To get to her mother, they were led through a significant amount of security checks, that quite honestly was very frustrating. But through all that, Alex was able to notice that all of the guards were not native to the empire of heaven, but were actually Albians, soldiers from the empire of heaven.It spoke volumes of just how much trust her mother seemed to have in the court of the empire of heaven after she married in, and that trust seemingly amounted to zero if she had to be this stringent with her security measures and being incapable of trusting no one other than soldiers from her own household. If not for the fact that it might get his head chopped off, Alex would probably wonder how it was possible that the emperor was Victoria"s father.
"My mom has been officially married to my father for the better part of twenty years, however they"ve been together for much more longer than that. Either way she"s had to endure a.s.sa.s.sination over 635 times, and most of the times, it was my father"s rivals from the Lu clans that were aiming for her life.
But in all of those times, my father had sent a.s.sa.s.sins after my mother 63 times, once every year since the year I was born. They laugh and smile about it like it"s some lovers quarrel, but both me and my mother knows, that eventually, there"ll be an a.s.sa.s.sin that can get close enough to her.
So don"t be too stressed by the security measures, this is the least my sister and I can do for our mother to make she"s safe from my father. She"s the empress of the heaven empire, though its looked down upon that she has guards from her patriarchal home keeping her safe it"s a necessary evil.
We"ve asked her more times than one to leave the forbidden city, but she says she the empress and as such she has to keep true to her people, the ones that now belong to her by virtue of her marriage and the birth of her daughters. There"s only so much we can do to keep ourselves safe from my father, he"s not just evil to people outside of this walls…. he"s a monster."
Her words faded into a soft whisper as Rezar followed after her, for a very long time he had thought that perhaps the reason she wanted the throne was just politics between herself and her siblings. He never knew it went deeper than that, to an instinctual fear of her father and an aim to keep her mom and sister safe.
He already knew the emperor was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d amongst b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, but this proves he was much worse. Alex couldn"t imagine what could make a man be not just a monster to his people, but to his family too. So many stories would be told of tyrants who had fallen, but what about the people who are literally at ground zero of their madness, their families.
There was more to Victoria than her just being a shallow princess, underneath all that he could see a truth that no one could see through her façade of regality and capability. And that was the fact that beyond it all, she was just a very scared little girl that wants to keep her mom and sister safe. And the only way she could do that was to become even more powerful than the monster that"s tormenting them, even if it means she becomes even more of a monster than he ever was.
The scary part of this all was that Alex couldn"t think of anyway other than what she was doing, to go up against the emperor, losing her soul in the process is something that needs to happen. This wasn"t like all those stories were to take down a tyrant a band of well-intended revolutionaries would gather together to try and bring him down.
Alex knew this would get b.l.o.o.d.y pretty fast, betrayal, backstabbing, cheating and lies would be implemented, lives would have to be taken to be able to get at her father, whether innocent or guilty, her hands and by extension his would also be stained with blood to make sure the Emperor doesn"t just lose his position, but find a place in a tomb, deader than dead.
There would be no peaceful sunrise over the horizon once this was over with, there would only be blood, sweat and tears. And the people still standing will just be no less monsters than the one they just took down, forever stained by the darkness.
Ma.s.sive double doors swung open as Alex and Victoria walked in to a rather lively banquet. The empress was busy hugging Khan who was happily taking advantage of his proximity to her to rest his head on her well-endowed chest, Anya was having a contest with a woman who looked like an older version of Victoria, while the rest of them ate reservedly, except for Xiao Mei who was actually braiding the Empresses hair.
Alex was so shocked by the sight in front of him, he froze like a deer in headlights, Devonte looked like he needed to use the toilet, same with Yun Fao, whilst Louis remained ever the regal playboy flashing soft smiles to the maids currently serving them and deriving pleasure from their barely suppressed giggles.
The triplets were hunched together with Cross slowly whispering about G.o.d knows what, and occasionally turning to look at Yun Fao who was fully red in the face and would want nothing more than to dig himself a nice cozy hole to hide. The atmosphere here was just so…. bright! so much so that Alex wasn"t sure they were in the right place to begin with, he had no choice but to turn to Victoria and ask.
"Where are we?"
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To say it had been a fun night would be nothing short of an understatement, it was during the time spent with the empress that Alex finally realized why her children were so adamant about protecting their mother, and why the people of the empire of heaven seemed to hold her in such high regard. She was the epitome of goodness, and kindness, and she had such a calming motherly aura that made you just want to lay on her lap and tell her all your secrets and troubles.
But Alex wasn"t so illusion by how good she seemed, one thing Victoria had said was the fact that most of everything she learnt, even how to fight had been from her mother. You could not be the empress and married to a monster like the Emperor of heaven based on the merit of goodness alone.
To have been able to survive thus far, she had to have ferocity akin to ancient lions, and a cunning that would the most slippery of snakes to shame. She could scheme with the best of them and even leave them in the dust, which was why when she offered to escort him back to the Morgana, walking one on one with him for a chat, Alex got noticeably nervous.
But how could he not, this was practically his mother in-law! Political marriage or not, if she doesn"t like him then that would make his future very, very bleak, especially since he was in the process of plotting her husband"s murder and would probably need her help.
"I like you Feng"er, or would you prefer I call you Alex?" she asked him with a voice so crisp that even though this wasn"t the first time he was hearing it, it made him want to fall back and stare at the stars in bliss.
"You can call me Xiao Feng your Majesty, only my mother and grandfather call me that way." Not that he had to mention only his grandfather and mom called him that way, but he was so nervous he was given information that wasn"t required.
"Well then that"s good, at least it shows me you"ve accepted me as your mother. I like the fact that you"re not disillusioned by what you"ve seen tonight or heard, you know I"m a very dangerous woman, and you know I won"t hesitate to rip out your heart and those of your family if you f.u.c.k with my child! She"s putting a lot of her hopes on you, though she wouldn"t tell me why you"re so important, but you"ve become the central focus of all her plans, so for your sake…don"t screw it up."
Alex felt like he swallowed a stone, this woman was f.u.c.king scary and the rapid change in the tone of their conversation had made the young man break out in a cold sweat. She didn"t think he was as important to Victoria as her mom had said, but as it stands the empress had no need to lie…right.
"You should loosen up a bit kid, all I"m asking is that you try your best. I"m not trying to make light of the fact that what were up against is a man that many would consider an untouchable G.o.d, even more so when you consider the power and force that stands behind him.
Normally I shouldn"t even harbor thoughts of fighting against my own husband, you see regardless of what many say he"s my husband and I love him very much. But I don"t love him more than I love my children, and I would never let him put them and the peace of this world in jeopardy. So Alexander Zhang Xiao Feng Matthews Ale! You better make sure that when you"re finally going after the emperor you hit him hard enough and for all our sakes…. you best not miss!"
"Don"t worry…. I won"t!"