POV The Emperor, James
I had received a strange call from Caedrel, telling me about a video in which he was using his powers to their full extent. I had to admit that I was quite doubtful he had been pushed into such a situation, but when I saw the video, I had no choice but to agree with him.
He truly had been using all of his powers. This also meant that I now had something I could potentially hold over Caedrel’s head for as long as I wished—something I could finally use against him, after all this time.
If he was desperate enough to call me, making sure I would fix the situation, then he was bound to be pretty nervous over this whole thing.
In a few minutes, I would have my meeting with the Patriarch of the Evergreen Family, and I couldn’t wait to see how things would go.
Sure enough, a few moments passed by, and someone was knocking on my door.
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
“Enter,” I declared with a strong and cold voice befitting an Emperor.
The Evergreen Patriarch walked through the door with a serious look on his face, not even greeting me—a departure from what I usually experienced in such meetings.
He found his way to the seat in front of me, and we just stared at each other for a few moments. I wasn’t planning on starting the conversation.
After some time, however, I had no choice but to begin; I couldn’t sit around like this all day. I broke the silence as I said, “So, why are you here? Why did you want to meet with me?”
The Patriarch pondered for a moment before responding, “I acquired new information on Caedrel Stuart, the professor of your daughter and my son, and I think you should have a look at this.”
With those words, the Evergreen Patriarch pulled his phone out of his pocket and placed it on the table between us. He pressed play, and the video started rolling.
I had already seen the video because Caedrel had sent it to me, but even watching it a second time, I couldn’t help but be in complete awe of his powers. There was no doubt that he was one of the most powerful humans in the world. The extent of his powers was simply unmatched by anyone within the Empire.
A few minutes passed by, and finally, the video came to a close.
“This…is definitely interesting. What were you planning to do with this video?” I asked before saying anything else.
The Patriarch had a sly smile on his face as he leaned over the table. “I was thinking of sharing this video with the leaders of all the races. What do you think? I’m sure it could create quite a bit of hatred toward him, considering that he’s using ‘their’ powers in the video. They would surely be furious…who knows what they might do? I even heard that you recently became an enemy to Caedrel—this is just the perfect opportunity to hit him where it hurts!”
I clenched my teeth. This was quite an annoying situation because, while the Patriarch of the Evergreen Family was right, I was definitely more worried about what Caedrel would do if he learned I hadn’t listened to his request. After all, I knew very well that he did not care about politics. If he was angry with me, he might very well kill me on sight without even thinking about the situation.
“All right, can you give me this video? I will update you on how I deal with this. We still have to be careful, because I’m sure you noticed while watching this that Caedrel is very powerful. If he learns we’re responsible, then he might become our enemy, which isn’t something we want.”
The Patriarch of the Evergreen family just scoffed. “Who cares if we anger him! Do you really think he would be stupid enough to become the enemy of the Emperor? He might be hot-headed, but this is just too far for someone like him!”
‘You’d be surprised. He wouldn’t even think about it if he believed it was the right thing to do.’
As I had this thought, I kept it to myself; I didn’t want to anger the Patriarch or let him know I would simply keep this video for myself and not share it with anyone.
“I’ll repeat. Just give me this video, and I will decide how to handle this situation,” I declared in a cold voice. “This is an order.”
The Patriarch of the Evergreen family knew it was absolutely foolish to go against the Royal Family, so he handed his phone over to me.
“All right, here is the video. However, please remember my suggestion. I think it would be the best way to approach this.”
I merely nodded as if agreeing with him.
“I will make sure to remember. However, before I let you go, I need to be certain. This was the only copy of the video you had, correct?”
“My son was the one who sent it, so he has a copy of the video, but that’s it. I swear. After all, I would never go against the Emperor’s wishes.”
I nodded; it was refreshing to talk with someone who would actually listen to me. Spending time with Caedrel was truly unusual since he would never listen to a word I said, not caring about my opinion whatsoever.
“Perfect. You are dismissed. Thank you for sharing this valuable information with me. I will make sure you are compensated according to its value.”
With those words, we exchanged goodbyes, and the Patriarch of the Evergreen Family left without the video.
As soon as I saw him leaving the room, I called Caedrel, who answered right away.
“It’s done. He no longer has the video.”
“Perfect. I will respect my side of the deal we made as soon as I return to the Empire Kingdom. Don’t worry,” Caedrel, who was on the other side of the phone, answered.
