“Big Brother!”
Kaiso shoved open the palace doors and rushed inside.
“Third Brother, what could possibly make you this flustered?” Soren drawled, casually toying with the jade artifact in his hands. “If there’s something to report, take your time and say it.”
Kaiso hesitated, unsure how to begin.
Soren sensed something was off and lifted his head.
“Did the task I assigned get done?”
“Reporting to Big Brother—the matter has been mostly taken care of. Most members of the imperial family have already been gathered in the capital, and the rest are on their way. As for those who intended to defy the order, we dispatched troops under the pretext of them disobeying Father’s command and suppressed them all.”
“Isn’t that good news?” Soren smiled with satisfaction. “Since everything is progressing so smoothly, why do you still look so troubled?”
“Reporting to Big Brother, things did go smoothly… except for one exception.”
Soren’s smile vanished. He hated unstable variables.
“An exception?”
As far as he recalled, aside from the already-dead Damian, no one in the imperial family should pose a threat to him.
“Who?”
“It’s Ninth Sister—Stella.”
“Stella?”
Soren paused. The name felt somewhat unfamiliar. He quickly searched his memory and only recalled a rather unfavored blue-haired girl.
“Stella’s mother was a commoner, wasn’t she?”
“Yes. Stella’s mother came from a lowly background. Father once favored her and she became pregnant with Stella, which was why she was exceptionally allowed into the palace. That woman simply being alive was an insult to our noble imperial bloodline. She’s always been an eyesore.”
“What happened to her? I remember after Stella’s mother died, she was sent out of the palace, wasn’t she?”
“Actually… Stella was kidnapped on the way back to the capital.”
“Something like that actually happened?”
“It’s absolutely true, Big Brother. Even I found it hard to believe when I heard it. Under normal circumstances, no faction should have dared to openly defy us for someone like Stella. But she really was taken away while being escorted.”
Soren set down the jade artifact and stood up.
“It seems we’ll have to call in the person in charge. I hate surprises like this.”
“First Prince! P-Please allow me to explain!!”
The officer responsible for the mission knelt before Soren, his face drained of color, his body trembling like a leaf in the wind.
“Speak clearly. What exactly happened?” Soren asked with a blank expression.
The officer swallowed hard.
“At the time… while we were escorting her, we entered the Favi family’s territory and took the Ninth Princess. On the way back, we encountered a mysterious girl. Her strength was formidable—she was skilled in powerful magic and blocked our path.”
“Are you joking? One person stopped all of you?” Soren’s tone turned cold with displeasure.
“It’s true, First Prince!! We fired our cannons at her, but she used a magic shield and deflected every single shot,” the officer hurriedly explained. “Not only that—she could also summon a dragon!”
“A dragon?” Soren’s expression shifted slightly.
“Yes, a real dragon! That massive dragon charged straight through our formation and took the Ninth Princess away.”
“Who exactly is she?”
“I don’t know. She never revealed her identity in the human world. Is there anyone in our world capable of controlling a dragon?”
Soren glanced at Kaiso.
“Doesn’t seem like it, Big Brother,” Kaiso shook his head. “Dragons are legendary creatures. They’re not so easily controlled.”
“It’s absolutely true, First Prince! I can swear on my life—it was definitely a dragon. All the soldiers present saw her ride the dragon and fly into the sky!” the officer pleaded. “We had no way to deal with a dragon. We could only watch her leave!”
“So that’s how it was…”
Soren found the situation troublesome. He truly hadn’t expected that the seemingly most worthless Stella would have someone come to her aid. This development was completely outside his expectations.
“First Prince, this really was beyond our expectations. We had no way to stop it. You see…?” The officer tried to beg for mercy.
“Useless. I said it clearly—if you couldn’t handle this, you were to bring me your head.”
Soren took a sword down from the wall. Before the officer could react, he swung.
A cold flash of light—and the officer’s head hit the floor.
“This…?” Kaiso was startled by the sudden execution.
“There are no jokes in the military. If I don’t punish him, I won’t be able to establish authority. Do you understand, Second Brother?” Soren wiped the blood from his hands with a handkerchief.
Kaiso nodded, not daring to say anything more. In front of others he was always arrogant and domineering, but before his eldest brother, he didn’t dare utter an extra word.
“How are the preparations on Father’s side?” Soren asked.
“They’re almost done, Big Brother. Shall we go take a look?”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Soren stepped over the officer’s corpse and walked outside.
Emperor Gustav of the Saint Luo Empire sat on the throne with a blank expression. His skin was pale and bloodless, his pupils unfocused.
“Stand up,” Soren said.
Gustav stood.
“ Kneel,” Soren gave another humiliating order.
“As you command.”
Gustav knelt before Soren.
“Incredible…!” Kaiso exclaimed in shock at the sight.
“Are you satisfied, First Prince?” Moen asked coldly.
“Very good, Mr. Moen. I truly must thank the Holy Land for its support.”
Soren sat down on the imperial throne, thoroughly pleased.
He looked at Gustav, who had now become nothing more than a corpse, and felt a surge of satisfaction.
The Emperor of the empire was now being controlled by forbidden necromancy.
“I didn’t expect the Holy Land to possess such techniques.”
“Strictly speaking, this isn’t a technique of the Holy Land. I extracted it from demonized individuals during interrogation,” Moen replied. “Originally, I had no intention of using such a forbidden art on our own people. However, since His Holiness the Pope said we must assist the First Prince in ascending the throne, I had no choice but to act.”
“Excellent. Truly excellent.”
Soren leaned back on the throne, looking thoroughly at ease.
He hadn’t originally wanted to kill Gustav. But no matter what, Gustav had refused to pass the throne to him, so he’d had no choice but to take it himself.
Kill Gustav, then use necromancy to control him. Have a saintess deliver a divine oracle. Then gather all the imperial family members and have Gustav formally pass the throne to him. That way, he could legitimately become the Emperor of the empire.
There were still some unexpected factors, like Stella, but Gustav’s current state wouldn’t last long. He couldn’t afford to delay. The coronation ceremony had to be held as soon as possible.
The feeling of controlling everything… was truly addictive.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.