Chapter 17: Truth and Dare

For the longest time I have known his Majesty he has always been like this. Never following the rules of be 'kind' Emperor for the people. No, he was ruthless, cold, calculated, manipulative and detached, never letting people fool him nor trick him into doing thing he didn't want. He stood on his own, fought battles alone and always come out winning. In the last few years as him being Emperor has removed laws that gave nobles power to increase they wealth while leaving the poorer commoners with nothing for them to grow on. Also making nobles pay taxes, removing slave trade in the empire and child labour. He also gave job opportunities to the poorer communities in the slums by giving them rebuilding projects. He built the first school in the slums and gave them new homes to live in. For a person who was born and bred in the slums and the only one who was lucky enough to be able to read I was lucky his majesty found me at my young age and let me work in the palace as his servant. All my life I always thought the Emperor didn't care about the people in the slums. That's is what we were told all our lives.

"Why would the great Emperor look at low bloods like you."

And that's them being nice. Then I realised something after I came working in the palace and that is the previous Emperor was used by the noble and his advisors. They made it seem like we as the people in the slums were to pride to take the help form the Emperor. The lied and manipulated him in think that they as the nobles were helping the poor but us were the one who need appreciated what they gave up.

Later I found out that those nobles under the previous Emperor were taking the welfare money for the slums into they own pockets and using child labour and slaves for they businesses to avoid paying they workers.

Funny enough the Emperor knew all of this. He knew who,why and how they were pulling this off. He knew if he wanted to be a true Emperor without being use he must know how to play the game.

"Wait your Majesty I … I did commit those crimes. In the name of my family I did-"

"It is that same name in which you are here Earl Maxtim. We have found evidence of this crime in you own home." The Emperor said.

Confusion still on Earl Maxtim face as he looks at the Emperor then me. 'Something is not right…' i thought to myself. Then I pushed the thought away.

"Yes! Yes , Your Majesty I understand and I can confess that I am guilty of bribery. Two of the nobles I know had a deal to get cheaper materials for the reconstruction but that money was not used in evil an way. We used that money to pay the workers and feed the children in our charity. They are-"

I cut him off not letting him finish for I knew where he was going with this and what charity he was talking about. It was the same place where the human trafficking and murders happened.

"Yes Earl Maxtim, we know of your charity home. It's a very well put place. Not any other territory in the empire has a well run charity like your. It's runs so well that the same children you help are the ones we found sold in the slave trade and murdered by some of the people that bought them." I said as I pushed my glasses up.

"And also the men under you are the ones who kidnapped the streets children and focus them to work in your factories to get cheap labour."

"CHILDREN DO NOT WORK AT MY FACTORIES SIR! DO NOT MAKE UP-"

"Ai Cole

Sam Spin

Amy Pot

Red (last name unknown)

Peter Wik

Nash Landon.

This are some of the children that were found dead. They were writern under your register in your charity. Am I correct." I said in a cold tone. Shock rung out of the Earls face as he took a step back shacking his head. Like he didn't believe the words that came out of my mouth.

"No those child, those child we killed by the fire last winter. That's not possible there were…there were bodies I saw then they were-" he said in a chock voice as he cut himself off. Then slowly with a calculated expression he turn to face his wife and looked at her. He looked at her like it is the first time he has see this person and he didn't know who they were. Then his expression change to cold indifference.

"What…did…you..do women!?" the Earl said slowly to his wife. The wife in question eyes widen in fear looking around the room to me and the Emperor like we will help her explain.

'What is happening' I thought again as the confusion set in not knowing what has happened. The Earl committed this crimes and he also confessed to one of the crimes to so why is his anger directed to his wife.

"I can answer that for you." The Emperor said with a cold smile while also looking at the wife.

"Your lovely wife here has been running a illegal underground ring that sells women and children into slavary. Also kidnaps young child from the streets and uses them to work your factories and not pay them." He said as he shot a cold at his wife making a silent promise of retribution for the children lives.

"Regarding the fire that happened last winter…she did it. The thing is your wife saw that you were taking a interest in the charity and how it worked, but that was not just it she saw you were especially interested in one of the boys there what his name…Ah! Red…She didn't like that so she hired the local gang in your territory and paid them to kidnap the children and replace them with other dead bodies and took the children and sold them into the slave trade. Did I hit my mark." His Majesty said as he looked at the wife.

She stilled then began to shake in fear as she looked up at the Emperor knowing what ever she says now will not change anything. I turn to look up at the Emperor as he sat back in his chair, cold smile on his face as he looked down at the women.

"You… you did this Catherine. You did this to us"

"YES! Yes I did this and you know why. Cause of that whore of a women and child and you" she said with acid in her voice.

"You blame me for this no! no! no! I blame you! If you didn't sleep with that women I didn't have to take those useless children and sell them off. I had plans for them anyway but then you started saying we should adopt that rat and give him OUR noble name and live with US! WHO IS HE THAN A SON OF A WHORE!" She shouted.

The women words echoed in the hall as the rest of the room fell in silence. I didn't know what to think after the words that came out of the wife's mouth. She was the one who did this, she was the one who focused women and children to work with no pay or food, she was the one who kidnapped the children, she was the one who killed them. I know that the children that live in the slums don't have anything but since the Emperor took over I can say things got better but what makes it worse is that the children she took from those slums had families not all of the were streets children they were just children playing on the streets and she ripped them away from they families with… no care.

I turned and looked up at the Emperor to see if what she says is true and with out saying anything I knew, I knew by just looking at him that what she has said today was true. The Earl my have taken a bribed from the two nobles but it was not out of greed but out of pure kindness. He used the power he has to help children who were not his own. Something you don't see in nobles and his wife hated that. She hated it so much that she took steps in destroying so many life's just to get rid of one child who didn't do anything but survive .

Coldness ran over my body making me think of my own past as I lived with my sister and she was taken and sold to a old noble man to be his plaything. She only live there for one year then she was killed by his men for running away . She was trying to come back to me and that gave her the hand of death.

Then a small voice came from the Earl that shock the whole room. " He wasn't my son."