Chapter 4

Soon enough, he started to plot a scheme. His anxiousness had got the better of his gentle temper. Deep inside, he had the same nature as the half-brother he hated.

Ultimately, the Leta tribe was yet again branded as traitors. It happened the year Martina had turned 25.

“I shouldn’t have trusted a Blanche,” Martina realized too late.

If there is one thing the King had overlooked, it was the fact that Martina was a popular figure, loved and acknowledged by his people. They had not forgotten the past massacre of the Leta tribe. Many forces naturally came lending their power to Martina, which she accepted gladly. Eventually, Martina turned her sword against the Royal Palace.

The palace was once again thrown into a bloodbath. She was Martina, the warrior who had taken down 100 knights all by herself. With a strong force supporting her back, she had nothing to fear.

Here, an anecdote that divides the opinions regarding the actual course of events is introduced.

It took less than three days for Empress Martina to march to Blanche’s Royal palace. Many praised her unbelievable fast pace and military tactics, but some scholars expressed doubts.

”Because King Theodore died in peace as if expecting Martina’s victory.”

Although the Empress had a vigorous and robust army, Theodore’s side was not lacking in any way to fight back. That theory was based on the record left by the loyal Elseer, who looked after the marquess Martina’s affairs. According to his memoirs, the last King of Blanche, instead of fleeing, remained sitting on the throne waiting for Martina.

The King’s betrayal dejected Martina.

[Martina] “You, last of the Blanche bloodline. I curse you. You took away the hope that you once gave me. It is the utmost cruel treason I have ever suffered.”

[Theodore] “I don’t know what to say. Except that I will apologize for using you until I die.”

[Martina] “But you wouldn’t withdraw the order you gave me, right?”

[Theodore] “Do what you have to do.”

In the end, the treacherous King Theodore met the same fate as his brother. As a last merciful gesture, Empress Martina buried Theodore Shen Blanche among the royal tombs. However, this is only unofficial history.

Because indeed, it was not out of mercy for the master who had abandoned her. There are records that Theodore yearned for Martina and asked her hand several times during his lifetime, but most believe that it was a political courtship to unite their power.

Afterward, Martina seized the throne and took over herself to overrun the whole continent so that no one could stain the Leta name. It was an excellent show of force, and no one dared to insult Areta ever again.

After building an empire through this Continental War, Martina changed the country name to “Carabella,” the god of war. That is how her last name was completed. The addition of this fourth name to her real name embodied that she now was the Empress.

Martina Owen de Leta Carabella.

Empress Martina made Areta a sacred place and had a sanctuary built. This was how Areta, a disgraced land, was honored as the first Empire’s foundation.

Once the Empire was unified, Empress Martina gave away her wealth and entrusted her confident Elseer with the throne. She remained childless until her death, ending the Leta bloodline with her.

***

“Which is why the emperors who succeeded to the throne since then could not use the name Carabella, as it was a name only meant for Martina.” concluded the stern-looking professor, closing The Origins of the Carabella Empire she was holding. The marvelous achievements of the great Empress had made all her students breathless and awed.

No, not all of them. One girl sitting in the far back had been looking out of the window as the explanation went on. It seemed that she could not concentrate at all on the class.

Just then, the wind from the outside slowly lifted her curly red hair in the air. Her green eyes languorously open created a peculiar atmosphere, making her thoughts impossible to guess. Her expressionless face was apathetic, but her elegant straight nose and small, plump lips were for sure of great beauty.