"The war duke had led a coup to seize the throne of the emperor; however, the coup failed, and he died by the emperor’s hands... the family of the duke was demoted to the rank of marquis as punishnt for the duke’s cris."
Maria’s words stilled the room. Jaden’s eyes widened as he placed the pieces together.
"T-this..." he mumbled as his expression darkened with each passing mont.
’Doesn’t that an the Bannisters are the ones ruling over the Western Great Nation, Ambitus?’
He looked at Maria, who had a faint smile on her face as she leaned forward and supported her head with her elbow placed on her thigh. However, he could see the anger and sadness she was trying to hide behind that smile.
Initiating a coup can both make and break soone; those who can uproot the previous ruler immortalise themselves within the pages of golden history, while those who fail it beco part of one of many failed coups throughout the annals of dusty history.
The war duke who wished to immortalise himself was consigned to the dust of history.
None of them spoke for a few monts and remained lost in their own thoughts.
Just like that, ti passed, Maria heaved a sigh and stretched a little before clapping her hands in a steady rhythm. and speaking as a faint smile appeared on her face.
"Hold your dark thoughts, there’s no need to brood over things of the past. The past should stay within the past; those of the present should focus on the present."
Hearing her words made Jaden think of her as soone with a similar ntal strength to Selina. Jaden hadn’t just been idling his ti away in the city. No, he was also finding out more about everyone.
While doing so, he had found out that Selina was the third one to wake up from the hex of Nightshade City after the two who had lost their lives in the city.
She had been awake for the longest ti, and she was also the one who woke up others one way or another. That alone told him how ntally strong she was, considering the guilt of leading her friends into danger constantly gnawed at her. Yet, she didn’t give up and continued to do whatever she could to save them.
An involuntary smile appeared on his lips as he thought.
’She is the daughter of a duke, after all.’
Seeing his smile, Jamie raised an eyebrow and nudged him as he questioned with a slight frown barely touching his expression. "Are you thinking about soone?"
Jaden ca out of his thoughts and shook his head before speaking in a low voice.
"No... It’s nothing."
Jamie knew that it was sothing, but didn’t pursue the matter and simply leaned back in his chair with his arms folded at his chest.
At the sa ti, Maria spoke.
"Let’s continue what we were talking about..."
The arrow moved towards the southeast as she continued.
"In the southeast is the first holy land, the Holy Land of Nature, Verdelith. Governed by the nature pope. The Heavenly healer."
The arrow then shifted towards the northwest.
"In the northwest is the last holy land, the Holy Land of Dream, Phantasre. Governed by the dream pope. The Eye that watches all... Now that we are done with geography, let’s talk about the hierarchy within human society."
Jaden’s expression turned serious as he nodded and focused on her words.
"As you would have already guessed, the Emperor himself is the highest authority. Then are the kings, the dukes, the popes and the academy. After that are the marquis and then the other lower-ranked nobles."
A puzzled look appeared on Jaden’s face upon hearing those words as he mumbled.
"Kings?"
Maria smiled and gave a slight nod before answering.
"Mhm. Kings."
"But Big sis, you didn’t tell about any kings..."
Jamie raised a brow at the unexpected ’Big sis’, but Maria’s smile only deepened as she asked.
"What do you think decides all of these ranks?"
"Their strength," Jaden answered without even blinking.
Her smile widened even further as she continued.
"Correct. The Emperor is in the Sovereign stage, the dukes are in the Saint stage, while the marquis is in the Master stage... Now, those who are of the Saint stage but have strength above what a saint should have are given the title of a king. Currently, there are three kings in the whole of humanity... First, the thunder king, second, the phantom king and lastly, the null king."
"Is that all...?" Jaden questioned with a puzzled look. After all, the hierarchy seed far simpler than in his previous world. Maria chuckled at his reaction and tapped her armrest as she questioned.
"Jaden, I know you have lost your mories, but I would still like to question. Do you know about the dark tis?"
Jaden, still puzzled, muttered.
"Dark tis?"
"We have numbered the current year as the year 350.... Does that an there was nothing before these 350 years? No, at that ti things were different from what they are now. There were no nightmares, no dreamgates, heck, even sothing like mana, which we consider natural, didn’t exist back then... Compared to now, it was a peaceful ti—yet humans managed to begin wars among themselves... Why? For power, for greed. We, however, must focus on surviving the constant threat of nightmares and star beasts—we don’t have the luxury of chasing political power," She explained leisurely, hoping Jaden would understand the reason why the hierarchy was so simple. However, a frown appeared on her face upon seeing the grave look on Jaden’s.
She leaned forward and asked worriedly.
"Jaden, are you fine?"
Jaden, however, didn’t reply as he had fallen into deep contemplation because of her words.
’No nightmares, no gates, no mana... had peace but still initiated wars... it can’t be, There’s no way... It’s impossible. I can’t conclude this world is my own just from that. I need to learn more about this place—and about the dark tis—before I can be sure. There’s no way this hell is my Earth.’
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