For a while, the atmosphere between them was very good. Then after a while, Jason says, I know you still have more questions about what happened during the years between my 10th birthday and now, right? Jason says in a whisper.
Selena looks a bit guilty and then replies softly, "Yes, I am a little curious..."
Jason laughs a bit and then continues,
After I got over my depression, I made mastering your mother's magic my next big goal. When I finally left my room, I heard the news saying that a woman died. I didn't feel a thing because I never liked her even before I did my investigation. I later found out that Count Grenden has been seeing my mother a lot these days.
"Count Grenden?" Selena asked.
He's the richest man in our empire, very wealthy but he is also very scheming. He is the face of the neutral nobles and he only holds his interest over anything else. He would side with either me or Lance if it benefits him and on the other hand, he would kill either of us if it benefits him as well. He might even try to overthrow this empire if he gets the chance.
"Goodness, Is that true?" Selena says while in shock.
"Yeah, he was the one who killed Lance's mother. I found out after investigating him because once I lost my future for the throne, there shouldn't be a reason for him to keep getting involved with my mother and me". Jason says.
I had these butterflies follow him around and eventually, I heard him admit it from his own mouth. Jason says as he reaches out his hand and then a spiritual-looking butterfly flies on his finger. The butterfly then started to make sounds,
"The empress is already hard enough to deal with and now there is another woman who wants to gain power? There is no way I will stand by and let another competitor gain power through that illegitimate child. And with that woman gone, the empress should feel more at ease, right?"
The voice stopped and the atmosphere between the two got quiet again. Selena was in utter shock, the empress and Jason really had nothing to do with the death of Lance's mother. This is beyond what she expected. But Lance... He probably would never believe it" Selena thought while shaking her head in sadness.
Jason then continues, "That man has always been selfish. He never truly supported my mother but would still use her name to justify his nonsense. The issue is that the only way to stop him would be for my mother to publicly come and condemn him for taking action against Lance and his mother while also advocating for their safety. This move would show everyone that she supports them and whoever is against them is also against the empress. But how could my mother do something so demeaning?"
"To publicly support the woman who took her husband and then protect the child born outside of her marriage. It's too much to ask for but that led to the death of that woman and I'm sure Lance blames everything on me and my mother" Jason says with a sigh.
This hatred between us can't be resolved and I don't plan to resolve it either.
Selena saw the look in Jason's eyes and then gave a deep sigh. This pair of brothers is really too pitiful, she has her own thoughts but she wants to wait until he finishes the story.
As time went on, People continued to distance themselves from me. I knew my worth had reached zero so I just locked myself in my room and continued to study your mother's magic. Then one day, I drank my tea and ended up coughing up blood. I realized that it was poisoned. Luckily the magic your mother made also comes with some spells to help deal with that situation. If I never had your mother's research, I may not even be here today. Jason says in a tone as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
Selena's eyes got moist once more, she had probably never felt this emotional in her entire life. This man was set to die, so many times, and barely survived. It was also through pure luck he got his hands on my mother's research, would he have suffered like this if he had those eyes...
I knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to show that my status as a prince was weak and unstable. Even though it's the truth, if I actively make the situation worse, my mother might be pressured even more than she already is. I'm sure you know that with the emperor's eye, it's impossible to be poisoned. The eye will detect it every time. So if a future emperor or the crown prince were to get poisoned, wouldn't that be ironic? Jason explains.
So I had no choice but to hide all the poisonings from my mother and everyone else. It was then I realized that I had no place in this palace and that everyone was my enemy. I decided to lay low and continue to study your mother's research. It was the key to my survival and my future. Over the years, I started finding more and more ways to deal with the frequent poison attacks.
My mother's and my position kept getting worse and worse as time went on but there was nothing we could do about it. I wasn't too worried because I already decided to leave the palace in the future.
I reached the age of 15 and finally mastered all of your mother's magic. I then spread these butterflies everywhere in the palace and slowly started putting them into some noble houses of my political enemies. My information gathering is probably the best to ever exist in this empire. Jason says with a smile.
I then learned that you will be starting your life at the academy soon and if you decided to follow your mother's footsteps, I'm sure people will give you a hard time.
Luckily, my mother's uncle is the dean of the academy. We had a good relationship so I asked him to take care of you. My mother's family is the only people that still support me and want to see me do well. It doesn't change the fact that they are slightly disappointed that I will lose the throne but I'm happy that they would still care for me despite having no future.
Having the dean back you is good but what there will still be situations or scenes the dean won't be able to see. That's when I asked my cousin, Ivory, to take care of you. She is my mother's niece. She doesn't know you're my fiancé but given her intelligence, she could probably tell i'm into you. Jason said with a chuckle.
It was like lightning struck Selena's brain. Empress faction, Empress family, They were referring to the Mandelines?
Selena then remembered how Ivory reacted to Lance when she found out he was the prince. To her, he was the man that stole everything away from her cousin and she was also aware that Jason asked her to take care of me. A feeling of shame ran through Selena's body, She didn't know anything...
After making sure you were settled fine in the academy, I started practicing offensive magic just like everyone else at 15 and I was still collecting information through my butterflies from the nobles. I found out that some Nobles would send assassins and poison to the military campaigns where Lance was. I'm sure they were under the influence of Count Grenden in some way shape or form. The military influence was growing rapidly and if they were to continue, they will eventually usurp his power and influence he got from his wealth.
I wasn't too worried because I know very well how powerful the emperor's eye was. Lance will be fine no matter what happened, that fact made me jealous.
I'm sure Lance told you he "almost" got assassinated and poisoned many times probably blamed my mother. He doesn't;'t even know how big of a gap almost being poisoned and being poisoned is. No matter how many times it happens, as long as he has those eyes, he will still be in the camp of "I have never been poisoned". The struggle he claims to have is not nearly as bad as you'll think. Lance says while rolling his eyes.
The next year, I discovered that they wanted to screw over the military by sending them old food. Luckily I knew spells to preserve food so the campaign went fine.
Selena paused for a bit and then reacted, "Wait, that was you? You saved the campaign? She said in surprised
"You think I should kill them because we are political enemies right?" Jason asked rhetirocal with a bit of smugness in his tone.
At the end of the day, we all serve the same empire. I don't care about this country at all honestly. this country abandoned me so quickly and left my mother and I leaving such painful lives. But unfortunately, the only 2 people I care about the most in this world don't seem to hate the empire so even if it's not for myself, I will protect it for them. Jason says and then stares at Selena's eyes with deep meaning.
"I... Am I one of those two people?" Selena whispered while blushing
"Of course, How could I ever let my dear fiancée suffer?" Jason asked rheterically in a seductive voice.
Count Grenden kept doing these small tricks over the years.
He tried to rust the weapons but that was countered with one of your mother's spells again.
There was also the time when he gave a fake map but I already knew how the real map looked like and sent one of my spiritual birds to show the proper direction.
He even decided to kill one of the scouts asking for reinforcements, if I didn't hear the conversation through my butterflies and informed the nearby armies to help them, they might've been completely wiped out.
And not long ago, I realized he also gave poison to the southern tribesmen to use against us. This was the first time I couldn't completely handle the situation by myself, if you weren't there aswell, our military would've surely lost. Jason explains.
Count Grenden is a very evil man, someone with that much money is naturally very ambitious. He doesn't care who he hurts as long as he benefits in the end. He's more dangerous to me than anyone else. Jason says.
Selena slowly digests Jason's words. So this entire time, despite having immense hatred for Lance, he still secretly helps and protects him from the shadows. The same man who is being shamed and ridiculed, lance even vows to kill him and his mother one day, but little does he know that most of his achievements is due to that same brother. Jason never told him either and I'm doubtful that Lance would even believe him.
The eyes she looked at Jason became far softer and more firm. The last thing holding her back from giving her all to Jason was how they would deal with Lance. It would be hard for her to bring herself to help him murder Lance. She originally planned to find a way to relieve their hatred or at least get them to not want to kill each other. She felt like if Jason gets drowned in revenge, his life will continue to get worse, not better.
But even though she feels this way... She would never let anyone hurt him, no matter who they are. Selena says with a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
Jason continues his story which shakes Selena back to reality.
I then mastered Offensive magic not too long ago and heard about your graduation. I did a little research on your time at school and found out you didn't get close to any boys.
I heard you will be attending this festival and knew the time to finally meet you has come. I dressed up and headed towards the ball but was assassinated as you guessed. I dealt with it but I had to fix my clothes and some small wounds. I came back to the ballroom and then everything is as you already know it.
Selena was in a daze after the entire story. Her emotions were like a roller coaster, she was not sure how to feel but she felt a very strong connection with the man in front of her. He was almost a perfect fit for her and there was no real obstacles to being together. it was also approved by their mothers. She felt a surge of happiness in her heart, "I'm so happy he turned out to be a good man" she thought to herself.
There were still some doubts she needed resolved.
"When you saw me and Lance dancing together, you didn't feel... you know..." She felt a little ashmed saying these words but she was quite curious about Jason's reaction at that time. Instead of jealousy and anger, it was almost relief? I don't quite understand.
Jealous? Jason said with a smug smile. "I would if he didn't have the emperor's eye but since he did and still decided to force a dance with you knowing you had a fiance, I figured that there was nothing to worry about regarding you and him" Jason explained.
What do you mean? Selena says without understanding what Jason was getting at.
I did a little research on you while you were in the academy and I found out that you never got close to any boys. I figured you having a fiancé was something you kept in mind which made me even more sure of how good of a woman you were. Even when I heard Lance was your commander, I wasn't too worried because as long as you knew I was your fiancé, there was nothing he could do. Jason said with a smug.
Selena then quickly dodged her eyes away with a bit of guilt. Jason caught it and said cautiously, You did know... right?
Selena paused and said No, I didn't. My mom only told me that I was engaged to a prince. I thought it was him at first cuz of his eyes" she said honestly.
Jason's face lost all color, he then touched his head. "Wow, a loophole I never thought of, This could've turned out terrible for me if we met any later" he said with a bit of gratitude.
"It's good that my luck is finally turning around" Jason says with a sigh.
"Back to the topic, even though I know how the emperor's eye works, I obviously can't see what it shows. If Lance sees a direction vision with you by his side as his empress, then he wouldn't need to resort to any tricks to try and get you. Everything will naturally fall into place. If he saw you by his side in an alternate future, then he would need to cause a huge change for that to be possible. If he did't see you at all then he would just have to normally try and court you like a normal guy in love".
"Out of those three options, which one would be the worst for me?" Jason asks.
Selena thought about it and then said the first one.
"Exactly, the more relaxed and calm he is about the progress of your relationship, the more likely he already saw you together in his vision and wouldn't care about little details like who dances with you first at the ball. My cousin was also there and if he was able to get a dance from you in that situation, he had to have used some sort of trick like you oweing him a favor or a promise".
When i rushed in and saw the scene, I knew that I most likely avoided the worst case scenario of the first vision so why wouldn't I be relieved? Jason says with a bit of relief in his tone.
Selena paused in awe, this man really is powerful. To think he can factor in so many thinks and come to such conclusions. This must be how he was able to control so many nobles like Parson behind the scenes.
Thinking of Parson, "How did you get Parson to work for you" Selena asked.
"The water in a small part of his land was contaminated and he used the money the paalce gave him for himself. He probably thought the problem wouldn't be a big deal and tried to cover it up. I learned it through my butterflies and ended up going to his land myself. I found out that much more people were suffering than expected and knew that Viscount was no good. I ended up purifying the water source and arresting the viscount. His crime was worthy of getting his family executed but knowing that he is from the military faction, I decided to spare him on the condition that he does his double agent job well" Jason explains.
Selena slowly understood, Jason may seem very gentle towards her but the way he is to other people...
She now understands why Parson was so scared of Jason but who told him to make the people suffer and embezzle the money to help them?
Before she could continue to think, she was interrupted by Jason's words.
"Do you really not want to be the empress?" Jason asked
"If you mean that if I want to marry Lance and become the empress? No, I did have a good impression of him but every time I thought of climbing that hurdle of being an empress of the nation, I lose all motivation. I guess deep down, I never felt like he was worth that much effort" Selena responds.
"No,. that's not what I mean but those words really do sound beautiful in my ears" jason says while smiling.
"I meant that I could give you the power of an empress without you actually having the title" Jason's tone sounded much more serious and firm.
"I always had an idea that even though my fiancée wasn't engaged to me due to my prince status, I was still a prince at the end of the day. What if she dreams of being a princess that will become an empress, what would I do then?"
I then slowly planned out everything. With the magic your mother blessed me with and with the stregnth I have developed with my offensive magic, I believe I am now the number 1 mage in the entire empire, maybe in its history. It's all due to you and your mother, he says with a soft smile.
I have already collected a lot of information that I could use to control a good amount of the nobles. For the ones I don't have direct dirt on, I can use my power as both a powerful mage and a prince to put them in a situation where they have to listen to me. So even if Lance and his future empress takes power, they will be nothing more than puppets we can control.
Whatever he wants to do, if we don't agree, we can shut it down quite easily.
Jason then grabs her hand softly and says, "I have that type of power now and if you say yes, I can immediately start slowly crushing Lance's power and turn this empire into something that only moves when we say so"
Selena stood frozen in shock. These words were extremely scary but ironically, it felt a little sweet. Just because I "might" want to become empress one day, he already set all this up? It seems like as long as I have Jason around, everything will go my way and I won't have to worry about any suffering or grievances.
She then remembered the alternate future Lance told her about where the empire was completely controlled by Jason and he usurped all of Lance's power. He said since it was an alternature future, it was not likely to happen but it was still possible as long as a key person or a key decision was made...
"Wait!" Selena screamed in her head.
"Am I that key person? and is this the key decision?"
Her heart starts to panic. She felt very excited but also very stimulated. One word from her right now, just a simple "yes" from her mouth, would completely plunge this entire empire into chaos. When has she ever had this much power?
The parallel vision already showed the truth. No matter how hard Lance works, as long as I say the word, all his efforts would be for nothing. The same powerful commander I looked up to during the campaign can't even compete with a single word from my mouth?
Her mind kept racing, this is a feeling she has never experienced and it took a while for her to regain her composure. I shouldn't get lost in my thoughts and drown in the idea of power.
I know exactly what my goals were and destorying this empire was not one of them. She sighs and looks at Jason tenderly, "No, Jason. I like how things are now. I don't need the power of an empress but I am still very thankful for everything that you do for me" Selena says.
Jason then lifts the back of her hand up to his mouth and says "May I?"
Selena blushes again, she can't get used to this man. She nods shyly and Jason gives a direct kiss on the back of her hand.
"In my eyes, you will always be my princess and my empress. The most outstanding woman in this empire, for now and forever. This I can promise you" Jason says as he stares lovingly at Selena.
Her heart beats faster and faster and she says softly, "Thank you, my prince. I'm glad to be by your side".
The two then continued to enjoy the loving atmosphere on the balcony as the bright moonlight reflected their dazzling image.