The emperor sat on his throne, a listless expression set upon his face. He was sitting down in the throne room, which was arguably the second grandest room in the palace only to the ballroom. The carpet leading up towards him was made of pure gold and the floors were made of pearly white marble with small hints of gold here and there. Everything seemed to glimmer with beauty and pricelessness, with things from all corners of the world displayed around the room. The walls were a blood red, matching the colour of the emperor's eyes.
He was already fairly exhausted even if it was only five in the morning because of how many people had actually came so early just to meet him and discuss business matters, for example asking for permission to build certain boutiques, shops and what not. His first assistant stood several meters away, not anywhere near the extravagant throne and carpet. The assistant had slightly tanned skin and eyes that shone like the purest yellow honey, matching his blonde hair quite spectacularly.
"Your majesty, your grandmother has requested to have breakfast with you." The assistant mentions, before two guards open a large door to the Emperor's left, suggesting that his grandmother was that way. The emperor felt a small twinkle of excitement shiver through his veins yet kept his voice and face quite emotionless.
"Very well then." The emperor replies before standing up and heading towards where he would meet his grandmother. In the meanwhile, his grandmother sat anxiously at the small coffee table with a full Yunoaiunese breakfast prepared in front of her by the finest chefs in the land. She looked over at the wall made entirely of glass, admiring the beautiful garden and the sound of the raindrops against the glass, falling from the greyish blue sky.
Her head perks up when the emperor walks in, lifting his hand to signal the guards to leave, wishing to chat with his grandmother in private. He sat across from her, a rather delighted smile now settling across his features.
"Grandmother, you have no duties to attend to. You don't have to wake up so early just to have breakfast with me. I will make time for you if needed." The emperor converses with his grandmother pouring her a cup of jasmine green tea into her small teacup.
"I know, however I do not wish to interrupt your busy schedule. Besides, I have to speak with you about something." Grandmother responds, a fairly serious look now settled on her face.
"Of course, what is it you wish to speak with me about?" The emperor questions, a small smile still resting on his beautiful lips that looked as soft as a thousand cushions of silk.
"You can't take over the world without even appreciating the things that now belong to you. I understand the pain you feel, however you can't release your pain out onto the world. Many others have suffered just as badly, or even more than you have because of the way you've treated them. I know you take over the world for the country and for the people, however I feel like it's wrong." His grandmother strictly informs him. The emperor purses his lips, remembering a sad moment of his childhood at her words.
"Merry Derunalio, my dearest grandson! Look, grandmother has got you so many of the finest gifts from all over the world. I hand picked them all, just for you my little angel." The young emperor's grandmother says, a weak smile on her features as they sat by the window in private, shielding themselves from the beautiful yet freezing cold snow falling outside with a roaring fireplace to keep them warm.
It seemed like hundreds of presents were placed before the tree made of gold, all just for the young emperor. However, the young emperor purses his lips with disappointment.
"Isn't this the day mummy and daddy went away? It's been a whole year, Nana." The young emperor complains, looking desperately out the window at the road leading up to the palace, hoping to see the miracle of his parents returning. Ever since the accident, he had never seen them again. He could feel a deep sorrow and longing in his heart, and just at this age did the emperor's tall, penetrateless walls begin to build.
"I'm sorry my darling but they're not coming back.. I know you miss them. I do too." His grandmother comforts him, wrapping her arm around his body and pulling him into a tender hug.
However, the tenderness of the hug contrasted with the sudden tears of immense sorrow falling down the young emperor's cheeks.
"Did mummy and daddy really ever love me? If they love me, why won't they come back?" The young emperor asks his grandmother, his voice cracking as his melancholy emotions begin to take over.
"All the other children have mothers and fathers. They get to play catch with their dads. They get a mother who looks so glad to see them everyday when they come home with school. They get parents who give them so much love. They all look so happy. Why couldn't god let me be happy?" The young emperor sobs, tears streaming down his face and all over his grandmother's sleeve.
"Grandson, I know how much it hurts. Your parents love you very very much but they just can't come back. You have to be strong. Don't be sad, it's Derunalio today. I have so many presents and toys for you." His grandmother comforts him once again, embracing the young child even tighter in her arms.
"I'm grateful for them, Nana but.. I don't want any presents. I want a mummy and daddy again. I will give up all my presents this year if I can see them again for even just a little bit." He cries out, stuffing his face into his grandmother's neck, looking for comfort on the one year anniversary of his parents' death.
As his grandmother looked down at the young boy, she could feel a small burning anger and longing beginning to grow inside of him, seeing the violent red eyes that a child definitely shouldn't have. Those eyes weren't the eyes of a child.
"Grandmother, you know it wasn't all my doing. The general is the one who suggested and carried out most of growth of our empire." The emperor complains, not wanting to seem so vicious.
"Grandson, ever since your parents passed away, you became a completely different child. I know the grief is difficult to handle but please don't make others suffer because of it. For pete's sake, you've grown cold and distrustful to everybody around you other than me because of their deaths. I'm aware that you don't know how to reach out to others or open up. I'm aware you can not trust anybody. However, this is not the solution. Yes, you are methodical, smart and strong, but also greedy. You have taken over the entire world in just ten years of you being the emperor." His grandmother complains in response, an unpleased look settled on her expression.
The emperor looks down, before feeling a whole tsunami of anger begin the rush through his veins. "Of course I am like that, grandmother! These people killed my parents! They took everything from me!" He yells, a dark and emotionless void beginning to form in his red eyes.
His grandmother immediately grabs his arms and gently strokes it, calming the emperor down slightly.
"Takahiro Nathaniel Xiang Wang! Lower your tone!" His grandmother exclaims his full name, using a strict and cold tone in her voice for what seemed like the first time in forever. The emperor immediately seals his lips shut in a straight line and sits down, obviously hoping he didn't annoy his grandmother too much.
"I suggest you change. I know your parents passing away isn't the only traumatising thing you've experienced in your life. Still, there is still beauty in the world. If you see that beauty, maybe you'll change." His grandmother explains to him as he bites his lip anxiously in the process.
During all this was occurring, a small ring resonated through your dark room, the opaque curtains only letting the tiniest bit of daylight in. You grumble and open your eyes slightly annoyed, wishing that perhaps you could've slept for longer. However, you had an outfit to make, even though the emperor was a completely rude and inconsiderate of your feelings, it was your job and he was paying you well. This life was better than your life back then, at least. The only thing to make it the best life you could live is if Kai was here alongside you.
You turn off the alarm clock by your bed, letting out an abnormally loud yawn. You stretch slightly before deciding to stay in your pajamas for the next several hours before breakfast would be served to you by one of the maids. The fact the maids would do pretty much whatever you told them to made you feel incredibly high class for once in your lifetime. Either ways, you sit up on your bed, your legs hanging off the edge. You slip on the pair of fluffy pink slippers, which they gave to you as a welcoming gift, as you stand up, ready to start your day.
You sit at your desk, looking at the stack of ten large sheets of paper sprawled out upon your wooden desk. It was definitely difficult to decide which outfit would best suit him. You sat on your chair, able to tell it may take you a while to choose, especially because you tended to indecisive from time to time. Carefully, you continuously look at each sheet of paper, soon narrowing it down to two choices. It took you only about five minutes to choose between the two, deciding to go with a fully red and golden outfit that had pitch black under clothing and such. Once this process was done, you spent an hour or two checking which fabrics would be best for the occasion and which wouldn't be. Thankfully, you managed to narrow it down soon enough, just before there was a knock on the door.
"Ah, breakfast!" You squeal excitedly after having tried to ignore your stomach's desperate pleas for food over the last several hours that seemed to have just flown past. "Come in, come in!" You exclaim welcomingly, losing control of yourself and ending up sounding terribly desperate, nearly as though they had been starving you for weeks.
However, the usual plain looking made with blonde hair and blue eyes didn't come through the door when it was slid open. Rather, it was nobody other than Octavi once again. He held a silver tray with a delicious smelling breakfast radiating from it and intoxicating your senses.
Octavi chuckles slightly and raises his eyebrows, "Somebody seems desperate for some breakfast." He says, walking into your room with a cheeky grin on his lips. It was funny how much he had changed around you since when you first met at the palace gardens.
"O-Octavi? Why are you here? Where's Diana?" You ask with a surprised tone lacing your voice, your eyes even widening slightly as you spoke, taking in the presence of Octavi serving you breakfast and, indeed, a whole new surprise.
"I decided to serve you breakfast today as I'm leaving in an hour. I'm going to be gone for a few days, so you won't have me to babysit you. You need to be a big girl, alright?" He says, a playful smile on his face as he places the breakfast on the coffee table in front of a small couch in the corner of your room. He then proceeds to walk over to the curtains, opening them for you. The new found light slightly stung your eyes but the pain soon melted away.
"What are you talking about? I'll be absolutely fine!" You exclaim, a pleased smile on yourself, truly believing you could survive a few days without the guidance of Octavi in the palace.
"Sure you will." He replies, obviously not joking around. He truly didn't believe you would survive even the first hour alone here without him. "I don't get paid enough.. I should charge more for babysitting." He mutters to himself under his breath.
"Did you say something?" You ask, barely hearing whatever he said after the first part of his response. "A-Anyway, why are you going away?" You ask out of curiosity, a small and child-like smile embracing your features.
"To do some business for the emperor. There's been some rebellion in the North-East again but it'll be easy to handle. Then, after that I must meet a certain somebody for even more business yet this time for my family. Every single member of my family has served every single member of the Xiang family, the current family who has ruled over our country for the past several centuries. Everything else is classified." He responds, a now more serious expression on his face as he returned back to his usual self. It seemed that sometimes Octavi tended to suddenly become so light-hearted and playful, even if his usual attitude seemed to be exactly the opposite for most of the time. It seemed to convince you that maybe he even had a split personality.
"Ah, I see.. come back safely!" You exclaim, a large smile embracing your features despite how much you really hated the fact of Octavi leaving you alone for so long. The next few days would be without a doubt, incredibly lonely and silent. That's when the thought of buying a record player popped into your head, a more sincere smile now on your lips at the thought of lovely music filling your room while you work.
"I will, goodbye [Name]. Till we meet again. I'll call you if I have some time." He says before leaving the room swiftly and sliding the door behind him. As he had left, you peered over to the clock on the wall. It had barely been even a minute and you already felt so alone, the silence not making it any better. You decided that you'd ask for permission later today to buy a record player from the city, or at least get somebody to do it for you, as well as several records.
You got up onto your feet once again and sat on your couch, your body sinking into the exquisite fabric as you eyed the delicious meal, steaming with perfection right in front of you. It was incredibly enticing and nearly without even a second thought, you decided to dig into your meal. The day would feel much longer without Octavi.
In another part of the palace, the royal emperor was sat in his study, attending to the papers and issues that needed his attention. He had made sure that everything fit together perfectly and that nothing would go wrong in his kingdom. He had given the people with senior citizenships even more benefits like they had asked and had lowered the tax payment for those in poverty even more. As long as everybody was happy, he felt as though he could keep going on.
However, a small sigh left his lips as he threw his red feathered quill back into the ink pot so carelessly. He felt quite distressed and didn't like the fact that you had actually stepped up to him and so confidently as well. Most people in the past who objected the emperor were sent away without a second thought or would faulted in confidence and beg on their knees for forgiveness after knowing what they had just did out of bottled up anger.
He tapped his fingers against the rich hardwood, thinking for several moments. He sighs once again before taking a map out from the drawer of his study and spreading it out onto his desk. The map had every country in the empire, numbered by order of which he took them over. He eyed each and every one of them before coming to a quick decision and swiftly storing the map away.
"Eli, come here." The emperor summons his first assistant from the small sofa he was resting on in the corner of the room, silently looking through files and the emperor's future schedules.
Eli stands up from his seat, wearing a black and grey yukata, specially imported from overseas as a gift from the emperor himself. He approaches the emperor, standing in front of his desk and waiting for whatever the emperor wanted from him.
"Remind me, how many countries have we taken over?" The emperor asks, resting his elbow on the desk, followed by resting his cheek in the palm of his hand.
"148 countries, 129 including our own. That's the entire world, your majesty." Eli responds, a slightly pleased smirk on his features. Working for the most powerful man in the world made him feel so powerful himself. It was his duty and will to risk everything he had for the emperor, without a second thought.
"I want 148 statues, each for one country. I want the statues to be an enlarged version of their national flower, made with marble, gold and crushed gems to colour them. I want these statues to be placed in the remembrance park down south of the city. I want them done within two to three weeks." The emperor orders, his dark red eyes glaring at Eli.
"If I may ask, why the sudden decision, your majesty?" Eli questions out of curiosity, not scared of getting any punishment for just breaking a rule and asking the emperor a question. Besides, Eli and the emperor were more like childhood friends. Eli had been taught from a young age how to adjust himself to the emperor's personality and needs, after all, his whole family had always served his. Just like the Kirayo family.
"Just to commemorate those that have been lost. My grandmother has brought it to my attention that perhaps I have lashed out my pain onto the world and have split families apart. I hope that these statues will make the hatred these families must feel against me slightly less terrible. I met a girl yesterday who told me I had killed her entire family. She sounded a lot like my grandmother, scolding me." The emperor responds casually, tapping his other hand's fingers on the table, creating a soft and hollow beat in the room.
"You mean the tailor? It's funny you mention her now. She has requested a record player. Do you give her permission to get one?" Eli states, a playful smirk on his lips once again before he sits down at the seat facing the emperor.
"Give her a record player. Not one of the pure golden type ones. Just one that is a bit better than average quality. Give her five boxes of records to go along with it. Don't tell her it was from me either." The emperor states, huffing slightly.
"Have you taken some interest in the common girl, your majesty?" Eli teases, a large and playful grin spread across his cheeks and he writes down the order for the statues into his file, ready to send it out as soon as he could.
"Please, it's the first woman to scold me like my grandmother does. Besides, she has done well in her job. So this can be counted as her bonus." The emperor states before waving away Eli with a small shooing motion, "Now leave me be, you nosy mole." He hisses before picking up his quill once again and continuing to finish looking through the documents and official matters on his desk.
You sneeze harshly in the middle of sewing, thankfully not hurting yourself or creating any errors. You were finally starting to put together the under pieces first after a lot of thought. 'Somebody's talking about me..' You think to yourself, as it was believed in many countries that if you sneezed once, it meant something good was being said about you. Twice, and something bad was being said about you.
"Kai maybe?" You ask yourself, talking to yourself like an utter idiot trying to console herself of her loneliness. You continued pinning and cutting out the fabrics, before being interrupted once again by a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" You ask curiously whilst quickly placing your things down and scrambling to your feet. You hurry over to the door, ready to open it after their reply.
"Sir Eli Zhang, first assistant of the emperor." Eli states, waiting for you to open the door. He eyes you down once you finally slide the door open, revealing yourself to still be in your pajamas. Having forgotten the fact you were in your pajamas, you felt nearly no awkward tension at all. However, Eli couldn't help but feel his cheeks slightly heated up at how informally you were dressed. However, he wasn't one to speak, especially since he was wearing a grey yukata, which was a casual outfit for men to wear.
Eli snaps his fingers and suddenly six maids, all in a perfect line come walking into your room. Completely puzzled, you only understood when you saw what they were holding. The first one held a large black box which was the presumed record player with small red detailing. She was followed by five other maids, each carrying a cardboard box full of records. You felt spoiled and surprised to the brim, having suggested only a casual record player and several records to keep yourself entertained.
"Here are the record player and records you suggested. The emperor has approved your request." Eli says before leaving out of your train of sight, walking down the hall, soon followed by the maids after they each placed their things down on top or around your bed before leaving behind him as well. The last one bowed her head towards you before quickly sliding the door closed and disappearing with the others. Slightly puzzled, you scratch your head at the quick scene that seemed to speed by right in front of you.
You simply shrug your shoulders and decide to look and admire the record player. They had always been too expensive for you to buy before, even if you had wished for one for so long. You open the black and red box to reveal the place where the records were to be put. You could hear yourself squealing with excitement before picking up a random record and placing it into the player. It was a more traditional styled song being sung by a female, so beautifully you thought you would cry.
You decide to check who the singer was, instantly taking a liking to their beautiful voice. Looking at the small packaging of the record, there was a slit for the record to be put back in there. On the packaging there was a young woman with beautiful, long locks of wavy black hair, dressed traditionally in red and gold. Her skin was as fair as snow and her eyes were closed shut so you were unable to see their colour. It seemed like this was her fourth album, judging by the number four in bold on the album cover.
You looked for an artist name, however the only name was 'BLANC', and that didn't really seem like a proper name to you. So, you decided to continue scrolling through the boxes while the music played, looking for any other records with the name 'BLANC' on them. Hope was running out as you checked the last box, only for your hope to be regained as you managed to find her second album, the number two boldly imprinted on the packaging. You took it away from the boxes and set it beside the record player, wanting to play this album after the one that was playing at the moment.
Pondering to yourself, you begin to wonder what Octavi was doing at the moment. Sighing slightly, you look over to the clock. It was only twelve in the afternoon, he had barely been gone for even five hours.
You were interrupted once again by a small knock on the door. You perk up and hurry to the door again, wondering why nobody cared to give you some privacy and always had to knock on your door. Chances were that you just felt agitated due to being fairly lonely without Octavi. You slide your door open, to reveal the short and fairly timid maid. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and you knew her name to be Jiku. She would come in while you worked in order to clean your room here and there, but every one or two weeks you had to leave your room in order to let her clean. It usually took only half an hour so you didn't really mind, besides she was only really doing her job anyways.
"Are you here to do the weekly thorough cleaning?" You question, tilting your head slightly. "Just let me quickly change." You say, only to be cut off by the woman who you once thought was timid.
"I'm already two minutes behind schedule, please leave. I will be finished in half an hour." She states, a small glare in her eyes. You feel chills go down your back, slightly frightened by her surprisingly threatening demeanour. She had never spoken to you so harshly before.
"A-Alright, Jiku." You respond, stepping out of your bedroom. She pushes her small trolley of cleaning items into your room and slides the door closed behind her, having kicked you out of your own abode. You clear your throat awkwardly, wondering what to do during the next half an hour. Not to mention, you hoped nobody would see you. You were dumb enough to have not changed out of your pajamas just yet and if somebody managed to catch sight of you, not only would you die of embarrassment, they would most likely die because of how low status you must be if you were roaming around in your pajamas, as if you had no better clothes to wear.
You bite your lip nervously before slowly shuffling your feet along the hallway, deciding to take a small look around the palace while you could. You had never really gotten the chance to properly explore, once you had thought about it. Continuing to walk, you stop at a small door that had music spilling out of whatever room was behind it. Curiously, you bend over and decide to look at what was happening inside. Indeed it was a sneaky and rude thing to do, however you would rather know if it was safe to go in at all before you opened the door.
Peering through the keyhole, you see three young women, each with at least three maids either doing their nails, hair or fixing up their makeup. You began to eavesdrop unintentionally on their chatter, letting your curiosity take over yourself.
"He rejected Sua Suho and Via Resniyi. Can you believe that?" One of them gossip, holding a silver hand mirror in her hand in order to examine herself. She had dark hair and eyes and skin painted over with a shade much too light for her in a desperate attempt to look paler. The beauty standard of Yunoaiu was harsh. Women had to be pale, feminine and skinny in order to get a husband nowadays.
"Oh please, I'm much better than them anyway." Another one bites back, sashaying her golden locks of blonde hair in the process. She was naturally pale in comparison to the other one but seemed to be much more narcissistic.
"Do you really think we stand a chance? I heard he likes to play hard to get." The third one interrupts, a small pout on her lips in order to make her lips appear larger.
"Oh please, the ones who play hard to get are always the best. Besides, he's the wealthiest man alive. My father will be over the moon if I can score him. His looks are a bonus as well! He's the handsomest emperor that Yunoaiu has ever seen, without a doubt!" The second one squeals dreamily, picturing him in her head.
"Via Resniyi is the finest woman alive, you brainless blonde!" The first woman yells at the second one, throwing her mirror at the blonde.
"Shut up, Vanessa! You obviously can't see my charm through those cheap false lashes! They aren't even designer!" The blonde roars back viciously.
"Somebody is a bit of a lurker, aren't they?" A familiar voice asks, causing you to jump up straight and whip yourself around. You came face to face with none other than the emperor and two guards following behind with their usual emotionless stance.
"I-It's not what it looks like-" You try to explain, an embarrassed red colour flushing your cheeks as you wave your hands, insisting that you were innocent of eavesdropping.
"It's exactly what it looks like," He says, only to pause as he looks at your clothes. He clears his throat awkwardly, "Why are you in your pajamas?" He questions, a rather unemotional expression on his face as usual.
"Be-" He cuts you off, "Never mind that. Go and change right this moment and I might just let this one slide." He states, pointing at you with his closed red fan.
"I can't, you see! The maid is cleaning my room, and I was just a little... bored." You explain, biting your lips nervously before hearing several gasps and quite a racket from the door behind you.
"He's coming! He's early!" One of the ladies whisper yelled, well, more like yelled in general. You felt like the scene that was probably going on inside would make you laugh, however you didn't dare even giggle in front of the emperor.
"They are here because of my grandmother." The emperor states before pointing lazily towards the door. One of the guards steps forward to open it. Quickly, you stand out of the way so that the girls wouldn't see you once the door was fully open.
"Emperor Xiang! It's so lovely to meet you!" One of the ladies exclaim, a happy yet incredibly fake smile plastered across her face. The emperor's lips stay in their usual straight line, obviously paying nearly no mind to the ladies which prepared to their best just for him, Instead, he grabbed your wrist and pulled you along with him into the dressing room, where there was a large door leading to a walk-in closet and three dressing tables at either corner.
"Maids, please do what you must with her. Ladies, go home. I take no interest." The emperor states before letting go of your wrist and swiftly turning around and leaving through the door he had dragged you in through.
However, the blonde persisted and tagged along with the emperor. She had pushed it too far however when she had dared to grab his clothing and yank him back from walking away from her any further. The emperor stands still, listening to the young lady's words.
"Emperor, I took the time to get ready for you. I am one of the best of the best and can grant all your wishes. I swear on my life that I can make you the happiest man in the world." The blonde states confidently, her large ego obviously getting to her head. However, you couldn't watch the scene play out any further when three maids lead you to the dressing table and started to fix up your nails, hair and put on some light amount of makeup on your face.
"I beg to differ." The emperor growls threateningly, causing the blonde to flinch away at his harsh tone. One of the the two guards grab her wrists and put them behind her, pushing her towards the entrance, obviously about to kick her out of the palace for breaking such a strict rule. Nobody was allowed to touch he emperor without his permission. This rule was mostly placed there due to how many people had attempted to inject him with some sort of substance or had tried to make him ill with a skin disease.
Once the maids were done with you at the dressing table, they drag you into the changing room and begin to undress you. Uncomfortable with this, you cut in.
"I apologise but I can dress myself. I'm just not comfortable with this. Is that alright?" You question, intervening. They immediately stop and nod their heads before leaving the dress on a stool in the corner of the changing room and quickly departing, closing the door behind you and giving you the privacy you had sought after.
Who had known that just the first day without Octavi would be so bizarre? You thought about today's occurrences as you put on the light blue dress that didn't dare puff out too much and rather just draped down. It had white frills at the end of it's long sleeves and a beautiful white collar with a large, pearly white bow coming from underneath it.
Once dressed, you stepped out of the changing room to meet a line of three maid girls clapping their hands at your beauty. They praised you with such compliments as, 'You look beautiful', 'You're so charming!' And so on, feeding your ego much more than you had thought they would.
Finally, they sit you down and but on white lace socks on your feet, followed by sky blue flats, matching well with your dress. You had been properly dressed up today all thanks to the emperor and felt a small blush on your cheeks. Never in your wildest dreams did you expect this. The younger you would have been squealing with happiness, as it used to be your dream to be a princess.
"We're finished miss, you may go." One of the maid girls say before they all proceed to curtsy in front of you. Blushing slightly, you curtsy back and mutter a quick 'thank you' before departing and returning back to your bedroom quarters. Finally, it seemed that the maid had finished cleaning so you didn't hesitate to step back inside.
Your room smelt so much better, fresher and looked that way as well now. Finally, you resumed on with your work, the music still pouring into your ears in the background. You wondered if the maid had enjoyed the music as well, having left it on while you were gone.
In the meanwhile, the emperor was storming over to the place where he was expected to meet his grandmother for lunch. He was already understanding of her small speech earlier today but now she had pushed his patience too far. He had had enough of her summoning large numbers of women to the palace to try and charm him and win him over as though he was some sort of prize. He was finished with being ogled and played with as though he wasn't a person himself. Because for god's sake, he was the emperor. He had put up with it for the last month but now that she was even summoning women to the palace without his consent only poured more gasoline onto the fires of rage that he could feel.
He took a deep breath, not wishing to yell at his beloved grandmother before stepping inside the dining room. She was just about to greet him before he cut her off with a stern voice.
"Grandmother, I appreciate your concern with my love life, however you have taken it too far. I have asked you numerous times to stop beforehand, however you refuse to listen to my requests. Please, stop meddling with my love life or else I will have all visitor requests that you send to the acceptance office automatically denied. I know you only want the best for me but its quite enough. I will find the one when the time is right." The young emperor says, walking over to his grandmother with an unpleasured gleam in his eyes.
She chews nervously on her lip before nodding and giving him a polite smile. "I understand. From hence forth, I will try my best not to meddle in such private matters. I only wanted to give you a small push. When you were in those young teenage years, you were such a playboy. I wonder whatever happened." She says, grinning playfully.
Her acceptance of his wishes at last had lightened the mood so much that a small smile snuck onto his face once again. "Grandmother, it was only to fill the void. Besides, it was quite entertaining as well. I heard that in your time, you were quite the charmer yourself." He responds, smirking.
She laughs slightly before replying once again, "Ah, whoever told you that? Well, no point resisting it as I certainly was. However, when I met your grandfather, I finally settled down. I could tell he was the one for me. I guess our charm runs in the family, does it not?"
"Without a doubt it does," The emperor confirms her statement before pouring her a cup of water before she began to enjoy her lunch cheerfully in peace. Then he proceeded to pour his own cup with water as their conversation pulled on.
Whilst all this fuss carried on in the palace, Octavi had finally arrived at his first destination. He stood on top of a large hill where they had set up camp, the rebels trying to climb up the mountain. Octavi sneered down at them, finding it ridiculous that they weren't aware that their position was much better than theirs.
The rebels threatened to kill every single last immigrant from the other countries, complaining that their jobs were being stolen when quite obviously the employment rate was high because of their laziness. They used their dislike for immigrants as a mere excuse for this.
"They obviously do not have the brains but they do have the numbers. Find their leader and dispose of him, he obviously has quite the persuasive technique if he was able to get the entire village on his side." Octavi states before holding his hand up. "Hold your fire."
"We'll bloody murder every single immigrant and all those high class shitheads!" One of them roar much louder than the other's complaints.
Octavi slams his hand down on a small table that had been set up beside him, signaling for them to open fire before the wall of guards surrounding the top of the hill began to shoot arrows or hold up shields in a pattern. This allowed them to offence and defence.
Soon enough, the whole village of rebels was wiped out in mere seconds. "Sir Kirayo, I have discovered that they were the very rebels who tried to poison the water system and cause the worldwide crisis." A guard states before saluting and returning back to his posts.
Octavi sighs and fixes his tie, having not broken a single sweat. "It's good we got rid of them swiftly before they issued the second phase of their plan. They nearly were able to bomb the nearby town. I demand for more lookouts to be placed in areas where rebellions and such violent groups have begun to grow. I'm glad this isn't a common occurrence." Octavi responds to the guard before stepping back inside his carriage.
He quickly ticks off his first order of duty from his notebook before the horseman leads the carriage to his next destination. Octavi looks out the window, fearing the place he was about to go to next. It was a place full of dread and somewhere he had tried to avoid for many many years.
However, he decided that paying his older sister a visit in the insane asylum wouldn't do much harm, especially after the incident that had messed her up so much. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, seeing his sister long ago. Oh, how she had changed. And oh how much he was scared to meet her for the first time again since then.