"Evil?"
"What is that?"
"Who gives more shape to sentient history?"
"The good who adhere to the tried and true."
"Or those who seek to rouse beings from their stupor and lead them to glory."
"To wash away the old and complacent."
"And prune the galaxy of deadweight."
"You heartless, ambitious, arrogant, insidious and without shame and empathy."
"More, you're a murderer!"
"The truth of you now and forever more will be sidious."
Darth Plagueis from Star Wars.
….
In an opulent throne room adorned by gold, silver and bronze, a hanging golden chandelier with dragon heads for candleholders, each candle sticking out of a golden carven head like a tongue of flame providing light for the room above.
Sitting upon a large golden dragon throne was an old greyed 60-year-old man, a golden jewel-encrusted crown, each jewel a different colour of the rainbow adorning his grey-haired head while a black dragon robe, the traditional robe for the supreme ruler of Chavaria, hung loosely from his body. A sheathed longsword stood straight up from the floor in the old man's hands. Only a fool would think the man who conquered and created a great empire would be unwilling to use the swords steel to kill anyone.
Behind the throne, a large banner showing twin golden dragons on a field of red overshadowed the throne, a symbol of the Crestier dynasty that ruled over the vast Chavarian empire.
"YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE SHIT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?"
The old man said in a booming voice, fiery anger present in his tone while his face and body remained calm and still with only a slight shaking donating the great rage that was being suppressed in his body.
"KNEEL DOWN!"
The emperor shouted, throwing a snow-white porcelain cup at his son who stood in front of him, missing him by inches as the delicate cut shattered onto the ground, a piece cutting the Chavarian prince slightly on his led the emperor's anger clear for all to see, a rare occurrence as usually the emperor is calm as stillwater even when he is told of disastrous defeats making the Imperial Guard Commander Daemones Aventinus draw his sword, ready to arrest the Prince in front of him if the emperor commanded it for it had been a while since anyone had angered the emperor this much the last the divine ruler of Chavaria was outraged like this was when he heard Drusus died under suspicious circumstances.
It would be safe to say that the emperor's vengeance on the nobles that did it is best to be left in the unwritten pages of history long forgotten. All that needs to be known is that the angered emperor rounded up the conspirators and their families and executed a brutal punishment on all. Even the ruthless Daemones felt a chill run down his spine when he thought of the unspeakable tortures and atrocities those unfortunate nobles and their families had to go through, where having your head cut off was considered a mercy.
"Yes, Father, I have paved the way to become the crown prince."
The 30-year-old prince said calmly, staying upright on his feet as both he and his father stared daggers at each other, a brutal clash of wills happening in the room while Imperial Guards stood around the room stoically with hands on their swords, also sensing the anger which burned through the emperors very soul.
Taking a deep breath, the old emperor calmed himself down, sneering at his dishonourable unfilial son.
"Do you really think that after pulling this off, we will make you crown prince?"
"Yes, Father, I am confident because you have no choice."
"Do you really think we don't have the resolve to kill you!"
The old emperor shouted, drawing his sword and running forward to put it onto the neck of Flavius, who was expecting this and did not bat an eye and just looked calmly into his father's eyes which were red with rage, surprising the old emperor slightly.
"Yeah, you have that resolve, Father. A man capable of spilling the blood of 2 kingdoms to create a great empire has the resolve to do anything!"
"Didn't you personally order the execution of Antamonides for treason, even though he is your own son?"
Flavius said, remembering the day his brother was beheaded, crying out for mercy as the emperor watched on as the executioner's axe fell down and removed his head before the entire capital, then all those who had joined him and their families, even down to a six-year-old child, were dragged to the chopping block to receive the emperor's imperial justice.
In Chavaria and most kingdoms in the world, treason is not only punished with the offender's death but six generations of their family too, so second uncles, great grandfathers, and even small children who had nothing to do with their parent's crimes or even uncles with no knowledge of them would all suffer the same fate unless they gave their relatives in or fought against their rebellion. In Chavaria, old, young, commoner, noble or prince, your status or age does not matter, the executioner's axe will come for your head all the same.
"Even with that knowledge, you still did what you did."
The emperor said coldly, killing intent leaking the old man's body. Even now, in his old age, he remains as powerful and steadfast as he did in his younger years.
"I did because our situations are completely different."
Flavius said in a calculating manner, his ruthlessness matching that of his father at that moment.
"First off, I did not commit treason like my brother in openly rebelling. Second, if you did kill or arrest me, who would you replace me with."
"My exiled 3rd brother? Or my stupid 4th brother? Maybe my disabled 6th brother who is stuck in a wheelchair?"
"Or will you replace me with my 7th brother, who is only eight years old?"
"Maybe you will even give the crown prince seat to one of the children of Victarion who are even younger?"
"You're getting older, father. You don't have time to look over the development of a crown prince that could take more than ten years to reach the age of maturity."
Flavius asked, going through all of the emperor's sons and successors, giving reasons why they should not be the crown prince before stating what would become the historical truth. Whether it was false or plotted by a mastermind was irrelevant. As soon as the emperor convicted House Aurellion of treason, whatever truly happened, Flavius' path to becoming crown prince will be open.
"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Nalora Lucius Aurellion, has murdered the royal family, betrayed his lord, betrayed our great empire, slaughtered loyal subjects and failed in his duty to protect Prince Victarion!"
"For these reprehensible crimes, I have killed the great traitor and request he loses all titles and his family be executed as a warning to others who would dare think about doing something like this in the future!"
Flavius asked in an official voice making the Chavarian Emperors' face turn livid as his son was shamelessly placing all of his own crimes on one of the most loyal subjects of the empire.
"This is not only a plea from me but also from the nobility."
"Even Archtorius, one Lucius' most trusted subordinates, agrees too…."
"Do you want to summon them in? They're just outside if you doubt me."
Flavius said to the shocked emperor, who finally realised how his son managed to kill Lucius Aurellion, a grandmaster strategist on the level of Drusus from back in the day, just with better political instincts making him an even more problem for the nobility than Drusus was. The general only weakness was his trust in people, especially for those who have worked with him for so long, so being able to turn Archtorius would allow Flavius the opening to kill his older brother and the general sent to protect him.
"Why!"
"Why did you kill your elder brother?"
The emperor shouted in grief. Of all of his remaining sons, the eldest was his favourite benevolent, kind, cunning, virtuous and had the making of a fantastic emperor. While the emperor seemed cold on the outside, only the empress and Daemones, the imperial guard commander, knew just how much it had hurt him to make the cold-hearted decision to sentence his own son to death, all to ensure fairness under the law and to make it that even members of the imperial family are not exempt and will be punished the same as a commoner would.
Would some people say that was heartless? For a father to send his own son to the chopping block all for one unbreakable principle of his.
For the emperor, it was irrelevant!
Being part of the imperial family is not as easy as doing whatever you like with no regard for the law.
Unless, of course, you plan things so well, so meticulously….
That even the law must bend to your will!
"Because if I didn't when my older brother returned…."
"You would make him crown prince, right?"
"Father…."
"So, I removed him…. My only obstacle to becoming the divine emperor of the Chavarian Empire."
Flavius said, his body shaking and clenching his fist as he looked at the emperor with determined eyes that glinted with a predatory aura and an ice-cold ruthlessness that even sent a chill down the stoic emperor's back.
"You seem cold on the outside, Father. Others think that all that matters to you is the empire and its citizens. Even if it is a ruthless decision, you will make it without hesitation."
"Many people don't realise it, but nothing can hide itself from my gaze."
"You're rather kindhearted…. Are you not Father?"
"When you were a prince, you saw your kingdom beset by war with people's lives being worth less than a stalk of wheat, so you resolved to become king, meeting the minister of war and general Drusus to bring an end to the war and become strong enough to establish an era of peace where no nation dared to attack you."
"Many think that you did that just for power and to make our dynasty more prosperous and powerful, but that was not it at all. All you did was for the citizens and their well-being, creating an empire that no one dares to fight against, allowing lasting peace even on the borders, even if there are a few border skirmishes, no villages are raided or common people displaced."
Flavius said, exposing the true nature and reasons for all the emperor's actions.
"You think that we will make you crown prince just because you understand me?"
The emperor said, his voice still filled with ice-cold killing intent, his eyes red with anger.
"Yes, all we did…. we did for the people, even the slaughter of those surrendered Plurians, was for that cause, that heartless order that weighs on me to this day was given so we could have this era of peace."
"But a person who sends loyal subjects to their deaths all for their own selfish desires has no place being Emperor of Chavaria."
"Yeah, I killed a thousand or so loyal subjects for my own selfishness, but I didn't kill millions like you did, Father."
"Just because your actions benefited the 30 million people now under your rule doesn't mean they weren't for selfish reasons."
Flavius said, smiling slightly as his father revealed a shocked expression as the prince began going into his own thoughts and philosophy.
"It felt good to bring peace. So, you brought peace."
"It felt good to help those in need, so you helped those in need."
"It felt good to receive the praises of your citizens who can now live a peaceful life so you rule with benevolence."
"For your own selfishness to establish an empire and bring peace and prosperity to the people…."
"You killed millions!"
Flavius said confidently, revealing what he saw was the true reason for the emperor's actions.
"What makes a human?"
"What drives their actions?"
"Let me tell you people who believe it is cooperation…."
"It is selfishness!"
"Just because someone gave money to the poor doesn't mean they didn't do it for selfish reasons."
"Just because you worked with others to build or achieve something does not mean you didn't do it for selfish reasons as you would usually gain something alongside them."
"The human's empathy and selfish need to feel morally good directed and drove people to give money to the poor to get the admiration and respect for those around them."
"The human selfish need to feel good and morally good or even to create something that they can gain from motivated them to work together."
"This is why an emperor must be selfish! In fact, the ruler of a nation needs to be the most selfish person available….
"BUT!"
"It must be good selfishness like yours and not bad like that of a tyrant!"
Flavius said unflinchingly to the old emperor, who quickly took in his son's lecture before coming up with a cold reply.
"In that case…."
"How can you say your actions born from your selfishness were good?"
"How can killing your brother be out of the 'good selfishness' you just lauded about!"