"So, then a war was going to start and the other species just left them?! Isn't that too heartless?" Kalim shuddered in disbelief, "To think they would try to kill a girl..."
"With the position and influence she was born with and gained over time, she can be considered a strong pillar in her kingdom. Those who are their enemies may not be pleased with her position and decided to do away with her as early as possible." Ren frowned in contemplation, "However, isn't she considered very powerful? Just who was their assassins and opponents to beat down someone considered to be so powerful?"
"Yes, who was her opponent? For her to have been so badly wounded and lost all three of her retainers, the opponents would need to have been around her level of magic or just as smart as her." Lotus nodded with a smirk, "However, in the end, nobody could come to a conclusion. The elders were stumped, the people were terrified and the parents were too busy saving their kingdoms and their family to launch a full investigation. People needed to be sheltered, army needed to be organized and order needed to be put down. As long as the throne remains empty the entire kingdom would be in complete chaos. Every ministers struggled to place their alliance with which royal child knowing that if the ones they sided with failed, they would also fall or worse, they'd be executed for treason. Then, there are others who will struggle to remain neutral and to stand with their own powers until the fight for the throne is over. Once everything was over, the crown princess and the general became the new empress and emperor of the kingdom in just a few months. Just like that, the kingdom was on the path to recovery. However, as the kingdom was satisfied with the current situation. Another problem arose."
"Another problem?" Kalim questioned in confusion.
"If others chose to remain neutral, it would also be difficult for them to be on the kingdom's side, perhaps?" Ren hesitated after some thought as he opened his mouth, "However... I'm not too sure..."
Lotus chuckled, "After a few weeks, ministers quickly brought the issues of the foreign affairs to the attention of their emperor and empress. These ministers were those who had chosen to stay on the ruler's side throughout the battle and sided with them upholding absolute loyalty. However, the words that came out of their mouth held nothing but cruel words suggesting to the rulers to uphold their abilities to punish the other kingdoms by conquering their lands for abandoning them during the war. Many of them brought evidence and eye witnesses that points to the betrayal of the other species against them."
"Um... something feels weird about all of this..." Kalim hesitated with a frown, "Didn't the princess went to their kingdoms and got ambushed? Why did they need further evidence and even want to conquer their neighboring kingdoms? Don't they need to take care of their kingdom first?"
"And that was exactly what the emperor and half of his council agreed upon. It would be difficult for the kingdom to risk another war after the most recent one dilapidated the kingdom from most of its resources and the morale of their people." Lotus continued, "Instead, they held the funeral of the late emperor and punished the rest of the rebels. The emperor and empress worked to rebuild their kingdom after the wreckage left behind. However, the war brought a lot of blood, sweat and tears just for their people to survive. After many years, the emperor and empress risked their own health and manpower to help their kingdom as well as protect their only daughter from harm. However, even as the kingdom began to prosper once more, many grew discontent on the emperor's and empress's lack of action in regards to the traitorous kingdoms. To put an end to their worries, the princess, now the new crown princess, pleaded with the emperor as she stressed out concerns of the people to him. Finally, the emperor agreed and decided to take this matter to the representative of the will of the earth during their meetings held once every ten years amongst the five rulers. As the day of the meeting drew closer, problems became to emerge. The number of bandits continued to grow, riots were occurring throughout the streets and fights between species became a common occurrence. The world where many races mingled amongst one another in chaotic harmony slowly began to form orders and group together according to the species. Each refused to interact with each other and held long-lasting grudges so deep that they became entrapped into a cycle of endless violence and death. Concerned, the empress and emperor decided something must be done. So, they held a spring banquet and invited many nobles of different kingdoms to their banquet in an attempt to take the first step towards re-igniting their alliance."
"What a bold move." Ren frowned, "If one small thing goes wrong, the alliance between the five kingdoms would go in any direction except for unification."
"But, isn't a banquet supposed to be fun? They should be able to relax and talk things out during then." Kalim questioned in confusion.
"That had been the plan." Lotus frowned, "However, the moment the princess came into the banquet with her mother, the once chattering and lively banquet quelled as all eyes fell upon the princess. She had lost that child-like features and now held a beauty of a woman rivaling that of her own mother. The eyes of all those around her had many mixed expressions: anger, greed, concern, pity, lust, admiration and hate. Seeing the reaction, the empress grew concerned as the idea of a suitor for her daughter came to mind. She greeted the guests with a wide smile and introduced her daughter using this banquet for her first social debut. The princess looked on with a smile hiding whatever emotions she felt inside her and introduced herself to the mass number of people. With a smile and nod, a few men fainted on the spot. Some pondered whether the princess was actually someone who rought misfortune upon others after those people fainted upon her social debut. However, one person came out and laughed as those rumors circulated among the people present, 'The crown princess is indeed as stunning as the rumors say! Who knew that not even the men present could handle looking upon her beauty between fainting from a weak heart...'"
There was a long pause before Ren held a hand to his head and cringed, "That... That's a pick-up line, right? I almost didn't recognize it if you hadn't mentioned it was a man."
"Huh? That was a pick up line? Is that how pick-up line are?" Kalim exclaimed in disbelief.
"Hardly." Lotus sighed, "However, this quote was so popular that nobody could forget it. It was said that the humans of that era was so smitten by his words back then that they were often used during scripts before it became so bad that nobody liked hearing it anymore. However, this was the man that would later become her fiancé and the next emperor."
There was another long pause before Ren opened his mouth, "The princess chose him?"
"Yes." Lotus shuddered, "Forget about that and let's continue. That man introduced himself as the emperor's new general of the royal army and he was a very famous one as his family was the one who saved the princess after she returned from the other kingdoms. He is the eldest child of the minister of foreign affairs. However, during the war, he renounced his right to inherit the position and assets to his younger brother before joining the army. During the war, he worked himself to the general position in his twenties and made a name for himself alongside the princess. Though they had known about one another, the royal family had kept the two apart and so this was their first meeting face to face. To dispel the tension and worried that the princess would want to marry the young general without waiting as she had done so with most of her decisions, the empress thanked the young general and separated the two. However, the princess was adamant on staying to mingle with the other nobles' daughter and heirs. It was then that the Empress of the beasts arrived. Like the faes, this empress was a loong fae. She was extremely powerful and upheld law and justice above all else. The empress was followed by the emperor and empress of the underworld where demonic creatures and evil sorcerers gathers. Unlike the empress of the beastmen, the empress of the underworld was a free spirited but deadly ruler. She was openminded to the changes of trends and ettiquette of the world but held the idea of preservation of life and death. In her opinion though, as long as the world is not ending or outside factors does not disturb her studies in magic, she did not care for most things. Her husband was a harsh and cold ruler. Just one word conveys his entire thoughts and did not care for disturbances from the other kingdom as he already had his hands full caring about his wife's wishes and her health as he was a very smitten husband. The empress of the beasts frowned when he heard of the princess's complaints and opened her mouth, 'Empress, I'm afraid it may be too early for the princess's social debut. Although the body has matured and grown greatly in strength, it is clear that she still requires further education in the arts of etiquette. As the mother, your words rang for her well-being and your motherly love for her, but she has dismissed that for her own curiosities, not for her own health.' Hearing this, many voiced in agreement with the new empress's words while some demonished the actions of the crown princess. However, the empress of the beasts was not ruthless to the attacks others sent to such a young child. She glared at them sending her magic to pressure those who spoke ill and gazed upon their conversation. Many backed down shuddering in fear as the empress of the underworld opened her mouth with a wicked grin but held a firm front, 'Eldest sworn sister. Let's not admonish the nobles for their curiosities. As the princess has shown interest in the actions of the adults, it is probably due to the fact that those around her very likely did not educate the child well during the moments the parents looked away. The child is not at fault here. The ones who should be are those who thought the lone child of a busy family is so easy to prey upon. How unfortunate. The royal family worked so hard to create a safe environment for the future generations of their people only for their people to want to prey on a defenseless child. One glare won't be enough to let them know they were wrong and they are too weak against us. Instead, sister should just say one phrase. Let them know their transgressions upon a member of royalty and let them know what it is they did wrong. Empress of the human kingdom. I believe this is where you should step in.'"