Memories are sometimes like flowing water in a stream, flowing through the hearts of men, sluggishly. Sometimes they are like the ocean, under the push of the tide, they surge up violently and pounce into our hearts.
Memories brought Oscar back to t.i.tan in the year 776 of the Light Calendar. Kens.h.i.+n Palace at that time had bright-colored peach blossoms blooming. His Majesty the Emperor was holding a ball there. The Supreme loved these kind of lively gatherings the most. He even allowed his guests to bring along their families to join in.
Kens.h.i.+n Palace was located in Dulin"s Northern suburbs. It was built during the Morisette dynasty under the rule of Emperor Henry. The Great Henry IV defeated the Kingdom established by the Northern Yaran people and later forced them to concede the Kens.h.i.+n Province that bordered on t.i.tan territory. In order to commemorate this achievement, this Emperor built this palace that was named after the Province, within the lush peach garden.
In the summer, Dulin became restless, yielding to the fiery Sun"s roasting. Yet at the same time Kens.h.i.+n Palace was kept cool within the tall roof of it"s Palace Hall, and the four confining walls around it.
All the Rulers under the Morisette Dynasty"s Alfa liked to hold wine receptions and b.a.l.l.s in this previous generation"s Monarch"s palace. The reason was solely because it was s.p.a.cious. The hall of this palace could accommodate two thousand people. Upon the thirty-meter tall ceiling of the palace hall, was portrayed the largest mural in the West lands. That year, His Majesty had hired about 140 artists to complete this 55 meter long, 42 meter wide masterpiece.
In reality, these things were not reasons for the ruler with the Imperial surname of Alfa III"s, fondness over this enormous palace. His Majesty Alfa III who was at the prime of his life, truly cared more about the lush peach forest outside the Palace. Over there, Alfa III had played countless joyous games with his mistresses. Often, the Emperor would not be able to resist imagining those young ladies and upper-cla.s.s women"s beautiful bodies whenever he saw that serene and deep peach forest.
The Cabinet ministers would gather around the Emperor, singing the same praises. The Emperor was already fed up with them. At this moment he already arranged to meet a Marquis" Madam. He spent a great deal just to get a hold of the Madam. When he thought about that pure, adorable Madam, Alfa somewhat could not help but tremble. He had to find a way to get rid of these annoying chaps.
Alfa III clearly knew just what kind of people his cabinet ministers were. Although these chaps longed for him to fall for their wives or daughters, but he did not have any interest whatsoever in them. Those women were like flies, and were no different compared to the prost.i.tutes in Dulin"s Red Light District. He liked beautiful women who rejected him or even hated him. He felt that by winning over these women, only then would he be able to reflect the true charms of a man. In reality, we all know that a man with this kind of mentality was not normal, more than half of the time.
Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis Alfa Morisette, was Alfa III"s youngest daughter. She had two elder brothers, two elder sisters and a younger brother. The Princess looked down on her elder brothers very much. Those two fellows could not even hold a sword steadily, yet they already learned how to bully girls when they were still young! Her elder sisters, aside from having lots of fantasies, seemed that they did not know how to do anything else. As for her younger brother, there was no need to say much. Aside from crying, the little slug did not know anything else. The Princess shook her head, asking for the G.o.d of Light"s forgiveness; but O Great G.o.d of Light, don"t you think that when my father is going after those women, he looks just like one of those male dogs?
The Princess was only seven years old, but she had received a good education. The priestess who was in charge of her guidance had predicted that the young princess would one day become Her Majesty the Queen. Her father doted on her, and her brothers yielded to her. However, this did not change the way the princess looked at them.
Perhaps it is the success of her education, or perhaps it is her inborn nature. Being Her Imperial Highness the Princess of the most powerful Empire in the West lands, the young Alanis matured too early. She already knew that she would not be able to fall in love at all, unlike the princesses in fairy tales. That was something that would only happen in her dreams. In the distant future, she would marry a powerful man with an exceptionally respected status. However, what if that man was like her father and brothers? Her expectations for the future and her disdain for her father and brothers crisscrossed through the Princess" childhood. She was extraordinary, beautiful, sometimes even dangerous and cunning.
Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis Alfa Morisette was in a very bad mood because someone stole her limelight. If it were before, at this moment, she would find herself surrounded by the princes of the cabinet ministers at her side. Although they were merely a crowd of children, but nevertheless, she was the ruler of that crowd of children. They all listened to her and they were like her little dogs.
Sasha was enthusiastic. This little miss had used her brother as an excuse. Their father hoped that the long journey, and the lively and interesting Dulin could help ease his son"s sorrow upon his mother"s death. However, the little miss did not know these things. She shamelessly pestered her foster father for a week before she was given the chance for this long journey. In reality, she did not know what the long journey and Dulin was about at all. Although her subconscious told her that it would be very fun, but she just simply wanted to follow her brother Oscar. Since she got to know her brother, she had never been separate from him yet.
The wine reception was going smoothly. When the important people were drinking wine, dancing, interacting and flirting with each other, naturally they would not allow the little demons scuttling about on the scene. The little princes and little misses of n.o.ble origins were all gathered in a specific area - a corner of the lush peach forest. The children were chased out of the palace but they did not care about what the adults did. They had their own wine reception. Of course, the adults only gave them orange juice.
Sasha excitedly chattered away and laughed. The Princes had already encircled her as soon as she was left alone. There was a chubby little person, who had a gloomy face and did not seem like someone who should be messed with, accompanying her all the time. That hateful little fatty was finally dragged away by a lady just now. Now this angel-like girl was theirs.
The children gathered at Sasha"s feet, and listened to her tell the story of the Narcissus Knight, using her childish voice. These children, regardless of their age, all enjoyed a hero"s legend, even more so the hero"s story that they had never heard or read about before, which was pa.s.sed down only in the Andrew family.
Sasha did not know that her imitation of her brother would be such a huge hit. These were all the "Bedtime stories" her brother told her. The children looked at her with eyes full of admiration. Their emotions rose and fell with the progress of the story. Sasha was proud. She still did not know that her actions had seriously violated the Princess" authority. Her Imperial Highness the Princess was gathering her loyal followers to discuss a countermeasure.
Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis Alfa Morisette"s think-tank was Woods Brickfield. This 15-year-old teenager often came out with ideas for the princess. He and his other companions were of high status among the princely n.o.bles. When they were together, they would often bully the small and weak little children.
Woods Brickfield was also the son of the Secretary of State, Robinson Brickfield. This Secretary of State not only reminded his son many times to strive hard to get closer to the princess with a bright future. If he was able to control her, that would be the best.
Woods already knew just how proud a thing it would be to be able to marry the Princess. In the future, he would even be able to embed a gold star that represented a relation with the Imperial household, onto his clan"s emblem.
The Princess still did not understand the thirst for power. She only tried hard to imitate her father among the other children. Woods crazily yearned for her. He also strived hard to carry out duties similar to his father"s. As for the children of other ages who were following them around, why bother about what were they doing? These n.o.ble princes, regardless of whether they were really outstanding or not, they all thought of themselves as young adults anyway.
The princess brought her attendants and appeared before Sasha. Sasha was a little puzzled. The children by her side quickly retreated away.
The handsome youth, Woods appeared in front of Sasha. He arrogantly gazed at this insanely beautiful girl. In front of the princess, Woods tried his best not to notice her beauty. He already knew that this girl was a member of the Andrew family. He also knew that his father was not on very good terms with the Andrew family.
"When facing Her Imperial Highness the Princess, you should stand and salute! You uneducated girl!"
The sensitive Sasha knew that their purpose of coming was not very friendly. She steadily sat on the cool bench and looked at the big boy that was taller than her by half her height. "Her Imperial Highness the Princess? Is that you?"
Laughter could be heard from the surroundings. Woods was somewhat annoyed. In Dulin, even the Prince would not make fun of him this way. However, he indeed made a mistake, he had blocked the Princess behind his body. He promptly took a step aside. He already decided to firmly punish this outrageously bold girl. This was the capital, this was the Imperial palace, here, no one had ever had any conflict with him.
Sasha saw Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis Alfa Morisette who was not older than her by more than a few years. She got up and showed respect to the Princess. There was nothing to be fussy about. Aunt Antonia had already trained her aristocratic etiquette until it was splendid.
The Princess had sized up this girl for a long time. She knew that Sasha was as beautiful as her. This did not make her furious at all. What she could not understand was why those children could be so natural and excited in front of her, while when facing her, they were so frightened that they would not even dare lift their heads. The princess obviously did not know that her little henchmen had destroyed her reputation.
"What is your name?" The princess could already vaguely feel that this girl in front of her had a few traits that were most outstanding than hers. This thought made Alanis extremely irritated.
"Your Respected Imperial Highness Princess, my name is Sasha E. Nedgabel Andrew. The uncles and aunties call me Sasha. My parents have pa.s.sed away. My foster father is Duke Dortmund Andrew Nedgabel. Oh, that"s right! I also have a brother. My brother is O"Neil Andrew Morisette."
Alanis was not interested in the names that Sasha mentioned. Although she was curious about the girl"s brother, whose family name carried a Imperial Surname, but the Princess did not want to care about these things at the moment. She only wanted the girl who had violated her authority in her territory to be shamed.
"Very well! No one cares who your brother is. Don"t tell me that you do not know that you have already seriously violated me?" The princess appeared very terrifying.
However, Sasha did not feel the need to be afraid of the princess. She only recalled the incident that just happened. It seemed as if she herself did not do anything wrong. Moreover, she only just got to know the princess. She looked at Alanis and shook her head bewilderedly.
The princess also somewhat did not know what to do. Could it be that she herself had to tell her that she disliked her out of jealousy?
Woods immediately understood the Princess" situation. Previously they had encountered a situation such as this as well. The Princess indeed did not know how to handle those who had "offended" her.
"Don"t tell me that you do not know? You used these phantom stories to confuse the Princess, you little witch. You should be placed upon the G.o.d of Light"s pillar of judgment and burned alive."
Sasha unbelievingly opened her eyes wide, and the princess was also astonished at Wood"s accusation.
"No, that was not some phantom story! That is the pride of my family. That is the legend of my family"s hero. It is a true legend. You have dishonored both my family and I. You should apologize!" Sasha was a little worked up. She was deeply proud of her own family"s hero. As compared to this hateful older boy who was calling her a witch, she cared even more about his vilification of their hero. In reality, if any of the other guys in the Andrew family were in her place, it would have immediately progressed to a duel to the death.
"No! They are phantoms! They are created by this witch, who is deluding people with lies to deceive the Princess! Luckily I saw through it! Haha!" As soon as Woods finished talking, he turned to the Princess without giving a thought to the girl. "Your Imperial Highness Princess! Please issue your decree! We must punish this witch." The children around him followed him and cheered.
"Very well! Since she is a witch!" Alanis was somewhat looking forward to carrying out the punishment on this redheaded girl.
Woods was very pleased that the Princess would speak that way. Sometimes the Princess would listen to and take his advice. He already thought about a scheme to deal with Sasha. "Very well! Everyone has heard! Her Imperial Highness Princess already issued a decree to punish this witch. Haha! Everyone go prepare some mud. We shall first stuff the witch"s mouth. Haha!"
Sasha knew that she had fallen into a very dangerous situation! Oh G.o.d! How could these people of the capital treat her this way? She had never been wrongly accused by anyone before. She loudly defended herself. However, if they had not already run far away to hide, the children were looking on happily at her misfortune. When Sasha saw someone seriously clasping a jar of mud, she wanted to run away but she was immediately grabbed by two of the children that were much bigger than her. They firmly held her down.
"Ah! You guys are scoundrels! I am not a witch. You cannot treat me this way! Brother! Brother Oscar!" Sasha was terrified to tears. She loudly screamed her brother"s name. She knew that her brother would definitely not let her bear this kind of injustice.
Sasha tasted the flavor of mud. Woods used mud to smear her face and lips. She struggled frantically. Her sad cries had turned into wails of despair.
Alanis knew that Woods was already going overboard. No matter what she said, this girl was still a young miss of the Duke. Should she stop him?
Just at this moment, the children heard a tiger"s roar of rage. Yes! After the incident, when the children explained to the adults, they indeed described it as a tiger"s roar.
Oscar could not believe what he was seeing. What had he seen? Oh G.o.d! What were those fellows doing to his sister? Oscar regretted leaving very much. He simply should not have followed Annie to visit that adult. He simply should not have left his sister here alone. Look at this! Oh G.o.d! G.o.d of Light, what are you doing? How could you let people humiliate your angel this way!
Fury had burned through the little fatty"s brain. He wanted to kill. He had already looked forward to all the different methods the heroes used to kill their foes for a long time! Oscar remembered that his second brother who loved to fight and brawl said to him before, before a fight, one must investigate the surrounding environment. This was in order to find a convenient weapon in the shortest time possible; for example, a brick, a stone and so on.
Oscar chose a chair. It seemed to outsiders that it was quite strenuous for him to take, but Oscar did not think so. He even wondered whether the "weapon" in his hand, when used to confront his foes, seemed too light. He bellowed with rage and charged towards the group of children pinning Sasha down.
The children were immensely terrified by that howl of a fierce tiger. Those two children who were restraining Sasha already started retreated backwards, dragging the girl along. They were the ones that Oscar wanted to deal with first. All the children hid, one after another. They felt a fierce wind sweep past with lightning speed.
Oscar"s chair was ruthlessly smashed into the head of one of the children. The child was already petrified by his crazy expression. Just when his subconscious decided to hide, the tremendous pain on his head caused him to utter a blood-curdling scream and lose consciousness. This child did not die, but after the incident, he never woke up ever again.
Blood splashed onto Oscar"s face. He was very pleased with the harm he had done to the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that was restraining his sister. He saw that that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s head was open with a b.l.o.o.d.y hole that was as large as a coffee mug. On to the next one! The other fellow released Sasha, turned around and ran. Oscar did not bother about him. His ultimate goal was that "huge b.a.s.t.a.r.d" who had mud all over his hand! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d was taller than him by two heads, but this did not matter. He must die.
The chair was already shattered. Oscar had used a lot of strength in that short instance. He waved the only remaining length of "rod" in his hands. He beat Woods Brickfield incessantly. This bad youngster was extremely frightened. This fatty who had blood all over his face was the devil. It was as if he no longer cared about his fists. Woods had already dodged until he was quite tired.
When the children saw the boy who had been struck down by Oscar was motionless and blood streaming all over the ground, they ran away screaming. Oh G.o.d! Murder! Little Bick was killed by the devil!
The surrounding seemed to have quieted a lot. Sasha was on the ground vomiting painfully. The little Princess was completely scared stiff. She forgot to call for help. Both her eyes were a b.l.o.o.d.y red. Forgetting himself, Oscar was wrestling with Woods Brickfield.
Oscar was a little impatient. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d was much larger than him. His fists were also solid. He himself did not have any advantage. Moreover, he almost could not lift his arm. At this moment, Oscar suddenly thought about the rules of fighting that his second brother mentioned to him before. One must not strike below; one must not strike the head. Oscar could not reach to hit his head because he was too tall. In that case... Oscar paid no attention to Woods" fists. He took aim at this unfortunate chap"s lower part. Once the little fatty had aimed properly, he ruthlessly kicked at it.
Ola! Oscar was so delighted that his whole body trembled! It was only too effective! This big guy covered his nether regions and bawled in excruciating pain! Thanks to his second brother"s rules of fighting! Next would be his skull!
Once! Twice! Three times! Four times! Oscar counted while using the rod in his hand to beat up the vulnerable guy. Initially Woods could still manage a blood-curdling shriek, but when Oscar had counted to twelve, he could only twitch.
The sound of Sasha retching woke Oscar from his current state, and Alanis Alfa Morisette also recovered from her initial petrified state. She thought she ought to save Woods first, otherwise if she waited for the adults she called to arrive, she feared that he might already have been beaten to death by this madman. This Princess boldly took two steps forwards. She had no idea whatsoever about what she was doing, walking forward like this.
Oscar saw his sister! This was truly... truly low! This b.a.s.t.a.r.d had used the dirty mud to defile her! Oscar did not go and soothe his sister. He now had a more important thing to do! He would definitely not go easy on this b.a.s.t.a.r.d! When Oscar saw the Princess approaching him, he also noticed that the ground was scattered with shattered pieces of crockery and cutlery.
When Alanis saw the youngster"s gaze, she was terrified. Under the youngster"s gaze, she did not dare move a muscle! She wanted to abandon Woods. Opposing a murderer such as he would be asking for one to pay with their life.
Oscar picked up an extremely ordinary fork. This made all the hairs on the Princess" body stand on end. The devil walked towards her. She wanted to scream, but immense fear had left her unable to make a single sound. Could it be that the devil already knew that all this was because of her? The Princess, before the devil, blamed herself deeply for the first time. Why did she have to bully this girl? Frankly speaking, this girl did not do anything wrong as well. Could it be that she really was a witch? For goodness sake! Now her devil brother was here to save her! Oh G.o.d! But who would save her?
Oscar actually did not know that this girl was the main culprit in his sister"s bullying. He just hoped to use this girl as his witness for victory. He pulled the Princess very harshly towards him. The Princess dared not scream and dared not shout. Her tears welled up. She forgot everything about her ident.i.ty and her status. She was now facing a demon. The little Princess for the first time understood just how powerful the strength of a man was. She felt as if her arm was about to be ripped apart.
Oscar pulled the Princess and knelt down before Woods, who was gasping faintly. The youngster, who was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with rage, used a cold voice from the depths of h.e.l.l and said.
"I am O"Neil Andrew Morisette! I am from the Andrew family of Narcissus County. Our family"s knights have a custom, after achieving victory; they will dig out the eyes of their foe. This way, they will forever be unable to find the pathway that leads to the Heaven of the G.o.d of Light. They will become a lonely soul, drifting for eternity. Their soul will forever be tormented by the darkness."
The Princess finally knew what the demon was trying to do! Good gracious! Causing a person"s soul to have eternal unrest was indeed something only a demon would be able to do.
Oscar paid no attention to the Princess" extremely horrified expression. He only cared about his own matter and continued to speak.
"I can see that you are a girl of n.o.bility. I now invite you to be my witness of victory. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had cruelly bullied my sister had lost in his confrontation with me. So he should accept my punishment. Now, let the ceremony begin!"
Princess Alanis Alfa Morisette watched on as the little boy who called himself O"Neil Andrew Morisette, pierced the fork into Woods Brickfield"s left eye without a hint of hesitation. Her soul was claimed by that strange spectacle. She saw Woods twisting in agony. She saw him spit out white foam mixed with fresh blood. She saw that his left eye that was pierced through was still moving. Her Imperial Highness the Princess wet her skirt.
Oscar scooped out the eyeball viciously. Wood"s eye socket became a dark hole that was gus.h.i.+ng blood. The Princess peed even more urgently. Oscar already heard the sound of urine flowing, but he did not mock his eyewitness" shameful state. He placed all his focus into the ceremony. He would not keep this eyeball. This filthy thing should be left with the loser himself.
What Oscar did not know, was that he had invented a type of cruel way in dealing with foes. Not long after that, when the Narcissus knights heard about the little n.o.ble"s son"s method of punishment for villains, they all started to imitate him one after another. This method caused the Persians who were well known for their cruelty, to tremble with fear upon hearing this news.
Woods Brickfield did not know the reason for these happenings. Someone had beaten him. The pain occupied a large portion of his thoughts. He saw the fork plunge into his eye. He could not believe it! Under that excruciating pain, he lost consciousness. In his unconscious state, he did not know that someone had opened his mouth. More so, he did not know that his eyeball had been shoved down his throat. Woods did not know, and his throat of course did not know. So the unknowing throat, instinctively swallowed that circular foreign body that was forcefully shoved into it.
"Oh gracious! What has this madman done? Oh G.o.d!" Just when Oscar was preparing to extract Woods" other eye, he heard the yell of adults, coming from behind him.
"Brother! Brother..." Sasha breathed weakly.
Oscar abruptly opened his eyes. He saw his sister in his arms. He took a deep breath. He had been startled awake from his memories.
"Don"t leave me, I will not be naughty again... Brother! Don"t leave me!" Sasha struggled uneasily in her nightmare.
Oscar once again felt sorrow fill his heart. He embraced his sister tightly. He knew that he would never let go again. He would use his whole life to try and make up for the bitter longing Sasha had felt for him for the past ten years.
As for Woods, Oscar had already forgotten how long he had not thought about that b.a.s.t.a.r.d anymore, but he did not truly forget. The hatred was already deeply ingrained in him. "Rumors say that Woods seem to be doing pretty well." Oscar softly said to himself. "Then bring it on! You, that father of yours, and your family, you should all start praying! I swear, no one can stop me from taking out that other eye of yours. Being able to keep it for the past ten years is already a great gift from the G.o.d of Light. Now, I have come. Haha! Pray in fear! You pitiful pig."
Oscar pulled up the embroidered quilt made out of swan"s down for Sasha. Then he replaced the fairy tale book. In the end, he blew out the candle beside the bed. Finally he was in the darkness that could make him calm and at peace once again.
"Father! For goodness sake! Please say something! What shall I do, didn"t you say that that b.a.s.t.a.r.d would forever be on house arrest? Good gracious! How did it turn out this way, how can that criminal become a Imperial Highness? Oh G.o.d! How did it become like this? His gaze is something that I fear I will never forget in my lifetime! I know that he will definitely not let me off..."
Duke Robinson Brickfield sat on the swivel chair in his study and gazed at his son with sorrow. Where did that handsome young man go? Is this his son? Every time the Duke saw Woods, he would torture himself with this painful question.
Woods" left eye was gone. Now an eye patch covered that terrifying empty hole. He had no hair. During that time, there were too many wounds on his head and they were too large. The strong corrosive nature of the medicines caused his hair to never be able to grow back again. His son wore a cap all the time. The scars on his skull made him look like a monster.
Duke Brickfield knew that his well-off days were almost over. The afternoon when that news was spread in the Imperial palace, it was already over. The Duke was so furious that he tore up the files on his table frantically. That was all the Empire"s policy decisions. His loyal and upright service to the Imperial household for more than half of his life only begot him this broken outcome.
That afternoon, the Duke was stopped by the Imperial Palace"s chamberlain in front of the gates of the Imperial Palace. That wretched Palace Eunuch had never been this high and mighty before.
"His Majesty is having a cordial meeting with His Imperial Highness Prince O"Neil, at the same time, His Majesty also instructed that no one was to be allowed to interrupt them, especially you, respected Secretary of State."
The Duke did not show anything towards the Palace Eunuch"s disrespectfulness. He was already dazed after hearing those words.
Where in the world did the problem arise? The Duke carefully a.n.a.lyzed every word the youngster had ever said in court. These words were transcribed by the Duke on a piece of paper. As a matter of fact, the evil convict only spoke six sentences, all were very brief but it just so happened that these simple six sentences completely changed His Majesty the Third.
The Duke knew that the family relation that the youngster deliberately stressed on, awakened His Majesty, but he was still suspicious of the Emperor"s intentions. From his understanding of the Emperor, he did not believe that the Emperor, who could be considered excellent, would be deceived by this youngster with his obviously made up words.
However, the Duke knew that whatever he said now would be too late. There were over twenty cabinet ministers who witnessed the informal crowning ceremony. As long as that criminal wore the ring that was given to his mother by the Empress Dowager, then regardless of whether he was a prince or not, no one would dare make things difficult for him.
The sudden change in the situation caught the Duke off guard. He did not feel discouraged by the setback in front of the palace gates that afternoon. After O"Neil Andrew Morisette had left Hamilton Palace, he once again requested an audience with His Majesty the Emperor, but he was informed that the Emperor had locked himself inside the Palace"s study. So the cabinet minister who had requested audience was again, locked out.
The Duke despaired. He already knew what was inside that study. That youngster had won. His method that appeared so childish that it was amusing, actually worked. The Duke felt that he was deceived by the Emperor. He had helped the Emperor exhaustingly suppress the Andrew family for more than ten years, but in the end, His Majesty had completely given up in a short span of ten minutes. In this case, where should he put himself?
Robinson Brickfield felt a chill all over. The Andrew family"s cruelty towards their foes had circulated for four centuries. He could not help but to recall the youngster"s words that was left in the case files. Let the souls of foes experience unrest; let foes feed on their own flesh and blood. Oh G.o.d!
So what should he do now? He could no longer trust His Majesty. The Emperor"s acknowledgement of his mistake to Oscar was equal to betraying himself. What about those colleagues of his? They cannot be counted on even more. Robinson thought angrily, didn"t those chaps enjoy drinking tea and discussing politics in his official residence? What about now? Where were they? After noon, it seemed like they had disappeared without a trace. It was impossible for him to catch them. The Duke cursed those cabinet ministers who were no more than social climbers.
So who was left? The rest of the members of the imperial household? This would not do! They did not have a single reason to, at this time, choose to be enemies with a Prince from the same clan.
What about the Senior Statesmen"s a.s.sembly? Although he himself had a few staunch allies there, but what could the Senior Statesmen"s a.s.sembly do? It was practically an "old folk"s home"! Moreover, an overwhelming majority of these n.o.ble elders stood for the power of various regions. They never had a favorable impression towards him.
What else? What else? It seemed like only the Holy See of Light was left. It was fine if they were not mentioned, those bishops only had an eye for gold! The main point was that they simply did not know how to manage their own money. Now they might even be busy making preparations for that vicious criminal"s official crowning ceremony!
The Duke let out a deep sigh. He admitted that there wasn"t anyone who, between the Emperor and the Andrew family, would choose him, who had been cut off from everyone else. Those who waited for him would definitely not have any good outcome.
His son was jabbering on. You poor child, just look at how much harm that wretched scoundrel had done to you! For goodness sake! If it was not for your current appearance, then you could have already been wed to Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis.
That"s right! d.a.m.n it! That Princess! She was the scourge of all these misfortunes. After the incident, she unbelievably s.h.i.+fted all the responsibility. She even swore that she would never meet his son ever again, and said that his son was vermin which only knew how to bully the weak, really d.a.m.n it! Was she not the one who gave permission for the punishment towards the young miss from the Andrew family?
The Duke looked at his unfortunate son and suddenly lost his temper. He ruthlessly swept everything on the table to the ground. His poor child could not utter a single word. He clutched his chest and spread out on the couch. Since Woods removed the bandage around his damaged eye and saw his appearance in the mirror, there was nothing that could scare him anymore.
The Duke went forwards and embraced his pitiful child. His only son became like this! But what did he gain, the Emperor betrayed him, his subordinates kept their distance from him. The criminal that had hurt his child had suddenly become the Prince. Could it be that he even had to salute him respectfully? This was even more difficult to bear than giving up his life.
Robinson Brickfield understood that this Imperial household no longer held a place for him.
The Duke soothed his son. He was also a person who would not easily admit defeat. His long political life made him believe that he definitely had some people or matters that were worth putting to use, and the Emperor"s actions must have some kind of loophole.
He hugged his trembling son closely. He silently warned himself, to not give up, he absolutely could not give up. Everything in Damorga prison that was related to that little demon was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with fresh blood and filthy matters. All the bizarre deaths of the members on the Imperial envoy investigation team paled in comparison to the return of this demon! The warden suddenly retired, the military suddenly commanded Damorga prison"s army to change the guard posts. Were all of these by chance? The Duke"s instincts told him that the youngster was trying to divert attention away from some of his secrets.
A hint of a sneer was seen at the corner of the Duke"s mouth. Let us wait and see, you little b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I am now still t.i.tan Empire"s Secretary of State! You criminals would definitely leave behind a b.l.o.o.d.y trail. I will let all of you see who is the winner of this "fight to the death" in the end.