"The Empire will soon beco a war zone, Your Holiness," Gabriel said in a cold voice. Constance looked out the window in deep thought. "What shou..."
"Nothing." Turning around, his Erald eyes were frozen. "My father has brought this upon himself." Taking a seat, he leaned back in his chair and smiled, "Magnus isn’t exactly the worst man to take over as long as he rembers his responsibilities to ."
"You an your brother?" Gabriel said, getting Constance to smirk.
"He will be a puppet. Magnus is the true ruler of nearly a quarter of the Empire. I’m surprised one of my half-brothers managed to escape father, but he should never have gone back." Constance lazily sighed. Problem after problem kept creeping up. The situation with Severia wasn’t sothing he could focus on; the effects of the schisms were finally showing.
Taxes had fallen, and the predicted number of Templars set to join the Church had fallen by nearly half. The Slathans would soon openly support Michael’s new version of the faith, leaving only the Gotics and Severia as the remaining nations that truly sided with the Chruch. The collapse was quick, but he took solace in the fact that even his enemies couldn’t agree with one another. It would buy ti.
A knock on the door broke Constance out of his thoughts as a temporal waved and bowed, "Your Holiness. A guest has arrived. I... I don’t know what to make of it." Constance lifted his eyebrow in confusion.
"What type of guest?"
The Templar dryly chuckled, "He claims to be your brother. He was dressed like a priest, and I was about to send him away, but he showed his eyes. They looked exactly like yours." Constance frowned. Faking his family’s eye colour was impossible. Nothing in the world existed that could match its colour other than actual gems.
"Bring him to ." The Templar bowed and left as Constance fell into thought once again. He wondered which brother. He wondered why they ca. Hundreds of ideas ca to mind, but Consatnce pushed them aside, seeing Juluis walk in with his blind fold on, being led by two escorts.
Taking it off, he opened his eyes and stared deeply into the matching Erald eyes opposite him. It was the first ti in years they had seen each other, and what should have been a warm reunion was cold and awkward. "You..." Constacne spoke first, "You look awful, Juluis."
He rembered his brother. A man with unwavering confidence who had been blessed with similar good looks, just more masculine compared to his own. The thick set of hair he made sure to look after was gone. His face was dirty and his clothes ragged, but to Constance, it was unmistakable: his brother. Julius smiled and took a seat. Grabbing the vase of water, he poured it on a rag tied to his waist and finally wiped the burn makeup off his eyes, and blinked a few tis, able to properly open them after so long.
"Hello, Consatnce," Juluis said blankly and looked at Gabreil. The Templar stared coldly at the Prince, but Juluis didn’t bother with it, able to tell the man was doing it out of loyalty to his brother, not dislike for him.
"Why have you co. I’ve heard the situation in the Empire, and quite frankly, I don’t care. As long as Magnus stays loyal to the Church, it’s a good thing that soone new will take over."
"Do you hate father that much. So much that we will see another take our families’ birthright." His voice was bitter, but looking into Constance’s cold eyes, he could tell that he no longer cared about his family. Julius didn’t bla him. The only one who showed him love was their mother, and she died when Constance was young. No one else, not even he, gave Constacne what he needed, and it led to him running away. It was just that no one expected him to beco Pope, especially at such a young age.
"I don’t hate you, brother, but father can rot in the darkest pits where Sol’s light doesn’t reach. And if that ans you lose everything, I don’t care. So I will ask again, why are you here?"
"I..." Julius paused and clutched his robes. The little brother he had always been superior to had climbed so high that he didn’t know how to act. "Father tried to kill . He sent Bardas to do it."
Constance showed the first ounce of emotion for his brother, his mouth going wide in shock and his eyes lathered in pity. "He never changes."
"He did it for you," Juluis retorted. "You denied him too many tis. He will kill as many of us as it takes for you to co back and beco his heir."
Constance lowered his head but looked up, "So he’s going to kill six people. Three of them are children." Constance said blankly, but chuckled and pointed at Juluis, "Yet I can’t help but notice. You are alive in front of . So either you’re lying or Bardas failed, which would surprise ."
"Bardas, let go," Juluis said with a smile, his words surprising Constance once again.
"Bardas, let you go? The sa Bardas who helped father kill the other bastards he created." Constance shook his head in disbelief. "If you’re going to lie, get out, Juluis. Bardas does whatever father wants because he is a rat who can’t do anything else."
"I’m not lying." Julius nearly shouted. "He wants the throne. For it, he needs alive. I don’t doubt he will get rid of when the ti cos, but for now, we are in an alliance."
Constance’s dry chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh as he looked at Juluis in disbelief. "That piece of shit wants the throne." Constance laughed even harder, imagining his half-brother being Emperor. "Father has ssed the Empire up if even Bardas thinks he has a chance." After a few minutes, Constance cald down, "I don’t care. Let Bardas and Father tear each other apart. Magnus can take it."
Julius gritted his teeth. He could tell Constance wouldn’t move without sothing that made him do so. His mind spun, and he took a deep breath. "Even if Magnus is working with Alfred Lindonfall?"
Constance quickly lost his smile and stared at Juluis with cold eyes. "What?"
"Why do you think Magnus is so openly challenging father now. Sure, he has the support and a semi-legitimate puppet he can install, but would that be enough for soone as cautious as Magnus and the Maximus family as a whole?" It was a gamble based on Theodosius’ lies, but it was the best bet he had. Even if it was a lie, he could make it believable. Watching Constance, he knew it worked.
"Father has proof of it, so he planned to kill and bla Magnus and the Emperor. It was so he could have you co back to face a common enemy." Julius sighed, "Soon our youngest sister will be killed, and Bardas will do it to fra Magnus with another murder. And she won’t be spared like I was. She serves him no purpose." His words were cold, but Constance could tell that Juluis wasn’t lying.
"The Emperor is really working with Magnus?" Julius nodded. Looking past his brother, Constance tried to think of sothing. His mind spun before he broke out into a cold smile. "Juluis. What happened to the body? The one frad to be your?"
"I.. I don’t know. Bardas said that father was going to make my funeral a grand spectacle. The bigger it is, the more he can invoke sympathy from his supporters."
"And its state?"
Julius frowned, not knowing where Constance was going. "Mortally wounded and burnt. Why?"
"I may be able to help you, but if I do, I need to know that you will be mine." Constance stood up and walked before Juluis. He had felt it before, but with Constance standing over him, he could see the similarities between him and Theodosius. The sa sly look in their eyes and coldness in their voice. It was only Constance hid it near perfectly, unlike their father, who wore it openly with pride. "If you swear that you will be loyal to the Holy Seat, I can make a new miracle happen. Much like Alfred’s."
"Brother?"
"How much are you willing to sacrifice to beco Emperor. Your looks, your health. What will it cost you?"
"What are you getting at?" Julius didn’t want to believe what Constance was saying, but knew what he was getting at.
"The second resurrection of our lifeti. A second Blessed One. It can happen. Whether it works depends on how we shape the narrative, but you can’t continue to look handso. You will have to be disfigured, your life may beco miserable, but you will get the throne and have my support." Constance held his hand out. Looking up at him, Juluis couldn’t help but feel sad at how far his brother had fallen.
The scared child who ran away now offered him a deal to ruin his life. His looks and deanour made him seem like an apostle of Sol, but his heart was corrupted like Khors. Yet Julius knew it was his only chance to secure Constance’s support.
"I need to think." Julius stood up and left.
"Don’t take too long." Just as he was leaving, he heard the angelic voice behind him and shuddered slightly. He could understand why Theodosius wanted Constance. The man had beco a spitting image of him, but was better. He could do what Theodosius couldn’t and hide behind a veil of innocence whilst carrying out sin after sin. It was sickening.
He wondered where the young boy who ran because he couldn’t stand a cruel parent had gone. Even if he didn’t love his brother like a usual brother should, it was sad to see the boy who had been good before gone. Was it the power that ca with being Pope, the stress, or out of necessity? He could only wonder as he glanced back at the door.
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