Chapter 385: The Second Bastard of the Emperor

Valeria sat at the dining table patiently waiting for her meal. At the opposite end, she watched Ash as he calmly ate. Looking at her new husband, she couldn’t help but find his ghostly appearance more and more attractive. Before, when she first saw him, he terrified her; his eyes were a deeper black than her own, and his skin pale white as if he were ill. With his long, grey, almost platinum-coloured hair, he didn’t look human. Yet the more she looked at him, the more she felt he was attractive in a mysterious way.

Ash could feel Valeria staring at him, but paid it no attention. Nothing seemed to bother him until the door opened and he heard a familiar voice. "Your meal, Princess."

The coldness in Horace’s voice as he rolled in a large tray covered by a metal dish. Ash frowned, smelling a faint scent of blood and watched as Horace placed the dish before Valeria. Opening the dish, Valeria’s face went ghastly white as she threw up on the spot.

Ash stood up in disbelief and reached for his sword only to find it wasn’t there. "Tell your father that whilst we are allies, he won’t pull another stunt like that again." Leaving the room, Ash looked at Horace back with a cold look before walking over to Valeria. Not knowing what to do, he covered the two human heads Horace had brought and rested a hand on her shoulder.

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"Who do you think you are?" Barging into the room he had provided for Horace, Magnus stared at the man, ready to murder him. The atmosphere that should have been tense hardly felt it as Horace casually flipped through his book without a care.

Grabbing the book, he threw it out of Horace’s hands and looked down at him, "You don’t..."

"Shut up." Horace cut him off with a voice colder than Magnus’s. "You ordered your men not to assist me in any way. I don’t care what game you want to play after you have your puppet on the throne, but right now, I am doing my job. You will assist me with it. If you can’t be trusted, His Majesty has given me the right to burn you and your family to the ground. Don’t test me."

Magnus took a step closer, the arrogant aura coming off his body suffocating, "You honestly think you can burn my family. The Maxius have existed for hundreds of years. Our enemies have come and gone, but we always remained."

"Arrogance blinds men greater than you," Horace spoke with a tone full of venom. "Don’t pull something like that again. You need me and the Empire just as much as we need you right now." Horace stuck his hand out and looked into Magnus’ eyes, "Now you will shake my hand and we will pretend this never happened."

Magnus looked at Horace’s hand for a few seconds and begrudgingly took it. Pulling Horace towards him, the rage in Magnus’ eyes burned, "Don’t go near my daughter again, or I will kill you."

"Of course." Horace stepped back and rested his hand on his chest. Lowering his head, he smiled happily, "Your Grace."

Seeing the act, he chuckled and left the room. He had only wanted to test Horace’s and Halfdan’s skills. He never expected his men to be killed and their heads served to his daughter. Even if Horace couldn’t destroy his family, he knew that he had to be careful going forward. The Maximus family had already declared war on the Emperor. An enemy from within may not destroy them, but allow the Emperor to do so. It was a risky game, and Magnus couldn’t afford to get complacent.

Knocking on the door to Cassuis’ room, he waited for a few seconds. Cassius opened the door in casual clothing, yawning. "What is it. I thought you told me to rest today."

"Plans have changed. Albus is dead." Cassius woke up instantly, hearing the words. Sitting down, he rested his hand on his chin and bounced his leg, trying to think about what to do next.

"Okay. We have time to get ahead of this. A new general can’t be selected until he has been proven dead or has been missing for a month. Even then, because it isn’t a time of war, the selection will take longer. Three months, maybe."

"No. Theodosius can’t delay the selection. He knows you will use the time to gain power." Magnus ran his hand through his hair and leaned back on the sofa, "I give it a month and a half at the most. You think that’s enough time."

"I already have those who support me on their way here. There are a couple of neutrals who, if I provide a good enough argument or bribe, may join us aswell."

"No bribes." Magnus shut it down instantly. "Our enemy has more money than we do. I know how greedy those guys you call comrades are, but Theodosius will definitely match whatever bribe we offer."

"I’ll see what I can do." Cassius got up and quickly changed. Heading to the study provided for him, he wrote hundreds of letters to numerous men within the military. All of them were tailored to the individual, featuring distinct content in each.

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"Excuse me. I must meet with the lord of the manor. His Majesty’s orders." With a pleasant smile and harmless appearance, he looked like an innocent man who had just reached adulthood. His caramel cloured hair and hazel eyes with green flecks created an innocent appearance that could fool the world.

Holding the insignia of the Imperial family, it was a near-perfect copy of the royal family, but had a slight difference. Unlike a real insignia of the Royal family, which was a platinum dragon with Emerald eyes, the one the man held was a platinum dragon without eyes.

The change was subtle and would easily be spotted by someone who works closely with the Royal family, but for the two guards of a minor lord, they had never seen the real thing and froze.

"Of..of course. Please give us a moment."

"I will go ahead. Don’t worry." The man pushed past as the gates opened. Not once as he walked did the pleasant look on his face leave. Fixing his appearance just before he opened the main manor doors, he let himself in and stopped one of the servants. "Where is the lord of the estate?"

The servants looked the man up and down in confusion for a second, but shrugged. "Second floor. The door at the end of the corridor on the right." The servant ran off, leaving the man to carry on. All around, the servants shot him strange looks. Some were confused about who he was, but others with keener eyes wondered how important he was, judging the quality of his clothing just by looking at it.

The white shirt he wore was made of fine silk. The thick coat over it was made from the finest fur someone could hunt, and his trousers, although thick, didn’t have the rugged appearance expected of commoners and low-ranking nobles, instead being extremely neat.

The journey was quick, and as the short man stepped into the noble’s office, he stood up angrily, having been disturbed. However, the man pulled out the insignia and showed it to the noble, so he could say nothing.

"Let me take a closer look." The man’s smile widened, and he passed it over. The colour from his face vanished, and with shaking hands, he handed it back over and stood up. Lowering his head, he gulped.

"It’s an honour, Lord Bardas." The man smiled and said nothing, taking a seat in the noble’s chair. It was strange for someone to act so boldly, even if they were a high-ranking noble, but the noble said nothing, understanding why. Out of all the bastards of the Emperor, only one had been given a noble title.

No one really understood why, but the rumours that spread all painted a picture of a man who did anything his father ordered. Despite lacking the Platinum hair and emerald eyes of the royal family, it was obvious when looking closely at him that he had some of the Emperor’s features, mainly the green tinge in his eyes. Taking on the family name Ammorian, he had become one of the few Imperial children to carve out their own path, despite being a bastard.

"I have been sent here for a task. The Crown Prince will be resting here in the coming weeks, right?" The lord nodded, making Bardas smile. "Perfect. You and all your servants will leave in the next few days. I have people on standby, and we will take over. Until then, I have a residence a day or two away from here that you may stay at."

The minor lord lowered his head deeper to hide his frown. He wanted to disagree quickly, but peeking up at Bardas’ smile, he knew that doing so would be a death sentence. "May I ask why, Your Grace?"

"No." Bardas said instantly, but watching the minor lord, he sighed, "Okay. I have been rude. Forgive me." Before the lord could speak, he carried on, "His Majesty had recently stumbled on some information that could threaten his Highness Juluis. I am here to safeguard him. That is all you may know."

It was an easy lie, but one that was enough for the minor lord. "I must finish a few things before I can leave. Please understand."

"I am the one intruding. Please do what you must. I will be in the guest room." Bardas got up and left. The minor lord watched the door and sighed in relief. He was too weak to get involved with the Imperial family. He knew that even if they ordered him to ignore a massacre, he would. It wasn’t his place to interfere in a matter so far above him.