bananapink

I'm not sure whether to tag shounen-ai subplot or just give my readers a warning. I dunno how many of you are comfortable with it. Just skip the chap if it doesn't suit your taste ;)

Lately, the queen found her situation getting a lot worse since the article about the 5th Order came out. The Sybil faction had done all they could to reverse public opinion and suppress the source but nothing bore any positive result until now.

She sent an emergency letter to her younger brother in the northeastern fort and is yet to receive a reply. Queen Elise is getting restless that her black mood seemed palpable all over the queen's palace. These days, everyone has been very careful to raise her ire and catch her eyes or else… 

As for her brother, Sir Roy Sybil? The man had his hands full at the moment when he suddenly received a direct order from His Majesty Emperor Aeris to halt all preparations in the northeastern borders. The message was brief but it indicated that a special delegation from the island kingdom Ma-i is heading towards the empire for a negotiation. 

The abrupt changes caught him off guard that he did not have enough time to prepare for a counter. The stage for war had been carefully laid, the troops were ready to be launched anytime. 

Stimulated by this news, Roy could not hold back his temper and slapped the naked young lad beside him. 

"That damned emperor!" 

The lad's already bruised face added another layer of red and quickly roused him from his slumber. 

"M-Milord…" He stammered holding his swollen cheeks in grief. 

"Those nobles in Ava…" He snarled, his expression grim and menacing. "Everything I have worked for is going to waste away." 

Roy kicked the blankets barely covering his privates and grabbed the lad's behind the neck. "I'm in a bad mood today, little bitch." 

Over the burgundy sheets, Roy's wide physique pressed on the thin young man, both face and shoulders were smothered down to the cushions to prevent his screams as he continued to ravage the tender body until his fire ebbed. 

"Milord… milord…" the boy panted. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Problem?" Roy's dark brown eyes showed a murderous glint. "An order to recall the troops back to south was sent. The war is going to be postponed."  

"It can't be." The lad exclaimed in disbelief. "What about our preparation?"

The bed creaked from his violent movements, at the same time, the frenzied moans spilt to the hallways towards the guards stationed outside. But instead of showing any awkwardness to the scene that might be taking place inside the commander's chambers, everyone maintained the same expression. 

The young man arched his back from the sudden deep thrust. His muscles clenched and his eyelids fluttered, "Ahh~ the stupid emperor… ahh… ordered milord to do so?" 

"He did," Roy whispered viciously, grabbing his hair and thin waist to push in deeper. "You know how long I have been waiting for this war to begin. If we are ordered to return, what will happen to all my plans?"

"You truly abhor the empire… ehnn... do, do you not?" The youth chuckled as he cried out in pleasure. 

Roy did not answer his taunt with words but with vigorous movements so much that the lad's thin waist was about to snap. 

"A delegation from the island kingdom..." the lad turned his head back and gnawed on Roy's lips. Pleasure spilled from his gaze. "Why… why a man such as the emperor has to hear the plea of those dirty barbarians?"

"Because he is a hypocrite." All that power is in his hands and yet he hesitates to wield it to its full capacity. An empire like Asturia can easily crush those heathens. They can take whatever it was they sought, be it treasures, land or people. "He wants to act as some benevolent saviour." 

The lad laughed wildly, "The Asturia family, the bloodline blessed by the mighty dragons… This might be the right opportunity to put the plan into action. This is perfect." 

After a long round of fight on the sheets, Roy was exhausted and had fallen asleep. 

Even in his quiet state, he still looked cruel. He wasn't sure why there was only that word that popped on his mind when viewing the young commander of the 6th Order. He wasn't bad looking, in fact, he is handsome. But the cold glint in those eyes and the shape of his thin lips as well as the inner brutality he has diminished the appeal that might have been there. 

The young lad leaned on the bedpost stroking his hair with a serene smile on his face. A moment later when he ascertained that Roy was too tired to open his eyes he jumped out of the bed and walked slowly towards the dividing screen. The slender and white body held many marks from last night's unrestrained lovemaking, he hadn't cleaned up yet since and was subjected to another round. 

The lad ignored the sticky feeling between his thighs and donned on his uniform. 

When the commander's chambers opened, a youth with a soft and amiable face came out and headed towards the left-wing of the mansion. The guards' dare not look up but the scorn in their eyes cannot be concealed. This is the pet the commander raised since he received his baron rank. Despite his role as a mere plaything, they could not show obvious ridicule for fear of receiving punishment. 

In another chamber, the youth locked the door and faced the person sitting on the bed. The man had a scar on his left eye and his build was rough opposite to any man born with status. 

"Did you have a good time with the commander?" Rustia, Roy Sybil's adjutant asked, his tone cold and harsh to the ears. 

The youth, Florent smiled and leaned on the wall. "It was so-so."

He touched the bruises on his face and shrugged. 

"My, it was difficult to act satisfied when the prick can only mate like a wild animal shaking his hips regardless of the enjoyment of his partner." 

Rustia stood and grabbed his face. He frowned when he saw the bruises. "You can't complain now since it was you who willingly jumped into his bed and opened your legs to earn his favour." He sniffed on Florent's collar and clicked his tongue. "Tsk, he's really rough on you." 

"Well, he is a dog after all. He'll stick it in whenever he feels like it. Funny enough there are plenty of women deceived by his looks. Unfortunately, no one can expect any finesse from a dog even with that nobility rank slapped on his name."

"And what about me? Do you see me as your dog as well?" 

Florent's smile deepened as his wayward hand crept on the tall man's crotch. "Dogs don't pack something this big."

"Oh? Still not satisfied after all that tossing?" 

Florent licked his lips and whispered into his ears like the devil. "That's the reason why I came here. Come on, don't pretend you're not aware of it when you are so hard like this."

Rustia grabbed his arm and pushed him down the bed almost immediately.  

"In a hurry now, are we?" He teased the big man. "Rustia… let's not pretend when there are only the two of us here." Florent unbuttoned his tunic showing the purple marks and love bites under his collar bones. "Roy Sybil's essence is still warm inside me. You want it so bad, don't you?"

Rustia glared at him fiercely as he stood still by the bedside. 

"Angry?"

Florent brushed off the sharp gaze with a chuckle. He knows he wants it, the movement on his throat already betrayed him. 

"Slut." The big man muttered and joined him on the bed. 

"Even if I am, I'm the best one there is." He crooned. 

"It boggles me how you can enjoy this rough handling when you don't strike me as someone raised from the brothels." 

His face was delicate and his skin is tender. Even those fingers didn't seem to be like someone who had been through hardships. 

"Enough of me... let's talk about something else." 

There goes the evasiveness. Well, not that Rustia cared when he is this hard and ready to burst. 

"The emperor ordered for a halt. Delegates from Ma-i are coming." Florent rambled as one by one his clothing was being removed. "I suppose they are hoping for a peaceful negotiation, but I'm not going to let that happen… especially now that we are almost at the completion of the plan." 

"And how are you going to prevent the talks between two countries from succeeding?" Rustia pulled his legs apart to their utmost limit and admired the scenery in between. "You're really one hell of a horny bastard. Look, you're still leaking." 

Florent wiggled his body seductively. "I have an ace."

"Ace?"

"Hmm, a little mouse that got caught in the trap. I don't know what those filthy tribal people would do once they found out that their precious princess was abducted by one of Asturia's… ahhn.. one of Asturia's nobles and sold as a sex slave…" 

Rustia paused, digesting the information and suddenly burst into a hearty chuckle. 

"Indeed you are cunning!"

Yes, he is. He wouldn't be here if he was someone foolish who could only sell his body in exchange for bread to eat. 

Imperial Capital Ava

The Crown Prince smirked as he read the report lazily. 

"It's quite easy to agitate her with these little things." He said gazing outside the window. 

He was referring to the queen who holed herself inside her palace and refused to come out after she was called to explain in the audience hall for her extravagant spendings and the issue of her health. 

The royal physician who colluded with the queen to tamper with the result of her own examination was sentenced to death for deceiving the monarch along with his kin. The Willard family directly connected to the Grand Chamberlain received the hammer of justice when the evidence of his embezzlement from the imperial treasury was dug up. There was also a disturbing issue of the chamberlain controlling the second prince's palace. At the critical moment when he was about to confess who instigated him to harm Prince Matthaeus, he committed suicide.  

A very suspicious end for someone who is about to confess. 

The crown prince being in the fore of the investigation quickly delivered results and brought down plenty of the queen's cronies one after another. His method frightened those who sucked favour from the Sybil house and timidly withdrew their support. 

"We are not over yet…" Beck murmured looking at the list in his hand. "We need to trap them all in one place." 

Queen Elisse might still be under the delusion that her tracks had been hidden since the former chamberlain chose suicide. She stubbornly hid in her palace like an abandoned wife hoping to gain sympathy from the emperor. Well, she did clear out her name from all allegations by throwing the physician under the carriage and denying his claim. The former chamberlain was warned not to admit her involvement or his family will suffer along with him. 

After all those people know no mercy. 

Beck laughed derisively. "Naive." 

In less than half a year of being favoured Queen Elise made a lot of changes in the royal palace. However, the empress tore down each of her plans carefully. The people she bought to spy on the imperial family had always been on the empress side. Most of the information she received was fabricated. 

For example, the daily report about his brother's health, his relationship with their father and his eligibility to inherit the crown. Another is the empress' current state after she was received as queen by the emperor. Queen Elise wanted to know every detail of their interactions to the point of paranoia and hindering it would only trigger suspicion from her supporters thus the empress did not attempt to cut off her source and continued to feed her with false reports.  

"After a year of investigation, I'm finally able to keep track of all the nobles and families supporting the Sybil family," Beck said. "The empire is not as strong as it was when great grandfather was the one on the throne. The southern territories are beginning to uprise; the Sybil faction may only be a camouflage to gather conspirators and supporters." 

"The south?" His aide Sir Corvin was taken aback. "Isn't that where the former Kingdom of Lancel stood?" 

"Exactly." 

"It was them who attempted to invade Asturia two hundred years ago and lost the battle. Moreover, they voluntarily surrendered to the empire in order to spare their people. Your Highness, you're saying that there might be insurgents from there?" 

"The aristocrats until this day are still unable to accept the loss." 

When the former Longinus royal family submitted to the Asturian reign, they had exhausted both wealth and military power but using their advantage in agriculture, after several decades all of those they lost in the war gradually recovered. Beck is certain that the Sybil is being used as the key to reestablishing the Lancel Kingdom's lost footing and this time, it wasn't just reviving their nation but acquiring all of the Asturia Empire as a means of retaliation. 

Before he left he and His Majesty had a disagreement regarding the queen but when his investigation bore fruit he eventually understood why he had to carefully move around the queen. A woman with no influence nor any noble blood held no power inside the palace, however, with their hidden backing they gained influence little by little amongst many corrupt officials and ambitious subjects. If the imperial family moved arbitrarily against Sybil the turmoil it could bring will undoubtedly cause the empire's collapse. His father was right, they cannot recklessly move the Sybil family without investigating deeper. 

His Majesty has long known that they are in a very delicate position, all he could do is constantly monitor the enemy while keeping abreast of his people's loyalty. 

Another problem he uncovered was the cursed artefacts those merchants smuggled inside the empire. Little traces of it lead to the nobles from the south who had many dealings with foreign merchants. His intuition tells him that by keeping the empire strangled by using the miasma, it will be easier to topple the current reign while they are vulnerable.  

"There is so much to take in," Sir Corvin said, feeling overwhelmed by the news. "Does Your Highness have a plan to counter the problem?" 

Beck turned his gaze outside.

"I already have." Thanks to an early warning he received he was able to formulate a plan. "I sent reliable people to investigate the areas where there are frequent reports of mysterious incidents." 

He had a long discussion with the Grand Magister and Clayton regarding the crisis Asturia is facing while he was in Arpeggio. While the enemies are still complacently thinking they have the empire under control, they will slowly erode each of their aces. First, the problem with the cursed artefacts has to be resolved. So far the Grand Magister has set on a journey to follow the leads Lady Rozenberg gave. Speaking of her, Beck never thought that her divination power surpasses that of any diviner he knew. She accurately pointed out the areas where the miasma is of a greater threat despite not having been to Asturia until today. 

As his benefactor, he didn't question how she was able to manifest such strength. Aside from that, Clayton's help in rescuing the 5th Order is another notable feat. Without them, he might still be groping for a solution to prevent their enemy from advancing. Their arrival in the empire considerably lightened his burden.  

Using the 5th Order, they also managed to take down the queen from her altar of righteousness that the people look up to. If they want to push her down further, they have to drag along her cronies and clear the court of its parasites at the same time. 

Thankfully, all evidence has been collected and a huge revelation is underway.