"Have you heard about the incident in the town of Shoko a few days ago?" Lord Velkar whispers in Lord Ramon's ear.
The two lords walk down a corridor toward the Central Corridor, on their way to the ceremony celebrating the young prince's birth.
"Yes, but that's not what really happened there..." Lord Ramon says in a tense voice. "What I'm about to tell you stays between us. When my men went to keep their regular watch over the town, they found it empty, like a desert. There wasn't a soul to be found, as if no one had ever lived there."
He continues, "The most surprising thing is that nothing had been damaged. Every building, every stall, every public place, even the houses... all of it was untouched. The only thing missing was its residents."
"There was no evidence, no clue. As soon as I heard, I sent a team of magic investigators to find out what happened. But when they cast the Time spell... they couldn't detect anything except a sudden light striking the town and the people vanishing after it."
"Are you sure about it, Lord Ramon? The whole town... but why?" Lord Velkar says in a stunned voice.
He continues, "Isn't the town supposed to have been burned to the ground by a corrupted mana beast?"
Lord Ramon lowers his voice until it is barely a whisper. "It was the only way. We burned the town and made it look like the work of a corrupted mana beast."
He pauses, glancing down the corridor. "Corrupted mana flows far stronger than the regular kind, so it buried every trace of what really happened."
"What if the Emperor comes across the truth...?" Lord Velkar asks, his voice heavy with worry.
"He won't," Lord Ramon answers. "A lot has happened in this palace over the past few days. I don't think he will give it proper attention."
"How can you be sure of that?" Lord Velkar asks. "You know the number of towns and cities in this empire keeps decreasing since the war. It has already weakened the strength of the Empire as a whole."
"Also, the four nations are watching the Empire's every move," Lord Velkar continues. "Only one of them is on speaking terms with us, and that's only because of the friendship between their king and our Emperor, a bond that is years old."
"That's what I fear the most," Lord Velkar says, his voice trembling. "Shoko sits close to that nation's border. If they catch even a whiff of the truth, the one alliance holding this Empire together will crumble, and we will have nothing left to stand on." His hands are shaking at his sides. "Just thinking about it makes me shake with fear. I will not live through another war like the last one. I cannot."
He stops walking, and for a moment the corridor seems to fall silent around him. The Great War lingers in his eyes: the burning cities, the endless funerals, the empty streets he is still trying to forget.
Lord Ramon straightens his shoulders, and for the first time since they began walking, his voice is steady. "That's why I made my gamble. The Emperor won't visit the town. His hands are full with what happened to his wife, his sister, and his closest friend. As far as I can tell, he is still in shock over what happened in the palace." A thin smile crosses his face. "He will send Lord Damon and his men to look into my report. I'm sure of it."
Lord Velkar glances at him, unconvinced, and his brow tightens. "But what if your spell is exposed? Or the Emperor visits the town himself? Then what?"
"To answer your first fear, my men can cast a fifth-grade spell, and Lord Damon and his men will never see through it. They can only cast third-grade spells." Lord Ramon continues in a hopeful voice. "As for your second fear, that is why it is a... gam... ble."
His voice trembles on the last word. He knows exactly what the Emperor is capable of, and what he could do to Ramon in a matter of seconds if he finds out.
Looking at Lord Ramon, Velkar sighs and thinks to himself.
[Given the situation, it might happen the way he says. But no one can tell what the future holds, and the future is the only power that rivals the Emperor.]
Lord Velkar and Lord Ramon walk on in silence. The only sound is the echo of their footsteps carrying them toward the Central Corridor.
After a few minutes, they reach it. Everyone who lives in the palace has gathered there, and the hall is crowded and loud with voices, all of them waiting for the ceremony to celebrate the young prince's birth. But the mood in the hall is not one of celebration or happiness.
The atmosphere carries the silence and fear of the incident that happened a few days ago. The people gathered here still cannot grasp what is happening in the palace.
The moment the Emperor enters the Corridor, the whispers die away. His presence fills the room, and the silence grows heavy enough to press on everyone inside.
The Emperor surveys the Corridor, rises, and greets everyone gathered for the ceremony. Then he turns to Lord Damon. "Bring the young prince."
"As you command, my lord," Lord Damon answers, bowing low.
Lord Damon calls for Gina to come forward. For the first time, everyone in the Corridor looks upon the young prince, the Emperor's only son.
The first thing everyone notices is the overwhelming mana pouring out of the young prince, and how strange and unique its pattern is. He is only an infant, yet it makes every person in the Corridor tremble from head to toe.
The Emperor steps forward with his son in his arms and addresses everyone present. "I know a lot has happened over the past few days, and it has been quite a shock for all of us..."
[He is trying to act strong, huh...] Lord Ramon mutters to himself.
"But this does not mean we will lose hope for the world we have imagined. It was not only my dream, but my wife's, that everyone in this nation would live in peace." The Emperor lifts his son higher, so that every eye in the Corridor falls on the child. "And so, to carry her dream forward, I, the bearer of the Fruit's power, present to you my son, your prince and your future ruler. He will take this nation to greater heights. He will bring the peace I have always desired..." His voice softens, then steadies. "The peace we have always desired."
[I swear on my life, until death takes me, I will make our son so capable that no one in all five nations will be strong enough to challenge him. Everything that has happened has taught me one thing: if even a sliver of hope remains, I must seize it, whatever the cost. That's what you told me, wasn't it, Alice? Wasn't it...]
The people in attendance stand with blank faces. They have already learned that hope is a curse, because they saw what it did to them all in the Great War of the five clans.
After the war, they had only a little hope left, and even that was taken from them by the incident in the palace a few days ago.
And now they don't have a inch of faith left on the word hope.
"Huh, still desperate as ever..." Lord Ramon whispers to Lord Velkar.
"You're right about that," Lord Velkar answers, his eyes fixed on the Emperor. "But now I fear your gamble will fail, and fail miserably. Look at his eyes. They tell a different story. If he learns the truth about the incident, I don't know what he will do. You know Sir Kamano was like a younger brother to him."
Hearing Lord Velkar's words, Lord Ramon says nothing. Up on the dais, the Emperor's voice rings out across the Corridor.
"And that is why my son will be named Aaron..."
The ceremony goes by, and no one in attendance shows even a trace of happiness or joy. Instead, the opposite happens. A rumor begins to circulate...