Chương 36: Child Emperor

Somewhere in the imperial capital of the South Kingdom

Moaning and slapping sounds permeated the air. The suffocating smoke inside the dimly lit room hazed the man and woman's visions. There was a heavy scent of lust inside.

Three knocks on the door slowly brought them back to earth and the man threw the woman away from his body. When she hit the floor, she was shuddering and her eyes were still misty with pleasure.

"Who is it?" the man asked with still a ragged voice.

"Your Highness, Elder Heuruk wants to remind you of the preparations needed to be done for the upcoming Festival of Talents. We need to approve the list of nobles and visitors who are going to participate in the contests." The elder with his purple robes and long black beard waited patiently outside the room. He sighed as he saw the smoke going out of the hinges. 'His Highness really have been suffering from this illness. If he won't get well in the next few days, there could be a disaster.'

"Elder," when the door opened, a small boy walked out wearing the golden robe of the emperor. The smoke enveloping his body slowly seeped into his skin. And his once misty eyes now glowed a shade of violet. He shook his black hair and frowned at the door he just opened. His eyes carried disgust and hopelessness.

"Your Highness, Oracle Mariek from the Banished Village has spoken. She bears news of a great visitor. We need to prepare," continued the elder trying to distract the child.

"You still believe in her? After she has given us false predictions about that demon?"

"Remember Your Highness, demons don't just take form like the shadows of the night. There are people who have seen a demon looking so handsome or so beautiful that it was sinful." A light flashed across the elder's eyes in a brief moment as he remembered a young boy with a head full of black hair and black eyes. Every smile of that boy was so dashing that women would fall at his feet. Alas, that boy was nowhere to be found after he had seen him once. 'A little devil in disguise,' he chuckled at his own thought.

The little boy who was dressed in gold heard the elder's amused chuckle and his forehead frowned. 'Could it be that he was talking about me?' After all, his relatives called him a demon most of the time when they were still alive. He sighed but he quickly recovered his senses. There was no sense in still dwelling over the past.

The two walked on the hallways towards a room with a simple wooden door. The door had an insignia of two dragons facing each other where the two doors meet in the middle. There was no hesitation in the child's eyes as he pushed open the doors and met all the eyes of the people inside.

"All hail the Child Emperor, long live the emperor!" they all greeted him with a bow. Elders and advisers of all ages gazed at him with admiration. An emperor at ten years old, it was an impossible feat for anyone who would like to rule a kingdom. But all of them knew that this child emperor was no ordinary human being.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A long time ago, when the previous empress was still alive, there was an oracle who have seen a prediction so bizarre that the people from the South Kingdom thought it was ridiculous. She said that the empress will give birth to a magical child. Not a child who was going to be a great mage, but one who would live on endless torture all throughout his life if the magic within him will not be cured. That magic was so powerful that no mage nor witch has known its source nor cure the empress while the child was still in her womb. As her frustration and worries grew to greater heights every day, she lost her mind on the day that she gave birth." Theoden's eyes gazed at the palace from afar. It looked simple and not as extravagant as the North Kingdom's but it still stands out from all the other buildings within the empire.

"What happened to the emperor?" Yrah was musing over the details of the story. It was really so far-fetched but even she could not deny how many magical curses she has encountered her life that this one might sound ridiculous. An unborn infant with magical powers that it turns his life as a curse all throughout, that would be depressing, she thought.

"The emperor couldn't bear with the sadness and died of illness soon after the empress passed away. So the empty throne of the kingdom was fought over for years resulting in a decline in both resources and military power of the south. But when the true heir turned five, he shocked all his relatives and other forces who were grabbing the throne. He killed them all." Theoden's gaze softened as he looked at Yrah who was intently listening to him. He knew Yllana, as the North Kingdom's number 1 Holy Knight, already knew these political issues outside the kingdom.

Yrah gasped sharply before continuing to ask farther, "So father, what kind of magic was born onto the current emperor?"

"Black magic," answered Theoden. "He turns into a demon every full moon they say. He locks himself up in a room with a sacrificed woman. No one knows how he sucks the life force out of those sacrifices but all of them get really weak or even impaired after the emperor lets them out. But now, he has an empress to be sacrificed from time to time. That's all the news I got from the other merchants from the nearby villages."

"Interesting," Yrah smiled. "I would very much like to see the emperor if only I could," Yrah's smile turned bitter as she bit her lip. "Oh, well. It's just my sense of sight, I would still enjoy this travel because I'm with you."

'Sister...I will try my best to bring back your sight. Even if it is a small chance, I would grab it. I promise!' Yllana clenched her fists within her robe as she resolutely took an oath.

Lucien's eyes hovered over Yllana. It twinkled seeing how determined that little red-haired girl is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her silver eyes were still hazy. Her body was limp - too tired. She was too tired after her husband left, she felt all the bones in her body ache. She walked into the tub of steaming water and dipped her fingers first. 'Just right,' she thought before taking her robe off and sinking herself inside the tub. Rose petals floated above the surface of the water giving off a relaxing scent inside the room. She rested her air on the side of the huge tub and started to drift to sleep.

"It's the second time this month, right? Her Highness should be feeling weak by now. It seems that the magic in the emperor's body is getting stronger. He used to visit her every three months but now...I am worried about the empress." the servant's meek voice couldn't be heard from where the girl was immersed. She knew they would be talking about her more often now. But this is her fate, she couldn't run away easily like that, right?

"She's still too young. But the emperor is already weakening her bit by bit. If her life force gets depleted most of the time, it might lead to her death someday. We have to ensure Her Highness well-being. More nutritious food should be served after. It was a good thing she has an endless stream of life force." The other servant sighed as her gaze fell on the back of the empress. Silky black hair flowed to the side of the tub as endlessly as a river.

Her hair was too long that she didn't bother to place it inside the tub. Her eyelashes curled at the right angle. And her cheeks have now flushed pink from the heat of the steam. But no one knew that her body was almost at its limit this time. A lone tear fell from her cheek as she tried to drift back to sleep.

'Mother...father...this is all your fault.' Her train of thoughts went back to when she met the child emperor. She was just fifteen then. And the child emperor was just eight. He was killing his way to the throne and her family was one of the outer forces who were trying to snatch the throne. When the child emperor cornered them at their palace, her father quickly grabbed her and pushed her in front of the child emperor. He nervously told the emperor about her innate gift not even fearing if he was to slaughter her the next moment. She couldn't believe that her father was trying to use her as a bargaining chip for his life. When the child emperor as her silver eyes, he smiled like a demon that caught his prey.

"Be mine or be dead." Those were the first words that he spoke to her on that unfateful day. It was also the day she had become the sacrificial woman every full moon. Without her innate gift, she could have been dead years ago along with her entire family. But she now lives as the empress, for now, that is. How long could she carry on? She wonders.

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