Fear of The Unknown

Of all the people I had to meet, under these circumstances, it had to be him.

Even though he had a smile on his face, his heart was in turmoil. It was a necessary façade; he couldn't let the pain get the best of him.

"Come let us go! Its fate that you are here as well"

Before Sky could react, Li had grabbed Sky's hand and was headed straight for the Ambevilius.

Wait what is he doing!?

Sky started panicking; he wanted to avoid being involved with Li, at any cost. But his nature made him unable to act. He did not like Minister Li but also did not want to offend him. One could even say that Sky feared Li more than Titus himself!

Due to his personal inner conflict, Sky did not notice that he was nearing Ambevilius himself. By the time he had noticed, it was too late.

Ambevilius had come for one reason and one reason only. Normally he would not even run his own Empire, let alone attend these meetings. He preferred to spend his time indulging in carnal pleasures.

The moment he heard Minister Li's name however, he moved as fast as he could to the meeting, his mind buzzing with anticipation.

Ambevilius was a man who loved to enjoy life. As far as he was concerned, whenever Li moved, something would happen. As for what that something was, Ambevilius had a clue but he did not want to assume anything, so he sat there patiently, waiting for the show to begin.

When Li arrived in front of the Emperor, the two exchanged greetings. Sky finally got focused and greeted the Emperor as well.

"So Li, since you have convened this meeting, I assume you have chosen?" said Ambevilius in a mysterious tone.

"Yes your Highness. I have indeed chosen." replied Li. Immediately the crowd burst in a loud clamor. Whispers were being murmured by the reserved whilst the more outspoken gasped in shock. Some were quiet, as if they were expecting this. Only a few had a worried expression on their faces. These people all had one thing in common. They were a part of Titus' faction.

Ambevilius raised his hand, silencing the room with a simple gesture. "Alright, say the name of the Mark Bearer you wish to sponsor."

Li smiled and looked at the board above the Emperors seat. "I have chosen Sebastian Tirius, of the Sovereign Continent!" said Li resolutely.

This time the room was silent. Not because no one had something to say, quite the opposite. They had plenty of questions to ask. Yet no one knew which question to start with.

All of these thoughts could be condensed into one question. Who was this Mark Bearer?

All the most promising and impressive Mark Bearers were quite well known. Even the slightly impressive ones had been taken note of by some. Yet no one had heard of this name.

This meant that he was not that impressive. Once that thought came up, another one arose.

Another important question was, "Why did Li choose him?" Each Minister could only invest in one Mark Bearer and normally, they only chose to do so once that Mark Bearer has become a Successor.

The killing or subduing of one thousand Mark Bearers was unanimously agreed on as the benchmark for choosing a suitable candidate.

There were many lands under the Ambevilius' control, each with at least a million mark bearers. So the competition was stiff.

Some incredibly talented Mark Bearers would be chosen before they reached that benchmark. A lot of Ministers would fight over the chance to become that Mark Bearer's investor.

Ambevilius had said that the Ministers could use a system of voting via majority, for which Minister could get the candidate in question. At this point, being part of the two large factions was a necessity.

If one was not part of any of the factions, it was unlikely that one would be allowed to become the investor of a popular Mark Bearer.

It was quite a loose and informal system, but it was also simple.

Becoming an investor to a promising candidate was a very good thing. Likewise becoming an investor to a candidate who was unlikely to become a successor was bad, to the point where one's position in the court was affected.

Thus the use of the term investor, choosing to back a Mark Bearer was an investment. Where one's life was potentially at stake. This was the reason why Mark Bearers were not chosen lightly.

Minister Li was well known to be very shrewd. When people heard that he convened a meeting, they knew that it was to choose a Mark Bearer to back.

Yet he had chosen a candidate who had not cleared the benchmark and was unheard of.

Anyone who was not an idiot could tell that something was afoot. All of the people in there were politicians at their core so none were able to remain calm. They had many questions in their hearts.

But no matter how anyone in that room thought, they would all arrive at one conclusion.

This Mark Bearer is special!

The meeting did not have many rules, but there was one rule that was taken very seriously, and that rule was no communications with the outside world was allowed once the meeting began.

There were many ways for these people to communicate with the outside world, especially in a moment like this, yet none dared to do so. No matter how curious everyone was to know who this Mark Bearer was, no one was willing to break the rules, especially in the presence of the Emperor himself.

Ambevilius merely smiled at Li's reply. No one knew what usually went on in that man's mind, and today was no different.

"Very well, does anybody want this candidate for themselves?" said Ambevilius in an imposing manner.

Ambevilius almost never comes, but when he does, he would only sit there and observe. He never actually took charge of the proceedings. Anyone with a brain could tell something was different.

Although Li was a special case, one that could warrant the Emperors curiosity, he was not special enough to get the Emperor to actually participate.

Being a politician, Li of course had enemies. His case was somewhat unusual, as he had plenty of enemies and almost no ally.

His lack of allies was intentional. That was one of the reasons why he was liked by Ambevilius. Although Li clashed often with Titus' faction, this did not mean he was part of Candreva's faction either.

Ambevilius' voice was met by silence, although Li had many enemies, none of them were willing to potentially jeopardize their future over uncertainties. Some were even thinking that this was a ploy by Li to lure his enemies into a trap.

Thus no one intervened. Ambevilius nodded when he saw this.

"Very well, I Ambevilius hereby state that Sebastian Tirius is now Minister Li's Mark Bearer! Sebastian Tirius is now a Successor!"