Chapter 466 - Addicted

At the age of 40, Kain married his wife, the empress. After that, in the course of the next 10 years, he married 6 more of his wives, of which only 2 became his official wives and the rest became his concubine.

He was the sole bloodline holder of the Xanders bloodline, so he tried his best to improve the situation by having a lot of kids.

During this period, his father had grown more and more violent, while at the same time becoming sicker and sicker.

Kain didn't understand what was going on and none of the doctors gave a straight answer. 

Until one day, he was called to his father's bed chambers when he was 60 years old. 

Kain walked in to see his father, weak in his death bed. Next to him was the general commander of the defense army. 

"What's going on?" Kain asked.

"The emperor wants to speak to you, your highness," the commander said and walked to the corner of the room to let the father-son have some time alone.

"Father," Kain said holding onto his hands. "I am here."

"Kain," the Emperor said in a slow and hoarse voice. "I need… I need you to do something for me."

"Yes, father. Of course," he said. "What do you want?" 

"Go… go to the Undying Fort, and get the soldiers there to attack the beasts. I… I need their gems to survive," the Emperor said.

"Gems? You can survive with gems?" Kain asked, a little happy even. "We have gems at home father. The zoo had been sending us the cores for quite a while now."

"You IDIOT!" the Emperor cried out. "You think I don't know that? I have used it already."

"What?" Kain asked in shock. 

"I need… I need you to kill more beasts to bring me the gems. This useless commander refuses to listen to my orders," The Emperor said.

Kain turned to look towards the commander. This man had been with his father for nearly 80 years now. He was one of the best Aether users in the empire, and yet… he was refusing his own emperor.

"Why are you refusing the orders of your emperor?" Kain asked the commander.

"I will not follow that order, your highness," the commander said. "I will not help him begin a war that will kill more innocent civilians."

"Huh? He's just asking you to kill some beasts. Not start a war," Kain said.

The commander still shook his head. "That will start a war with the Aether beasts for sure," he said.

Kain got a little annoyed. "How can you be so sure?" he asked.

The commander looked at him, dead in the eyes, and said, "because that's how the previous war started."

"What? What do you mean?" Kain asked.

"It's better if you ask the emperor," the commander said.

"What does he mean, father?" Kain turned around to ask.

"So what if it starts a war? What does it matter if a few thousand more people die if I get to live," the Emperor shouted. "With the gems, I will continue growing. With the gems, I will continue living on."

"You don't know how great these Aether beast's gems are. They were exactly what helped me defeat my brothers and take the throne," the Emperor shouted.

"What? I thought you used your swordsmanship and wit to defeat your brothers," Kain asked.

"Swordsmanship? Wit? PUI!! What use are those against pure power? Ever since I was young, I was born weak, however, the gems helped me grow stronger. Now that I'm dying, I need more," the Emperor continued shouting.

"It's like a drug," the commander spoke from behind him. "The gems, they are like drugs to the Emperor. Ever since he found out they increase his strength, he's been taking them."

"He went as far as to start an entire war using a fake premise that the beasts were attacking us. When in fact, the war had started much earlier, and they were just retaliating back."

"You have read the reports, your highness. You know what the war did. So many villages and cities were destroyed. So many soldiers died in the front line. So many of my own men died," the commander said.

"By the time I noticed what was happening, the war was already over. This is why I won't help you in anything you want to do," the commander said.

"Father… that's not true, right?" he asked, fearfully.

"Are you not listening to my orders too? Have your mind gone to the chamberpots as well?" the Emperor cried out.

"Father, we can't do this. The war… destroyed so many people. If we start another such war, Xandria itself will suffer a great catastrophe," Kain said. 

"You think I care? Just get me the Gems. Go!" the Emperor shouted.

Kain finally understood that his father had far gone. The gems… the drug, its addiction had not only made him weak, but it had also affected his mind.

Perhaps, it had affected him from the very start.

He decided to take a stance. "No, father. If what you want brings destruction to the empire, then I will not let you do it," he said.

"Useless," the Emperor said after hearing his son. "I let you have too much freedom, and now this is what I suffer because of it.

"I don't need such a son," the Emperor shouted and brought out a sword from his storage and cut towards Kain.

Kain dodged backward. The Emperor was now standing up straight, his body and face's vein bulging from the enormous stress he was suffering.

"Your highness," the commander moved forward to protect the prince. However, the Emperor didn't stop.

He attacked the commander too like a madman. The commander couldn't fight back against his own emperor, so he was forced to stay on the defensive.

Kain was in shock, looking at the craziness in his father's eyes. The same eyes that loved him, they were now looking at him with hatred and intention to kill.

The Emperor was just too strong. Slowly, without any offensive threat, the Emperor started beating the commander.

Just then, from behind the commander, the prince ran forth… and drove a sword through his father's heart.