CH 13

As Eleonora and the others entered the castle grounds on their carriage, Alexei was doing his work in the office as usual.

“Your highness, the ball will begin shortly. If you don’t prepare soon, you won’t make it in time.”

The prime minister Sergei said as he urged the emperor to hurry, but Alexei replied annoyedly.

“I got it. Right, this ball was prepared with your help.”

Sergei nodded with a completely satisfied look.

“That’s right, Your Highness. All the suitable noble ladies have gathered here today for you. If there is someone you are interested in, please tell me. Of course, those with fiancés will not be allowed in the same area as you.”

Since the political purge of the anti-emperor faction, there were also many who lost their fiancés attending today. Thus, the ball tonight was also a sort of matchmaking session for those noble ladies and gentlemen.

“I’ll get ready, so you go get ready too.”

“Right away.”

Alexei got up, left the office, and began getting himself ready. He smoothed his silver hair back and put on his black ceremonial military uniform. He basically never needed help and always got ready by himself.

Some vassals advised him concerning this matter, saying having servants assist would have him appear more emperor-like, but those people were silenced with magic.

Alexei was used to getting ready by himself after years of living on the battlefield. Besides, if he entrusted others to help him change, what would they do if those people tried to assassinate him?

After Pie was killed, Alexei grew to distrust humans extremely. Though he was confident in his trusted retainer Prime Minister Sergei, he couldn’t trust him from the bottom of his heart.

When he was taken back from the Magic Forest, Alexei had to be aware of the danger of his position.

Against the anti-emperor faction that dominated the imperial court, Alexei, without any supporters, could only rely on the blood of the emperor and neighboring country’s shrine maiden flowing through his veins.

His lineage was more worthy than anyone to become the next emperor. That’s all he had.

It was just as the previous prime minister, Georgy Bazarov had harshly said before. If he didn’t have power, he’d be killed once again.

Maybe the empress dowager would kill him again.

Regardless of him just turning nine years old, Alexei stopped acting on his emotions entirely, judging everything intellectually and advancing rationally.

He wouldn’t explode from anger. He wouldn’t be swayed by emotions. Consequently, he learned swordsmanship from the detestable captain of the black knights Donalt Albakin. Though he was the man who killed Pie, he was still the empire’s greatest swordsman.

After he judged that there was nothing left to learn from Donalt, Alexei killed him in the guise of an accident. He killed Donalt by slicing off his arms, the same way Donalt had killed Pie.

Afterward, as though taking on the role of a successor, he became the captain of the black knights. He was designated this role by the empress dowager.

The black knights were a cavalry often sent to the front lines. They would be sent to places facing dire situations and often lose their lives on the battlefield.

He accepted the order without arguing. Thus, without returning to the imperial capital for seven years, he journeyed to each district facing internal strife.

Thus, while away from the imperial capital he was able to safely assume control over the emperor-faction and kill the emperor, empress as well as his half-siblings.

Before Alexei was enthroned, the prime minister Georgy Bazarov passed on his title to his son Sergei.

“Your Highness Alexei, I have served my purpose. This new and reborn empire doesn’t need an old man like me anymore… When I found out you were still alive, I thought it was a revelation from the gods.”

When they shared the news of his death to Alexei’s mother’s home country, his cousin, who became the next priestess, refuted it saying he was still alive. However, the empire’s diplomatic representative simply laughed at this.

This diplomat was one of the people who saw through his murder from beginning to end. It wasn’t just killing, he was thrown into the Magic Forest after his clothes were torn off, there shouldn’t even have been a corpse left.

He knew Alexei was alive when the priestess came to the empire. There wasn’t a single person in the empire who would mourn Alexei, thus the prime minister asked the priestess to pray for his happiness in the next world.

When he asked this, she replied saying that Alexei was alive and there was absolutely no way he was dead.

“I was quite surprised at that time since the priestess said you hadn’t died. I half-believed, half-doubted this but I decided to trust in her words. After I heard the story from the aforementioned diplomat, I concluded that you were still living in the Magic Forest.”

The reason why prime minister Georgy trusted in Alexei’s survival was that he didn’t think anyone other than Alexei could correct this corrupted empire. The only one who could suppress the anti-emperor faction was Alexei, who had legitimate blood flowing through his veins.

Then, to save Alexei from the Magic Forest, Georgy began to investigate the magical beasts that would become an obstacle to them. In doing so, he discovered a holy light that could eradicate magical beasts from the folklore of a certain district.

According to the folklore, the holy light was emitted from a maiden who gained magical power by performing a ritual that used magical beasts as sacrifices.

Though there were many casualties when gathering magical beasts to sacrifice, Georgy did not give up.

Finally, a five-year-old girl named Ecterina became the maiden who could emit the holy light. As she innocently emitted the light, countless magical beasts fell one after another.

At the same time, the magicians were able to develop the magic that could draw magical beasts to one location.

The combination of these two led to the tragedy that occurred in the Magic Forest.

In the north of the forest, the magicians lured the magical beasts, and the priestess emitted her light allowing the black knight cavalry to enter the Magic Forest. Then, they found Alexei.

After leaving the forest, Alexei met his cousin, the priestess. She lamented the loss of the blessing his mother passed on.

Even though he was killed three times because of that blessing.

The prime minister who brought him out of the Magic Forest for the sake of the empire, the priestess who shared news of his survival, the empress who directed others to kill him, the cowardly emperor, the knight and saintess who killed Pie, and the magicians, Alexei deeply resented all of them from the bottom of his heart.