Empyrean Defiance

In the Layla Palace of Alcatraz Domain, Prince Heracles and his family are living. They were assigned to this palace because they are considered the weakest branch of the Alcatraz Overlord Family.

Despite their situation, Prince Heracles was still happily living with his family. "Good morning, Mom, Dad!" he said with a wonderful smile on his face.

Like all family members of the overlord family, Prince Heracles managed to acquire some features of Alexander and Charlotte. He has red eyes and blonde hair. This signifies that the blood of the first reigning emperor and empress run through his blood.

"Good morning, my little sweet son!" said the woman with red hair and crimson eyes as she hugged the little prince.

At the next moment, the man reading some papers turned his chair around to greet Heracles with a smile on his face. "Good morning, son!" he said with a warm smile on his face.

The woman that hugged Heracles is his mother, Lara Von Strom. She is one of the daughters of a Grand Duke. She got married to the Second Prince of the Alcatraz Domain, which is Heracles' father, Lucas Von Alcatraz.

Although he is the second prince, Prince Lucas does not have a significant influence inside the overlord family because of the system that he got from the god, Ratsel.

As Prince Lucas looked toward his son and wife, he thought to himself, 'If only I got a powerful system like my first brother! I would probably become more useful to the throne! Father wouldn't have thrown me aside like this!'

After hugging his mother, Heracles immediately turned his attention to his father. After seeing his expression, he asked him, "Why are you so serious, Dad? Is there something wrong?"

Upon hearing his son, Prince Lucas smiled and responded to him, saying, "Everything's fine, son. You just need to prepare yourselves now. After all, we are going to the Grand Cathedral to get your system from the great god, Ratsel!"

"Oh yeah! I will start preparing, then, Dad! I will finish as soon as I can!" said Prince Heracles before leaving the side of his parents.

"Do you want me to come with you to the Grand Cathedral, honey?" asked Lara as soon as Heracles left their side. "No, you don't have to come with us. I also have bad feelings about today. THEY are planning something! You better stay here. I can't protect the two of you at the same time, after all!" said Prince Lucas in response to his wife.

"Sorry for being a burden to you! If only I have a system worthy of fighting alongside you!" said Lara in response.

At the next moment, Prince Lucas said to his wife, "I have never seen you as a burden. As a matter of fact, you and Heracles are the reason why I am thriving to survive in this palace!"

Upon hearing him, Lara couldn't help but hug her husband as tightly as she could. Prince Lucas hugged her back, but his expression was very serious at that moment. 'I will protect you both! This I promise with my life!' he thought to himself as he hugged her.

After a few dozens of minutes, Heracles came running toward his father. "I am ready to go to the Grand Cathedral, Dad!" he said with an excited expression.

"Is that so? Well, let us go at once! The preparation for our departure is probably finished by now!" said Prince Lucas with a smile as he stood from his seat.

"Have a safe journey, you two! I will prepare a feast for the two of you when you come home!" said Lara as the two departed from their home.

Heracles said to her as he waved his hands, "I will bring you a piece of great news, Mom! Please prepare a banquet for us when we come back!"

Although she didn't get a combatant system, Lara managed to get an Imperial Chef system, which made her ability to cook superb compared to others.

Lara waved her hands toward the two as they entered the carriage prepared for their departure. Layla Palace is in the northern part of Hilda City. It will only take the two of them to arrive at their destination for less than an hour.

"It's been a while ever since I came out of the palace! I want to go around the main plaza today!" said Heracles with an excited expression.

"Heracles, we are not going there for fun, remember? We are going straight to the Grand Cathedral. After that, we have to go greet your grandfather, the Overlord!" said Prince Lucas in response to Heracles's excitement.

"But Dad-! Grandfather doesn't like us, anyway! Why do we have to greet him!?" said Heracles while frowning.

"Son! Although he treats us that way, he is still your grandfather! More importantly, he is still the overlord of this whole domain! We still need to pay our courtesy! It would be worse for us to incur his wrath!" said Prince Lucas after hearing his son's response.

After his mood was spoiled, Prince Heracles decided not to talk about the entire journey. As he observed his son, Prince Lucas thought to himself, 'He is really a stubborn kid! Well, all of these are for his sake, after all! He needs to learn about the hard truth before his own pride destroys his glorious future!'

Before they knew it, they managed to arrive at the central part of the capital city. Heracles expression suddenly became excited as the sights of the Domain's Capital reached his eyes.

Heracles was filled with wonders as he observed the lively atmosphere of the Domain's capital city. "There are many people here in the central part of the capital! There are a lot of things going on here!" he said with excitement.

"Of course! Our Hilda City is the center of the Alcatraz Domain, after all! That means that it is also the center of the continent!" said Prince Lucas with a smile.

"Can we please go out a bit after visiting your grandfather? Pretty please~!" said Heracles with eyes sparkling,

"You are really something else, son! Fine! We are going to stroll a bit later!"