Varhys Sicilius Alastor Brune II, The 48th Emperor of Brune. A sly and vicious monster of a man who didn't hesitate as he mercilessly assassinated his half-brothers for the throne, sold off his half-sisters for a quick buck in an auction he labeled as a 'ball', and rumors say he even lusted for his biological younger sister, defiling other women left and right where ever he went as he ravaged the Palace with his deviously evil scandals... Well, that was how other people talked and saw him as at least.
To achieve his current position, Varhys had to steal, blackmail, torture, and even commit fratricide as he was born in a disadvantageous position when compared to the other Princes of Brune.
His mother, the 2nd Concubine of the previous Emperor, was only the daughter of a small Count in the countryside.
And after birthing the previous Emperor two children she was immediately forgotten by her husband, leading her to quickly turn to alcohol, drowning herself in the substance on a daily basis.
With an unstable alcoholic mother, an infant baby sister, and the constant threats of assassination, Varhys never had the luxury of having a conscience.
People may judge and ridicule his past actions, but to Varhys, in the face of survival, what other people thought was irrelevant.
Varhys' motto in life was: {You cry, you die}
During one assassination attempt, as Varhys was stuck in an underground cave with 6 other people, those who cried for help and panicked early were the ones who died first due to starvation and exhausting themselves too quickly. The three who kept quiet on the other hand were the only ones to survive the cave.
Or during a hunting expedition when his group was beset by a Great White Mountain Tyrant, the soldiers who expressed fear and weakness early on were the first ones targeted by the white tiger.
Varhys became cold and calculating thanks to the constant stream of danger, and his lack of ways to express his grief and weariness from it all.
But contrary to many of the Noble's beliefs, that Varhys was a heartless sociopath, one of the few pastimes his soul could actually find solace in was watching his sister grow and go about in her everyday activities. Although not in a weird perverse sexual manner as many within the Imperial Court would think.
Many mistake Varhys' intentions towards his sister as impure, which lead to Varhys having a myriad of unsavory nicknames such as 'Sister Lover' that coupled with 'Fratricide Prince' for his past actions of publicly executing one of his brothers, because of this, Varhys is often misunderstood by many for having a penchant for immoral and depraved actions.
Some corrupt officials would even gift Varhys many beautiful women, thinking this would sway the 'Immoral' new Emperor to their side.
However, these methods would never work on Varhys. And not because of the incorruptible conscience he had, no…
It will never work on Varhys because... he was not of the straight sexual orientation. (Varhys big gay!)
"ONE! TWO! THREE!"
Varhys watched his precious sister swing the sword once, twice, and then thrice within the Imperial Gardens where she normally trained at night. This was the very same place that Duke had met her a month before during his wedding night with Vivian, even mistaking her for a 'young pretty boy' due to her tomboyish style.
People would've probably found it funny to see the Varhys the Immoral Emperor staying up in the middle of the night just to see his sister train like this.
Maybe they'd think: [This kind and nice older brother is the so-called Fratricide Prince?!] or maybe they'd misunderstand his actions in another way such as: [Wow~! So the rumors were true! He does have a depraved liking towards his sister!]
But to Varhys, none of it mattered as he enjoyed watching his sister train hard and overcome her limitations.
It made Varhys feel like a mother watching over someone he took care of, grow.
But at this moment, however, it was not a feeling of pride he was having but a feeling of regret instead…
*Sigh* [How did it turn out like this...] Varhys sighed as he watched his sister's boyish attitude and worried for her future.
[How would she find a husband in the future?!... Haa~, I guess people only value things they don't have] Varhys envied his sister's gender. He couldn't understand why she turned out the way she did.
He looked at her fashion sense which he thought was [Simply dreadful!], imagining how he would've dressed if he was a beautiful woman like her.
She wore boy's clothing and had cut her beautiful blonde hair in exchange for a short boyish cut.
[Why would she waste her gifts to pretend to be a man?! I simply don't understand!] Varhys cried at his beloved sister's life choices.
[I too would've wanted to have a vagina! Thank you very much…] Varhys cursed the heavens with his ludicrous thoughts.
Many women would have probably killed this man already if they had heard him belittle the harsh menstrual cycle and childbirth they had to go through into the simple phrase 'I want a vagina!'
[Oh! And Pierre!...] Varhys sadly remembered his handsome hairdresser that had just quit a few days ago as he silently cursed his snobby wife he married out of a mutual political benefit.
Varhys blamed his wife's zealous jealousy at Pierre as the reason for why he quit.
It was only during his sister's training sessions that Varhys could have the time to relax and ponder about things, so he had a lot to think about during this time…
"Oh, Pierre! How I miss thee!" Varhys wailed.
"Shut up brother! I'm concentrating!" His sister shouted as she threw something at him.
"OW~!" Varhys looked at the thing that hit his head and to his surprise, it was a wooden sword.
"It pains me to see you mercilessly throw dangerous weapons at your big sis without a tad bit of concern, my dearest sister!" Varhys complained to his sister as he circled around her while she performed different breathing techniques.
"Shut up, you probably didn't even feel it anyway…" Varhys' sister grumbled.
After a while of concentration, Celine or Cil for short opened her eyes as the aura surrounding her turned golden as it followed her movement and her already golden pupils shone out bright golden lights.
"Ooh, you've broken through my dear sister!" Varhys pinched his sister Celine's cheeks as he danced around. Showing his extreme pride at her accomplishment.
"As expected of the Sword Princess! My beloved Cil, not long now until you beat me, eh?" Varhys merrily patted his sister's head.
"Tch! Beat you? Yeah right, I at least am capable enough to know what is possible from what is not 'brother'!" Celine knew her brother didn't become the Emperor for nothing as she called him with the male title of 'brother' to spite him for the overtly excited yet annoying way he treated her.
"Nonsense! You can already beat at least 30 mounted Knights charging at you with your skill" Varhys didn't seem to mind Celine's grouchy grumbling as he continued to pat her head.
Softened by Varhys' sincere compliments, Celine replied: "Hehehe, fine, I accept your compliments! But spar with me first bro!"
"OUCH!" Varhys felt extreme pain from how his name had been shortened over the years.
First, it was Dearest Beloved Brother, then it became Dearest Brother to just Brother, and now it was just "Bro"
*Sigh* [How the youth are changing...] Varhys lamented to himself as he grabbed the wooden sword she threw at him, shouting:
"Fine, en garde!"
Celine lunged towards Varhys with an actual real sword as they parried each other with graceful strikes. Their sword style was called The Emperor's Sword Style and it was known for its elegance and extreme speed. And so, to the untrained eye, it looked like the two siblings were just surrounded by dancing streaks of golden light as their arms vanished from their immense speed.
But suddenly, Cil stopped as she dropped her sword and said "It's my loss…"
She was already giving her 120% while her brother was still calm and smiling. Celine in the past couldn't imagine how strong her brother truly was.
The saying: 'You could only see everything below the mountain if you're already at the peak' was truly correct for this situation in the sense that before her awakening, she had thought she was already close to her brother's talent. Little did she realize they were actually at a distance between heaven and earth.
It was as if she had climbed a steep long mountain only to be met with a taller larger mountain her brother had already blazed through and even made a rope for her to climb with while he was at it.
"Celine... What did I tell you?" Her brother's words grew cold.
Cil flinched as she realized her mistake and quickly picked up her sword and repeated his teachings:
"Never let go of your weapon in front of an enemy"
*Sigh* Varhys saw the fright in his sister's eyes as he gently said "You wouldn't want to be like Mother now, would you? If something happens to you I'd be all alone you know~!"
Celine remembered her mother and how her mother was betrayed and assassinated because she had let go of a political weapon she had kept in front of their enemies.
As Varhys patted her head she couldn't help but admire her brother.
The Imperial Family was made up of monsters and Cil knew she was talented. But she wouldn't have reached this point without her brother's tutelage and the small fraction of knowledge he imparted her.
People liked to call her monstrously talented, but as she looked up at her brother as his brightly shining golden eyes stared back at her, she knew who the real monster actually was.