Chapter 52: Audience (2)
There was no greetings, no show of force, just a question that needed to be answered
Sitting all alone in an empty throne room he had forgone all the unnecessary formalities just to see an end for his obsession
The mad Emperor driven by pride
To the man standing before me I offered no words, I simply moved
And as I opened the chest that I had beside me, for the first time in 9 years a hint of relief seemed to appear on emperors face
-----
A stillness seemed to settle into place as the emperor continued gazing upon the head of the fallen archmage
To the man who waited so long I could only offer my silence, and so 20 minutes passed, only then did the emperor finally move
He leaned back and closed his eyes
Did he feel a sense of fulfilment or was it emptiness?
What could possibly be going through his mind I could not know
Yet if I it was left to my interpretation then if anything his back seemed to be straighter
" Child of Arcane "
The emperor called out as he leaned forward towards me
" What is it that you wish for? "
And the ultimate prize that was originally never claimed was offered to me
He hasn’t bothered asking me how I managed to do this, neither did it seem that he cared
He simply moved on fulfilling the promise he had set, perhaps the will to continue even after everything is what made him the emperor
To that I could only feel respect as I prepared my reply
" Ever since the beginning there was only one thing we of house arcane had wished for... "
A dream perhaps everyone in the continent had come to know
one they had deemed impossible to those of us that had used the darkness attribute
A prestigious household that could only be that nothing greater
" I wish for the rise of arcane, for the status of a duke, that is what I want "
Hearing my declaration the emperor fell silent for a bit deciding to ask a single question first
" Why? "
’ why ’
A simple straightforward question, yet one that hits the deepest parts of my desire
So, I decided to simply speak the truth
" I made a promise to my people, and so it is my responsibility to honour it "
It would have made no difference to me if I was an marquess or duke however to those who had put their trust in me, those who had believed in the Arcanes promise for all these years, it was the least I could do
As he heard my words for the first time since I had been summoned here, I could see a smile tug at the corner of his face
" Well said "
The emperor rose up from his throne as he raised his hand into the air, following that a golden microphone formed at his hand
’ The golden echo ’
A microphone designed to resound across the entire empire in case of emergencies, taking hold of that microphone was the emperor with who I had just been talking to
" To all of my subjects I hereby declare....
I Julius Dragonblood bestow upon Sir Nicholas Arcane the rank of duke alongside other rewards for the act of beheading the fallen archwizard Koschei the deathless "
A short declaration yet one filled with a multitude of shocking news
Having used an item only meant for emergencies the emperor proceeded to sit down back in his throne seemingly refreshed
" that should be more than enough to spread the news, calling a meeting would have simply wasted time "
" ... "
Watching a centuries old dream fulfilled with such ease I couldn’t help but feel a little disillusioned, yet all that I could do was lower my head with gratitude to the smiling emperor
" I’ll take care of the repair fees as well in arcane, so for now it would be best to go back to your estate in such a historic day "
Still hearing the echo of his voice as it carried on across the empire I nodded as a smile made its way onto my face
" Yes, your majesty "
And so as merlin who had been silent all time walked forward, he raised his hand as once again another burst of light engulfed me
Slowly opening my eyes as I returned back into my office, I could hear it all around me, the cries and cheers of the subjects of arcane
The calls to me
" Duke Arcane!!! "
" Duke Arcane!!! "
" Duke Arcane!!! "
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Third Pov:
Back in the imperial palace an emperor sat with his greatest vasal
" Your majesty seems to have grown rather fond of the young duke "
Inquiring this was merlin who had continued to watch the place where Nicholas had just been
To that question of his, the emperor could only scoff
" No such thing, if anything I had planned to put an end to him if I had found a single mistake...
his rise in power has been rather steep these days don’t you think "
Nodding along merlin smiled recalling the child whose name has been all over the empire these days
Still, it didn’t quite answer the fundamental issue at hand so he questioned the emperor once again, an act perhaps only he could do in the entire empire
" Then why didn’t you? "
At that point it was pure curiosity from merlin
why had he spared the now young duke?
" His eyes "
" His eyes? "
" Indeed, you must have seen it as well, those eyes of his despite his ever-increasing growth in influence it never harboured a personal greed for power "
Hearing him merlins smile deepened, recalling the boys words
" A promise was it? "
" Yes he said it was due to a promise, and that was all there truly was to it "
" Is that so "
Staying silent after that, it was as he was about to move did the emperor call out to him once again
" It isn’t well known, mostly to keep the whitehearts dignity in check, however the purge they committed almost caused an economic collapse
in fact there was a multitude of casualties and deaths right after "
" ... "
" The only reason it didn’t reach the worst-case scenario was due to a certain marquess at the time who had personally intervened and put a stop back then to all the chaos even as it almost drove his household to bankruptcy "
" ... "
" He was later on able to bounce back as he rose quickly, he did that in only three months "
" Quite the hero "
" Indeed, someone who seeks power to protect his subjects must be treated well don’t you think? "
Nodding once again Merlin waved his hand as a burst of light flashed whisking him away