Chapter 57

Calix stepped out of the rose garden.

Instantly, the Emperor’s face turned cold. A creepy silence fell over him; it was almost as if you could hear the sound of a needle falling on the grass.

The attendants who had been watching anxiously beside him turned pale.

Soon, murderous magic, fueled by the Emperor’s anger, began to fill the garden. It felt as if they were being crushed by a huge rock, and the attendants fell to their knees, unable to bear the pressure.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”

But Fernandez did not spare them a glance.

His eyes were bloodshot with rage. The anger ready to burst out now came out through his clenched teeth.

‘CALIX BENVITO!’

Every member of the Harmenian Imperial family was born with a unique magical ability, but among them, Fernandez was remarkable in many aspects.

His natural magical powers and magical senses were unmatched. This was the reason why, as the third prince of the second empress, he was able to overthrow all other princes and princesses and ascend to the throne.

After gaining the Imperial throne with his power, he neatly eliminated all the blood relatives who might have posed a threat to his position. If there were any noble families in his way, he suppressed them without mercy.

In the early days of his reign, with daily executions, there was not a day that went by when blood was not dried on the guillotine.

Either way, it helped make Fernandez the most powerful Emperor to wield power in the history of the empire.

The only problem was that the process hadn’t been accomplished by Fernandez alone.

‘Damn it.’

Like all emperors before him, Fernandez had to rely on the help of Benvito. The current stable reign would not have been possible if the deceased grand duke’s predecessor had not completely wiped out his political enemies.

However, that name, although it was an aid to him, was also one that disgusted Fernandez.

Benvito was his enemy.

Even after making it to the glorious throne, the feeling of being in Benvito’s shadow had always placed him somewhere between subtle shame and displeasure.

Recalling that moment made Fernandez’s mood instantly turn sour.

The anger became so strong that he could not measure its intensity. The attendants, feeling the pressure tightening around their necks to the point where they couldn’t even breathe properly, squirmed and spat out pleading words.

“Your Majesty, please…”

“Stop, oh my g- Please stop….”

Fernandez’s indifferent eyes turned to them. To him, ordinary people were nothing more than a bunch of ants walking around on the ground.

He snapped another finger and added more force. The attendants crawled, showing the whites in their eyes, and foam was rising in the corners of their mouths. Now they couldn’t even speak, their whole bodies quivering in agony.

But Fernandez’s face, watching over them, was stern and dull.

‘For one so powerful.’

Even though such a mighty power belonged to him…

It didn’t work on Calix Benvito at all.

There was a time when Calix was still the young lord of the Benvito family. Fernandez had once tried to cast a control spell on the young boy behind the eyes of his predecessor.

And he messed up badly.

“Stop it, Your Majesty.”

The boy’s beautiful face turned into a slight frown. There was even a faint hint of annoyance in his expression.

At that time, Fernandez’s magic had reached a certain level. If he hadn’t become an emperor, it wouldn’t have been too difficult for him to become the master of the magic tower.

However, the boy not only recognized the powerful subjugation magic but even bounced it back.

The way he said stop without a change in expression was that of a perfect ruler.

It was probably from that moment on.

Perhaps it was then that Fernandez grew to feel both hatred and fear of Calix…

“Your Majesty.”

Someone’s voice snapped Fernando out of his thoughts. Duncan was about to enter the garden.

“Have I summoned you here?”

Fernandez asked, raising one brow. Duncan, who could understand the meaning of the dreary question, answered calmly.

“I am sorry, Your Majesty, I have something to report on the matter you ordered, so I came to see you in a hurry.”

Fernandez’s gray eyes turned dull. His eyes were sharp as he assessed how serious the matter was. Duncan, who had carefully clasped his hands together, gently lowered his head and caught the Emperor’s eyes.

‘It’s because I’m still so weak.’

A twisted smile crossed over Fernandez’s face. It was ridiculous to see him trying to save things like insects. However, Duncan was a loyal subject, to Fernandez’s standards at least.

He examined Duncan slowly, top to bottom.

“I see.”

Initially, he had planned to toy with them until his anger was lifted, but since this was a request from his loyal subject, he decided to show mercy.

Fernandez retracted his magic, and simultaneously the attendants began to roll on the ground in pain; sobbing moans flowed from their mouths.

“Clean up!”

The other attendants came in and quickly rescued those who had been affected by Fernandez’s magic and carried them away.

The broken table, the teacups that had fallen on the pristine lawn, the broken plates, and the scattered refreshments were all cleaned up in an instant.

“Follow me, Duncan.”

Duncan followed closely behind at Fernandez’s gesture.

The Emperor opened his mouth as he strolled down the rose-filled path.

“Calix Benvito came to visit.”

“I heard.”

“After removing Mariel Chartus from the Chartus family, he came and demanded her entry into the Loctorin family.”

Duncan paused. He immediately asked back as he quickly fixed his expression so that it wouldn’t be noticeable.

“You mean Philip has agreed to this? He’s not the one to give up so easily, I’m sure.”

“I suppose he was given a handful of money or something. He even married off the eldest daughter of Chartus on the pretext of inheriting the marquisate.”

Fernandez gritted his teeth as he continued talking.