The halls of the Emperor's castle were absolutely magnificent, the architecture was exquisite, made only of the fines materials the world had to offer. Many people of remarkable wealth or status were allowed entry for certain moments.
The reason why this was a hotspot sadly wasn't because of how beautiful the building in it of itself was, but rather all the services it facilitated. There were heated baths, sauna's, a theater, even a large hall that was mostly used for auctions and musical performances.
These were all somewhat recently added to the castle at the request of the Emperor. According to the rumors he set aside a large portion of the national budget to liven up his castle only to try the services once and then never visiting them again.
Some people speculated that he just wanted to show off his wealth and power, but those close to the throne rather thought that it was an attempt to make him feel happiness. Either way, the rumors and the concepts made the castle almost a tourist attraction. Everyone wanted to walk through the halls and experience the facilities.
All of this was possible at certain times for a certain price. After half a year, all the money spend on the different services was easily paid for by the visitors. When people realized how much income these things produced, they commended the Emperor for thinking so far ahead while others tried to replicate it in different areas for a cheaper price.
There was only a single group of people that had free access to all the facilities the castle had to offer. This was of course the biggest group next to the Imperial family with the highest authority, the Scholars. A group of people all working together in different fields in order to let the Empire prosper.
They were there to serve as priests that guided the younger generation, smiths and weapon specialists that came up with new spells to gain an edge in battle. They were the ones that figured out the best training schedules and studied medicine. While the Scholars could easily be divided in dozens of separate groups, all had the same title.
The only group that rivaled them was the Senate that ruled over the military, the only difference was that the Senate was mostly filled with older retired generals that have ended their service. They weren't granted the free rights to use the facilities, yet nobody knew exactly why.
It would've made them feel indebted to the Emperor, not that he cared in the slightest. For some reason, he was adamant on not giving them free rights. This only made the Scholars a group that more people wanted to enter.
This title was something many wanted since it gave them so many benefits, leading to a lot of bad apples trying to enter the group. Resulting in stricter tests and approvals before one could enter the Scholars.
Either way, a certain group of scholars were responsible for teaching the children of high standing aristocrats or anyone with a certain status. The children of the Emperor were included in that as well. The man himself rarely visited them since he mostly just introduced them to his children and left them in their care.
This time as well, the Emperor announced he would be visiting. His presence was something many wanted and feared at the same time. Everyone knew about his strength and ruthlessness on the battlefield. His quick rise to fame and power created a lot of loyal followers.
The teachers were all gathered in their lounge, discussing a certain topic.
"Carl, who do you believe would be most suited for the Emperor's request?", everyone was allowed to start certain discussions, and since there wasn't a leader within the group, most people looked to seniority when it came to hierarchy.
Carl and Jacob were the oldest of the teachers present, meaning they had to lead the discussion. Both wore red toga's and had short but thick beards. Carl was bald, unlike Jacob who still had some remaining strands of hair.
Before Carl could answer, a new initiate interrupted them. "My apologies, but do you already know why the Emperor's is coming here? Why didn't you share this information?", Tharuk challenged the seniors.
Since the group of scholars was all about gathering more information, hiding intel was looked down upon.
"Why does a man go to a butcher, what do you think he will do? Just because it's not written out somewhere doesn't mean you can be ignorant of the reality of the situation. Make your own conclusions. If we were to write out everything in the world, we wouldn't have enough scrolls.", Carl answered to snuff out any interruptions.
Tharuk felt a bit insulted, but quickly wrote it off. He had been a teacher for quite some time, and was looking for a rise in position.
Challenging the older Scholars was a tradition to boost one's own position within the group. There wasn't a clear hierarchy, but that didn't stop anyone from making one. Having the floor once more, Carl stroked his short but thick white beard.
"The Emperor will ask us to teach one of his children."
With that statement, the scholars erupted in multiple discussions. "But the Emperor doesn't have a child that hasn't been taught."
"You know there are rumors that the Emperor has been visiting brothels, it wouldn't surprise me if he had a bastard child."
"What rubbish are you talking about, baseless rumors can't be used as evidence."
"But then how would you explain this situation? It only makes sense.", the group started to yell over one another as they spouted their opinions mixed with their reasoning. Only Jacob and Carl stayed silent as they stared at the group.
Jacob suddenly spoke up again as he seemingly lazily waved away the noise. "Where the child comes from doesn't matter, what matters is that it's an order from the Emperor. We need to comply, failure is resulted in expulsion."
From that statement, nobody was eager to volunteer. There were a few that raised their hands, and after a few more debates, they found the right person.
Not long after, the Emperor arrived, everyone kneeled in front of him as they welcomed him. The imposing man stood strong in front of the group of teachers, his blank look went over them before focussing on the seniors.
Besides his leg was a small child, clearly recently bathed and given fresh clothes. Carl stared at the child before confronting the Emperor. He knew the Emperor better than most, so he had the gal and authority to be direct.
"Your majesty, he's not from your blood is he?"
"Astute observation, this is Thurin, I'm looking for a teacher.", his voice as emotionless as ever. He acted as if what he was saying didn't have an impact. This time though, not a single scholar spoke up like their usual fashion. They stayed silent out of fear of the Emperor.
Following up on Carl's question, Jacob joined in as well. "I don't recognize him as one of the children of the aristocrats. May I ask where this child came from?"
"A war orphan.", to which multiple scholars twitched, they didn't dare speak up, but the senior scholars picked up on it. Jacob looked over the scholars and asked a simple question. "Is there anyone willing to become the teacher of Thurin? Raise your hand."
The room stayed silent as nobody moved, there were people who were willingly volunteering mere minutes ago, yet now not a soul felt eager to help out. Seeing that, the Emperor didn't change in the slightest, instead he looked at Jacob.
He stared at the Emperor before looking at the child, he looked weak, and attached to the Emperor even though his real parent most likely died not too long ago. It wouldn't be an easy task to educate such a person.
Jacob answered, "I'll be honest, your majesty, nobody here is volunteering for this task, but if you order us to pick someone, it'll be done in a heartbeat.", even if there were no willing souls, that didn't mean he could let the Emperor leave empty-handed. There were plenty of people who he could push the task to who always produced decent results.
"No, I want someone who is willing to do so.", he stated his true intentions, he needed a person who was passionate about his work. Not someone who was chasing a promotion or monetary rewards.
"Hmm, then perhaps I can provide you with some names.", he looked at Carl for aid.
"I know a few. I'll write them down.", Carl said as he started to grab a piece of parchment and a writing feather. Jacob gave it another moment of thought before adding.
"I also know of someone. Although he's a strange one, he's a scholar at heart. Have you heard of Carian?", the reason why Jacob placed emphasis on his name was because there was a pretty good chance of the Emperor knowing about him.
"Yes, the only scholar on the battlefield who got a lot of our men killed for no discernible reason.", although the sentence contained a lot of critique, the tone never changed, making it seem like he was just stating the facts and didn't mix his own opinion in.
"I don't know about his achievements on the front, I'm not specialized in warfare, but he is a proper candidate, I'll look for some other names and get them delivered in a few days."
"That's fine, goodbye.", and with that the Emperor left without any grandeur. Straight to the point and no small talk, it felt rude to a lot of the scholars. And now that he left, they were free from their chains.
"I didn't know the Emperor was so rude, how improper.", one scholar grumbled. To which someone responded in his majesty's defense.
"Well, he did come from a commoner background. It would make sense for him to not know these kinds of things.", to which another scholar responded.
"So? That doesn't mean he can skip his etiquette."
But before another discussion broke out, Jacob and Carl raised their hands. "If you want to critique the Emperor, do it to his face, we're not going to start a rumor mill, so stop being so childish. The Emperor is a broken man who saved our Empire from destruction, yet here you are, angry that he didn't say hi to you? How disappointing."
With that statement, Jacob quieted the entire group down. They were all adults yet were having discussions over petty nothings.
"Jacob, what do you think of that child?"
"I don't know, we'll have to wait a few years. You don't know how a flower looks when it's still stuck in its bud."
While the older Scholars were having a friendly discussion, one of the younger Scholars felt that what Jacob said was true. If he wanted to insult the Emperor it should be to his face. He grabbed his typical white robe and left the room to go after the Emperor.
Carl saw what happened and immediately informed Jacob. "I think Tharuk has just lost his privilege as a Scholar."
"Hmm? Why?", Carl simply pointed towards the Scholar who was still visible in the door entrance leaving them behind. Jacob clicked his tongue. "Tch, to think he was this impulsive. Scrap his name from the ledger, and let's pray to the Stars he makes it out alive.", they didn't even move from their chairs, simply observing the situation.
The two old men cared little for Tharuk's safety the moment he went after the Emperor. He would lose his title and all privileges, besides that he would be forbidden to be a teacher anywhere in the country.
Carl grasped his head in his palm, heaving a big sigh.
"I'm afraid this will lead to another cleanse. We should prepare."
"Agreed."
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Tharuk started to run in the halls and could see the Emperor walking in the distance, his every step echoing down the hall. "Your Lordship, I wanted to talk to you!", yelling in the halls was already something that was looked down upon, not that the Emperor cared for those rules. They weren't hard to follow, so he simply adapted.
Hearing the voice from behind him, he turned around, a young Thurin stuck to his leg. It was clear he felt uncomfortable here, but the Emperor was the only one that brought him some stability.
"Thank you for waiting for me. I just wanted to say that we Scholars all have a role to perform and as teachers, we're supposed to be guiding your children and the children of High Aristocracy. A war orphan wasn't ever included in our list. So I would kindly request you to think about what we Scholars do and follow the rules that are written down for us. In that way, you won't be so disappointed when requiring something from us."
Tharuk finished what he wanted to say, the sweat on his back was immense, but he had proven himself a worthy Scholar. Now he would be capable of going back to the seniors and push them in a corner. He would be regarded as a true Scholar with an iron heart by his peers.
'It was a genius suggestion from Jacob, too bad they were all too slow to act upon it.'
Being happy with himself, Tharuk looked back up to see the eyes of the Emperor stare right at him. The moment their eyes locked, he couldn't move his body. His breathing started to falter as his heart started to thump out of rhythm.
The cold dead eyes that were looking at him made the surroundings colder, making Tharuk feel the sweat on his back ever so clearly. Words failed him as his throat clasped tight and his legs started to give out.
As he fell on his knees, he never broke contact with the Emperor, his face never changed in reality, but to Tharuk anything but that was the truth. He could feel the absolute fear in his heart as he was stuck in the gaze of an absolute predator. The surroundings started to tint red, his vision blurring.
Frozen on the ground, Tharuk could feel his heart give in, it simply stopped working even if his brain was still active.
Thurin, who was hiding behind the Emperor's leg could see Tharuk panicking even if no sound came out of his mouth, the look in his eyes told him enough. He didn't dare look up at the Emperor, he was captivated by Tharuk's act.
It didn't take long before his heart stopped for too long to make his body function properly. Collapsing on the floor, the Emperor stared for a few seconds longer before turning around again and bringing Thurin along with him.
"Clean this place up.", his deep voice echoed in the halls as two men clad in dark appeared as if from nowhere and picked the body up. Cleaning the drool that came out from his mouth and wiping the floor clean, it was as if nobody ever fell in the first place.
The two men disposed of the body somewhere far from the castle in the woods, feeding it to the monsters that roamed there.
"With this our task is completed, let's go back."
"No, he said 'Clean this place up', if he just wanted to make the body disappear, he would've said 'Clean up'. We have a few more targets to get rid of."
"Who?"
A third member showed up right as that questions was asked. "I've received a list of targets to get rid of. All must be removed with perfect alibis."
"Let's get to work."
The men disappeared from the woods and the following weeks a bunch of people vanished. Some went to travel, others joined the army and perished not long after. There were people who fell ill and didn't make it, the unlucky ones met a violent robber that didn't want to leave witnesses.
In the end, the capital was cleaned up.