Title: The Shadow Behind the Throne

POV: Christiana Blackwood – The Dictator

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The scent of war still lingered in the air—smoke, blood, metal. From the tallest tower in the Imperial Palace, I watched as the sun began to set over the war-torn horizon, painting the sky with streaks of crimson. My father—no, the God of the Blackwood Empire—had led the charge himself. Victory was inevitable the moment he stepped onto the battlefield. The world had seen what we were truly capable of.

But the weight of this empire... that belonged to me when his sword was sheathed.

I stood in the War Room, massive blackened maps spread across the stone table. Advisors, generals, spies, all rotated in and out with news, but only I remained constant. Everything filtered through me. Every name signed, every gate opened, every punishment sanctioned—it was by my word. While he was the blade, I was the hand that gripped it.

Still, today… today felt different.

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I had just received the report: he'd asked to be on the frontlines. That alone was madness in the eyes of the world. But to us, it was a declaration. The God-King didn't just sit on his throne—he earned it every day.

And while the world trembled before him, I kept the machine running. The border forces, the internal surveillance units, the re-education camps—all under my control. I ensured no cracks formed while he scorched the earth.

But there was something deeper boiling under the surface… a quiet unrest. Traitors we'd uncovered, families secretly trying to alter records to avoid the Blackwood surname. I had dealt with them swiftly—confiscations, erasures, disappearances. Their names removed from history. Not because I wanted to. Because I had to.

---

Earlier that day

A message had arrived. Urgent. Sealed with the royal emblem.

Father wanted to see me.

In person.

That alone sent a ripple through my core. Not fear—he never made me fear him. But it was rare for him to ask anything of anyone. Especially me.

I stepped into the chamber where he waited—still dressed in battle gear, dried blood across his shoulder plates. His aura was overwhelming, pressing down on the air itself.

> "You've done well," he said simply.

I nodded, my posture straight, hiding the fatigue beneath my eyes.

> "Thank you, my Lord. The Empire stands—unshaken."

He studied me for a moment. "But not untouched."

That's when I told him.

Everything.

The border breaches. The noble houses secretly trafficking old names. The education institutions hiding former identities. The false registries. The failed inspections. The spies who tried to hide under the Blackwood name while selling secrets to the outer regions.

And worse—some of our own had begun to question the extremity of our dominance. Cowards in silk robes.

His silence was thunderous. Then he asked, voice cold:

> "What do you need?"

It was the first time he had ever asked me that.

I didn't flinch. "One hundred million Black Axe Men. Elite. Obedient. Unshakable."

Without hesitation, he agreed.

---

Deployment

Now, they were mine.

A hundred million Black Axe Men, armed with the finest weaponry known to man. Tactical vehicles, heavy armor, bio-engineered warhounds, and surveillance drones. Black flame tanks and stealth artillery. All under one command: me.

They reported only to him—but in his absence, they were mine to wield.

I redeployed them to the core of the empire. Every city under full surveillance. Checkpoints. Curfews. Document audits. Even the air they breathed was monitored.

They were no longer protectors of the empire.

They were instruments of purification.

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Now

I stood before the command podium, thousands of officers aligned below me.

> "The God-King has won the war. Now it's our turn to win the peace," I said, voice cutting through the air.

> "Any citizen found without the Blackwood name will be treated as a defector. Any record not bearing his mark is to be corrected—or destroyed. If they are not with us, they are against us. And if they are against us, they are already dead."

A sea of black helmets nodded as one.

I turned to the central screen where live satellite feeds beamed in from every corner of the empire. Every whisper, every step, every file... was under my control.

This was the Blackwood Empire.

And I was its shadow queen.

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