The Emperor

While the mother and daughter pair were in the middle of their argument, they heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Scarlett asked.

"Your Highness, it's me Alma."

She heard the voice of her personal maid from behind the door.

"Come in." She quickly replied.

Soon she saw the maid entering carrying a parchment. Yes, this was the maid whom she had sent to get Raymond's signature.

Seeing the Empress with her princess, the maid quickly kneeled and offered her greetings.

"Alright, get up Alma, tell me what happened with Raymond, did he sign the notice?" The Empress asked hurriedly.

"Yes, Your Majesty, young master Raymond has signed the notice." She handed the notice to the Empress.

"You can leave." The Empress said flatly.

Alma got up and made her way out of the hall in a daze. She still couldn't wrap her head around the thought that Raymond could defeat two Grandmasters in a single move, and he moved so fast that she couldn't even see his shadow.

She was shocked speechless and wanted to stay away as far as she could from matters related to him.

The Empress quickly opened the parchment after Alma left and sighed after seeing Raymond's sign at the end.

'Brother Thomas, looks like I can only be your sister in name in this life.'

She shook her head and handed the parchment to her daughter.

"Are you happy now? He has signed the notice, poor Raymond, he has been lonely ever since his father died and now he must be thinking that the Imperial Family is abandoning him after his father's death." She said in anger.

Scarlett wasn't in the mood to reply to her mother, she took the parchment excitedly and saw Raymond's signature.

'Hmph, good thing he signed. At least he knows his place." She heaved a sigh of relief as she had taken care of this unfair marriage agreement.

"Mother, I need to report this to father as soon as possible, we will continue our talk later, please stay and enjoy the tea served by my maids."

"Quickly, prepare the best tea for my mother." She ordered some servants and left her courtyard.

The Empress shook her head helplessly after seeing her daughter leave.

*******

Imperial Palace, Grand Hall.

The Grand Hall was located in the front part of the Imperial Palace and occupied a quarter of the total space in the Imperial Palace.

Its walls were decorated with various motifs and tapestries and each one depicted a story of the previous generation of Emperors who ruled the FireBorn Empire.

In the middle of the hall was a throne made of pure mithril which was situated on a high raised platform made of gold. Golden steps were built on the four sides of the platform for the Emperor to make his way up to the throne.

Top of the throne was decorated to look like a Phoenix head and fiery wings stretched out from behind the backrest of the throne, making it look like a Phoenix has been turned into a throne.

Behind this platform was a number of balconies where the Empress and other concubines of the Emperor would come to watch the Emperor conducting his duties.

In front of the throne were a series of golden seats on both sides, where high ranking court officials, ministers, and scholars would sit on the left side and all the noble lords and military officials would sit on the right side.

But for the moment the Grand Hall was empty except for a man sitting on the throne deep in thought.

He had flaming red hair that fell on his shoulders, red eyes and red coloured moustache adorned his face. He was a very tall man reaching almost 2 metres in height.

He had a majestic aura around him which would cause any weak willed humans looking at him to kneel down in fear and worship.

He was the current Emperor of the FireBorn Empire. His name was Elmer J. Phoenix. As befitting an emperor he was also in the realm of a Martial Emperor.

He soon felt his daughter Scarlett approaching the Grand Hall's door, before she could knock on the door he spoke.

"Come in." His calm voice reverberated across the hall and the door of the hall opened on its own.

Scarlett made her way inside and kneeled in front of her father and greeted him.

"Your Majesty."

The Emperor had a simple rule that everyone from the Imperial Family should not address him as anything other than his proper designation when in the Grand Hall and in public.

Scarlett knew it and she didn't dare to call him father now.

"Arise, Scarlett. Why have you come?" He asked directly, skipping all the formalities.

"Your Majesty, Raymond and I have signed the annulment notice and according to the Empire's law we are no longer engaged to get married in the future." She informed him while bowing her head.

"Hmm, Thomas was not just my commander he was also my closest friend. It's a shame that you and his son don't feel compatible." The Emperor narrowed his eyes.

"Your Majesty, it would be futile to marry him if I can't spend the rest of my life with him, he also knows that fact, that's why we have decided to cancel our engagement."

"This isn't about that, Raymond is a very important person of this Empire, if he calls for help more than half of the army will rush to his side due to his father's name. He would have been the biggest support for your elder brother when he becomes the crown prince in the future."

"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about that, there has been rumours about him spreading across the empire." She quickly informed him.

"Oh, what rumour?" Even though he knew about the rumours he asked his daughter to hear her version of the rumour.

"There is a rumour going on in the army that Raymond has used his father's noble sacrifice to the Empire as a means to gain support of the noble lords and become the next head of the Clover family. He is saying that his father was murdered by someone from the Empire, most of the army is very angry with him for portraying his father's valiant death as a murder."

"Hmm, I assume you have nothing to do with these rumours?" questioned the Emperor.

"No, your Majesty. I have nothing to do with these rumours. In fact there is half truth in this rumour, he was asking about his father at Duke Denver's birthday party."

"I hope you are telling the truth, if I find out you had something to do with this, I will forget that you are my daughter." The Emperor warned her in a cold tone.

"I understand , your Majesty." She bowed her head in obedience.

"Good, seeing as you both have decided to cancel the arrangement made by us, I will respect your wishes and not pursue this matter anymore. Give me the annulment notice."

Scarlett took out the parchment and the Emperor casually waved his hand causing the parchment to fly up to him.

He carefully read the notice and stamped it with the Imperial Seal. With that the engagement was officially cancelled.

"You can leave." The Emperor ordered.

She bowed her head and made her way out of the hall and the door closed on its own after she left.