Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 57: A wild seed
Two hours earlier,
In the inner chambers of Emperor Ethan, there was something magical happening; he held an amber in his arms, and fire and heat appeared from his palms.
The amber began to melt and bend into a weird shape, with his other hand also emitting fire and intense heat as if hot oil were being drizzled with cold water. He began to mold the amber into something resembling a vase, and his hand moved in circular motions like clockwork as the vase was getting completed.
But in the moment, his knees buckled, and he swayed on his feet, causing the amber to fall. He held his chest as his face contorted into immense pain.
"Your majesty, are you alright?" Anthony, the emperor’s most loyal and closest eunuch since he was a child, asked.
"Ahem... Ahem," Emperor Ethan coughed, and black smoke came out of his mouth.
"Your majesty, you must rest; you must stop overexerting yourself," Anthony worriedly said.
"No, I can’t rest; I can only be sure I’m not losing my ability if I practice more," Emperor Ethan said and shoved Anthony, who had been supporting him, away.
"Pick that up for me," he said, and Anthony reluctantly picked up the amber that had fallen from the emperor’s hands a moment ago. He handed it back to the emperor, who began his magic again.
He held the vase in one hand and began to produce fire and heat with another hand, moving it in a circular motion and shaping it to perfection. This time, he didn’t only sway; he fell heavily onto his knees and held his chest as he grimaced in pain and coughed continuously.
Black, dense smoke, as if something was burning, was emitting from his mouth, and in no time, wisps of black smoke filled the room.
"Your majesty, what happened? Are you alright?" Anthony asked, and this time, Emperor Ethan didn’t refuse and allowed himself to be helped.
"He lied to me," Emperor Ethan croaked; "the dragon king lied to me; he said I could wield my power forever, but see, I can’t even bend something as easy as amber," he added.
"Your majesty, please calm down; maybe there’s something we might have overlooked that caused the dragon king’s wrath to fall upon you. Please forgive this servant for his bold words, but think about it: the dragon king is a deity, and you must not double-cross him," Anthony advised.
"When have I double-crossed him? I’m still tolerating his bastard son, treating him better than my first son, and letting him do whatever he wants. I refused to let my first son inherit the throne after me because of that damned deal I made with that devil," Emperor Ethan snapped.
"Your majesty, please calm down; the walls have ears. Besides, the eldest prince has no interest in the crown," Anthony assured.
"Hmp, who doesn’t like being an emperor, the sovereign of all the country? Who doesn’t have such ambitions? Nicholas is just being humble because of his mother’s condition. If he didn’t want the throne, he wouldn’t prove himself to the people; he wouldn’t have accomplished everything he had accomplished. The people even want him as their king while I’m still alive and breathing," Emperor Ethan countered.
"My liege, you accepted everything yourself so that you could become the crown prince after your father. You accepted the dragon King’s condition of giving him your first son in exchange for your gift. You shouldn’t forget how your father, the former emperor, neglected you and treated you poorly when you received no gift on your 10th birthday. He was very disappointed that you were like everyone else," Anthony began.
"At that time when we heard about the wishing tree in the middle of the dark forest, you thought it was a myth, but because you knew what you wanted. You trained yourself and endured the harshest treatment in the army at a young age and journeyed through perilous mountains and fought your way through countless beasts until you found the wishing tree."
"The dragon king granted your wish of having a gift, and you agreed to his condition. It was his wish to be in the shoes of an emperor for one day and have a son; he disguised himself as you and slept with the empress, and she conceived."
"He even gave you a magical artifact to seal the eldest prince’s true ability so that he would be like everyone else, having only one ability. It was a win-win, Your Majesty. You were the one who forgot your promise to the dragon king; you continued to make things difficult for the eldest prince," Anthony concluded.
"Are you also blaming me?" The emperor asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
"No, Your Majesty, this servant would not dare; I only wish that as your best friend and right-hand man ever since you were a boy. Please know that I only have the best intentions for you. I forsook being a father and raising a family of my own for you. It’s because there’s a deep bond between us," Anthony said. He knew the emperor would do as he pleased and not listen to his advice anyway.
"My son wants the throne. He’s gathering people to support him and become the crown prince, and I have been helping him behind the scenes. Are you telling me to allow someone without any ties to the royal family to become the next crown prince?" Emperor Ethan asked, his tone heavy.
"This servant can only give the sovereign candid advice; I’m not wiser than His Majesty; I only hope His Majesty would always think about the well-being of the people in all your decisions," Anthony said and bowed.
"Your Majesty, the eldest prince is seeking an audience," an eunuch announced from the door.
"Tell him to wait for me," the emperor said and began to fix himself to meet Nicholas.
~~~
In the emperor’s drawing room.
"Greetings, Father Emperor," Nicholas said as soon as he saw the emperor approaching and bowed.
"Rise," the emperor said and added.
"I received your message. It said you were going to report something important to me."
"Yes, Your Highness, please inspect these documents and see what I found out," Nicholas said and placed a huge stack of documents on the desk.
The emperor began to inspect them one after the other and looked up at Nicholas with question marks on his face.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked if it was as if he didn’t understand.
"It’s from the Southern region, and these are all the properties under my second brother’s name. My men are still investigating, and there have been sightings of rebel soldiers in the region. My men gathered this information and brought it to me in Oshiye, the small town after the capital. They are still investigating what is actually happening, and I would like to ask Father to send me so that I can go and monitor the situation myself and report back to you," Nicholas said.
"Withdraw your men from the Southern region. You also can’t leave; I need you around for some official matters," Emperor Ethan refused.
"Why? You and I both know you hardly give me any official duties nowadays. Why do you want me to stay?"
"Because I’m your father and, most of all, your emperor," he said authoritatively.
"Father, sometimes I don’t understand why you always act like this in private, but in public, I’m your favorite son. In public I’m your chosen one. The second prince is doing something that might put your subjects in the southern region in danger, but you are not even allowing me to investigate," Nicholas said; there was a hint of laughter in his tone as if he was used to countless scenarios like this.
"When you launched an investigation in the Southern region without consulting me, did you see me as your father? Did you see me as your sovereign? I’m not calling the guards to drag you to the dungeons because you’re still my son," he spat angrily.
"Your son? When was the last time you treated me like a son? Isn’t David the only one you care about?" Nicholas scoffed.
"You are standing in front of your emperor and talking back at him without fearing for your head. Isn’t it because I’ve spoiled you rotten? It is because I’ve allowed you to become wild. You lack proper training," the emperor countered.
"It’s because I had a father but was raised by strangers," Nicholas said. He wanted to remind the king how he had ignored him after his mother’s condition became worse, but he stopped himself. He knew he was as headstrong as his father; they both always liked to get their way.
"I’m sorry, Father Emperor, I don’t think I can withdraw my men. It would be best if anyone who put the people of Gloryland in distress is punished according to the law, even if they are the emperor’s favorite son," Nicholas said and bowed.
"Don’t you dare disobey me!" It’s an imperial command; disobey on your own..."
"Greetings to Your Majesty, greetings to Your Highness," a low-rank eunuch came in looking flustered and bowed to the emperor and eldest prince, interrupting the emperor.
"Please forgive this servant for barging in; there has been an assassination attempt on the princess consort."
Nicholas’ pupils shrank at the news,
"What did you just say?" He growled, grabbing the eunuch by his collar.
"There was an assassination attempt on the princess consort in front of the Pearl Auction House just as she was about to enter her carriage a moment..."
Nicholas ran out without hearing the remaining words of the eunuch. The emperor who saw this scene narrowed his eyes as a sharp glint passed within his eyes.
’The wild seed is having a weakness.’
