"His Majesty would like to have lunch with Your Royal Highness." In other words, the Emperor won't be having breakfast with them. He would have lunch with Garrick to discuss the rules that were imposed on him. Hearing this, Garrick nodded his head. "Is there anything else?" Garrick asked in an impatient tone. Alfred hesitated for a second before deciding to speak. "Well, I learned sothing very interesting about the Pri Minister today."
"What is it?" If it was an insignificant matter, then Alfred wouldn't have brought this up. "This morning, I heard from a servant that the Pri Minister has used his authority to release a prisoner." Hearing this, Garrick frowned.
Only the Emperor had such power. But this dawn Pri Minister keeps crossing his limits. Garrick did not like what he was hearing. "Who is this prisoner? And for what cri was he put in prison in the first place?" Garrick curiously asked. "I did so digging and found that this Prisoner is the little step-brother of the Pri Minister's wife." 'He is again bringing his family before the Empire.' Garrick tightly clenched his fists. He completely went against his belief. He always put the interests of the Empire before his needs, and he always expected the pri minister and others to do the sa. Yet, this is the 4th ti he has caught the Pri Minister not following this rule. Garrick began to doubt the loyalty of the Pri Minister. "He was sentenced to prison because he was found guilty of abusing his powers." "He used work as one of the Royal Officials." "Doesn't that an the Pri Minister is just abusing his powers?" Emma asked. Her question was directed towards Alfred and Garrick. Hearing her question, neither of them responded, but deep down, they also admitted that this was true. "I think I should inform this to His Majesty during our eting." Garrick made up his mind. Sothing like this cannot be ignored. It was ti for the Pri Minister to be judged. "Your Royal Highness, I don't think this would work." It was Emma again. "What do you an?" Garrick asked, looking confused. "His Majesty clearly values Sir Eldric too much. I don't think His Majesty will punish Sir Eldric for sothing as small as this." Alfred also agreed with Garrick. In fact, the opposite might happen. If Garrick decides to speak about this matter, The Emperor might beco angry at the fact that Garrick decided to waste his ti with such a small matter. After calming down, Garrick also realized this. Indeed, Emma's words were very true. But in Garrick's heart, there was a strong sense of unwillingness. Why can't everyone be like him? He wasn't naive enough to think that every citizen of the Empire would place this Empire before their needs. Even though he wants this to happen, this cannot be implented. But he at least expected the Pri Minister of all people to follow this rule. 'I hate this!!' 'Why do I always have to make sacrifices for the interest of the Empire, but when others don't do the sa, it's considered acceptable?' Garrick felt it was unfair. What hadn't he given up for the greater good of the Empire? Yet, he was facing this kind of situation. 'Did my sacrifices even worth anything?' Garrick couldn't help but ask himself. His stubbornness to accept this cos from the fact that he has sacrificed his desires for the Empire for many centuries. This wasn't just one or two days. This wasn't even one or two years. This was more than 500 years of sacrifice. What does he get in return despite doing all this for the Empire? 'Two punishnts!!!' For the first ti, Garrick felt hurt. His heart was in pain. "Alright!! You can leave!!"
"Also, bring our breakfast here. I won't be going to the dining table today." Garrick was in doubt and confused. He was doubting his actions. And more importantly, he was hurt by the Emperor's orders. He felt ntally too exhausted to head to the dining hall today. "Understood!!" Once Alfred left them alone, Emma understood his worries. She silently leaned her body against his chest and said in a soft tone. "Your Highness, please don't get my words the wrong way, but given how things are going, I can't help but feel that His Majesty is giving more importance to the Pri Minister than you. It feels as if His Majesty cares more about the Pri Minster than you." Garrick did not speak, but he felt that her words were indeed the truth. And the truth only hurt him even more. Garrick felt very disappointed in his father. He was the man that he wanted to impress the most in this world. Yet, today, all he felt towards him today was disappointnt. Never in his life has Garrick ever felt this disappointnt before. "Your Highness, I also beginning to doubt if His Majesty is just using you. And never really planned to make you the Next Emperor of this Empire." Emma's words struck him in a place that really hurt the most. 'Is it really the case?' Suddenly, now that he was looking back, he felt Emma's words made sense. For over 500 years, Garrick has been doing this, yet he has never once heard the Emperor talk about stepping down to let him beco the new Emperor. "If His Majesty really intended to make you the Next Emperor, then he slowly would have started handing you more responsibilities, but the opposite is happening to you." Garrick subconsciously nodded his head.
Garrick wasn't allowed to lead the army to suppress the rebels. He couldn't lead the army to end their ongoing war. Before, this wasn't the case. "Although a lowly person like shouldn't be saying this, I feel, Your Highness, has been used as a tool by His Majesty." 'Now that I look back, I have never disobeyed the orders of the Emperor. I have fulfilled every order of the Emperor to perfection.' Garrick felt that what she was saying was correct. 'Was I really used as a tool?' Garrick doubted himself. "Your Highness, there is one last thing that I would like to say if you give permission."
"Emma, don't need to be so formal with ." In such a short ti, both of them got closer. Garrick even felt that making Emma his wife would be the best choice. He did not have any romantic interest in her, but he felt that having such a beautiful and understanding partner wouldn't be so bad. "Because what I am about to say might make Your Highness mad or offended. So, I ask for your forgiveness in advance. I need to get these words out of my chest." Emma looked very frustrated at this mont. Garrick was surprised to see her like this. "Alright!! I permit you. Go ahead....!!"
"Your Highness, I feel that His Majesty is not fit to be the Emperor anymore." Hearing this, Garrick widened his eyes.
He looked at Emma for an explanation. Emma looked fearful of Garrick but continued. "Your Highness, from what I have heard and seen so far, it seems that after so many centuries of being the Emperor, His Majesty's mind has beco tired and exhausted. It seems his mind isn't as sharp as it was before." "Let's take the recent event as an example. Before, His Majesty allowed you to give your opinion and also lead the army. But this ti, His Majesty valued the Pri Minister's opinion too, to the point where he refused even to have you in their eting." "In this whole chaotic situation, His Majesty has made a lot of mistakes." "He made the mistake of gathering the correct information before sending out his troops. Due to his mistake, many innocent civilians died, which could have been prevented." "While trying to suppress the rebels, His Majesty only caused the public to be more dissatisfied with his actions and orders. This caused even more dissatisfied people to join the protest."
"His Majesty had the perfect opportunity to strike the Istarin Empire while the Empire was busy dealing with their allies."
"We could have used this chance to weekend the Empire. Even if we couldn't directly take action, we always could have hired 3rd parties to damage various parts of the Empire while the Emperor was occupied." Hearing this, Garrick also nodded his head. Originally, he suggested this idea to the Emperor but his suggestion was rejected without giving any consideration. He also received a scolding from the Emperor. "We may not understand how just big of a mistake it was, but as ti passes and the Istarin Empire keeps getting stronger and stronger, this mistake will only beco bigger. Because we might never find such a golden opportunity again." "Even now, His Majesty is trying to end the rebellions."
"I think the rebellion should never have been the Empire's priority. The Empire's attention should have been on its biggest threat, the Istarin Empire."
"I agree with what you said." But Garrick still wasn't convinced that the Emperor should step down. However, he felt very frustrated by the fact that he had been being used as a tool for so long, yet the Emperor was showing no sign of stepping down what he wanted as the Emperor to step down on his own. Only through that way would Garrick feel that he has gained the Emperor's recognition.
"Your Highness, do you realize that you will be much happier and more satisfied once you stop trying to gain His Majesty's recognition."
"You can always prove yourself after becoming the Emperor." Her words were like a devil whispering into his ears. Garrick felt very tempted at this mont. He almost gave in to temptation. •••
Scene Change_____ Later in the afternoon, "Where is Soraya?" Charles calmly asked his son. "I don't know. I haven't seen her yet." Garrick was sitting opposite, facing Charles. Both of them were having lunch together. Since this ti is ant to be alone ti between the father and son, Soraya wasn't called here. "Is that so?" "Have you even stepped out of your room since last night?" Suddenly, Charles's tone beca sharp. His expression beca stern. Before Garrick could respond, Charles continued. "I heard about the woman that you brought into your room. Even after knowing that I have forbidden you from ever bringing any won to the Royal Castle, you still allowed that lowly bitch to remain in your bedroom." Garrick did not like the way Charles addressed Emma. He was pissed, but he didn't show it. 'The Emperor is above everyone.' He kept repeating the sa line to calm himself. "Have you forgotten who you are?" Charles asked in a loud, angry tone. This is the first ti Charles has lost his calm like this. This was the first ti Charles was angrily shouting at Garrick. Charles has been so overwheld with everything around him that he has been in a bad mood recently. And the stupid actions that his son was doing while being obsessed with the Istarin Empire weren't helping either. "Your Majesty, I apologize. I will send her back." Garrick lowered his head and calmly apologized. "Hmph!! It's good that you still know your position." To Garrick's ears, this remark felt like a mocking sentence. Suddenly, he felt insulted. "Your Majesty, may I ask why my monthly allowance was reduced?" "Hmph!! Right now, the Empire needs to focus on suppressing the rebels. I want you to focus on that. Stop focusing on gathering useless information about the Istarin Empire."
"Knowing more about the nobles of the Istarin Empire won't give us any advantage against them. You're just wasting money." "Also, these two restrictions are your punishnt. I want you to calm down and reflect on your recent actions."
"Your recent actions have been too centered around the Istarin Empire. You cannot keep being this obsessed." ----------------
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