Chapter 21 Divine Revelation

"Don't joke with me!! Damn traitors!!!"

The ex-crown prince of Lemuria, Hadrianus, was shaking with rage.

Originally, he was supposed to inherit the Lemurian Empire. But losing to his lust, he assaulted a noble girl and got disinherited because of it. Even now, Hadrianus still thought that it was all the girl's fault for tempting him.

Having been spoiled rotten by the Empress Dowager and Hadrianus III since childhood, the word "remorse" did not exist in his dictionary. He was not at fault, the world was.

"Why!! I am clearly worthy of the throne!! Why is that brat the Emperor?! Preposterous!!!"

There was no defending Hadrianus's behavior, but you can't help feeling a little pity for him. With his spoiled upbringing, it made sense that he couldn't control himself.

He had always been pampered, highly flattered and favored… But because of a single mistake, he was disinherited and forsaken by his father, and finally, got the throne snatched away by his brother younger by thirty years who was only recently born at the time.

He was certainly pitiful. But pity and sympathy were no reason to forgive him—reality was a cruel mistress.

"Blasted traitors!! Even though they gave me the sweet talk, they changed sides after a single speech!!"

Originally there were a lot of nobles in Hadrianus's camp. Non-elven nobles, mostly. Because Hercule had levied heavy taxes, they were disgruntled and so propped up Hadrianus to oppose Hercule.

Of course, most of them never thought to make Hadrianus the Emperor. Hercule was preferable to Hadrianus in every way.

The non-elven nobles simply felt an inferiority complex towards the traditional elven nobles. They only propped up Hadrianus to oppose the elven nobles who openly supported Hercule and to prevent Hercule from raising more taxes.

But the earlier speech changed everything.

The lands they inherited from their ancestors were laid waste by barbarians—this was true for both elven and non-elven nobles. Hercule had gotten a firm grasp on the nobility's hearts.

Some were moved by his speech. Some shared his opinion. Others just went with the flow. And—although only a few—some were clever enough to make out his intention and break away from Hadrianus.

Aside from the speech, there was another major reason why nobles were leaving Hadrianus's faction. It was the attempted assassination on Hercule.

Although the assassination wasn't made public, rumors had reached the nobility's ears.

The Lemurian Emperor held absolute authority, he was equivalent to the representative of God himself. To assassinate such a figure? That was going too far, no matter how you think about it.

The nobles feared Hercule's wrath, so they broke away from Hadrianus to avoid danger. Now, on Hadrianus's side only remained—

People cut from the same cloth as Hadrianus himself, who couldn't read between the lines and only interpreted the situation in a way convenient to them; and the unlucky nobles who had colluded too much with Hadrianus to turn back now.

"Your Imperial Majesty. Her Highness the Empress Dowager has come to visit you."

One of those fools who couldn't read between the lines reported to Hadrianus about his mother's arrival. Hadrianus had instructed the nobles in his faction to call him "Imperial Majesty" within his residence.

"Send her away! Mother's always yapping about how I should submit myself to Hercule as his vassal. She is his ally, too!! She's my enemy!!!"

Hadrianus had not sworn fealty to Hercule. That was a big problem.

No one was allowed to be friend or even sibling with the Emperor. The Emperor must be without equal, must be absolute. That was something all past Lemurian Emperors strived for.

Once Hercule assumed the throne, they were no longer brothers. Their relationship could be nothing other than that of a master and a servant. Hadrianus refusing to swear fealty to Hercule was the same as declaring that he didn't recognize Hercule as the Emperor. His attitude was worth being executed for treason.

He was only being kept alive because the Empress Dowager had pleaded Hercule to spare his life, and Hercule himself didn't want to tarnish his reputation by executing his brother. But Hadrianus thought Hercule was simply afraid of him.

People often refuse to believe something until they see it for themselves.

In contrast with Hadrianus was Hercule's stepbrother, Titus. The day Hercule was crowned, Titus wasted no time to seek an audience with Hercule and swore fealty to him. That was how Titus gained Hercule's trust and Hercule kept him company.

If Hadrianus had done the same even just for formality's sake, maybe he could afford to be a bit less paranoid… But his ego didn't allow him to do that.

He could no longer restrain the ego that had been spoiled rotten. That was apparent from how he ignored the warning from his own mother.

Even though she regarded Hadrianus as her only son, whom she dearly loved.

Even though she had pleaded Hercule to spare his life because she loved Hadrianus so much and wanted him to live on.

But Hadrianus wasn't aware of her love. He thought that she didn't love him after all, that she favored Hercule and supported him, wishing Hercule to be the Emperor.

If Hercule knew that, he would probably burst out laughing. "You seriously think that woman loves me? Get your eyes checked!"

Frankly speaking, Hercule and the Empress Dowager had an ice cold relationship. Between them, there were neither love nor hatred.

There was only indifference.

Because Hercule and the Empress Dowager had never had a real conversation, he didn't think of her as his mother but rather just a widow who had lost her husband. On the other hand, the Empress Dowager felt a slightly chilling fear for Hercule who was much too extraordinary. To put it bluntly, Hercule wasn't cute at all.

Hadrianus was much more blessed with familial love. After all, he had a mother who could read the situation and wouldn't give up trying to persuade him.

But Hadrianus didn't know. He couldn't notice, he didn't realize how much she loved him.

"Your Imperial Majesty, have you heard about it?"

"About what?"

Hadrianus's followers broke the news.

"His Highness Hercule is embarking on a campaign to the Principality of Trabizos."

"That bastard… Getting all cocky just because he has won once…"

Hadrianus grumbled bitterly. If he had an army, even he could have defeated that werebeast mercenary. Then everyone would accept him as their rightful Emperor…

If Darios heard that, he would probably sneer.

The moment Hadrianus thought that Darios was no big deal, he lost all chance of winning. Of the current century, there were probably less than ten military leaders of Darios's caliber.

"Father, why did you not give me the crown…"

That day, Hadrianus was ranting and raving as per usual. He didn't have the ability to do anything else, nor did he have the courage to take action.

That night.

A woman was straddling Hadrianus. She wore strange clothes and had black hair.

"Who are you?"

"I am As… no, I am the angel Jibril."

The woman introduced herself with a somewhat sour expression. Hadrianus questioned.

"Why does an archangel not have wings?"

"W-Wings? H-Here they are, see?"

A pair of white wings jutted out from the back of the self-proclaimed Jibril. Her facial expression seemed stiff somehow.

"Why have the archangel Jibril come to me…"

Jibril was one of the three archangels in the Messianic faith. Her duty was to bring messages from God to mankind. Jibril coming to visit Hadrianus must mean…

"I have come to deliver a message from the Lord. Emperor Hercule's campaign to the Principality of Trabizos will be a failure. His fleet will meet a storm on the way and his whole army will be decimated. You must assemble troops without delay, Emperor Hercule will be too absorbed in his campaign to notice. When news arrives that Hercule has lost all his men, raise your banner. The Lord bless you with divine protection. You will surely become the Emperor. With you as its ruler, the Lemurian Empire will grow even further."

"Tr-Truly!!!"

Hadrianus was in shock. The Lord had communicated to him.

Moreover, the Lord commanded him to assume the throne!!

"I-I will gather troops at once!"

"Very good."

After giving the message from the Lord, the self-proclaimed Jibril exited Hadrianus's dream.

"What a strange dream… There's no way the archangel Jibril could have come to me."

The next day, Hadrianus collected himself and thought back on the dream he had the previous night. Even Hadrianus wasn't stupid enough to believe that the dream was real.

But…

"Just in case."

Hadrianus summoned his number one supporter, a human noble, and told him about the dream last night.

"Was the archangel Jibril wearing strange clothes?"

"She was. She had black hair, too."

"…My lord, I saw the same dream."

All the other major nobles told Hadrianus of the similar dreams they saw.

(There's no mistake!! This is a revelation!!!)

Hadrianus was convinced that he had found favor with God, and becoming the Emperor was his destiny.

A month later, news came to Hadrianus that Hercule had lost all his soldiers on the expedition to Trabizos.

Hadrianus danced with joy and raised his troops.

Still, though…

That self-proclaimed Jibril kinda resembled a certain demon, didn't she? Or was it just his imagination?