As I walked to meet the Emperor, we were interrupted by a small girl with white hair and golden eyes. She stood to the side to avoid blocking our path, looking frightened. It seemed she was scared of me because of what I did to Aegon.
"So, this is Anastasia von Agnus."
Aegon's twin sister, who was not present in the original story. She died a brutal death before the plot began. Well, this isn't something I should be thinking about now.
We continued our walk until we reached the Emperor's office.
"This is where my duty ends," Marius said, stepping away.
"Good luck, young master," said Jenny reassuringly, though worry was evident on her face.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to me."
"Oh, and one more thing—"
***
Third Person POV
As soon as I entered, I was greeted by an old man, tall with white hair a beard, and golden eyes.
'Zarax von Agnus'
The strongest human, ruler of Arcadia, protector of humanity, and Ash's father.
He looked at me indifferently and said, "You caused a lot of trouble in my absence."
"..."
"Don't you think it was wrong to hit your brother?"
After Zarax's words, Ash wondered with a surprised expression.
"Wrong? Why am I wrong?"
"What? Didn't you cause trouble for your brother?"
At Zarax's question, Ash tilted his head as if he couldn't understand at all.
"Why is that wrong? I am stronger."
"... ... What?"
And then Ash asked Zarax, fully aware of him.
"How can the strong do something wrong?"
"... ...."
Zarax smiled, finding the situation before him amusing.
"Aren't you afraid that he might seek revenge on you in the future?"
Ash replied indifferently, "It's okay if he wants revenge. I will crush anyone who stands in my way."
"... ...."
Zarax paused for a moment.
Finally, Zarax let out a faint laugh.
"That's right. When I wanted to become the successor, I had to work hard to become the heir."
It was an unfamiliar sight for Zarax to talk about himself.
'By the way, he had to become a successor? Can he say that by just working hard?'
Ash quickly understood, having been worried for some time at the first sound he heard.
Zarax ascended to the position of Emperor by killing all his older brothers.
Well, it was a law set by the founding Emperor to prevent any coups or fractures in the rule, ensuring humanity remained united regardless of the means of survival.
'Right. According to the story, the strongest son inherits the throne unconditionally.'
That was the moment when Eric realized the true nature of the imperial family once more.
Zarax asked again.
"Whatever. Your brother first reached out to forgive you. Do you still not feel guilty?"
'Look at this little snake playing the role of an innocent puppy in front of his father.'
You want to make me look like the villain here, huh? Alright, so be it.
Ash looked at Zarax in silence for a moment.
In Zarex's flashback, he mentioned that when he was about to kill his older brother, his brother told him that he would forgive him.
What Zarax said at the time was...
'What did he say then? Oh, I remember.'
'Isn't forgiveness just an excuse for the weak who have no power to take revenge?'
For a moment, Zarax's eyes widened.
'Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.'
The sound of laughter was so loud that the windows shook throughout the room.
Zarax leaned back in his chair with a look of complete satisfaction.
'Interesting.'
The conversation with Zarax ended here.
'Alright, I'll overlook this this time. Be careful next time, or you'll face severe punishment.'
'You may leave now.'
'Your Majesty, I have something to tell you.'
Zarax looked at me with a puzzled expression.
'You may enter, Ron.'
At that moment, the door opened, and Ron entered, throwing down the bodies of a man and a woman with their faces down.
Zarax's expression became intense, and he said in a cold voice.
"Explain what all this means now."
"Ron, remove the covers from their heads."
Zarax was shocked by what he saw and said in a surprised voice.
'A vampire and a demon worshipper.'
Zarax's gaze became extremely sharp.
"Explain this to me."
"They are spies in the imperial palace. This is Mike, the head chef, and he is a spy whose true identity is one of the demon worshippers who tried to cast a curse on me, and Clara Burst, one of the servants, whose true identity is a former queen of vampires sent as a spy—"
Before I could finish speaking, Zarax's killing intent erupted, and he said in an angry voice,
'Those damned scoundrels, how dare they attempt something like this? I'll crush them.'
"Ron."
"Yes sir."
Ron approached the emperor and bowed,
"This is a list of other spies in the palace and throughout the entire capital that I gathered through the interrogation and torture of these rats."
Zarax took the paper from Ron.
"Taylor"
The Emperor summoned his servant and announced
"Summoning all the Shadow Wolves we'll probably have a lot of work to do."
The Shadow Wolves are Zarax's personal hounds and special forces under the Emperor's wing.
Ash thought to himself
'The real fun starts now.'