Chapter 49 - The emperor's announcement

Back at the imperial palace, the entire castle staff could be seen outside the palace, staring up at the sky at the sight of a wyvern flying into the premises. The emperor and grand duke sat atop the wyvern, commanding attention as they made their grand entrance.

"Yervan, my office now." The emperor commanded, jumping off the wyvern and turning to face the prime minister. Dante, the grand duke, followed suit, but not before offering a friendly handshake to the prime minister who was still in shock.

"Sir prime minister," Dante greeted him with a smile. "Haaaah, this is a mess. You should have told me you were coming on a wyvern, and hold on, how can you even control such a beast?" The prime minister asked, looking back and forth between the emperor and grand duke with an open mouth.

"Trade secret," Dante replied, patting Yervan on the back and following the emperor into the palace.

"Office now, there are more important things to talk about," the emperor declared, glancing back at the prime minister who was still standing there in disbelief.

Shortly after their encounter, the trio could be seen entering the emperor's grand office.

*clank*

As the door closed with a heavy thud, the emperor immediately enveloped the room with his aura to prevent any sound from escaping. He took a deep breath and began speaking, "John has withdrawn from the competition for the throne. Although he still claims his right to the throne, he will not be participating in the battle for it."

There was a moment of stunned silence in the room, broken only by the prime minister's almost incredulous response, "Excuse me, what did you say?"

Realizing the gravity of his announcement, the emperor repeated, "John won't be taking part in the battle for the throne. We need to make an announcement as soon as possible."

However, before the prime minister could fully digest this news, the emperor dropped another bombshell, "Additionally, the entire Valorian Grand Duchy will be cut off from the rest of the empire for the foreseeable future."

Yervan, who had been standing beside the prime minister, stared at the emperor in disbelief. He couldn't comprehend the full implications of the two pieces of news he had just received. "What do you mean, cut off?" he asked, his jaw hanging open.

Dante, who had been lounging on a nearby couch with a relaxed expression, spoke up, "Eric, let the man absorb one piece of news at a time. It's not easy to comprehend two massive decisions at once."

The prime minister collected himself and took a deep breath before asking, "Hold on for a moment, what happened when you were in the north?"

"Well…"

.

.

.

A week had passed since John had awoken, and a day since the Emperor publicly announced that the boy would no longer be competing for the throne. Julius and Anthony were currently sitting in a large, lush greenhouse, sipping tea and wearing serene expressions on their faces.

"Did you hear that bastard won't be competing for the throne anymore?" Anthony asked as he looked at Julius, who was leisurely sipping his tea.

Upon hearing Anthony's words, Julius put his cup down on the table, crossed his legs, and clasped his palms. His eyes filled with malice as he looked at Anthony. "So, it's just the two of us now."

Anthony replied with a venomous smile, "Yes, it is."

"I hope this doesn't end with you dead, Anthony. Mother would be quite saddened if that were the case," Julius said as he leaned back in his chair and picked up his teacup once more.

Smiling at his elder brother's words, Anthony spoke with a scoff, "Well, I would worry more about your head than mine, older brother. I'm sure Grandfather is not a fan of letting the Pentarchy take even more power. At least he can keep the nobility in check."

.

.

.

At the same time that Julius and Anthony were having their little talk, the imperial court was in session. The grand hall was filled with the nobles of the empire, all dressed in their finest attire. The agenda of the meeting was the isolation of the North, and it was a topic that had caused quite a stir among the nobles.

Count Cassius, with an agitated expression on his face, shouted from the front of the right side of the gilded court, "Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?" The reason for the nobles rejecting this proposition was simply because such a thing was unprecedented throughout the two thousand year-long history of the empire. Not even a high king had received such a privilege before.

"Mind your tone, Count Cassius. Your position as chancellor does not give you the right to speak to His Highness like that." shouted back a knight that stood right beside the emperor. This man was the emperor's field marshal, Sir Maximus Fortis, and perhaps the only man in the empire with the strength to fight on equal footing with Dante. Being such a terrifying figure, a lot of people tried to tempt the old man. However, his loyalties lay only with the emperor, and he would only move upon the words of the emperor.

Covering back at the field marshal's aura, Cassius took a step back with a frown on his face and started to speak once more, "My apologies, Your Majesty, if my tone offended you. However, my question still stands: what is the meaning of letting the entirety of the northern region isolate itself?"

"This topic is not up for debate," the emperor spoke and turned to the other side of the room where five people with five different colored togas could be seen with people carrying different banners over their heads. "I have already talked to the Grand Duke, and he has made his own concessions for such a deal."

Suddenly, a fat man in a yellow toga, with a banner displaying a yellow sun above him, stood up and shouted with an enraged tone on his face, "We, the Pentarchy, cannot allow such an action. To isolate the people from the children of God is an excommunicable offense."

During today's session, not only were the most prominent members of the nobility present, but also four out of five popes of the Pentarchy - the union of the five churches: the Church of the Sun God, the Church of the Sky Gods, the Church of the Sea Gods, the Church of the Earth Gods, and the Church of Old Gods. While there was only one pantheon within the empire, the Aetherian Pantheon, the people followed multiple different gods, resulting in the formation of the Pentarchy.

Nerves started to pop on the Emperor's face, and the Field Marshal was about to speak when the Emperor stopped him and started to speak, "To all four of you who are standing before me and the Pope of the Church of the Old Gods, I have but one thing to say: THIS IS MY LAND, AND MY RULES ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT GOVERN THESE REALMS. YOU ONLY PREACH HERE BECAUSE I LET YOU. DO NOT LET THIS PRIVILEGE GET TO YOUR HEADS."

Listening to the Emperor's words, the face of the Pope of the Church of the Sun turned red, "This…such BLASPHEMY," he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"MIND YOUR TONE, POPE CONSTANTINE. YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE STANDING BEFORE THE EMPEROR," the Field Marshal shouted at the top of his lungs and slammed his foot on the ground, causing many from both the clergy and nobility to fall on their backsides.

"This is not the end of this, Emperor Eric…let us return. I cannot bear to stand in this unholy place for a second longer," the fat pope said as he looked at his other counterparts and stormed out of the meeting hall.

"The rest of you are dismissed too. The three of us have much to discuss," the Emperor said as he looked at Dante and the Prime Minister and left the room with Maximus right behind him.

.

.

.

The field marshal walked closely behind Emperor Eric as they made their way through the palace halls, their footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. His voice was hushed as he spoke, "Your Majesty, it was not wise of you to provoke both the nobility and the clergy in the same meeting."

Eric turned his head slightly to acknowledge the field marshal's words. "On the contrary, my friend," he replied, his voice low and measured. "Their anger will serve our purpose. They will try to attack the North to prove the vulnerability of an isolated state. But it will be their undoing."

The prime minister stepped forward, continuing the explanation. "It was all part of the plan. If they attack the North, it will give Dante a casus belli to retaliate against all those who attacked him. Then their heads will meet the sword, and their lands will become part of the North."

Maximus looked at Dante with a curious gaze. "Do you intend to fully annex the lands of the pentarchy and the nobles?"

Dante nodded with a wicked grin. "That is likely to happen, given enough time to rebuild my army."

Eric chimed in, "But they won't attack right away. I estimate you have exactly one year before they are prepared to go to war with you."

Dante smiled in satisfaction. "That's plenty of time. Well then, Sir Prime Minister, Sir Field Marshal, it has been a pleasure meeting with the two of you once more. Eric, I'm still disgusted by your face. I hope the next time I see you, you're in a coffin."

Eric ignored the death threat, smiling back at Dante. "It was nice meeting you too, brother."

Dante then turned and leapt out off the balcony. As he fell, he whistled, and Stormwing flew in to catch him midair. "Hut hut," he shouted as they flew off into the distance.

The field marshal turned to Eric. "Are you sure this is the right course of action, Your Majesty?"

.

.

.

Back at the grand duke's castle, John could be seen in his room reading a book when Hans rushed in and spoke, "Your Highness, his eminence the grand duke has arrived, and is calling you to his office."

"I see tell him i will be there in a moment," John said as he closed his book and got off his bed.