The court room was filled with ministers, ambassadors, clan heads and other nobles of the empire. It was almost 12 by now and people started arranging themselves in proper seating to avoid inconvenience. Outside the palace door a great crowd had accumulated to greet the new emperor.
Right when the clock struck 12, an imperial messenger entered the hall and announced the arrival of his highness Dian and the crown prince Noah. Everyone stood up and bowed in respect as the royal procession passed in front of the crowd and climbed up the stage.
"Please Rise."
There were gasps of shock and horror as everyone watched the once glorious emperor of Harika Empire enter the hall on wheelchair which was pushed by the crown prince. Emperor Dian looked paler and disoriented. His face or eyes didn't show any emotions either.
"The effect of poison must be fatal." A clan head spoke in grief after everyone gave a bow to imperial family. And the minister standing next to him couldn't even agree with the statement.
The coronation ceremony started soon. Prince Noah was made to sit down on extravagantly decorated throne as his signature golden robe covered the floor in a royal manner. These robes are only supposed to be adorned by emperors and crown princes. The front of the robe was covered with two lines of red dragons embroidered near both shoulders and came down till the end of the robe. His face shone brightly in the court room but was devoid of any expressions. It was time to present the crown to prince Noah but this duty was only supposed to be done by an imperial family member specifically the empress. All eager eyes kept looking around in order to find the empress mother and it suddenly hit all the ministers and insiders that empress mother had been missing in action since his highness's assassination. A panic washed over them as they all looked at each other with helplessness.
"We're done. There's no way that we can hide the fact anymore." One of the minister whispered to other.
"How could we forget that empress mother left to visit her family in the North. Trust me dear brother, we're doomed for good."
And before they could think further, the priest entitled with the duty to bless the new emperor asked in resounding voice.
"It's time to present our former crown prince, Noah as the new emperor. I request her royal highness, the empress mother to come bless prince Noah on the start of this new journey."
A dread filled the hall. Those oblivious of the situation looked around while everyone else held their breath. What were they supposed to tell the audience. If prince Noah's coronation was pre-planned then why did empress mother left to visit her family? It's impossible to come up with such a big decision in the absence of her highness, isn't it? All the ministers looked up at prince Noah as if asking for some help. After all it was his idea that forced them to arrange everything within a time span of one day and totally forget the existence of her highness. However, contrary to their hopes, prince Noah kept sitting on the throne with an expressionless face. As if all the worries are for the ministers who left such a loophole in the plan.
Suddenly the drummer at the door of court room started beating the drum with all his might. The sudden movement caused everyone to jerk their heads to the door. The drummer announced loudly.
"Attention!
Her Highness is on the way. Please welcome her."
All the ministers looked at each other in disbelief. Next their necks moved to look up at the throne where prince Noah sat with a satisfied expression. For the first time in the past one and a half days, his expressions seemed softer. As the empress mother entered the hall, everyone bowed again to greet her highness. Only prince Noah kept seated and from afar he could see the gloomy expressions on his mother's face which she tried very hard to mask. Yesterday while sending letters he sent two letters to his mother's clan, one of which was a special letter which only empress could open. it looks like the messenger reached on time. he had strictly advised his mother to not let the news of emperor's death out. the illness was known by everybody and it wasn't a big problem if someone looked at her gloomy expressions. it could be easily considered as grief over emperor's illness. After she reached on the stage she faced the public and spoke in an elegant way.
"Please rise my people. I thank you all for coming to attend our dear prince's coronation ceremony on such a short notice and for your understanding that we couldn't make it big due to my husband's sudden illness. Let me welcome you on the behalf of royal family. Please give your blessings to prince Noah to move forward as an Emperor so he can continue looking after you people like imperial family has always been."
After that she moved to stand by prince's side and few moments later an imperial guard came with the crown placed in a gold tray.
The tray was placed on a side table while another servant brought a trolly which kept a golden bowl of steaming water and another bowl of fine clay. As the trolley stopped in front of throne, the prince moved forward and bent a little to hold his hands above the bowl of clay. Now the empress mother picked a golden cup placed on the side of trolley and one by one started to pour water on prince's hands while prince washed his hands. She poured seven cups of water and then moved back. The servant offered the prince a white towel to dry his hands which had turned red due to the steaming hot water.
The ritual was meant to be an oath for prince. Washing hands with hot water meant washing all the sins and bad deeds to be clean and promise to never commit a crime again. It was also a punishment for past mistakes as hot water was unbearable. And an oath that if the prince ever goes back on his words or goes against his kingdom, he'll be punished by Supreme God's wrath of fire and all its forms including hot water.
After the ritual was performed it was finally the time for actual coronation. After being presented with the crown, one by one all present ministers and clan heads would offer their greetings and best wishes to the new emperor including gifts. Her Highness, the empress mother moved forward to remove the red velvet cover from the crown and place it on new emperor's head. However as she removed the cover a shriek echoed in the vast hall and with that, the golden tray containing the crown came crashing to the ground. There on the floor of stage an extravagant crown lied covered in blood. Immediatelyly everyone took their defensive position and a group of guards immediately surrounded the prince and empress mother. A guard moved forward to closely inspect the situation and found a folded paper near the tray. It looked like a quick letter. He picked it and opened it to read aloud.
"This is what you get for doing an inhumane act such as killing your own father, Crown prince. Threatening his personal guard with his family's life to submit to you and then putting all the blame on the guard himself, you are nothing but a brute. You disgust the humanity with your lust for power and just like this crown, your empire soon will be covered with blood as well."
The hall was filled with whispers of horror as spectators suddenly noted that the emperor had been sitting on the wheelchair from the very start with no movement at all.
"Paralysis doesn't affect eyes but his highness's eyes are focused on that same point from the very start as well."