The news about the third prince's death sent shock waves throughout the empire. As the day went on the once cool environment of the royal palace came to a hush with whispers in the corridors. The place was filled with tensions as officials, nobles and emissaries of all ranks stood in fear of the unknown or the response of the emperor.
The palace air was thick with the presence of mourning for losing a royal family as servants scurried through their day with hush voices of the events that had taken place.
The grand chamber reserved for the court hearing and anything that was deemed political to the empire was in chaos as voices raised with accusations and denials about the death of the third prince. This chamber that speaks of luxury and royalty bears the imperial crest a symbol of this great empire and now this crest feels suffocating to anyone that bears it. Nobles sat together whether they were friend or foe. Their expression ranges from concern to fear. Fear not for themselves but what this means for the empire as whole.
At the top of the chamber sat the emperor, A Figure with a halo-like glow from the sunlight that gleamed through the glass window as it shines upon his long silver hair. This figure, as old as he was, still held an intimidating look with his height. His face may seem pale and sickly, however his eyes still held the light of ruthlessness as he bore down the nobles unyielding. His face showed no emotion but his grip on the throne made sounds of cracks. The show of force and fury that he had bottled up showed how he felt, a feeling of torment within.
"Silence!" the emperor shouted, Like a thunder that echoed in everyone's ears.
The chamber immediately fell silent, the tense feeling washing over them as the mummers quickly died down.
Before anyone could even respond to the emperor a horrifying scream broke the silence. The sound was more painful to hear as it was raw and primal as if the person was in pain at least that what it seemed to be.The source of this agonizing screams was none other than the queen and mother of the third prince. She walked with stumbling steps into the chamber as her face was filled with pain and anguished a mask she wore of losing her "precious" son.
'My son!" She cried out loud, dropping to her knees as she squeezed her chest as if it would burst." My precious boy! Who would dare to take my beautiful boy from me?"
This dramatic entrance drew everyone in the room to look at the queen. Her voice filled with pain and sorrow could be heard throughout the chamber but those who knew her knew that she was brewing up another scheme in her mind. It was a calculated scheme for this very moment. Her sobs echoed out the chamber as her maids came to her rescue, she wobbled through the doors as if she was about to collapse.
Though her tears seemed real to some, others looked amongst themselves as they glanced at each other. The second queen was well known for her cunning personality, she was the recipe of corruption one would think it was her talent. She had numerously used her son to further her schemes throughout the empire, while ensuring the prince was a contender for the throne. Her influence is far reaching as she had bound many to her will by a web of favors and debts.
"Your Imperial Majesty" she cried tears running down her face as she turned to the emperor.
"You have to find the ones who did this! Please take revenge for our sweet innocent boy."
The emperor bared his gaze down on the queen with no expression he was unreadable. He gave no calming words or even to console the shaken queen, it was simply no acknowledgement to the theatrics she showed.
An imperial minister stepped forward as he knelt before the emperor as his voice broke tension in the room. "Your imperial majesty there was no sign of break in or forced entry.There was also no sign of magic or poison in the body. The body only had one wound and it was done at the neck; it seems to have been done by a sharp dagger."
The emperor's eyes darken as he processed the information he had just received. His gaze turned towards the commander of the royal guards. The commander's face was pale and filled with nothing but fear. "What were the guards doing at that time?" He asked as his voice was laced with fury that he was trying to contain his fury. Each guard felt the words laced with fury in his tone and they knew they had messed up big time.
"They claimed to remember nothing, your imperial majesty" the commander spoke as he trembled with his head bowed down. "It is as if their memories of the night were erased."
A collective gasp could be heard amongst the audience in the chamber, followed by murmurs. Some theorize that it may have been the work of dark magic and forbidden arts.
"Could it have been an assassin from one of our rival empires?" a noble suggested, his words spoken with fear and confusion.
"Or maybe a rival faction has made its move" another noble whispered, his look around the hall to see if anyone there would be a suspect.
Amid the speculation, many nobles from the first and second prince's faction exchanged glances with each other, each of their expressions was masked to avoid suspicion. For them,the third prince's death was in their favor, a step closer to the throne for their faction but a fear still seeped in as they wondered how powerful their rivals had to be for them to eliminate the third prince in the imperial palace.
"Anyway the empire would be better off without him,"one spoke in a low tone to his companion, his lips barely moving. "That fool was too reckless and too ambitious for his own good."
"Indeed," came the quiet reply. "Let's not celebrate in the open, the emperor's wrath does not care for friend or foe."
"Enough!" the emperor's voice roared as it silenced all the noise, his voice turning icy as he spoke, each word was laced with menace. The chamber now devoid of sounds had the room in tension. "The death of my son is an affront to this empire itself. However if this is an act of treachery from within the person or anyone involved will face a fate way worse than death and that the empire can definitely promise."
"Don't let me repeat myself, I want the culprit found and I want him alive now no matter what."
The queen's sobs grew louder, the emperor's proclamation could hardly be heard through her loud cries. Yet even in the midst of this her tears hardly even moved him. The emperor turned his gaze to the commander of the royal guard once again. "Double the guards in the palace no one leaves without my permission and get me the court mage now. I want everything to be examined, to find every possibility no matter how implausible or small it may seem."
The nobles exchanged glances with each other, their murmurs were silenced by the emperor's commanding presence. The weight of his words had made the nobles feel even more tense.
The queen who was still weeping, with the hem of her robe clutch tightly in her hands. Yet as her face was hidden from view, a flicker passed through her eyes as if she was calculating something. If the death of her son had taken away her influence then she will find another way to achieve it.
And so beneath the surf all that tears and sorrow no one had actually really cared for the third prince's death. The court remains as a den of vipers as they schemed and planned in silence. It raised the question if anyone actually felt sad or was there anyone even grieving for him.
------------------------------------
Meanwhile the culprit Shane was laying down with the blankets covering him as he looked up at the ceiling while his thoughts wandered from one thing to another.
Shane had thought on how to take things from here on. The moment he adapted to this world he had decided to get his priorities straight: gaining strength, knowledge, influence and information. These goals would form the foundation of his rise in this chaotic world filled with dangers.
He already knew how to gain strength. All he had to do was wait for his awakening and then from there he would have gain an immensely powerful class from his inheritance card.
He already has all the powerful tools at his disposal, and his fantastic Sebastian who is an SSS rank subordinate. The demon Sebastian wasn't just strong; he was force of reckoning, a being that Shane believed to be the strongest and most dangerous entity in the empire.
Anyone could start leveling up once they were awakened. He also wasn't worried about being targeted because he was not famous or even seen as a threat to any faction or noble, in their minds he was a nobody. Since he got rid of the third prince there shouldn't be anyone else that would have an ulterior motive against him.
The reason the prince even targeted him was because he had a feud with his father otherwise he would have been living a deadbeat life since childhood.
He already ensured that there will be influence and information with the task he gave Sabastian. Establishing an organization in secret and having Sabastian oversee its operations. Shane was confident it would be a force that no nation was prepared for, a system of networks capable of gathering intelligence, manipulating events and most of all creating opportunities in his favor.
Now he only had 1.5 years before his awakening and attending at the Northern academy.
Shane wants to have fun and take it easy since after the 1.5 years are over he would have to step up in this world to protect himself.
"STATUS"
[NAME - SHANE NOLAN]
[RACE - HUMAN]
[AGE - 14]
[CLASS - NONE]
[LEVEL - 5]
[TALENTS - THE ARCHITECT (SSS), GOD-LEVEL COMPREHENSION (SSS), RUNIC MIND (SSS)]
[CRAFT POINTS - 0]
[SKILLS - CLASS SKILLS - NONE
EXTRA SKILLS - DREAM HAUNT (S) SPECIAL - SIGHT OF GENESIS]
[PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES - 2 (AVG)]
[MAGICAL ATTRIBUTES - 5 (AVG)]
[BONDS -SUBORDINATES - SEBASTIAN BLACK (SSS)
[TREASURES - DICE OF FORTUNE (SSS), UNIVERSAL NEWSLETTER (SSS)]
After looking at his status, trying to plan on how to utilize what he has for now. Suddenly he had an idea!!