(2.1) Ezra Limolle IV: His Love Will Never Fade

"Let me in! Don't you know who I am? Let me in!" Out of nowhere, I hear noises outside. From the get-go, I knew whose voice that came from.

"What is that old man doing here in the palace again?" I asked. I specifically told the guards to make sure to not let the High Priest disturb me today. Now look at this, they are not doing their job.

"Your Majesty, do you want me to deal with this?" Theodore Serrano is a marquis and also my childhood friend. He helps with any diplomatic issues that are needed to be done. As many people know, he is one of my most trusted people.

"No. Let him in. The longer we ignore him, the more irritating he can be." Although I don't have anything major that I needed to do as the Emperor, I still can't ignore the demanding High Priest. The last time, I did that, that old man kept on screaming, to no end. For a High Priest, he sure is shameless.

After letting the old man in, he has this annoyed look on his face. "Your Majesty, your guards are very disrespectful. It seems that they have forgotten that I am still the High Priest and I deserve to be served right."

"If letting you in as you please is what you mean by to be served right, then it's my fault. I told them to not let you in today because of my schedule today." That may be a lie, but a good lie to avoid him. But clearly, that did not work at all since he insisted on having an audience with me.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for this sudden visit, but I have an urgent proposition for you. This proposition could benefit everyone." A proposition? Then I am guessing this is about my daughter. He always tries to find a way to convince me that my daughter is possessed by the devil.

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"If you are not willing to get rid of your daughter, then sending her away in a far away would be better for everyone, especially the royal family."

Sending her away? Is he seriously trying to push my limits? How many times do I have to say to him, that I will do nothing about my daughter other than care for her? Does he want to die that badly? Because if he does, then I will gladly do so right now.

"No," I said almost immediately. He knows how I feel about my daughter. He should have given up on trying to convince me to do anything regarding my daughter's life.

"But Your Majesty—"

I stood up, with stopped him from talking. I cannot let him talk any longer. Today, I will engrave to his mind that nothing he says will change my mind. "Listen here, High Priest Franciscus Bristol. I do not care if my daughter is truly possessed by a devil. She is my daughter and she will stay near me. I will not send her away or even kill her. If you dare to say another word about my daughter, then I can assure you that I will kill you right here, right now. I do not care about the consequences."

I reached out for my sword and then pointed at him. I hope this served as a message to him that he should shut his mouth, and he can tell the Holy Ground that if they ever make a move toward my daughter, then they can expect me to lead an army and slaughter everyone in the Holy Ground.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I dare. Should I do something to make you believe me?" Before he can even say a word, I slashed his arm.

"Argh!" The wound is not too deep it, is only a small cut. He will be fine. He will live longer than I want him to.

"Don't be so dramatic, High Priest. That cut is only small, you're a healer, aren't you? Then you should be able to heal yourself." I said and returned to my chair. There are members of the Holy Ground who have different capabilities. Usually, when someone has a healing capability, they are not able to heal themselves. On the other hand, like the High Priest Franciscus, can heal themselves because of the level of their magic. Of course, there is a limit to their healing magic.

"This is outrageous, you are willing to go against the Holy Ground for a daughter who will turn evil in the future. Your Majesty, you will regret not following what the Holy Ground wants one day." After that warning from him, he stormed out of my office. He didn't even heal himself, I guess he wants people to see that I did that to him. Well, I don't care about what other people might say about that. I am already a tyrant who does not hesitate in killing anyone, it should not be a surprise to many that I can do something like that to someone like the High Priest.

"Knowing him, he will report to the Pope right away. It will cause a problem, Your Majesty." Theodore who has been watching the whole time finally said something.

"You knew what I was about to do when I stood up, why didn't you stop me then?" As someone who knew me since childhood, he should have known that I would do something like that and yet he stood there as if he wanted that to happen.

"Well, if you were going to kill him, I would have stopped you, but you weren't planning that so I let you do as you, please. Besides, he was getting annoying. I'm sure from here on out, he will not bother you anymore about the princess."

Mostly everyone in the empire is not willing to accept my daughter. They know about the records of royals with black hair around the world. They believed in the nonsense about her being possessed by the devil and will cause chaos. However, some do not believe in that, and that would include the people who are close to me and two handmaidens that are willingly serving my daughter.

"Right. Killing would have been a bigger issue than me giving him a tiny cut." Looking back at the face he made when I cut him, it was such a sight. He was terrified.

He is terrified of me, and yet he still dared to barge into my office and demand something out of me. I guess his belief is making him overlook his fear of me.

"Theodore, I want you to put someone to keep an eye on the High Priest." Knowing the members of the Holy Ground, I know that they will try to do everything in their power to get rid of anything that seems not to fit into their view. They are not going to give up just because of my warning and what I did to Franciscus. They will surely plan something, and keeping an eye on Franciscus will help me have one step ahead of them.

"Of course. Do you also want me to put someone on the princess' side?" There are guards in the Empress' palace, however, I don't completely trust their capabilities.

"Yes. But I want you to put Leon to be the princess's personal guard." Although Leon is my personal guard, I would rather have that man at the side of my daughter. Out of every knight here, Leon is the best. Besides, I don't necessarily need Leon at my side, I can perfectly protect myself.

"Then it shall be done."

"And Theodore, I need you to cancel all the appointments that I have today. I am in no mood to do anything else today." Now that my mood has been ruined by a certain someone, I have to go to a place where I can keep myself calm from all the problems I am facing.

"I can do that, however, Your Majesty, there is one appointment that you cannot dismiss today."

"What would that be?

"The Lefelond Empire's representative and crown prince are coming here. It is necessary that you are around when they come, Your Majesty." Right. For both empires to advance further, it is necessary for this particular meeting to happen.

"There is no helping it then." As much as I want to disappear for a whole day, I cannot do so. Sometimes, I wished I was never the emperor for me to not have any responsibility. "I will come at the appointed time, do not worry."

"Your Majesty, do you need me to have Leon follow you?"

"There is no need for that Theodore. I am only going to visit my wife's grave. What kind of danger is it over there? Besides, have you forgotten how capable I am in defending myself?"

I have not once visited my wife's grave. Her grave is in the royal cemetery many have said their disappointment at me for allowing her to be buried there. They said that as someone who had the darkness spreading in her, she is not fit to be there.

I laughed when I heard that. It does not matter to me if she is affected by the darkness, what matters the most is that she is my wife and that she is fit to be buried in the royal cemetery.