Chapter 1753: Alone

"What?!"

"He's suddenly his son and his chosen heir?!"

"Unbelievable..."

"The Kandrian Throne War has changed forever."

"Who could have known..."

A wave of murmurs erupted from the crowd as the Emperor made his final declaration.

Rui himself was frozen where he stood, shell-shocked.

"...What?" A single whisper escaped his mouth.

The Emperor did not respond to him, instead waving his hand.

A servant walked over to Rui with a prepared ostentatious tray with a ceremonial blade and an insignia atop it. A platinum-gold adorned insignia that bore the crest of the Royal Family.

"Commence the blood seal," The Emperor commanded.

Rui had no idea what that meant, but the circumstantial context and evidence were enough for him to rapidly infer exactly what was expected of him. He took the knife, cutting his palm, allowing the blood to fall on the insignia.

VMMM!

The artifact absorbed the blood, shaking and glowing, before finally subsiding.

"The Royal Insignia is proof that you are of the Kandrian Royal Family," The Emperor declared. "And the Royal Sword of Kandria..."

He extracted his sheathed ceremonial blade from his robes. "...

is proof that you are my heir."

Rui stared at him with uncertainty.

"Come forth, my son, and accept my offering of heirship." The Emperor commanded him.

Rui walked over to the throne with a measured gait, ascending the platform before arriving at the Emperor.

Their eyes met, fixing upon each other's. Rui's eyes bored into his with askance, yet the Emperor's steely eyes were firmly unmoving.

"And with this..." The Emperor's solemn voice reverberated through the throne hall as he bestowed his Royal Sword upon the kneeling Rui. "The world shall recognize you, Prince Rui Quarrier Kandria, as chosen heir unto the Second Emperor of Kandria."

CLASP

A chill went down Rui's spine as he accepted the ice-cold ceremonial sword. His mind jarred back to reality as he broke out of his shell of shock. The surreality of what was unfolding at the moment had suddenly struck him like a jackhammer.

'...Is this real?' Uncertainty grasped at his heart, squeezing it in a vise.

He hoped he was having a nightmare.

He hoped, from the bottom of his heart, that he would wake up in the Quarrier Orphanage as just another ordinary orphan blessed to have been accepted by Lashara thirty-one years ago.

Yet reality denied his deepest desires.

Instead, it cruelly thrust him into a world where he was somehow a Royal Prince, son of the Royal Emperor.

Rui's eyes wandered around with uncertainty as he returned to his spot.

The Royal Sword weighed down on him.

It was heavy.

It was a burden he didn't ask for.

It was a burden he didn't want.

One that was thrust upon him against his will.

Yet he hadn't even reached the part where he could calmly evaluate his circumstances objectively.

He was far too shocked about the nature of his own circumstances. He didn't even know how to begin processing everything that had just happened. He didn't even know how it could possibly be happening.

"My subjects."

The Emperor's powerful voice cut through the tumultuous atmosphere as the Emperor took the opportunity to address the guests.

"My children."

He glanced at the royals gathered closer to him.

"Much has unfolded during this Royal Addressal Ceremony," The severity of his tone reflected the weight of the circumstances. "Much that no one could have predicted or known."

No one aside from the Emperor himself, of course.

"I, the Emperor of Kandria, am diseased," He closed his eyes. "I do not have much longer left. Know that I have fought, with all might, against this curse that addles my body for far longer than any of you could have imagined. I have fought... and I have failed."

He opened his eyes, meeting everybody with his powerful gaze. "This is my final act. This is my will. I believe that this, even as I inch closer to death, is the right choice for Kandria. For the future of Kandria."

The weight of his words was deep.

"I have made my choice," He told the many powers and forces of Kandria that had gathered within the hall. "I have made my choice, and it is time for each of you to make yours."

The air grew electric.

Each and every single person in the hall understood what the Emperor was telling them.

A new prince had entered the war.

A prince who bore the will of Rael Di Kandria.

In other words, a powerful competitor for the throne had emerged from the woodwork. It was bound to be the birth of a new faction. A new faction that they could choose to support or not.

It could be a great opportunity if exploited correctly.

The guests narrowed their eyes with deep seriousness as they furiously considered the prospects of supporting and allying with the final prince of Kandria.

"I, Emperor Rael Di Kandria, declare the Royal Addressal Ceremony to be complete," The Emperor announced. "Glory to Kandria."

"Glory to Kandria!"

A saying that signaled the end of royal ceremonies.

CLACK

The giant doors of the Kandrian Throne Hall opened.

For a moment, nobody could move.

Yet, move they did.

Shock was not a justification to ignore royal protocol.

The guests neatly exited the throne hall row after row, heading down the stairs as the Martial Masters of the royal security force secured the path down. Sage Farana had already shifted, standing in the sky, overseeing the security of all the important powers and forces of Kandria.

Her heavy presence weighed down on the world, inspiring great confidence in their safety in the minds of the many powerful guests.

Rui never moved.

He didn't move so much as an inch from where he stood.

Even as the many princes and princesses headed to the exit in the order that they had arrived in, he never moved.

He simply stood there, staring at the Emperor.

The uncertainty and confusion in his eyes were replaced with a steely glare.

One by one, everybody left.

The Master-level bodyguards.

The concubines that had stood by his side.

The many attendants that had tended to him.

Soon enough, they were alone.