Meeting the Emperor

Marc had been gaining a reputation of being someone ruthless within the palace. He had volunteered for every single dangerous assignment, and that had earned him an early promotion.

"Hey, Marc!" A female worker came up to him. Marc looked at her. Her eyes pointed downwards, and her fingers were fidgeting. "I was wondering if perhaps you would like to go get a drink with me sometime? I noticed you always do the same things every day, like go on missions and then go back to your room. But would you make an exception for me?"

Marc smiled and answered, "of course! I would love to get a drink with a lovely lady, such as yourself."

The woman blushed and responded, "so six tonight at the bar work?"

"That would be great."

"Awesome!" She left with her heart full of glee.

The further she walked away, the more Marc's smile disappeared. He had said yes, but he didn't really care about going out with this girl.

He's been feeling less and less the more he's stayed in the Empire, and now his emotions are almost non-existent.

'I must keep up the act of a loyal soldier, however,' Marc thought. Going out with women to get drinks is something soldiers do, and he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself.

Marc went back to his room to get ready for the night. He had just returned from another mission that had him obtain three mid-tier monster cores. He gathered them quickly and returned them with ease.

He took off his clothes to reveal multiple scars. He took a second to examine them, then continued putting on his clothes for the night.

Soon he was walking back into the streets where drunken revelry was happening all around him.

'Disgusting,' He thought. There were too many people who didn't care about the wars that the Empire waged. There were too many people falling to monsters or the Empire's forces. He needed to put a stop to it.

Marc took a deep breath to calm his anger. Tomorrow is the day he would meet the Emperor. What was needed now was patience. He looked forward, going to the spot where he would meet his date.

Soon he reached the bar, and his date was already sitting at the counter. As soon as she saw him, she greeted with, "Hello Marc, you look dashing tonight!"

Marc looked at her flowing red dress, "you look stunning as well!" He put on his fake face and spent the night drinking and talking with the worker. Soon, she was drunk and intoxicated.

"Sooooooooooo, Marc. I hear you are working the Emperor's guard detail tomorrow?" Marc raised an eyebrow, "how would you know that?" he asked.

She laughed, her face beet red, "I work on the administrative side of the military, I can figure out things. What I mean to say is that you should be more excited tonight! I hear the Emperor is a nice lad, but it's his advisors that you should be wary of. They are jerks, always sneaking around, and being creepy."

She shivered and leaned in close to Marc, "They say that many of the Emperor's guards have mysteriously gone missing, so I would be careful if I were you."

After that, she slipped and fell on Marc giggling, then proceeded to fall asleep instantly.

Marc sighed and waved at the bartender to pay the bill. After that, he picked her up and brought her outside.

Marc had seen her around and knew where she lived. She lived only a block away from where the ship docked, and that was why she saw him around so often.

He carried her back home, taking the key out of her wallet to get inside her house. He laid her out on the bed and grunted with relief after finally being able to put her down.

"Goodnight," he said, kissing her forehead and made sure to lock up her door before he left. He then kicked her key back under her door.

He walked back to the ship where one of the night guards were out. "Marc! Did you take her home and get laid man? You need a fine woman every once in a while."

"Something like that," Marc replied and left the guard who was cheering him on.

Marc shook his head, 'is that all they can think about?' He took off his clothes and sat on his bed, reflecting on the words his date said to him as he fell asleep.

.............

Tomorrow seemed to come early.

Marc got dressed in his new uniform for the Emperor's guard detail. He looked at himself in the mirror, admiring his attire. It was a solid steel plate of armor that was a version 3 exosuit. He also carried a spear with a mid-tier monster core in it. It could fire energy blasts as well as stabbing things.

'Nothing less expected for the Emperor's guards,' Marc thought. He walked outside, where any passers-by admired him. They gasped at his grand armor, recognizing it as the Emperor's guard. They averted their gaze as he passed, not feeling worthy enough to look at him.

This made Marc feel a little awkward, but he continued to the central part of the Aysel Palace, which was the keep where the Emperor was.

As he approached, he could see the massive black steel gates that reached 10 meters in height along with the black steel walls surrounding the keep. He was checked before entering and was then let in after a moment.

Marc's eyes widened at what he saw. He entered the gates to see the entire keep grounds covered in brightly colored flowers and bushes. Fountains had water trickling beautifully in the sun. It was a fantastic sight considering the Aysel Palace was located in the desert.

Marc saw numerous guards dressed just like him patrolling the grounds.

Soon, a thin, pale man approached Marc, "you must be the new guard." He said. He was carrying several pieces of parchment with him, and he was scribbling furiously. "Follow me then," the attendant said.

Marc followed while scanning his surroundings. The guards all seemed highly attentive, and there were at least 10 patrolling the grounds outside the keep.

As the Attendant led marc inside, Marc could see another 30 guards at least patrolling inside the keep. He began to sweat, 'this will be difficult.'

The attendant mistook Marc's nerves as being nervous on his first day, "it's okay to be nervous. Not many get to lay eyes on the Emperor himself personally. It is quite an honor."

Marc just nodded his head to agree. Although he did want to see the Emperor, that's not what he was nervous about.

"These will be your private quarters," the attendant waving his hand a door matching several others next to it.

Marc remembered his spot and continued following.

The attendant put his hand out in front of Marc to stop him before they entered a door that was at the end of a hallway.

"Before we go see the Emperor, remember etiquette. You will bow first and address him as your majesty. After you introduce yourself, I will lead you outside to where your first post will be. Understood?"

"Yes," Marc replied.

The attendant nodded and opened the door.

Marc's heart pounded earnestly; he would finally get to see the Emperor after all this time of waiting. It was almost the right moment to exact his vengeance.

As the attendant opened the door, Marc could see the brightly colored room.

Paintings of dragons and heroes fighting them were on the walls. Six guards lined the edges of the room.

On the ground was a little boy, around ten years of age. He was playing with toys that were scattered all along the ground. He looked up, "you must be my new guard! Maybe you can play with me, 'cause all these other guards are too stiff."

Marc trembled in shock, but his body responded as it should and bowed. He said, "my name is Marc, your majesty, and I thank you for the opportunity to serve you."

Marc's mind raced, 'A boy??? All this time...the Emperor was a boy?!'

The boy smiled, "nice to meet you, Marc! I am Emperor Kotus the fifth. I hope we can be friends."

With that, the Emperor turned back to playing with his toys.

The attendant said some words, but Marc couldn't hear them. His mind was racing like the wild monsters on an extended plain.

He walked out with the attendant to his station outside where he began patrolling.

Marc clutched his chest to keep his heart from escaping, 'he was a boy all this time??? How could he commit such atrocities?'

Marc patrolled in a daze, not understanding his enemy.