In the rebellion led by the Creator"s prophet, two ducal houses actually teamed up to support him. One was naturally Marcus Lilac"s own House, and the other, of course, the one which seemed the most lowkey of all the ducal families, House Jasmine.When the members of the imperial family heard of this, the hearts of these people holed up in the Church sank. It was just unbelievable! Because House Jasmine was actually the maternal root of the current Emperor. The late Empress was from this clan!
Marcus" family was also connected by blood to the imperial family. Actually, all the ducal houses apart from House Wade had some degree of blood relation to the Natividads. The web of relations had acted as an invisible string tying the four most prestigious families together. This explained why the people were so shocked upon hearing that those two clans wanted to revolt.
The Emperor who was with the other able men out there and leading the newly rallied force coldly swore to himself to exterminate both Houses. Afterward, he promised to the n.o.bles on his side to promote the two families with the greatest merits. His announcement naturally ignited the fire of ambition in the hearts of those around him.
As for the two remaining ducal families... House Bolden, despite the treatment begotten by the heiress, was still made up of people loyal to the crown. The father of the female lead was a very upright person who would not betray since the teachings of his ancestors had long been etched in his mind. Being the most loyal had always been the pride of his clan since the founding of the Empire.
On the other hand, House Wade was not truly that devoted to the Emperor. However, they were deeply tied to the Holy Church because the G.o.ddess" prophet was from their household. Since the church recognized the sovereignty of the Natividad family and was supporting them, House Wade naturally followed. Anyways, they were quite obliged to be partial to the imperial family since it was they who promoted them to their current standing.
Unfortunately, misfortune fell upon this last ducal House. This happened when the newly crowned Emperor had just gone out of the church to lead his own forces.
Amidst the fierce fighting near the palace, they suddenly received news that their Mansion had fallen into the hands of the rebels!
Where lies the problem if the prophet and the ducal couple were not even in that place?
Well, nowhere, except the beloved nine-year-old daughter of Helena and Allen was there! Yup, they had a daughter. The two had another child after Jiang Li but since it was a girl and their first son was still alive, they did not remove Jiang Li as heir. Actually, even if the second child turned out to be a boy, the ducal couple would still not take away their first son"s t.i.tle... Not unless death claims him.
In any case, the daughter who was left at home was captured by the enemies. Originally, she could not come with them to the ceremony due to her illness. She caught a cold two days ago and was still bedridden. Due to the fragile body of the girl, the doctor advised her not to go out for two more days. In other words, she couldn"t come with them.
But no matter the condition of the daughter, because the event was about a royalty, House Wade had to go. High statuses came with great benefits, but none of these would excuse them in attending a coronation. This was why when they left for the amphitheater, they could only make do with having the strongest person in the Household stay behind.
This was their way of proving that the girl was important and that they just had no choice but to attend. The captain of the knights was tasked to guard her, at the same time, to look after the whole mansion. He was at the grandmaster level so they reckoned he should have no problem stalling the opponents if a crisis arises.
To be honest, the whole household, due to Jiang Li, was aware that there would be a rebellion.
So they especially split their forces into two, three-fourths would go with the duke and the prophet, while a fourth would be left home, with the head knight with the latter group.
This way, the crown prince would not think their delegation was shabby. Yet at the same time, the defense of the mansion would not be compromised.
When the people from House Wade departed, with the eldest son"s repeated guarantees, they thought everything was already concluded and that there was nothing that would go wrong. After all, the one who made the plans was the prophet. As somebody who could glimpse into the future, how could he go wrong?
They all expected to come back safe and sound and had already planned to accompany and give extra pampering to the little girl to make up for her.
But who would have thought in the end, their House would still fall in the hands of the rebels?
There was nothing like this in the prediction of their prophet!
It was truly unexpected that the rebels would be so clever to immediately focus half of their forces on Wade Mansion. They took the daughter as a hostage, and even executed some of their loyal servants!
"b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!" The report, of course, made the duke feel so much anger in his heart.
Even though he knew the situation was dire and fire and explosions were raining here and there, when he was asked what they should do, he did not hesitate to roar at his followers and knights, "Go back!"
Obligations as a n.o.ble? He was supposed to a.s.sist Rome? Who cares about all of these? Even if he suddenly became the Emperor, his priority would still be his House, his wife, and children!
Duke Wade was a loyal subject but despite this, he would never put the Empire, the church and the people who had nothing to do with him, over his family. This could be seen by how the man rushed his son to the church seven years ago to have him treated, regardless of whether he would offend the Pope or whoever there. Now, he was doing the same as he commanded his people to go back.
Not long after, only a fourth of the duke"s men remained in the plaza to help the Emperor fight the rebels. This was even when the bald heretics suddenly became aggressive in their attacks and the male lead kept cursing Duke Wade"s party when they retreated.
As for Jiang Li, even though he had left the Holy Church, instead of helping outside, he also hurried towards his home. Along the way, he met a royal knight platoon which offered to escort him, but he refused. Instead, he made them pa.s.s a message to the Pope and the Emperor.
Things had been blown out of proportion. Out of the three sides, The Emperor, the rebels and Jiang Li, all of them encountered so many surprises that rendered them off-guard for a while.
Jiang Li might seem the winner amongst them, but the Emperor was the world"s beloved so his loss would only stop at temporarily losing his palace. After reclaiming it, he would no longer have any entanglements with the rebels. What about the other two?
Unlike him, Jiang Li would still have things to settle with the Creator. Who knows when the battle between them would stop?