"JUST the head returned?!" Kalim shuddered in horror upon hearing this, "What in the world happened to him?"
Lotus shook her head, "No one had figured out what happened to their ruler as news of his death spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom. No one... Except for the only ruler during that time."
"What happened after that?" Ren questioned her curiously.
"What else?" Peony shook her head, "The fight for the throne began."
"Fight for the throne?" Kalim questioned her in confusion, "But, wasn't it decided who would be the next ruler?"
Lotus shook her head, "This is a society where, even though woman have some rights, they rarely have the rights to become the head of the family or political power of their own. Even though the crown princess is crowned the princess, she can't take the throne immediately. If anything, she is more of a last resort. Before her, there are her many elder and younger brothers. Aside from that, not all of them get along and some were smarter not to fight but to keep to themselves so they could build their own forces."
"Building their own forces?!" Ren frowned, "That's intending to overthrow their own father as ruler! Not just overthrow them. They may even kill him!"
"But, that's their own dad! Why would they have to do that?" Kalim jumped in disbelief.
"Because not all people in our ancient society treated their children as preciously as they treated you and your siblings, perhaps. It may be rude of me to assume just based on your reaction, but, perhaps, did Kalim's parents cherished your siblings alongside you and gave them whatever they wanted? Or perhaps praised them and showered them with love and attention?"
"That sounds a little exaggerated, but isn't this normal? My mom and dad always loved me and all of my siblings a lot. Sure, I've lost track of how many siblings I have, but that didn't mean we treated one another any less differently." Kalim explained.
"Perhaps, you've heard this a lot, but you are very lucky to have that bond and you are wise in cherishing it. It's different for those in the ancient society of my birthplace." Lotus shook her head, "Especially those in the royal family. For poor commoners, it may rarely happen, but conflicts usually arise between family members the higher they are in nobility or the richer they become. From children, they are raised to meet the expectations of the position they are born in or inherited and they are expected to excel in their education by their parents. Most parents in those position cares for two things. One is capability to inherit their father's position in the near future. Two is that their children's spouse comes from a noble heritage of higher power or resources. That's why the crown princess's and the general's wedding didn't have too much obstacle. They are both of powerful standings and resourceful. Their romance was only a plus in this union for the emperor."
"That's pretty harsh, though." Kalim shook his head, "Our mom and dad always talk of the day they met to my and my siblings when we were little. They would always encourage us to find our future spouse with our hearts. I nearly forgot about political marriages."
"Then, the battle for the thrones." Ren looked to her curiously, "Didn't you mention that she had removed a lot of obstacles and made others side with her or back down?"
"That's right." Lotus nodded, "Most siblings of royal family in the ancient times came from different mothers but have the same fathers. The term concubines was not an uncommon term in the past. In fact, it was a very common term that the people didn't bat an eye when hearing that word unless they were a noble. Some would be content just receiving the support of the emperor for themselves and their royal children, but others are more ambitious and want to hold more power. So, they would compete with other concubines, queens, and even the empress to bring down one another, even if it means taking their lives or framing them for dangerous crimes. They would even go as far as to teach their children to the same and to cultivate hate against their half-siblings or sometimes siblings. They would do this with the hopes of either becoming the empress after bringing down all obstacles, or to become the empress dowager with their son on the throne. All of which involves with the death of the emperor."
"But, that's their father and the emperor. Why doesn't he put a stop to it and tell them that is wrong?" Kalim questioned in confusion.
"Because the emperor, as a ruler, has to take care of the entire kingdom. He would not have the time to interact with his children each day, especially with so many of them and so many wives." Ren shook his head and sighed, "Thank god they banned that in this current day and age. Still, with hardly much time to spend with his children, this leaves a lot of room for the mothers to educate and spend time with the children instead. Thus, it leaves room for all of this plotting."
"Thus, the emperor does not enjoy the thought of having children if that thought was bound to involve putting his life at risk and losing control of power. There are even many occasions where the emperor would be the one that set up their own children to be executed for crimes they did not commit or made no sense as to how they could have committed it. The lack of time to bond with the kids has left a lot of room for distrust, hate, and deception to build between one another." Lotus nodded, "As her mother was plotted to death on the day of her birth by other concubines, the crown princess knew and experienced this battle prior to her marriage and was wise to keep her fangs sharp and ready. Thus, after her father's death with no will left behind, those who once sided with her or claimed to have given up on the throne returned with full force to overpower her and the general. However, they were ready. The battle for the throne lasted ten years with neither sides yielding. Their young princess grew up to be a beautiful and strong woman. Around our age, she went to war against her uncles and aunts on the front lines. During those days, she would destroy the other side with ease and not leave a single rebel go. She had created many magic circle arrays and made many achievements in the field of alchemy. Her people praised her as a powerful and just person who fought for what was right and has the favor of the heavens on her side. With her and her parents on the battle field, they won the war. Plain and simple. She was pretty much a Mary Sue in life."
"Wow..." Kalim muttered in disbelief, "Right now, we are still in school, but who knew she was already doing so much by this age... No wonder she's a prodigy!"
Ren, who had been silent the entire time, opened his mouth slowly and hesitantly, "No... Isn't that a little too easy?"
"Oh, why is that?" Lotus looked to Ren with a folded arm and a raised brow.
"Yeah. She is a prodigy who made a lot of contributions in alchemy and magic and she crushed the war." Kalim said in confusion, "It couldn't have been that easy."
"Not that." Ren shook his head and turned to Lotus, "Like Kalim said, she made a lot of contributions and 'crushed' the war with her family's military powers. However... She didn't leave a single rebel go. This did not say that she let one or two live to some extent. You did not even mention if any had switched sides or not. Since it is like this, is it safe to assume that there were no negotiations to be made prior to the climax of the fighting? There are many civilians in the streets and across the land, I assume. I find it hard to believe that they did not negotiate at all to reduce the number of casualties and damages. After all, after the way is won, these people are still their people. So, how is it that there was not one mention of her as a person who killed a lot of people but someone who took down 'villains' for order? She could've harmed even one or almost half a family in those battles too, but not one person called her anything bad. If you and your parents had a dispute and they went to join the rebels, wouldn't you still be upset that the princess was the one who took their lives and called it the price for order and stability while throwing your family's stability out a window? When someone of power makes a decision as big as that, there are a lot of thought that should come with those decisions. A lot of consequences and benefits."
"Huh, now that you said it." Kalim frowned, "That does sound horrible. I would be in tears and wouldn't know what to think if that happened to us. Now that you mention it. Why is there no mention of her family mulling over the decision? Even the crown princess and general went to go talk things out with the emperor before he made his bad decision. Didn't the princess try to convince her parents at all?"
Hearing this, Peony huffed, "Oh, but she did."
"What happened?" Kalim looked to her in confusion.
"She told her parents that starting this fight would not only involve the human population who are their people, but also many other species as well. So before they start the fighting, they should try to talk things out with them to come to a truce. They agreed that she would start talking with her uncles and aunts to come to a truce after meeting with the other races." Lotus explained, "Taking her three retainers, she left for the other races. After a few weeks, she returned with only one and injured as that one retainer died a few days after their return. Upon return, her parents questioned what had occurred in an alarmed state and the princess fell on her knees in tears as she answered in both sorrow and anger, 'the other races refused to see eye to eye with us human and pushed us out of their borders after I pleaded for them to aid us in stopping the rebellion! We were swarmed by wild beasts and assassins before my retainer and I could make it back! The other races have abandoned us!'"
"WHAT?!"