In the castle at the heart of Kydus, there were no subjects lining up side by side the hall, all that's left were dead in their decomposing bodies, it has already been a week since a dark force took possession of the first prince.
The emperor slowly walked through the corpses, destroying the decomposing heads as he stepped on it, when he was almost at the throne he could see a silver haired corpse in front of it, he looked at it for a while with cold eyes, but eventually did the same with the corpses he passed by, he stepped on it and the great pressure in his foot crushed the corpse's head, the emperor traced the throne, and eventually sat on it.
It was not the usual, full of strength emperor, as he faced the big door entrance of the castle which was half open, his eyes gave a purple shine, the sunlight reached his body and it wasn't his usual color, it was now pale however his muscles were more bulky than it was before.
"Enter, dark minotaurs" he said in a relaxed manner.
With a creak the door opened, and it showed ten groups of fifty soldiers, it was as if they were lifeless, their faces couldn't be seen because of their helmets however they were moving in chorus, as if one group each has their own commander.
However this was not the case, when someone shut the big door it gave a big thud enough to shake the whole castle, just like someone bigger or as big as it is shut it, but nothing could be seen except the groups of soldiers and their zombie-like appearance.
"Now, we must open the path for our brothers and sisters" the emperor Hadethius Popannus VII's low voice echoed through the castle, just like he was speaking to someone, but except for the soldiers and him, nothing answered him but a series of loud roars.
He then gave an evil smirk while leaning at one arm of the throne and rested his chin on his palm, which was unlikely of him.
…
The citizens of Kydus were in panic when they heard the news about the first-born son of the emperor trying to instigate a coup d'etat, and when they saw the king with his soldiers and knights forcing their way to the castle, while the princess and her battalion is evacuating as many people as they can, the ones who were chose to stay behind was half of the population, mostly the nobles who couldn't afford to leave their properties and mansions or the common people mostly the elderly who decided to die at their country.
However, they were rest assured when they heard that the Emperor have successfully retaken the throne, but the princess, her battalion and the people they evacuated were still nowhere to be found.
Guards posted at gates to block anyone entering or leaving and trading was halted, any activity that involved going outside the empire has been forbidden
A letter from the Emperor was sent to every noble in town, it's contents were.
"Nobles of this Empire, I order you to gather as many knights and soldiers as you could, to follow me to battle against Ethareri, they are the ones who supported the prince's coup d'etat which got him killed.
But let the mourning be for later after we crush them, as they have brainwashed the princess, my one and only daughter and is now is planning to use my daughter to plot another coup d'etat.
Those who do not comply will be traitors, and traitors will be executed first before we march onto the enemy"
Most of the nobles saw this as an opportunity to get promoted to a higher rank by being distinguished, they knew how weak the enemy kingdom's military strength is and were confident that the emperor could lead them to victory, they immediately made arrangements for soldiers some even conscripted civilians and hired mercenaries in order to increase their battalions power, showing off to their emperor.
However, some of the nobles were skeptical of the letter, especially the ones who were close to the emperor and who fought beside him, they noticed that something was odd, especially on how the letter was written.
Usually the emperor's letter was written in a more charismatic manner, it would rile up their spirits, with words of courage, leadership and empowerment which would make them feel ready to die for their emperor. But the letter contained the opposite.
One of these nobles was the Emperor's close friend, Gideon Savoy a viscount, he and his wife fought in battles with the emperor on his youth, and were prominent magic casters who had a child, but was officially pronounced as dead.
"It's happening, Layla… your clairvoyance wasn't wrong" the letter was on their coffee table, both looked sad and at the same time happy within their hearts.
"Yes, we can… we can finally see her" she was glad enough to make her sight go blurry with tears building up, his husband went to her and buried her head in his chest.
"Yes, I think it was a bit unfair but nothing could have stopped this, if your clairvoyance wasn't wrong, if we kept her as a baby, sooner or later the dark force that destroys the empire will achieve its goal, sending her to Ethareri wasn't wrong"
"Yes, my dear, thank you" she sniffed within her husbands embrace"
"For now, let's go see her, this time we are standing against the dark forces that wants to take over this continent, we may still have a chance against those forces"
"Yeah" the wife sat properly and wiped her tears, "But you know right? Even with the princess' battalion and that kingdoms army, it's us who will be defeated"
"But it's worth a try right? If we don't stand up here eventually everything will be engulfed in darkness, I don't really want our daughter to experience that, she should be around her youth this time" the man giggled, the candles in their mansion lit his chestnut-colored hair, the light was reflected by the spectacles that he wore, on the other hand, her wife had a blonde hair that hangs naturally to her waist, she looked younger than her age, but his husband knew why.
When the light of the candles lit the area, he could see two images of his beautiful wife overlapping with each other, her current physical appearance, and her secret to her clairvoyance ability, but only he could see this version as her husband who knew everything about his wife.
On the other image, the wife still had her normal look except for some differences, her eyes had a white glow within it, and her ears were long and pointy.