Perspective: Emperor Chris Blackwood
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The room was dim, quiet but heavy. Only the soft whirring of the projector hummed in the background. I stood alone in the royal screening chamber—no advisors, no guards, no family. Just me… and the truth.
The video flickered to life.
The images came in grainy at first, then crystal clear: Blackwood citizens—my people—tied, beaten, left to die like animals in a town we once called strategic. A child's swollen face. Blood dried on concrete. The seal of the Blackwood flag torn and spat on.
Then came Commander Kade's voice over the footage:
> "Sir, we found your people. Broken but alive. The traitors among us will pay."
I didn't blink.
I didn't breathe.
When the final shot played—three Blackwood commanders being dragged out by their collars, weeping, begging—I closed my fist tight enough to crack my knuckles.
> "Three… of mine," I muttered, pacing.
"Three of my own people took bribes and turned against us. Against me."
I walked to the throne at the head of the chamber. Not to sit, but to stand over it.
I tapped the direct comm line.
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Chris (into mic):
> "Commander Kade. Excellent work. Pull out the survivors. Treat every single one like royalty. Triple their rations and give them gold seals—make it known they are heroes of the state."
> "Now for the traitors... publicly execute them in Riverpoint. In the very place they sold us out. No trial. No mercy."
> "As for their families—strip every one of their benefits. Cancel their names from the citizen archive. If even a child in their bloodline dares to bear the name Blackwood again, it will be a crime."
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Moments later...
I ordered the national broadcast to pause all programming.
My face appeared live on every screen, device, and wall across the Blackwood Empire.
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Chris Blackwood, speaking to the world:
> "To every citizen… this is a message of judgment. Three commanders betrayed the name that feeds them, shelters them, and made them."
> "They are no longer Blackwood. Their lives are forfeit. Their families erased. The name is a legacy, not a free badge."
> "To anyone harboring traitors, to those thinking of crossing me—I hope this footage haunts you. Because if I ever find betrayal again… there will be no exile. Only annihilation."
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I stepped back from the camera.
I could feel the fire in my chest burning steady. Not wild rage—but focused fury.
The kind only emperors carry.
> "They tried to poison my empire from within," I said quietly to myself, "but I am the antidote."
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