No one had been ready for such a declaration, not even the emperor's guard.
"I-I am sorry, but I think I heard your words wrong. What did you say just now?"
Meria's stepmother was usually a calculative and shrewd person who only opened her mouth when she knew she could get away with her actions. That was why it was a surprise to see her this shaken up.
But it was an understandable action on her part. The emperor had done something impossible to comprehend after all.
"I said, I will take General Meria as my empress. Whatever crime he has committed before this date shall be pardoned, and those who used my name and my signature to forge this penalty shall be punished."
The ex-fiancé and the guard he had bribed flinched once they heard this order. They looked at Mirai's stepmother for support, but she had also gone.
Meria could still not believe what he had heard about his fate. And neither could Fiona because she ended up reacting.
"E-Empress and him? B-But Emperor, you are just 12 years old! I mean, my brother is a beta and a brute at that. Surely you would have so much better choices than him? And if you truly want an older beauty to be your wife, why not take me? I am so much better-"
Fiona was lucky she managed to step back in time. The knife the emperor had banished toward her face only managed to nick her face.
But that had been a warning enough for everyone to keep their quiet.
"Who will you preach to me what I can and cannot do? Do you think that I am naive just because I look young? I have chosen General Meria as my wife, and no one will protest my decision."
The gold in the emperor's eyes was shining brightly. His alpha was close to the surface, and his magic began running wild.
It was only a matter of time before an incident happened. And everyone held their breath as they waited for the emperor to explode.
"My lord, I know you have decided to have my beta son as your empress, but I must protest. Your council will not agree with you. And as a father of the one you wish to marry, I cannot allow my child to be wed to you."
The golden eyes changed their target from Fiona to the old general. It was time for Meria's father to bear the uncomfortable weight of the emperor's presence.
"You dare to deny me what I claimed? Then, are you ready to bear the consequences of your actions? I will not make your death an easy one."
The emperor warned, and the pressure of his pheromones increased.
Meria was not used to so many pheromones circling his head, so he did his best to hold on. But this sudden increase was too much, and his vision blurred.
"Emperor, I will not–Meria, are you alright?"
Meria's world tilted sideways as his body began to collapse.
The last thing he saw was a pair of short arms reaching for him and a familiar flash of gold dashing toward him.
'Ah, this is such a nostalgic scene. Kerin, why does your younger brother remind me so much of you?'
...
'Why is it taking so long to reach the execution grounds? Will I even reach there in time? What will I say to Meria when I meet him again? That I missed him? Or that I love him? Oh well, whatever it is, I just want Meria to be alive.'
"Calm down, cousin. I am sure we will make it to the execution grounds on time. General Meria is just as important to me as he is to you. If you remember, I was the one who met him first and-"
"He is mine. You will keep your hands off my mate."
Emperor Kerin was a possessive person when it came to his stuff. But his possessiveness over his childhood friend could not be measured. There was only one thing the emperor was not willing to lose, and it was his future mate.
"Yeah, sure! You can claim him as your future mate all you want, but the world thinks that you already died. As far as Meria knows, his best friend is dead. Maybe I should take this opportunity to steal him away from you."
Kerin would have attacked his cousin, but he held his impulses inside his heart. He needed his cousin to act on his behalf first.
'I will use Rucia first, and once Meria is safe, I will deal with her smug ass. How dare she even think of taking my mate away from me? I will-'
"We are here. I think I can even see the execution ground. Oh shit-"
The emperor watched the sword being unsheathed, and he reacted. He did not even remember using his magic to control his law minister.
The only emotion Kerin felt was anger that filled him as he watched his omega almost die.
Luckily, Meria was somehow alive and unharmed. Otherwise, the emperor would have ended up killing everyone in the vicinity.
Rucia noticed how angry her cousin was, and she immediately decided.
"Emperor Kai, you need to stay inside for the time being. I will go and resolve this situation."
It was the best option available to them, and Kerin knew he needed to follow these orders. He was pretending to be the young and naive second emperor 'Kai' to draw out the people who cursed him.
But it was impossible to hold his enraged alpha back. He ended up interfering, and Kerin did not remember anything from then on.
He only knew that he came to his senses when he watched Meria collapse. He reached out to catch the falling omega, but his body was too short to support Meria.
The one who reacted fast and caught the falling body was Rucia. And even she looked stunned to see the general collapsing.
"General, here, you take care of your son. We just wanted to tell you that someone forged General Meria's death penalty, and it was never officially approved. Moreover, his crimes have yet to be verified, so he cannot be punished."
"We will ensure we catch the one who caused all this trouble and also…about the emperor's offer…"
Rucia trailed off, not knowing how to continue. But the emperor was not going to back out.
"I will not take my offer back. If all you want is for those old council fools to agree, I will ensure you get that. But I will have General Meria as my mate."