The Emperor was seated in a palaquin which was a covered large box capable of occupying only one passenger while being carried on two horizontal poles by four bearers.
Damon welcomed the Emperor in as the four bearers carried the Emperor on a red carpet into the Duke's mansion.
******
With the palaquin dropped in the center of the reception area of the mansion, Suzanne and every single one of the palace servants stepped out of the room leaving only Damon, Dante and the Emperor who was still in the large box.
"Your Majesty, "
Damon bent a little to offer the Emperor a hand while coming out of the box. The Emperor whose very image had been concealed this whole time suddenly brought out his hand from the clothing that had been obstructing everyone from seeing inside.
"Easy your Majesty," Damon cautioned the Emperor as he steps out.
With the Emperor's arm brought out, it was easy to discern that the person in question wasn't actually in his best of days. His arm was so thin to the point that he had a vivid similarity to that of a skeleton.
"Help me out here son, " My dad called me over as I hurried towards him to aid the Emperor in stepping out of the box. Immediately the Emperor came out completely, I was short of words because he could barely be described as a human anymore, being described as a skeleton would be a huge understatement.
His face had grown lean that one could only wonder if his face would remain the same after receiving a huge swing of a club. I doubt any of his subjects could recognize him if they saw him right now. His red dragon robe which had a panoply of intricate dragon embroidery and patterns was the only distinctive feature he had to make anyone recognize him easily.
Aside from that, his usual black colored hair had been replaced with a gray color and there was only one logical explanation for his present bizarre deportment and uncharacteristic appearance which was that the Emperor had been cursed with an ageing spell.
The ageing spell was most likely done by a Silver rank potioneer.
The Emperor who's name in actuality was Eric Grayson now faced my dad before mustering every ounce of strength he had to pat my dad on his shoulder. Right after, he faced towards my direction and did what both my dad and I could have never imagined.
"Your Majesty!!" Shocked by what the Emperor did next, my dad instinctively yelled out. Even I do not know how to behave as what the Emperor did was totally unexpected. He kowtowed before me as though I was in a superior position when compared to his.
I tried to ask him not to do that but the Emperor's sudden declaration caught me of guard...
"Count Dracula!! I'm imploring you to help me save my family for they are on the brink of death, "
Though the Emperor's voice clearly had little strength in it, still he steeled his resolve to plead for his family's recovery.
"Your Majesty!! You do not need to do this. Of course he'll assist you.... "
My dad tried to comfort the Emperor by telling him not to worry about anything but the Emperor remained obstinate as he was determined to know what my response would be.
"I've got no choice!! And no one else to turn to!! Please let me do this. This is all I can do to save my family!! So please Count Dracula help me save my source of Joy. I promise you will be richly rewarded."
The Emperor yelled while crying as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in indignation by how incompetent he was to not have the desired strength to save his family. I truly commend him for putting priority towards his family first before his own well being.
"Please will you help me?" The Emperor quipped once again.
Hearing the way the Emperor was in desperate need of my assistance, I hunkered down before him to inquire one more thing before replying to his question
"Tell me Your Majesty, are the rest of your family having the same symptoms as you?"
"No, their symptoms are a little different from mine."
The Emperor replied that unlike him, his wife and children couldn't step out of their room. Although they could walk but due to the fact that their bodies had the slightest irritation to sunlight or any kind of light, they chose to remain in a secluded dark environment.
All three members of his family are in a room with an organ of their body part slowly transforming into that of a beast every day, the Emperor had no choice but to seek aid from his most trusted priests but even they couldn't do anything to help him and so he decided to seek aid from the potion guild.
The best the guild currently had in their ranks were Cyan rank potioneers who informed the Emperor on the ingredients he needed in saving himself and his family.
Among the materials needed for the potion, the beast core of a giant spider crab will be needed to save the Emperor and his family. Having already gotten all the other materials needed for brewing the potion, only two things stands in his way of saving his family.
With the first being the beast core of a spider crab found only in the dungeon of the human realm. The spider crab was actually a rank 2 (Obsidian rank) monster meaning most adventurers who had been tasked to obtain the core never returned.
The second thing standing in the Emperor's way would be finding a silver rank potioneer which wasn't really easy to find in the modern world we found ourselves in.
And based on the fact that my Dad had informed the Emperor of my previous job as an adventurer, the Emperor thought it would be wise to seek aid from the person who was in the same party with the best potioneer this world had ever known.
In other words, I'm to contact an old friend of mine who was well adept in potion brewing. The Cyan rank potioneers had also notified the Emperor of the limited amount of time his family had before losing every fragments of humanity they still had left which will be in a month time.
"Will you help me Count Dracula?" The Emperor asked again.
"I'll see what I can do," I replied in the best way I could.
There wasn't any point in providing the Emperor false hopes when the one who could help the Emperor in brewing the potion isn't currently here in the human realm but in the giant realm and sending a message all the way there could take at least two weeks with an owl.
The best thing right now was to include the importance of the task at hand in the letter because only then will the potioneer return in haste.