"Who is it?" King Willy seriously asked.
The h/c-haired lady took another sip from her tea. "He's…" She shut her eyes and internally cursed. "Philip."
Her older brother's jaw dropped, while her sister-in-law was just shocked.
"Philip...son of commander Magath? Your personal knight?!" Willy asked.
Y/n gulped as she nodded.
Sorry, Phil. I have to lie.
"T-that is...surprising, dear." The Queen said.
Y/n stared at her older brother, she immediately regrets mentioning her knight's name. Now, the king might remove Philip as her personal knight.
"Sir Philip is a decent man. You have quite a good taste in men, dear." The Queen teased, making Y/n feel embarrassed.
King Willy kept a neutral face, staring at his younger sister. "I'll talk to commander Magath, I'll ask if he's okay with marrying his son into the royal family." Y/n's eyes then widened.
Ah. Holy Kingdom of Marley…!
Y/n was about to take back her fake confession, but she wasn't able to do so when her older brother's knight arrived.
"Your majesty, pardon me…"
King Willy, the queen and her stared at sir Gerald, the captain of the royal order of the Knights of Marleyan kingdom.
"What is the matter, sir Gerald?" King Willy asked.
Sir Gerald's brows creased as he looked at his king.
"The Eldian Empire sent a message to us. Emperor Erwin Smith of the Eldian Empire is on his way to come here to settle the current conflict."
King Willy and his Queen were shocked, while Y/n kept quiet and just chose to continue eating her breakfast.
She stared at nowhere, thinking of their visitor.
Emperor Erwin Smith…
What kind of man is he?
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