He remembered the page that he saw there, the ink faded to brown:
[Should the Three Stones choose one blood, let him be crowned Ancient King.
The Imperium shall not raise the blade nor edict against him, for the Progenitors swore it so.
The three archduchies shall be his by right, and the throne of Luminus shall bow its head in acknowledgment.]
It was a pact. Signed by his own ancestor,
Emperor Caspian Aurelian Lux.
He laughed at it back then. A myth to keep the ancient families quiet.
Now it was happening in his own time.
His fingers curled around the paper.
"That crippled child..." he muttered. "That... Valerius bastard, who was nearly dead a few months ago..."
He had underestimated them. All three ancient families.
The paper crumpled in his fist. The imperial-grade spirit parchment, meant to survive fire and water, crackled then turned to fine white dust between his fingers, sifting down onto the roses.
Caelum stood there a long time, the dust still on his palm, his teeth gritted so hard the muscle in his jaw jumped.
He looked up at the sky over the garden, then at the statue of Goddess Luminus at its center, her stone eyes merciful looking over the sky...
He gritted his teeth. "Goddess! Forgive me, I can't let those fools be above my Imperium. I won't let it happen..."
" I won't bow my head to those filthy ancient families."
He still believed that the Imperium never take action against those three families. He had always believed that, except for the Holy Kingdom, no other force could match his Imperium at all.
***
On the other side, in a simple barony, Draven had already arrived at a tea shop and sat down at a corner table.
It was the kind of place commoners loved, low wooden beams, the smell of fried dough and strong black tea, copper kettles hissing behind the counter.
Every table was full with Farmers, caravan guards, and young apprentices were all leaning forward, watching the huge raised platform at the far end.
This was their entertainment. No magic screens, no crystal projections just actors in painted armor and a storyteller with a drum.
The play that night was about the Valerius Archduchy. Specifically, about the young Archduke Cassian Valerius.
On stage, a lean actor in a blue surcoat was fighting a hulking man wearing a demon-general's mask.
The narrator boomed, "Level 60 against Level 70! Impossible fight against the demons!"
Then the actor drew his sword and slashed five swift cuts. The crowd knew the moves by heart.
"First Sword: Aegis Fang!"
"Second Sword: Falling Star!"
"Third Sword: Tempest Chain !"
"Fourth Sword: Mirrors In Still Water!"
"Fifth Sword - HEAVEN'S JUDGMENT!"
The fake general fell. The teashop erupted with cheers. Mugs slammed on tables, children cheered, old men whistled through their teeth. The man playing Cassian took a bow, sweat shining on his forehead.
When the play ended, the drums stopped and the whole shop fell into that comfortable, buzzing silence. People started eating while talking low with the companions.
Draven was enjoying a cup of tea and the plate of honeyed sesame snacks he'd ordered. This small barony was called Rivergreen. It was also under the Valerius Archduchy, just two days' ride from the border.
After leaving Argent Spire Academy, he had come here on a horse he'd bought from the nearest village to the academy...
He was halfway through his tea when he heard the whispers from the table next to him.
"Did you hear? Margrave Theros is dead!"
Another voice, lower: "Yes! Even his whole margraviate was wiped out... only the innocents were spared..."
A third man leaned in, eyes wide. "I heard he did something terrible. Colluded with demons, they say. And I heard the black clothed people who attacked our barony a few days ago was his doing..."
Draven's ears pricked up. He set his cup down, stood up from his seat, and walked straight toward the group.
At first they went quiet. Looking at a stranger in a travel-stained cloak, with a sword at his back that looked too fine for Rivergreen. They eyed him warily...
Draven didn't ask twice. He waved the shop boy over and said, "A pot of your highest-grade Cloud Mist tea. And three plates of meat buns. For this gentlemen here..."
The boy blinked, then grinned. The table of farmers laughed out loud.
"Well now, friend, sit!" the first man said, pulling out a stool with his boot. "You buy us the good tea, you'll get good stories."
Draven sat. The steam from the fresh pot curled between them as the men leaned in, eager to tell a stranger what the bards hadn't sung yet.
One of the farmers leaned over the table, tea steaming between his thick fingers. "I heard an unknown force from the archduchy attacked the margraviate. They revealed one of their hidden powers..."
Draven sighed into his cup. He knew Silas was going to fight Margrave Theros . He'd received that news from someone he trusted back at Argent Spire. Now that the margrave was dead, Silas was at least safe for now.
Then another farmer cut in, voice dropping. "Yes! I heard it was all done by our new duke... and I heard a terrifying story today. I don't know if it's correct or not...but..."
Everyone looked at him. Someone sneered, "Just tell us! Why are you making it sound creepier and creepier?"
The old farmer chuckled. "Hehe... be gentle with your words, boys. I heard that the youngest son of Archduke Cassian, our new duke is going to be crowned tomorrow."
"What!" Someone shouted.
"You're just bluffing!" said another, nearly spilling his tea.
The old man shook his head. "Don't forget, my young lad is a guard at Rivergreen Barony. He heard it from the baron himself... the Valerius Archduchy is now celebrating the ceremony with more and more enthusiasm."
Draven frowned. He was going to the Valerius family to carry out a request from the Holy Kingdom.
But if the Valerius family was about to crown someone... did he have any chance at all now? A king was literally above an archduke.
He asked carefully, "Do you know anything about this new king?"
The farmer looked at him and grinned. "Young brother, you bought us food and tea, so I'll tell you the story..."
Another one interrupted, waving a meat bun. "Don't listen to him, brother, he likes to bluff. Let me tell you about our new king..."
"No, let me, let me!"
Draven felt dumbfounded. Clearly everyone liked this person so much that they all wanted to be the one to tell his story first.
Before anyone could say anything, the young waiter boy started talking while serving tea at the next table.
Everyone turned to look at him with anger on their faces for interrupting.
He didn't care at all...
"Our new duke is the savior of our village," the boy said, pouring with a steady hand. "Just a few days ago Red Fort was invaded by the Beast Imperium... when our margrave fought against them with his life on the line..."
"He appeared. Single-handedly revealed his hidden forces and killed each and every beastman soldier and general..."
"He even declared to the hiding Imperial forces that they will withdraw their troops from the borders... and as he said, the Valerius family really did it. They took back their armies... and even the Emperor couldn't say anything, because it was all because of him."
Draven heard everything clearly and gulped hard. 'Just how terrifying is this youngest son of Archduke Cassian, that even the Emperor's plan was interrupted by him and left completely at a loss?' he thought.
And the boy continued, wiping the table as he spoke, "And the most interesting thing is, I heard just this noon, someone from the barony said..."
"Our duke is not just going to be crowned as a king. He is going to take control of the three ancient families together."
"He passed the three ancient tests at the ancestral lands of those three families..."
Silence swept over the area.
Draven also gulped hard. A single person in control of the three ancient families together meant a king with three archduchies as subordinates. Just the thought was terrifying.
Draven asked calmly, "Will the Emperor let it happen? Isn't it going to be hard for him to control that person in the future then?"
The old farmer sneered, the lines deepening around his mouth. "That Emperor is just a tyrant. He should be behind bars... if he really takes action, we old people will sacrifice our lives to save our king."
He wasn't joking. The whole table nodded.
Another man, who was a carpenter ,sawdust was still on his clothes slammed his cup down on the table.
"Let him? He doesn't know anything about his own people! How dare he interrupt our king's coronation!"
"He takes our grain for his campaign in the northern desert every autumn, and leaves our people to freeze in the cold..."
"It was our archduke who sent help to keep us healthy throughout the cold winter."
His eyes dropped to the ground. He was trying to hide the tears that were seeping from his eyes.
"My... my brother died at White Pass while guarding his own Imperium two winters ago. The Imperium sent back an empty coffin and a tax bill for the armor that he borrowed from the army."
"We... didn't even know if my brother had a proper burial. They don't even know that the coffin they sent was empty, without any body."
A woman who was serving at another table across from their own suddenly started talking. Her hands were clutching a cup so hard that it cracked...
"He is called the 'Emperor of Light'! My foot! Last year, when those beastmen suddenly attacked our Rivergreen, where was he?"
"No golden guards, nor those red cloaks of his, took action against those beasts.... Do you know, if.... if the archduke hadn't sent help in time and fought against those beasts, what terrifying fate was waiting for us! Our families..."
She remembered that day when her daughter was crying nonstop while she was hiding her in her arms from the beast soldiers... and at that devastating moment, the Valerius guards came together and fought against those beasts... and killed them, saving Rivergreen.
The young waiter, still holding the teapot, spoke quieter but angrier than the other people.
"My cousin is a soldier who was supposed to be the 'reinforcement' for the Red Fort war a few days ago. Do you know what that general of the Imperium ordered them? He told them to wait. Wait until each and every citizen of Red Fort died. Even if the soldiers wanted to fight, they couldn't ignore the order from the Emperor..."
He asked with a heavy heart,
"Tell me! Does he even deserve to be The Emperor?"