Chapter 79: Emperor's funeral

ARTORIUS' POV

The rain calmed down after an hour of nonstop rain. A cool breeze flowed over the estate, cooling the outside from the usual spring heat.

I stared out the window in the living room while gently caressing Amelia's back. She lets out a short yawn before putting her face back into her tail.

Alexander sat to my left, staring off at the tall ceiling while lost in his thoughts.

"Let's go back to our homes in two weeks," I spoke out while staring up as well.

"What do we do afterwards?" He asked.

"Continue with our work. Keep in contact through letters and the orb,"

"Hmm," Alexander sounded. "Sounds like a plan,"

It was a lazy evening. The two of us felt too lazy to work anymore. We wanted to kick back and relax for once.

"Heh, wouldn't it be funny if I married Lady Iris' daughter," Alexander smirked and chuckled.

"You have my blessings," I said in a teasing way.

"I'm not joking," Alexander turned to me. "I'm thinking about it,"

I looked back at him with a blank expression. "Did you catch feelings just from a simple dance?"

"You're the one to talk," He puffed his cheeks. "It's not about love. It's more about benefits,"

At first, I was not sure what he was talking about. But as his words sank in, I understood what he meant by them.

"Do you want the crown to the kingdom?" I asked him with a curious gaze.

"Everybody wants to rule the world," He answered me with an arrogant smile.

He could become a duke if he marries into the family. This way his status increases above his father's. It's an easy way to outperform his father.

I scratched my chin while turning away from him. His thought process is ridiculous at times but it makes for genius ideas.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" He asked while glaring at me.

"About what you said," I answered. "Go for it. You have my blessings,"

Alexander looked at me with a blank expression. "Really? I should?" A small smile came through.

"Yeah, it's a good way to climb the ranks. If you become duke, it will mean I have a stronger alliance with the forest elves. This can help me in more ways than you could think,"

"How do you manage to find such intricate ways of making a profit from the most arbitrary things?" He questioned me with a raised eyebrow.

Before I could answer him, Felix walked in with a frown on his face. Holding an open letter in his right hand.

Raindrops still glittered on his dark tuxedo as he walked up to me. I held my breath as I knew what was going to come.

"Let me read," I told him before snatching the letter from his hand.

He didn't protest against it and took a few steps back as I read it.

The letter was written in a rush. The handwriting was new to me. I noticed wet marks on the letter as my eyes looked at it.

"Dear Artorius. With a heavy heart, I am here to announce the death of my father. I hope this reaches you as fast as possible. He passed away this evening just past seven-thirty. I request that you arrive at the castle soon. The funeral will be held tomorrow.

There is a lot of confusion. His death was sudden, too sudden. No one knows what to do. I don't know either. I'm really stressed and cannot handle this on my own. Please, I beg you. Come and help me bury my father. Emperor Amadeus."

I sigh a deep breath and slowly sink into my chair. Just what I expected.

"Alexander, Felix," I looked at the two of them while biting my lips. "He's dead. Put on your black ties. We're going to the castle to bury him,"

Alexander's neck bent down and looked at the ground. Felix didn't waste a second and left the living room. I was left sitting in my chair with the letter still in my hand. I bit the tip of the letter and contemplated what to do.

"He's gone, huh?" Alexander muttered.

"A new era begins,"

AMADEUS' POV

The castle has fallen into chaos. No one was ready for this. Sylas and Kody rushed to deliver the message while many start the funeral process.

I sat in my office. The same office that my father used before he stepped down.

A tear comes out from my left eye as I think about him. I couldn't help but tear up as I wrote to Artorius. In my father's dying breath, he mentioned asking Artorius whenever I needed help.

I followed his words and asked him to come as soon as possible. I cannot handle this on my own.

As the rain stopped, a handwritten note was put in front of the castle gate. Letters should reach all across the world soon enough.

Everyone has learnt of his death. But I wished Artorius knew faster than the public.

My door gently cracked open as Kody peeked through. He entered the room with a despaired frown on his face, He looked at me and shook his head.

"No hope. The healers tried everything one last time," He said in a hushed voice.

"I know. I know…" I muttered while holding back more tears.

He sighs and looks back up at me. "Artorius should arrive soon. He hasn't left his estate today. Though a carriage was seen leaving with Zenith inside it,"

"Seems like Zenith won't be coming back," I stood up and walked towards him.

My royal gown slid along the ground as I slowly walked past Kody, opening the door and leaving. He followed behind me as we took a stroll down the hallways.

"Where are we going?" He asked me in his usual voice.

"Nowhere," I answered. "I'm going to the foyer to wait for Artorius,"

He cleared his throat and coughed. But he stayed quiet as we continued to walk down the hallway.

The sounds of soft crying could be heard from around the corners. Even the servants were heartbroken, hearing about the death of their past master.

A few maids stood together as they hid their faces, sobbing together and helping each other calm down.

"It's touching, isn't it?" I smiled through the sorrow. "He touched so many hearts… as if he was family," My voice broke as I spoke.

"Every servant here felt like he was family," Kody answered me. "No one felt pressured or thought it was a servant and master relationship,"

More sobbing came from the stairs and corners as we walked down. A smile of woe rested on my face as I walked down to the foyer.

Wind blasted in through the doors that were left wide open. I could see the city lights outside, still shining brightly.

Slowly, the gate begins to move. The horses stood as the gate steadily spread. They enter while slowly trotting closer and closer.

With just enough light, I managed to catch a glimpse of the man who was riding in front of the other two. Familiar with long crimson hair that covered his left eye and a full black attire with a black tie.

They stopped right in front of the steps before hopping off their horses in sync. Servants stepped forward and took the horses by their leashes. They slowly walked up the stairs and entered the foyer.

Artorius made eye contact with me while frowning. When he saw me, a gentle smile broke from his lips.

"Good evening, your majesty," He smiled through his sorrows.

I walked towards him as he did the same. We met at a middle ground and shook hands. Even though I was heartbroken, I couldn't help but smile seeing him smile.

"Good evening, Artorius," I said while shaking his hand.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss," His smile faded. "It breaks my heart seeing him gone when I saw him yesterday,"

"It's surprising, isn't it?" I continued to smile. "One day he was fine but the next…"

He nonchalantly let go of my hand and took a deep breath. "God takes away the best people early. It's a blessing that he lived a fulfilling life,"

"The process will begin soon. Come to my office. Stay at the castle for tonight,"

He nodded and looked at Kody. Kody looked at him and nodded back. A mutual understanding was made between the two.

We walked back up the stairs and made our way to my office. Through the sobbing of servants and maids. The tearful hallways. Soft sobbing came from around every corner we turned.

"Felix, Alexander," Artorius stopped as we made it to my office. "You two deal with everything with Kody,"

"As you say, Artorius," Felix said before pulling Kody away.

I opened the door and entered the office, holding the door open for Artorius. He entered and left the three outside.

"The three of them will deal with the funeral process," Artorius said while closing the door. "The people on the streets have heard the news. I ordered the guards around to keep anything from breaking out,"

"What can break out?" I asked him while taking my seat.

"Riots, chaos, increased crime," He listed down simple things. "There should be no tolerance for such drama to take place on the week of mourning,"

I couldn't help but scoff. "Perhaps I'm not fit to be emperor," I smiled.

"You're young. There's room to grow," Artorius told me while crossing his arms and leaning back.

"With my aid, we can handle this. We have this under control,"

He looked at me with determined eyes. Artorius was here to help me.

"Well, if you say so," I said while sighing. "Let me list what will happen in the next few days."

Artorius leaned forward and listened with keen interest. I took out a piece of paper from my drawer. It had all the events that would take place for the month.

"First, the funeral. We will begin tomorrow morning and have him buried by late noon. Afterwards, a one-week mourning period would take place across the empire. No shops except emergency stores would be open.

All soldiers in the city are requested to be on duty throughout the mourning period. More soldiers may be called on duty if we run short. After a week, most can go back to normal life. But for the first week, everything will have to close down,"

He nodded his head as I listed down everything. Artorius shot me a deadpan stare that went right through me.

"I understand," He said while taking a deep breath. "Well, let me talk some different business now,"

"Is it the cave?" I asked him with a smirk.

"Spot on, novice,"

I moved forward and held my head up with my hands, giving him a condescending stare. He leaned back and sat cross-legged.

"When can I start with the cave?" He asked me with a sinister smirk.

"Two months from now," I answered him with an estimate.

"Why two months?" He asked while raising his brows.

"We decided to close off the entrance with a wall of rubble. It will take a month to clear. Due to the mourning, it will take two months,"

"That doesn't add up,"

"It's an estimate," I explained further. "Workers may be demotivated to work the first month, meaning progress will be slow,"

"Whatever," Artorius scoffed. "At least the train is coming along nicely,"

"Right, about that," I smirked. "That has to stop too,"

"What do you mean?" He shot me a questioning stare. "Why would that stop,"

"Mourning," I answered.

Artorius stared at me as if I was in the wrong. My smirk didn't last long as he continued to give me a cold stare.

"It won't be affected by mourning," He answered. "The work is being done in the Triveni kingdom, not in mine,"

My jaw dropped as he explained. "O-oh, is that so?"

"The only projects that were affected by the mourning were something I hadn't begun. I'll just be taking a vacation during mourning period,"

What a devil.

ARTORIUS' POV

I don't get what he has against me, trying to figure out what projects he slowed down. But it makes me quite suspicious of him.

We had a stare-off as he stopped speaking. He was dumbfounded and was left with a blank look on his face.

I stood up and began walking away from his desk. "I'll be taking a nap now," I told him while opening the door. "Wake me up if there's an emergency. Just don't cry to me because you're breaking down,"

Before he could stop me, I closed the door and began walking away. Though, I didn't know which room was mine.

"Just go to our old room," Amelia suddenly chimed into my mind.

"You can still talk to me!?" I exclaimed out loud.

"Yes, I can," She replied. "My range is quite long.

That helps me a lot.

I began walking to the room I stayed in previously. It would be my first guess, possibly the right one too.

Servants and maids softly sobbed in the hallways as I passed. They were all heartbroken seeing as their beloved emperor was dead. Now, they are in the hands of a young emperor. He might drive the empire to ruins.

But that would cause me trouble. If he drives the empire to ruins, my adventure would be stalled far longer.

There is no way I'm letting such idiotic reasons ruin my fun.

As I passed through the hallways. I noticed the doors open to a room. Servants stood outside it with tear marks on their cheeks. They were looking inside as screams from Lady Serena came through.

I walked up to them and looked inside. It was a sight I never thought I'd see.

Alaric's body lay lifeless on the bed, similar to what I saw in Mori's realm. Lady Serena was bawling her heart out while sitting on the floor, looking like a complete mess.

She looked so elegant at the party. Dressing up in a simple but royal way. That's what I remembered from her last time. Now she's a broken mess.

She noticed me standing at the doorway through her tears. Our eyes locked and my heart sank.

"Artorius…?" She muttered through her sobs. "You came…?"

I walked into the room casually and knelt stood over Lady Serena. I turned to look at Alaric. For the first time, I saw a dead body that was not murdered. A body that was not drowned in blood and gore.

The body slept so peacefully. No expression or movement. Just sleeping peacefully.

God, I envy the dead.