Queen Tehila adorably pouted, her moss green eyes looked at Leon with a hint of reprimand and said,
"You can never say enough on the preparation for a baby! That's your child we are talking about! Forget the fact that my sweet child belongs to the Imperial family. Little Han is my first grandchild! My first grandchild!"
A bead of sweat appeared on Leon's forehead. Whether back then or now, Leon finds it hard to go against his Queen Mother's whims.
She was as free spirited as the music she makes. She also had such a bright and adorable personality which made him and his Father Emperor dote on her.
However, she was as sharp as a spear and as firm as a buckler whenever she expressed her opinion, especially when it comes to the family. Her moss green eyes would look into you with such determination and sincerity, which would make you concede to her requests.
As to the matters of the palace and politics, she never intervened in this matter.
Aside from her being a subject of ridicule because of her commoner background, she viewed prestige and status as a mundane thing.
The only thing that mattered to her was music, her beloved Valentin and her dear son, Leon. That's why, even if she was targeted with attacks from the nobles, she stayed strong and alive within the hostile palace walls.
Perhaps, every woman who loved, every mother who cared, really had this amazing power to persevere.
"Alright Mother, I sincerely thank you for your preparations." Leon replied with gratitude, albeit helpless.
"Hmf.. You are trying to persuade me because you think I beat you regarding this matter, no?" Queen Tehila inquired with a piercing gaze.
"It's not like that.." Leon awkwardly replied.
He indeed felt guilty because he once had planned to take care of these things. But his work occupied him in the past days.
Queen Tehila saw through Leon's mind, a tinge of pity appeared on her beautiful matured face,
"Well, it's not like you have to do all these things, let me be the one to do it. What's more important is paving a way for my grandchild and daughter in law to have a safe place here in the Empire."
Holding his battle worn hands, Queen Tehila said with such warmth, "It's the most precious gift you can give for the two."
Leon nodded understandably. Ever since he realized that he was going to be a father, he finds it easier to communicate affection to his parents as compared to before.
Back then, he would just call his mother and father stiffly. His cold crystal blue eyes would look at them without any expression. The most he could do was to call them with respect.
Queen Tehila was really happy that she could now see her son express his emotions a bit openly.
She recently heard from her beloved Valentin that he was able to show concern towards his father and had even bickered with him during their meeting on how to settle matters for the national assembly.
It made her smile so beautifully as the imaginary flowers bloomed around her.
The mother and son spent the rest of the day catching up with each other. Of course, it didn't end without Leon asking his mom how to pursue a woman properly.
This made Queen Tehila so blissful that she asked her son to have dinner with her, as she narrated all her experiences in love and courtship.
It was a well spent evening for the two.
Morning came, Leon dutifully prepared for the council, taking with him his closest palace aide and vice captain of the Crimson Blade, Blaze as escort.
When he arrived in the conference area, he wordlessly sat on his assigned seat while the two stood alert behind him.
Soon, the respective heads of the noble houses belonging to the council, the Emperor and his two older brothers arrived in the hall.
First Prince, Kazimir coldy entered with his palace aide and a vice captain in his own corps, the Amethyst Warlocks.
Second Prince, Antoine had a similar entourage with the vice captain of his own corps, the Viridescent Summoners.
The three princes of Seirende Empire, upon their coming of age had been bestowed by a great privilege - that was to organize their own corps who would be their aide on their future missions.
However, in order to prevent the princes from converting their personal corps into a rebellious one, the knights they have to choose should be a knight who took the oath in front of the throne of the Seirende Empire.
This means that although they were led by the princes, they could disregard their orders if it would entail them to give up their loyalty to the throne itself, because they swore loyalty to the empire, not to the princes.
Amethyst Warlocks, named by the First Prince Kazimir, represented the pure mage corps of the empire. Because of his lineage to the Vesala's who had amethyst eyes and were known to be talented clan of casters.
Viridescent Summoners, organized by the Second Prince Antoine, was also inspired by his lineage to the Astaze March, who all had lush green hair, as green as the moss.
The Astaze clan was also known to produce talented summoners for decades, this is why the knights under second Prince's corps are talented summoners.
The Crimson Blades on the other hand do not have any specific requirement in terms of constitution.
But they have distinct characteristics as all outsiders perceived, whether they were casters, devourers and summoners, all of them are vicious and mysterious.
That was why people shuddered the moment they hear of the crimson blade.
Another thing that made people's hair stand on ends when hearing about the crimson blade was how mysteriously strong they are.
At the age of fifteen, when the third prince reached adulthood, while all the other nights prayed that the prince would not ask them to be the members of his army, a total of 20 knights stepped forward voluntarily to join his Crimson Blade.
It was a shock to the onlookers!
However, they soon looked with disdain when the group of knights who volunteered were of commoner background and members of the fallen noble houses.
But then again, another event made the whole capital enter into an uproar! When two apprentice knights voluntarily committed to train exclusively for the Crimson Blade.
One was the youngest son of the Marquess of Astaze, the twelve year old apprentice knight Olivier.
The next one was the strongest apprentice knight from that current batch, his physical strength alone could send a class C devourer on his knees, what's more he was a caster, Blaze!
These two, who were considered cream of the crop of the current apprentice knights pledged their commitment to join the crimson blade in advance!
Since then, these twenty two knights formed the Crimson Blade along with Leon, up until now, they were still the same members as thirteen years ago!
That only meant one thing, these vicious crimsons were so indescribably strong that they weren't able to witness even one of their comrades die.
However, the major noble houses do not really see the matter scary because of their puny number. What can an army of twenty three do when real war comes? They thought in disdain.
Back to the council, the Emperor didn't delay and proceeded to the main agenda of the meeting - the abduction cases connected with the Spectres.
Once the council was opened, panicked expressions of the council members appeared as they reported the current situation in their own territories.
After the assembly, they all reverted back to their vassals and checked on these matters.
The three princes listened to the council's narrative intently as they needed this information on their respective assignments.
By this time, the nobles completely let their guards down and opened their territories for the imperial family to take over the matter.
Of course, with the exception of the two strongest noble houses, the Duke of Vesala and the Marquess of Astaze, who still bore calm expressions.
The Emperor looked towards his sons and inquired what they had found out during the last two days.
Everyone in the council expectantly looked towards the princes, especially the older two. Of course, that was because they had pledged allegiance to these two princes whoever could take the crown.
The first prince reported his findings, but it was disappointingly just a summary of the complaints from the vassals themselves.
It's as if he didn't value his assignment just because it was under the jurisdiction of his second brother's family.
He basically just repeated what he heard yet he still bore a calm expression, thinking that it was just normal to report superficial information due to how quickly his father Emperor asked for updates.
With his tone, he practically was saying that if the Astaze march couldn't handle this small thing, they might as well just cry in defeat.
The second prince was no good either, he claimed that the cases under the east territory were not that alarmingly high and it could be resolved with simply just stationing more patrollers around their jurisdiction.
It was as if saying that the duchy does not need to be that strict, since they are strong then it would not matter if there are cases like this. Just increase security and you're done.
The nobles in support of the two were taken aback.
It seemed like the two princes didn't fully understand the gravity of this matter. The effect of assigning them against their rivaling territories made them negligent.
It was also as if telling straight to the Emperor's face that their loyalty lies only in their own territories, not with the whole empire!
The council looked at the two princes as foolish, the Emperor looked with utter disappointment. Even the duke and the marquis looked at their nephews with veins almost popping out of their foreheads.
Emperor Valentin did not mask his displeasure and gave a heavy sigh, which made the two older princes pause to think twice.
'Why does Father Emperor look so disappointed?' They thought.
They were also surprised to see shaking heads from the members of the council and the angry faces of their uncles.
"Third Prince, how about you? Any updates from your side?" Rubbing his temples Emperor Valentin looked at his youngest son as if saying, save me from this disgrace!
However, the other council members looked uninterested as they did not expect any results from the barbaric prince either.
If the two princes dared to present superficial results, then what more of this barbaric prince? Isn't this just a waste of time?
Understanding his father's words, Leon nodded and stood in front of the council, ignoring their dismissive gazes.
His palace aide carefully set the projection stone showing the statistics and particulars of the report.. While Blaze stood alert and focused ready to intervene for any specific information needed as the Third Prince reported.
