Chapter 148 - All For A Single Woman
It was a massacre. The night of the coup d'etat [1] was unlike any other. History had never seen sothing so violent and bloody before. Not even the decade long wars could match the blood that poured from the palace staircase.
When the moon was bright and full in the sky, the clouds might as well have been painted red. It was like the Princess of Teran was watching over the entire event. Despite the clouds, the moon was at its peak, round and watching.
Screams, one after the other filled the wretched night. Bodies dropped like flies. n were sliced like butter.
"S-spare …"
A Prince begged, but it was too late. He crawled on the floor with his arms. Unfortunately, the man showed no rcy.
How could he ever show rcy to a country that influenced his wife's death?
A sword plunged through the man's heart. In a clean sweep, the sword ca out. With a swing, the blood was discarded from the iron.
The night would forever be known as the Bloody Six Prince Massacre.
It was the day that everyone in line to the throne was wiped out. Everyone that stood in the tyrant's path was killed. Every. Single. Person. Not even ministers were spared.
"You unfilial son!" the Emperor roared, clinging to his robes.
In his bed was one of his new concubines. She scread blue murder at the sight of the man in black with a gleaming sword. The most haunting part was his lifeless eyes.
He killed n like he drank water. Without a care in the world.
"How dare you do this to ?!" the Emperor shouted, hugging the blankets to his chest.
Without warning, Kade dragged his father out of bed. He threw the middle-aged man to the ground.
Kade's entire body thirsted for blood. He was going to kill everyone here. And then, he was going to kill himself. He was going to join Lina in heaven, only after he avenged her death.
First, it'd be Ritan, and then, it'd be Teran. No one would ever be spared from his hands.
"Is this how you repay for raising you? Is this how you repay the father that took in the child of a slave?!" the Emperor shouted at his son.
"GUARDS!" the Emperor roared, but it was far too late.
"They're dead."
The Emperor gasped. He was terrified by this fact. If the guards were dead, there was no one that could protect him. Nothing left but his own strength. He was once a usurper too, for he established Ritan.
"FOOLISH BOY!" the Emperor shouted at his son. "Did you forget it is my warrior blood running through your veins? Did you really think you could beat your father in combat?"
Kade wordlessly gazed at his father, who was pathetic and naked on the ground. Without warning, he stabbed the man in the thigh.
The Emperor howled in pain, his voice like a wounded wolf. He clutched the area, but couldn't stand.
"Your legacy will be forgotten. Your na will be forgotten," Kade stated. "Your accomplishnts will be erased."
"Y-you—"
"You said I should beco the Emperor to disobey you," Kade softly mused, his lips curled upwards.
"So Emperor I will beco."
"Kade, you wouldn't dare—URGH!"
Kade stabbed his father right in the stomach. The Emperor bent over in pain, revealing his neck. Then, with the swing of his heavy sword, a head dropped to the ground.
"AHHH!" the concubine scread in fear, scrambling back in bed.
No won. No children.
That was the exception.
Kade did not kill won or children. It was a decision he made a long ti ago. But he did not hesitate to make them wish they were dead. Starting with the concubines.
"Guards," Kade ordered. "Take her away."
His voice was barely above a whisper, but n sward into the room anyway. They rushed in and pulled the screaming concubine? out of the chamber.
Their eyes landed on the head of the Emperor. A decapitated body was slumped to the ground.
Kade wore white mourning clothes today. Now, it was stained as red as the day he married his wife. Red like her wedding dress. Red like the blood that spewed from her.
Red.
- - - - -
The massacre was never ending.
Concubines were naked and tossed into the Icy Palace. It was a place far away from the main palaces. There, the spot was rumored to be haunted and possessed. The windows were panel-less and curtain-less, offering no protection from the frigid wind. The living conditions there were worse than that of a peasant.
For concubines who were raised and lived in luxury, the Icy Palace was the worst punishnt for them. There would be no water. No comfort. No joy. So could even be permanently blinded by the darkness that lood over the entire area.
"Y-your Highness… No, Your Majesty." Sebastian stood besides the Commander.
Sebastian didn't know how to address this man now. Ritan was going to call him a bloodthirsty tyrant.
Instead of going down in history as a valiant Commander, Kade was going to be known as a tyrannical usurper who murdered his own family in cold-blood.
"It is done."
Kade gazed down at the head and body. This was what his father deserved for trying to sell off Lina like livestock for ager chests of wealth.
Lina was priceless.
Nothing in the world could buy her heart of gold.
"Let it be known," Kade coldly said. "When the sun rises, a new King is on the throne."
Sebastian let out a soft breath. He thought this would be the end of it, but he knew it wasn't.
This was just the beginning of the end.
Sebastian was witnessing history being rewritten. He was watching history being made.
- - - - -
For the next five years, Ritan went through it's largest reforms. The hierarchy system was changed. Slaves were no longer allowed. Peasants were charged less taxes. Soldiers were trained day and night, until the army tripled its size faster than any nation could fathom.
With King Kade in charge, the country speedily changed. Infrastructure was upgraded to survive any weather, bordering towns were upgraded into the strongest defence for Ritan, the economy bood, and everything was going well.
That was, until Ritan invaded Teran.
"Y-you!" the Emperor of Teran shouted in disbelief. "You stole my daughter and now, you dare to storm my kingdom?!"
Kade did not care. He paid no mind to the squabbling old man. If it was not for the Emperor of Teran's greed to have Lina back, then the war wouldn't have been encouraged.
Then, Lina wouldn't have died. Then, their child would be five years old.
Even to this day, Kade still wondered if it was a boy or a girl. Was it a boy he'd have to fight with for Lina's love? Or was it a girl who'd love with half his heart, for Lina possessed the other side?
Kade did not know.
After seizing Teran and it's surrounding nations, Kade was known as a tyrant. His history was drawn in blood and massacres. The bloodiest King of History.
All for a single woman.
"Commander please!"
Sebastian dropped to his hands and knees. He was unable to witness this. Ritan was the strongest nation in the land. No one dared to offend them.
Ritan was flourishing faster than anyone could imagine. Within due ti, they'd have enough power to be the strongest in the world.
Yet, on the eighth anniversary of the late Queen's death, Kade tried to take his own life.
To no avail.
"No…" Kade touched the spot his sword went through.
Sebastian's face paled with the truth. His eyes trembled. They made eye contact. To their horror and realization, the attempt was useless.
Kade had stabbed himself with the very sword that took his wife's life. Yet, he remained standing and strong. When he yanked the sword out, the hole in his skin oozed with blood. Not a minute later, it healed.
It was then they both realized.
Priscilla, all along, was the woman of the myth. She was the woman that Princes, Kings, Sultans, and Emperors seeked for their entire lives. Everyone wanted to be granted immortality.
Everyone wanted to live longer.
"Impossible." Kade did not believe it.
The one thing that every man and woman wanted was immortality. They wanted to live forever.
This one thing was his downfall. It was what he did not want. It was what he feared the most.
Kade, for the rest of his life, for the rest of eternity, would never be reunited with Lina in Heaven. He'd be forced to live forever. He'd never be reunited with his beloved wife. He'd never get to see her ever again.
"I caused her death and now, I must pay for it, for the rest of my life," Kade realized. Now, he knew what she ant on the battlefield.
Now, he knew why she'd never see him again. It was because he'd never be reincarnated.
Perhaps this was his retribution. Perhaps this was his karma. His punishnt.. For being the cause of her death.
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