Tyrant of the Ruined Sun

Following the statement of my condition, Marius smiled wickedly back at me, saying "I see the miraculous deals of mutual benefit are not without end today. But tell me lord Alexander, how did you come to know about us and the northern crown prince?" His question was asked without a hint of agitation, almost as if he didn't mind the fact that I knew, but was merely interested in the manner in which I came across this information so quickly, since they only transpired earlier today.

"Do we have an agreement or not?" Yet I didn't answer, but merely instead asked in return with a placidly demanding tone, one that intentionally hinted at clear resentful irritation mixed with reluctant acceptance.

A resonance that echoed out with a particularly sour tone, despite the seeming neutrality of my expression and even my eyes, that were usually eery pools of discomfort inducing miasma, or awash with clashing floods of frenzied madness.

"We have indeed your imperial majesty." Marius replied, though I could now hear that he seemed slightly uneased by how clearly I was showing my displeasure by the ordeal, which was all the more unsettling by the tranquillity of my eyes.

'Perceptive bastard.' I thought in mild annoyance that was quickly blunted with compensated satisfaction, since much like myself, he had no reason or choice to refuse it.

They then immediately took their leave, with the Custodians and Lucius encircling the Prime Minister in a protective shell, as they made their down the mountain, while my own guard did the same around me, as we quietly awaited their complete departure.

"Tell me Abraham do you think we could conquer the whole of the Murathicus lands within three years." I calmly asked once the Luminous entourage was no longer within earshot of us.

"No." He bluntly stated without a hint of hesitation.

And as usual, I smiled in response to his straightforward candidness whenever I asked for his council, which were always decorated in a silken glove when demanded from others, but never him, as I asked again "Your reasons?

"Though I have never been to the lands beyond the Hadrian Mountains, my liege, and though I do not claim to be as intimately familiar with war as others in your service, I am still very much familiar with bloody conflict, in all it's heinous forms, be it from the terrified eyes of a newly conscripted soldier on the front lines or be it even from the one that only shows itself before the eyes and ears of monarchs and kings; and based on this my lord, I can confidently say that unless our lands are emptied and our coffers are drained to nothing but dust and memory, it would be utterly impossible to secure the south within three years, and if anything it might even be our empire's undoing." He steadily said, his voice and cadence as stable as a mountain despite the grimness of his words.

"Do you think so too Horus?" I queried him too then, knowing his words to have far wiser in the past few years.

"Absolutely." And as expected he too spoke the same. "As you, lord Darius and lord Hamilcar have said to me before, sire, it is simple work to conquer others but far more difficult to rule them, and I believe the same is true now."

"We must devour them piecemeal, sire, just we've previously planned, across a decades long period. That is the only way to truly claim the south." Abraham once again insisted.

"Might it have been better not to accept the Prime Minister's offer my liege? Even if it drags us into a far longer battle in both the south and west, at least then we wouldn't have been so pressed for time, as well as allowing us to hamper their own efforts in the western kingdoms, permitting us more time to slowly devour the south and truly add it's strength upon ours before the western hegemon's grown exponentially stronger." Horus added, his brows creased in worry, as he too was beginning to grow agitated by the impossible crossroads we found ourselves in.

Yet then, just as they all thought as such, I turned back to them with a playfully sadistic smirk playing demonstrably upon my lips, saying "Have you ever known me to willingly take a loss?"

They all looked at me in shock as I told them the final card I played in the end against the insidious western scheme.

As Marius' instincts were right, I had willingly showcased myself as a sore loser in an effort to mask the true of nature of my little scheme that was nothing less than a double edged sword, one that would never turn it's edge upon me, since whether the Luminous Empire succeeds or fails in attempts to accomplish my condition, particularly due to Nicholas' special dreams which I knew they would never to plan against, not that you could anyway, which would then transfix that bastard's wrath along with his father's upon no one else but them, allowing me to reap the benefits either way.

In fact, I estimated greater profit if they failed, as with enough added machinations on my end, as I'd only promised not to meddle in their battles in the west, then a new devastating war between the north and south would not be so far beyond the imagination, allowing me to hinder their efforts in the west without having to lift a finger, while I continue gorging myself upon the Murathicus lands.

Following this, we continued on our original tasks, and while we did come across a few Erymanthion Boars, who were effortlessly hunted down by us, the search for Eve's crown was yet unfulfilled as we returned to camp that night.

Where we discovered the similar results shared by the other hunting parties, including those of my brothers, wherein not a single crown was found, much to Nizam's disappointment, while only about half of the Erymanthion Boars were hunted down that those spoiled and overconfident sons and daughters of nobility boasted about so proudly about just a few hours before.

A fact born from the trepidation that most still held to both the beasts and the haunting grey mountain that constantly flashed and rumbled due to the thunderheads above.

A fear and awe that began to melt from their hearts beginning from the second day, as was evident by the far more plentiful harvest, both in turns of the boars and crowns, as two of the bejewelled circlets were found, with one belonging to the princess of the city state of Euterpe, the land of lyres and songs, where the house of the Goddess of Songs, Poetry and Art reside; while the second was for the eight year old fourth prince of the Kingdom of Ullargorod, the nation of hunters, which was also incidentally found by his own eldest sister and heir to the throne.

The third day marked when the most number of crowns were found, yet those belonging to the highest ranking lords and ladies of all were still no where to be seen, making it clear that the higher the status of the owner, the deeper within the mountain's depths their crown was, which led a great many ambitious or lovestruck men and women to rush recklessly into the mountain on the fourth day.

A day which was then marked with the most amount of injuries of the entire event, wherein twenty six people were wounded due to their master's or mistress' haste, most of whom being wounded from a single frenzied stampede of Erymanthion Boars, who grew agitated due to the sudden and rapid incursion upon their territory.

The fifth day was when I finally found the quarry that had eluded me for so long, which was also the first crown of a higher ranked lady found in the event, something that earned me a great deal of affection form my bride to be, as she was very pleased with being the first of the higher ladies to receive her crown.

Something she would've ordinarily deemed as meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but due to my many efforts in the last few weeks, it was now a cherished item for her, even if she was still too proud to admit it.

And with the coming of the sixth sunrise I also resolved to no longer participate in the event, since the most important objective I wanted accomplished had been done, so I decided to spend my time either with Eve, further my powers or simply dealing with the empire's matters that wouldn't end even now.

The sixth was also when my brothers agreed to join hands to co-jointly accomplish their own goal, which was obviously the retrieval of Ziyi's crown, something that had been annoying Nizam for a while now, as he continued to return day after day to the camp empty handed.

A hunt they finally accomplished on the eighth day, after spending almost the whole entirety of the seventh squiring the mountain side.

And while Cyrus and Nizam looked haggard from their ordeal, when the time came and they presented the crown to Ziyi, they both thought their arduous days worth it, especially Nizam who despite trying to hide it, was still very clearly pleased with himself for the next few days, wearing a silly smile on his face when he thought no one was watching.

Only Cyrus continued going into the mountain after that, not for the crowns obviously, but to simply enjoy the hunt and the excitement, which ultimately culminated in a way none of us foresaw, with the coming of the the tenth day.