The tension between the two youths was so thick it brought a hold to the activities in the hall, quite frankly it was an achievement on its own. Unfortunately in the face of impending death that was very irrelevant.
The short haired youth, however did not feel the degree of their situation turning to make his plead
"Your majesty, I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience brought upon you but I will not stand to be disrespected by a commoner"
"LEAVE"
"Wh… what?" Shocked by the command he asked
"Your majesty, but I wasn't in the wr…"
"I will not repeat myself," The emperor said unbothered not caring for the young nobles opinion.
The young noble looked around in embarrassment as he walked out of the hall, shutting the grand door to the hall. All that was left now was the culprit.
All attention was focused on Kassius and monster that sat on the throne… the monsters gaze fell on the fear stricken teen.
"COME," The emperor commanded
Still overwhelmed by fear, Kassius dragged his tense body to the front to the throne. Every step he took the pressure increased as his mind rampaged.
Arriving infront of the throne, he knelt with sweat drenching his body. 'Uhh… no way' the emperor stood up from the his throne making his way to kassius.
Each step he took resonated with the Kassius pounding heart, not longer than after six beats the emperor stood infront of him.
"Raise your head"
My dull violet gaze met his crimson hollow eyes, as uncontrollable shiver ran down my spine. "You can see it, can't you?" he asked
"I… I do… I do not know what you're talking about"
His neck twisted to the side, gaining a sudden realization his eyes widened.
"Ahhh…. You can't see it, but you can feel it"
I didn't understand what the monster in front of me was saying, all that was on my mind was the sense of dread that seemed to choke me.
It was difficult to breath in his presence... he left the smell of blood dragging along wherever he went, it was astonishing how Kassius was the only one able to perceive it amongst the empires most powerful people.
"I didn't think I'd met another one of your kind here," His majesties eyes glowed in the dim lights of the hall, drowning the music and sounds of chatter from everyone.
Two massive red eyes stared daggers at Kassius peering into his soul, revealing secrets unknown to himself.
"But what do we have here... why is there only half of you"
'Half what does that even mean?...' Kassius had become extremely confused from the things the emperor had been saying. He had no idea why but for some reasons he needed answers to this question.
"What do you mean?" I asked frowning
"You do not know, do you?" It finally dawned on the emperor as a twisted smile was replaced on his face.
He slowly bent down just inches away from me, worry plagued my being as my muscles tensed further. His twisted smile gave him the image of a predator waiting to devour his prey.
"You are just like me, although you don't seem to know what that truly means right now, you'll be enlightened as you age," The emperor said.
There was no way in hell, he was remotely the same as this monster.
'I need to know where this is going' Kassius's mind wondered trying to deduct why the emperor was telling him all this, why not just tell him what he meant.
Standing back up the emperor announced planely shocking everyone in the room.
"I HERE BY GRANT KASSIUS ALTAIR OF THE SOUTH, THE TITLE OF VISCOUNT..."
The look of disbelief and astonishment was pasted on everyone's, but the person in the most disbelief was Kassius himself. He couldn't wrap his mind on what exactly was happening... but the emperor didn't seem to be done yet.
"AND FROM NOW ON WILL BE IN POSSESSION OF THE NEWLY FOUND RELIC, 'GLOVES OF NOCTIS'."
Silence befell the hall as all noise became non existent, the only thing was heard could be the glass cup that fell from a certain nobles hand, shattering on impact with floor.
Her face which so far had been indifferent suddenly went from astonishment to anger, yet she was quick to compose herself before anyone could notice.
The she touched the star marking underneath her eyes in thought…
The emperor enjoyed the look of disapproval amongst the nobles who all remained silent, although they were all displeased who were they to question his decision.
He had finally found something worth playing with after all this time and was going to enjoy himself, he turned his attention back to the boy kneeling. All fear in his eyes was replaced with suspicion, his violet eye's tried to hide the ripples of uncertainty but ultimately failed.
"I have given you what is necessary, now I wonder how long you'll survive. Do your best to entertain me young one" the emperor said returning back to his throne.
"What the hell just happened," Kassius muttered under his breath
Kassius found himself in an extremely favorable condition, not only was he given the rank of viscount the emperor bestowed upon him a relic.
'Maybe I'm finally getting what people call good luck'
Getting up, Kassius body stiffened facing the crowd. Their intentions were apparent as day, nobles of all ranks locked eyes on Kassius.
Some released bloodlust making it obvious they wished him harm, some approached with smiles in hope to befriend him while the rest watched from afar silently observing him.
Kassius knew what all of them truly wanted, although he was now a viscount, he held practically zero power and was yet to make any reasonable connections.
But the same could not be said with the relic which was bestowed upon him... it was a symbol of power, even among the dukes only a few held the right to possess a relic.
The empire in total had a total of six relics since its founding, that was just how rare they were. Each one of these relics were considered a national treasure, and possessed incredible powers.
And now one of such treasures resided with him, unfortunately that had painted an incredible large target on his back. All does that approached him undoubtedly wanted the relic in his possession after all it would be wasted on a weak nobody like him.
They were all disgusting people who would sacrifice anything for power, he hated them and their ideologies but he gladly shook each and every one of their hands smiling.
He needed to survive…
He wanted to be free…
Although it didn't sit well with his morals, he did what he had too, after all the greetings and congratulations for his new rank he was finally left alone at a dim conner in the hall.
Not long after Silas arrived as they discussed everything that had just transpired, although Kassius kept the things discussed with the emperor a secret.
I would have to dig into that more and find out what he truly meant.
The party ended awhile later with each noble taking their leave, the duchess congratulated me and told me I was welcomed to her dukedom anytime I pleased before leaving. It took another two weeks within the carriage before we arrived in front of the black and gold gates of the South.
The months went by quickly making as times seemed to speed up and eventually the time had come for me to depart has a year easily passed.
It was finally time for me to go depart for the 'Academy'.
A/N: Unfortunately I was busy throughout the week studying, have a big exam coming up. But I'll try to make up for the short chapter in the upcoming ones.