“Lawless Emperor!”This was the ‘Decree’ Arran was gifted with. Compared to Renee’s and Daphne’s ‘Fire’s Child’, this decree sounded very whimsical, albeit full of ominous woe.Looking at the decree, Arran pondered and tried to figure out what it meant but it was hard to come up with anything meaningful.In the first place, what was a ‘lawless emperor’?An emperor was one who stood above the laws of a nation. His words themselves were the law. But at the same time, an emperor was not truly lawless, as he abided by certain rules. It is why emperors still had ministers to assist them in governing their nations.On the other hand, a tyrant was one who was truly lawless, as there was nothing that could truly bind their actions. But seeing as the decree was not directly named tyrant, it meant there was more to the decree than what it implied on the surface.Fortunately, Arran didn’t have to stress too much about the meaning of the decree. He simply decided to read the brief description of
Arran’s return was as silent as his departure. When he docked at the port, there were only a few people waiting to receive him. Considering that Arran had just been officially appointed the first heir and crown prince of the air seat of authority, this kind of treatment was very shabby.By now, news of who Arran had already begun to spread among the civilizations' populace. An incomplete story of Arran’s origins that was deliberately released to the public circulated through people's lips.With the sudden announcement of a new heir to the once-empty throne of the Aeolus kingdom, people wanted to know who this crown prince was, so this matter became the topic of discussion for everybody.When Arran’s information was released, there were various reactions from everybody. For those who did not know him, Arran was a stranger to them and for those who knew of him, they might only remember Arran as the mysterious Kingsman that had participated in the chosen ceremony only to disappear after
Charles Hemsworth had a way of handling things when it came to his family. Whenever it came to important matters of discussion, he never expressed his opinions first, instead letting others have a go first. Even then, after everybody had finished speaking, Charles still refrained from speaking and the decision on what policy to implement would be taken based on a vote of popular opinion among the family in whose opinion was better.It may seem like Charles was handing out a lot of responsibility to his family and staying out of the matter, which would cause his authority to diminish. But that was not the case. Instead, Charles served as the last buffer line, a bastion for the family, in case things went wrong.With his status and ability in the Aeth civilization, Charles was able to handle any consequences that may arise from a wrong decision made by the family. This was the confidence of a man who stood at the top of the world… below a few, but above many others.Of course, if Charle
“Welcome back, your highness. I trust your journey was a fruitful one?”At the dock, Councilwoman Tara received Arran upon his arrival. Behind her were a few of her trusted aides accompanying her.Arran, Dean Hubert, Renee, and Daphne disembarked from their shuttle. Their groups exchanged greetings upon meeting.“Thank you, Councilwoman Tara. The journey went well. I learned many new things and was given various surprises. In the end, it was a wonderful experience.” Arran spoke from his heart.Smiling, Councilwoman Tara said, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself on this trip.”After saying that, the councilwoman turned to Vice Dean Hubert and said, “It is good to see you again, Dean Hubert. On behalf of the royal council of the Aeth civilization, I would like to formally thank you for escorting his highness on this important journey. Your contributions will not go unrecognized.”Shaking his head, Vice Dean Hubert responded.“Don’t mention it. I was just doing what needed to be done. It was
It didn’t take long for Arran to understand what Councilwoman Tara was hinting at. In short, Arran had been deceived. Despite all he did to make sure he wasn’t taken advantage of by Velar, the Gullan still managed to pull a fast one over Arran.Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier it was!For all his wit and intelligence, Arran berated himself for not being able to see through Velar’s scheme.The main point of Arran’s dissatisfaction wasn’t that he had been deceived into selecting Renee and Daphne as his retainers… no! No matter what the case may be, Arran would still have chosen to do the same and make them his retainers. The difference between Arran knowing the custom and not was that if Arran knew the custom of the first retainer being selected for him, he would have waited until the council had chosen a retainer for him before making the sisters his retainers. It wasn't like there was a time limit to when a retainer could be chosen and curing the girls was not urgent. They co
The meeting with the council members ran on until very late into the night. All thirteen members of the royal council and Arran discussed the next course of action after Arran’s appointment. By the time Arran arrived in his room, he was dead tired and quickly slumped into bed before dozing off into unconsciousness.The next morning…Arran woke with a frown on his face. On a very rare occasion, the morning sunlight managed to peek out of the thick clouds and decided to shine strongly on Arran’s face through his open window and interrupting his slumber.Arran tossed and turned on his bed, wanting to return to his dreams, to no avail. Finally, he annoyingly groaned and got up from the bed. Glancing outside the window at the bright ray of sunshine, Arran gave it the finger in disgruntlement, showing no princely qualities in doing so.Feeling better, Arran prepared to tackle the day ahead.Just as he took his first step of the day, Arran froze. There was another update in the Akashic Recor
“You two don’t have to be like that when you’re around me. You can just relax and treat me just like you always did. I don’t mind.”Arran felt weird about the way Renee and Daphne treated him. It was a bit much for their attitude towards him to suddenly shift so much and he was not used to it.Renee and Daphne looked at each other before raising their heads. They were visibly relieved that Arran’s attitude towards them didn’t change and he still treated them like usual.With no worries, Renee said, “Thank you. In that case, is there anything you need from us this morning?”Arran shook his head in denial. He said, “Nothing. I just wanted to come and see how you both are doing. I know a lot has happened in such a short time and you may not be used to it so I was concerned.”The sisters were moved. Arran’s words reminded them of how he was towards Brianna during the chosen ceremony. Back then, Brianna was very weak compared to Renee and Daphne. The two of them would never have spared her
Inside the room, Arran entered. There were already seven occupants present. Arran’s eyes swept through the lot of them unfriendly in search of the one that had just spoken. With a single glance, Arran took in the faces of everybody in the room and a look of surprise crossed his face. Among the seven, Arran was surprised to find he actually recognized a few of them. On the left side of the room, a group of three people sat together in what was an obvious separation from the others. Among these three, Arran recognized all of them from the chosen ceremony that took place five years ago. They were participants who had made it to the contest's final round. That is why Arran could still remember them, even now. One of them was Joyner Wellington. He was the unfortunate person who had faced off against a corrupted Carrum during the second round and got defeated, much to the surprise of everybody watching. Back then, Arran had been particularly interested in the fight and had watched the ba