In the center of the city of Lamaria stood a large and magnificent building, Five times as Large as the Fidelis mansion, surrounded by tall and beautiful white walls. It was decorated with many statues, fountains, gardens, runes, and magical crystals, giving it a mystical and wonderful appearance.

Many veteran praetorian guards guarded this magnificent structure, outfitted in the best equipment the empire could afford.

This building is the Emperor's palace, the place of residence for the "demigod" emperor himself and his closest family members.

Inside the distinguished guest room -

Two important men sat down in front of each other and were about to have a conversation that could shake the empire to its core if known to the public.

"Amulius, my good friend, it isn't like you to ask for my audience like this without reason. What brought you here today?" - A large and muscular man wearing a white toga with purple-gold stripes asked with a genuine smile.

Apart from being muscular and large, the man appeared rather average-looking, but he exuded a strong aura of confidence and stability, making him look easy to trust.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Taidus, it is good to see you again." - Amulius smiled back and said.

"I came here to talk about the recent Goblintide. I had some... Disturbing findings that I thought I should bring to your attention." - He added with his face turning serious.

"Oh? For you to personally come here to tell me this, it must be quite serious! Do tell me what you have found!" - The man, emperor Taidus, asked with a serious expression.

Amulius nodded and motioned to a half-elf woman wearing green clothes by his side, "Essaerae, bring out the recording stones. Start with exhibit A."

"Yes, master." - Essaerae replied as she fished out a small bluinese stone inscribed with runes from her pouch.

"Oh, you even recorded it in a recording stone? And by the sound of it, multiple? Why must you do that? You are my most trusted advisor." - The emperor questioned with a confused look.

The emperor was a straightforward and righteous man, and he trusted Amulius greatly. Few men were as patriotic and dependable as this old man before him.

"Trust me, your majesty, I believe this is necessary. Also, I swear an oath on the name of Damaq, god of judgment, that all the contents of the recordings that I am about to show you are real, not tampered with, or there was any foul play involved that I know about." - Amulius declared.

The emperor frowned and asked, "Is this necessary? Do I have so little faith in you? Why must you lower yourself so?"

Swearing an oath in a god's name that what you say is true is a very demeaning act, especially between friends. It directly implies that the one who swore the oath is not trustworthy, and the other party doesn't trust the one who took an oath. Such an act can even form a strain on a relationship, and it damages future credibility, which is why even in court, one is not obliged to swear on a god's name.

"I trust you, your majesty, but it is just in case." - Amulius said as he motioned to Essaerae.

Essaerae nodded and placed the stone on the table in the middle of the room. She then waved her hand, and the stone shined. Above the stone, a three-dimensional hologram shaped itself in the form of a beaten and bruised human man.

"Telekles, 62-year-old B-rank adventurer and beast tamer. Do you swear upon Damaq's name that what you say in this room is the truth and only the truth?" - A cold voice sounded from the background.

"Yes, I swear an oath on Damaq's name that what I say from now on in this room is the truth and only the truth." - The man nodded.

"Good. State your crimes." - The cold voice said.

"One year and a month ago, I was hired by prince Cossus Novius Caesario along with a band of adventurers to kill all the ruling female goblins in the nearby magic forest that kept it in balance. Then, I was given a talented male goblin with a slave contract and was ordered by the prince to turn the goblin into a goblin chief to rule the nearby goblin tribes. After I turned the goblin into a chief, I received supplies from the prince, including seeds, iron ores, food, and female slaves, to provide to the goblin tribe. Then, under his orders, I started to train the goblins how to farm, forge weapons, use the weapons in combat, and teach them advanced military tactics while increasing their territory and population, soon reaching the mega tribe size of 10,000 goblins."

"A week ago, I was ordered by the prince to send a small squad of goblins to the city and chase away the local wildlife of the magic forest, alerting the city of an impending Goblintide. I was then tasked with ambushing a few cohorts as a distraction while focusing on a specific cohort in a specified location using anti-magic stones, with the focus being to kill all the mages while focusing on the mage from house Fidelis. The ambush only half-succeeded, so I instructed the goblins to kill the entire cohort in an attempt to kill the mage from House Fidelis. Most of the cohort was annihilated, but the target survived and was dragged away."

With that, the recording ended.

Amulius looked at the emperor, whose expression turned gloomy.

"What is the meaning of this, Amulius. You better have an explanation for this." - The emperor said with squinted eyes.

"Well, your majesty, it is as you have heard. This man in the recording was hired by your grandson, prince Cossus, to raise goblins in the magic forest and ambush a cohort with the reason to assassinate a single man, Aulus Sergius Fidelis. Attempting to assassinate the main heir of the Fidelis family, who he has already angered, is bad enough, but the prince also raised an artificial monster tide, killed two mages, and almost annihilated a cohort of soldiers, 427 lives. This is a capital crime and high-treason, your majesty." - Amulius explained.

"Preposterous! You must be...! Be...!" - The emperor got up and pointed at Amulius with an angry expression, wanting to call him a liar, but then he remembered that Amulius just swore an oath that the contents of the recording are real.

"Lying, your majesty? Would you like me to swear that I, myself, am not lying, too?" - Amulius asked with a sardonic smile.

"There must be a mistake! My grandson would never do such a thing! He must be framed!" - The emperor dismissed the contents of the recording and said justly.

However, Amulius's next words shook his confidence.

"I thought you would say that, so I recorded the testament of every person in this little operation apart from the prince himself." - Amulius smiled.

"Essaerae, Exhibit B-1." - Amulius instructed.

"Yes, master." - Essaerae nodded and replaced the recording stone with a new stone.

Next, a new hologram surfaced, this time, it was of a young man in his early twenties. Just like the man before, he was also beaten to a pulp.

"Publius Munius Fidelis, son of Legatus Bultatus. Do you swear an oath under Damaq that what you say in this room from now on is the truth and only the truth?" - A cold voice asked.

"Yes, I swear an oath on Damaq's name that what I say from now on in this room is the truth and only the truth." - The young man said in a bleak voice.

"Good, now tell us your crimes." - The cold voice urged.

"One year and two months ago, prince Cossus approached me and requested my financial assistance in exchange for killing my family rival and half brother from the same father, Aulus Sergius Fidelis. He planned to kill him through an artificial Goblintide, directed by a professional tamer. After hearing about his plan, I agreed to contribute 30,000 silvers."

"... He also must be mistaken!" - The emperor slightly struggled, but still said obstinately.

"Oh, really now? Okay, we can play that game, too. Essaerae, show the rest of the exhibits to the emperor." - Amulius suddenly smiled and said, sending chills down the emperor's spine.

"Yes, master." - Essaerae responded and replaced Exhibit B-1 with Exhibit B-2.

Then, for the next two hours, Amulius showed the recording of every single person involved in the incident. It included the other two Fidelis members, corrupt officials who worked for the prince to hide transaction histories, the nobles that liked the fighting pits who traded with the prince and saw his involvement with the pit boss, the merchants who transported the goods to the magic forest's goblins, the testament of the pit owner that he sold a talented goblin to the prince, the testament of ten monster breeding pen workers of the prince buying out over a hundred used monster breeding female slaves for cheap, and the testament of a tribune who set the marching route of the cohort and told the prince about it.

The emperor still protested the first few recordings, but as more and more recordings were played, the emperor turned silent and downcast, seemingly aging by a few years.

"Now, then, your majesty. I believe that this is enough to convince you? Or would you like to bring the prince here to swear under Damaq that he didn't do anything? If he proves his innocence, I will leave then and there while calling myself a senile old fool." - Amulius faintly smiled.

"... Fine, I believe it now. I shall allow Cossus voluntary exile, then." - The emperor sighed and said despondently.

Exile in the Lamarian empire is an alternative to the death penalty. The one being exiled will be branded with a special cursed sigil over his heart, and then be sent outside the empire's borders, never to return, for if he returns, the sigil will kill him. The outside world is harsh, and the languages are different. While it isn't the worst of fates, the rest of his life will be in a struggle.

However, Amulius didn't allow it, "No can do, your majesty. Exile isn't enough to cover his sins. He must be executed. If you were decisive back then and exiled him after what he had done to Consentia, perhaps he could have still lived." - Amulius said with a grave voice.

The emperor scowled and said, "I am not going to let you execute my grandson!" - As he said that, he slammed his armrests.

Bam* Crack* - His armrests directly broke under his raw power.

Ahab, who was standing behind Amulius this whole time, immediately flashed in front of Amulius and guarded in front of him, while Essaerae cast a transparent magic shield around Amulius for protection. Amulius's shadow also started squirming, as if alive.

"Enough, your majesty. You are a passionate family man, and I respect that, but I find you indecisive and too soft-handed on your family for my liking, so I shall give you a choice. If you give the prince to me, I shall let him die a noble death on the surface, while people will remember him as the noble prince he is, your family's dignity shall remain intact, and your rule shall be stable." - Amulius said amiably.

His tone then turned chilly as he said, "However, if you remain indecisive and do not hand him over, you shall experience the consequences of your indecisiveness, as I shall spread his crimes and his dirty habits far and wide, shaming him and your family, and shaking your 22 years of stable rule to its very core. What would follow is that most of the senate will demand your son's life, especially Legatus Bultatus, and demand that you step down your golden throne. Also, I need not mention that your favorite great-granddaughter, little Octavia, will be exposed to increased danger that you cannot afford to face alone."

"Your choice, your majesty. By the way, Legatus Bultatus didn't even bat an eyelid to choose the former option for his three sons, one of which is a top competitor for being the future family head, let alone a single unfilial grandchild who you planned on marrying off in the first place. Also, in case you think about snatching the evidence, I have backup copies with some trusted friends of mine, so you can have these as a gift." - Amulius rested his hand on his lap and said solemnly.

The emperor remained silent, his arms shaking, and he started sweating while looking at all the corners of the room. He didn't look like an emperor but like a cornered animal.¹Looks insane and illogical, right? It's called a dependent personality disorder. Specifically, this one is called Aboulomania.

Amulius, who saw how the emperor is behaving, heaved a sigh in his mind, "Is this the man that ended the Darktide over 50 years ago? The man who protected the world of Aessonia from the dark clutches of a dark god? A man over 100 years old?"

However, Amulius didn't show the emperor any pity and remained silent as he watched him in his struggles.

Finally, after over ten minutes passed, the emperor seemed to have aged, and his black hair grayed somewhat.

With a heavy sigh, he covered his face with his right hand, waved with his left, and said, "Take him before I regret it."

Amulius smiled and said, "You will not regret it, your majesty. I shall take my leave now, for I fear I have outstayed my welcome."

"...Just leave." - The emperor said tiredly.

Amulius then left the magically sealed room, guarded by Ahab and Essaerae.

After he left the room, Amulius quietly said as he walked, "Uremiel, you know what to do."

"Yes, master." - A cold voice whispered back from Amulius's shadow, as a small shadow flashed from it and then returned to normal.

"The little girl will surely like my early wedding gift." - Amulius smiled darkly.