Chapter 1 - The Four Emperors and the Strongest Kingdom

A dark loom surrounds the battlefield, and fire and blood cover the sky that was once blue and clear. Boots shuffle around the dead bodies when a roar fills her ears. in the middle of the chaos, a black-haired woman in a red dress uniform turned her head to the noise with eyes boring into a man version of her but taller and more muscular, 

"Alex, for the love of the Holy Lands, can't you tell Spade to stop alerting our nemesis?" She pleaded with both her hands together, exasperated at his drama. Alex grunted on the other side of the battleground; there was a shooting pain at his sides; he needed to grab someone, but he accidentally held an injured spot on Spade, a fire-breathing dragon, so now the air got hotter (Thanks a lot, Alex!)

"Apologies, your highness, but I don't have a high pain tolerance," shouted Alex as he limped to her; the two dragons, Spade and Seraphina, their gifted fire-breathing dragons, watched silently as the twins argued back and forth, "How about healing me so I can walk?" "I'm coming, and just so you know, I am also in pain."

Her name? Princess Amanda Everson is the Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Vadronia, and this Alex dude is her twin brother. Prince Alexander Everson is the eldest grandson of the King, while Amanda is the eldest granddaughter. Both have wavy black hair, and the only difference is their eyes; Alexander takes after their grandfather, while Amanda has her eyes like their mother.

The two were here to cause havoc on the lands of their enemy, and in the aspect of the twins, they hope they wage a war so they wouldn't have to deal with the consequences and judgment of the Elders from the Holy Lands.

In a world of magic, there are four emperor kingdoms, each ruling the grounds; they are at the top of the food chain and only battle each other. Then there are the kings that rule a piece of land, like noblewomen or men trying to marry a royal member. The family tries to please their emperors.

The southern region has exactly 4 kingdoms, including the Kadetia Empire; the Empress is Geneviève Thornberry. a powerful old lady in her 70s but still as strong as then. a greedy golddigger who wasn't born with the birthmark of the fated kings but overpowered the man who has the birthmark. The empire is famous for its clothing and jewelry and has the highest currency in the economy. While the Land is at the bottom of the map, the Kadetia Empire is located at the corner, barricaded by the three other kingdoms. The security ranking is second.

The Western Land is ruled by their kingdom's long-time enemy, Emperor Adonis Sage the Blood Destroyer, who never hesitates on killing anyone. In wartime, back when he was a Crown Prince, he ceased the Kingdom of Vadronia's bloodline and enslaved the citizens before one of them broke free and earned the Birthmark of the Fated Kings. He never showed mercy, even to his children, because, unlike Empress Geneviève, who was a terrible woman but a wonderful mother, he was horrible in everything. The Land only has 2 other kingdoms that walked on eggshells around the Ravaryn Empire. Famous for their dark or blood magic abilities, their land was ranked second in size compared to the other kingdoms.

The Northern Lands was kind of the nice one or the rival to their kingdom... but a nice rival, I have no idea, to be honest... Grandfather has the weirdest friendship with Emperor Edmund Everest. Now, this has a lot of kingdoms—about 7 kingdoms—since their land is much larger than all of them. The 64-year-old Emperor was the Elders' favorite Emperor since he doesn't engage in wars except when it comes to family. a family-friendly gentleman, and despite his age, he still can swing a punch. ("Old geezer, please stop befriending terrifying men in disguise as angels. The old man is looking at me with those eyes again") ("How is he even an emperor?") The kingdoms are all at peace with each other, and it snows for about half a month. And like father, like son, all his children are peaceful but protective of their family, as everyone can see because it is not a secret that they defend the Northern Lands ever since wartime.

Lastly was the Eastern Land, the Galea Empire, whose current ruler was their uncle, Sebastian Howarth. This land doesn't have any existing kingdoms since it was founded by Galea's second Emperor after the destruction of their ancient residence. The Galea Empire is famous for its cultures, like dancing and singing and wearing clothes that are suited for moving around. One of their known titles was "the Land of Festivals." Their aunt, Queen Venus Howarth, formerly known as Princess Venus Everson, and their only daughter, Princess Charmaine Howarth-Everson The Princess was as stubborn as the rest of the grandchildren, so every game night is a disaster, especially when their grandfather is involved.But that was only the case for the four lands led by emperors. 

Their land is unfortunately not an empire but the Strongest Kingdom, the Kingdom of Vadronia, the Valley of the Dragons, and the Ocean's Gifts.After their kingdom broke free from the grasp of the Ravaryn Empire, their grandfather, the only serving knight that was serving the royal family, stepped up and claimed it back by vote. King Griffen Everson began his journey to earn the mythical dragon's trust, and even now, the Elders are very afraid of their kingdom because it is as threatening as the empires, maybe even more. The three children—two sons and a daughter—were either married, exiled, or dead, so their grandchildren took the titles of princes and princesses. The Kingdom was the smallest land, as it was located at the far end of the Southern and Eastern Lands, surrounded by a deep river that connected to the ocean, hence the name "The Ocean's Gifts." Unlike the empires and kingdoms, they instead have council members that are dubbed "Sir" or "Miss" by their last name or first. They are famous for their high security as well as their resources, like sustenance, gold, diamonds, pearls, coal, and silver. and trading becomes more difficult in the present than in the past.

Then Located at the corner of the Northern and Southern Lands were the Holy Lands, also known as the Land of Peace. Elders who appeared out of nowhere began to suddenly stop the wars and were obsessed with peace, which also means that what Amanda and Alex are doing right now will probably cause a war, but the Royal Family Everson has a reason to cause a conflict after building peace. The Elders started to fix the conflict between the Kingdom of Vadronia and the Ravaryn Empire by marriage when the two heirs came of age before it went down.

However, the scar that was left on her heart stings; Amanda was betrayed and abandoned, and after years of finally having closure, all of her hard work fell apart when He killed him, a family member of the Eversons. She vowed to never forgive or forget it.

She stared at the red sky, which matched the blood on the ground. Memories of love weren't on her mind; instead, it was potential, something that could have happened if he had chosen her instead of Emperor Adonis. Unfortunately, his love isn't as big as his devotion to his father, so he decided to kill an Everson to pierce a sword in my heart.

Amanda couldn't endure it and hoped that this would be a message to the Sages: "Seraphina, Spade, We will depart from this wretched place and go back home." The two dragons jumped happily, causing the ground to shake, finally not staying in the depressing Land.

"To Vadronia, Spade," called Alexander as Spade picked him up, both swiftly sitting in the middle, unaware of the longing stare of a white-haired gentleman in an all-black suit, eyes black as his soul, emotionless facade except for the single tear.

"I can't comprehend how Silas' healing spells feel like he's dismantling then assembling you." Alex complained as his sister did her medicinal enchantments in advance of magic, "And Ziek, who is like a child... is better than... that ugly fiend."

and unfortunately has to deal with the consequences of him being drunk; Amanda keeps forgetting that her brothers are horrible and light-weights.

She shook her head fondly at a memory: "Why did I even bring liquor if you're just going to finish it all?"

Flying for approximately 6 hours (12 hours gone), she set her eyes on her home, a huge island surrounded by the ocean, the castle at the top of the hill, while houses surrounded it and brick walls encircled the land. After passing the walls, they were met with a bridge that connected the kingdom.

Hopping off Spade, both dragons flew to their mountain valley, the farthest away from the brick walls. "Your Highnesses... " one of the Knights that waited stuttered at the drunk prince because if there is one secret rule, it would be to never give a drink to an Everson, especially the princes.

"Don't bother him; just get him to Maximus." Amanda assured them, but the group was still unconvinced.

"Lord Maximus is at... somewhere today," answered the guard near the gates. She was confused; her cousin usually stays in his room or the castle's library.

A knight that she knows approaches, telling Ramon, "Maximus is at a brothel in Dawn."

...

"WHAT?!" "HUH?!"

"Prince Alexander, I thought you were-" He snorted, rolled off the ground, and hopped into the black steed. Huffing as he stomped his hooves 

"The rule makes an exception for me. Why do you ask?" said Alex, dramatically, while his sister and Ramon were tired of his bullshit. "I never get drunk," he says, and off he and his rider go.

Amanda doesn't even wonder about their relationship anymore, instead turning to Ramon for status: "The Princess currently is with Governess Naomi, and your younger brothers are sparring with the General Commander."

"I hope that my dearest sister hasn't taken notice of my absence." Amanda mumbled, not happy about keeping secrets from her siblings. She was honest and sometimes came off as blunt under the guise of politeness or rude with style.

"For now, yes; however, if you do not change the bloody corsets, which look very uncomfortable," of course, only Callum's best friend gets the right to diss and nag a royal member: "Yeah, she'll notice."

"...and what about your brothers?"

She hopped on her horse, black strands of hair still in place, and she said, "I have a surprise for them that they'll surely love." Something in that tone made the Knights, including Ramon, mutter after the horse disappeared from their sight. He muttered with no remorse but amusement instead, "Looks like the castle's grounds will be unavailable for a week."

Amanda watches the sparring grounds from the balcony of her room, her chamber ladies folding and separating her clothes for laundry and disposal. One of the major flaws of being royalty is that you have several people flocking around you, but luckily, she selected her maids and butlers.

But back to the sparring: Callum and Silas, her younger brothers, were fencing, a skill they have yet to improve since they were all born with ethereal powers from their ancestry. Swords clashing, Diana, the General Commander, and the Council of Campaign and Battle's vociferous voice were all she could hear.

"Amanda, thank goodness you're home," Griffin Everson shouted from the door as he walked to her and hugged her tight. She could feel her body mellow out as soon as her grandfather was here.

After hugging, he stood up like the proud king he is and shooed everyone out of the room before facing me with an anxious expression and asking,

"Amanda, are you alright? I have been worried sick ever since you ran off without notifying anyone," he rambled as he checked for wounds after he'd done. He stood with a proud look in his eyes whenever they achieved something, and if they utterly failed, he'd laugh before he encouraged you.

"Those bastards didn't see that coming; that's what they get for messing with the wrong family," said Griffin, proudly but turning grim again.

"But are you sure you're alright? It's just that after his death, you may appear to be fine, but I know that look, Amanda," he sighed, recollecting our childhood. "I appreciate you putting your family first and your country second, but please..."

"I beg you, Amanda, do not ever, ever be afraid of talking to someone about this," he pleaded, his voice low. Amanda wanted to cry, but she cannot be dependent on anyone; she can never be vulnerable again. She vowed that once and broke it: "Even if it's not me, your twin, or that old hag, Diana, please reach out from time to time because, trust me when I say this, it is not healthy to hold your grief inside."

"Grandfather," Amanda whispered, cutting off his babbling. She lied with a fake smile and facade. Amanda continued, "I will be fine. Just give it a few days, and the problem will be settled."

"That problem was dealing with Ravaryn's waging war against us," he argued, hands crossed, while a cold glare delivered its way to the Western Lands.

Amanda cracked up with mirth in her eyes.

"Grandfather, have some pride in who you're speaking with," she continued. "This is the assassin princess, and she's way too talented to recklessly start a war."

Griffin snickered, "Hah! That's my girl. I have some work to finish; be at dinner, alright?" 

"Of course, Grandfather," she said, and just after the doors closed and the heavy footsteps drifted, she let a tear fall. closing the balcony doors and curtain, she was still standing because no one could knock her down and she couldn't break for her enemies to take pleasure in.

"I'm sorry. my dear Ezra."