Schemes, Trust, And Going Home

Hearing this a sly smile emerges upon my lips, as a cunning gleam rests in my eyes, and I say in a tone similar to a devil's whisper "And what makes you think that Emperor Octavian would let you?"

Leonid freezes, and turns back to me, with his eyes narrowed questioningly as he asks in a chilling voice "What do you mean by that, your majesty?"

"Do you think Octavian is stupid?" I ask seriously, before continuing in an even more grave tone "You are an incredibly potent double edged blade Leonid, one that has just as much of a chance to destroy the one who wields it, as well as the enemy."

He frowned upon hearing my words, believing that I was questioning his honor, but I gave him no time to interject as I continued "And the reason for that is your loyalties. Unlike Gorgios, or Heinrich, or Luther, you hold no true loyalty to the Luminous Empire, and the only reasons you fight for them is because you wish to save your little sister, and take vengeance against Marquise Kraw, as well as the entire Boreas Empire; but the moment you have your sister by your side again, your thirst for battle would be almost completely quenched. And that is exactly why Octavian won't tolerate the existence of your sister. If anything, I suspect that in the coming months after you rescue her, one of two situations will occur."

Leonid's heart began to beat faster in anticipation and anxiety for my coming words, as I continued speaking calmly, as if it were the most mundane of topics "The first option is that your sister will be arrested under some false charges, and held prisoner by Octavian, and you would be forced to fight for the rest of your life to save hers. The second option, which is more likely to occur, is that she will be assassinated, most likely by poison or explosive. It would then be revealed that the Boreas Empire was the culprit behind it, and that the original target was you, which would then lead to you being consumed by guilt, and wrath. Octavian would then capitalize on that moment and declare war on the Boreas Empire, thus by unleashing you upon them to achieve great, and merciless victories against them, winning large amounts of land for the Luminous Empire."

Leonid felt suffocated by his own emotions as he listened, since he found no way to argue against any of what I said, so he took a minute to regain his composure, before loudly exhaling as he seriously asked "Then what do you suggest I do?"

Hearing this I smile inwardly, as we finally reached the main point of our long discussion, as I simply say "After you have saved your sister, silently leave the Luminous Empire, and come to my country and work for me."

Leonid's eyes narrow dangerously, as he grimly says "So this was your goal from the start."

"Of course. After all, there is no such thing as a free dinner in this world." I reply apathetically.

"And how would I know that you won't do the same things that you claimed Emperor Octavian would do?" Leonid asks as his heterochromatic eyes become filled with bone chilling blood lust.

"The same way I don't know if after you save your sister you won't simply disappear without a trace." I reply with a sly smile across my lips, but before he could say anything in return I calmly say, with a light smile on my lips "And that's why we shall have to simply trust each other."

Not only Leonid, but everyone who heard my words was shocked stiff, since in the world we lived in, 'Trust' was nothing more than a child's fantasy, a sweet dream that everyone yearned for, but no one was willing to give.

"Are you serious?" Leonid asked incredulously, as if he had heard the most absurd thing in his life.

"Indeed, I am. I shall trust you with making good on my investment, and you shall in turn trust me not to do as Octavian might have done." I reply casually, before gravely saying "But I promise you that the value of breaking your trust is far less valuable than breaking mine!" Leonid felt a chill crawl up his spine, as cold sweat covered his back, as he stared into my obsidian black eyes, while he listened to my obvious threat.

"It feels as though I have more on the line than you." Leonid said steadfastly.

"It's only in these types of situations that trust truly matters." I reply seriously.

Leonid stayed silent for a few seconds, and then, even though any other man in his position would have hesitated or outright refused to accept, he knelt down before me, and said "Then I shall accept the burden of my new emperor's trust."

Everyone inside my tent, including myself, was shocked by this, since it felt too fast, and too easy. But before I could question him, he quickly said "I must leave now, my liege, before they start noticing my absence."

Hearing his words I am reminded that our talks have indeed been going on for a long time now, so I quickly grab a pen and parchment from nearby, and quickly wrote down a set of instructions for him to follow, as I told him "Once you return to Solis Luxuria, covertly go to the slums one day, and follow what I have written to you on this paper. The people there will help you."

"Thank you, sire." He said as he took the piece of paper from my hands, and rushed to return to the Luminous camp.

After he left, Sodarus looks at me as he solemnly advises "That was too simple, my liege. I believe he must be plotting something."

"Agreed." Abraham says.

"I also think so, sire." Horus echoed.

But I remained silent, drowning in my thoughts, as I eventually decided to let the matter be for now, planning to deal with it in the future, if in fact Leonid proves to be a different man than the one I remember from my past life.

Thankfully, the rest of the night was a peaceful one, and I was able to get some more, much needed rest for tomorrow. Since as soon as the sun came up, the once quiet camp became awash with noise and clatter, as the men began to disassemble the camp, and prepare for our journey back home.

And in the early hours of noon, just when the mist began to melt away, both armies turned their backs to each other, and headed in different directions, but one did so victoriously with their heads held up high in pride and glory, while the other did so with their heads hung down low in shame and defeat.

But I couldn't care less about any of that, as my heart beat wildly at the thought of returning home, and making amends with my loved ones, whom I had hurt by leaving so quickly that day.