Merin's actions were as predictable as ever, yet there was an unsettling air about her. Red didn't need their bond to sense that something was amiss.

Red's senses were on high alert as she presented him with tea. He could discern the distinct aroma of the herbs she had brewed. It was a sweet gesture, but she was mistaken if she thought it would deceive him or that the herbs would work on him.

Like Akkad and himself, the loopholes regarding the succession war were always played with. Red had been poisoned countless times as a child. Red wouldn't have survived if he didn't have his maternal grandmother. The older woman had served as a nanny and taught Red how to utilize his blood to purge drugs. This method made him immune as she also went out of her way to poison him and train his body to withstand.

Red humored Merin and drank the herbal tea. He even laid down and pretended to fall asleep.

When she left, he opened his eyes and looked at the threads she had draped over Alev and himself. The Emperor hadn't stipulated that she had to stay in place so she could leave at any time. Was she abandoning them?

Red slipped the sleeping baby into his arms and silently followed her errant mother.

By the time Red discovered Merin, she was sprawled on the ground. What Red initially perceived as a peculiar shadow revealed itself as a figure. A man loomed over her, a man that Red had never encountered before. The man's towering presence engulfed the room with his muscular frame. His onyx skin crackled, as if fire simmered just beneath the surface. The man's hardened flesh resembled facets of gems, and as he rose, his skin glimmered and gleamed like polished gems amidst the black cracks.

The man's lips pulled back to reveal a set of pointy blades in his mouth. He laughed as Red took a fighting stance, "I'd take several thousand years to hone my skills before you take me on if I were you." The man said in an impossible deep gruff voice.

His voice was eerily familiar, and Red's stance relaxed as he eyed the man. "Acuzio?" Red said as he tried to connect the dragon with the massive man.

The other man laughed, and the deep chuckle bounced off the halls.

"Russus Merin, I came back with your--" Emine said as her loud feet pounded in the hallway behind Red.

Red turned around to yell at the girl to go away, but waves of heat stopped him mid-turn. He flipped his head just in time to see Acuzio, the chubby-looking lizard, staring at him blandly.

The other man was gone, and in its place was a not so innocent looking baby dragon.

Alev held her head up as she grasped Red's finger. Her bright amber-red eyes stared at Acuzio, but the solemn baby said nothing. Her wispy silver hair was irresistible, and Red used his free hand to touch it. She paid no mind to his actions because she was looking at Acuzio.

She saw what Red had, and the duo were currently watching the dragon devour a suspicious-looking chunk of meat.

Merin was apologizing for drugging Red, but it wasn't the first time she had. He didn't even confront her before she spilled the beans about hoping he'd get some rest.

He was in the middle of telling her it was fine when they were interrupted by Alev's babbling. She was very charming, and the two spent time fawning over her, momentarily forgetting the bigger picture.

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A servant came before Red could ask Merin why she was lying on the ground because his father had summoned him.

Red had a hard time freeing himself from Aev's tight grasp. The one-month-old baby started to cry after he handed her to Merin.

Red's heart twisted at the sound, but he pushed any guilt aside and left the three. After what happened the night before, ignoring this summons would spell out trouble. The Emperor was on to him and toying with him; it would be better to confront him head-on and without Merin and Alev.

Red followed the servant and wound up in his father's war room. The war room served as more than just the planning floor of Habrin. It was the throne room as well. There were several thrones for his father to sit his ass on, but this one was the one that genuinely held power. Every ornate curved edge of this room was soaked in blood and magic. Habrin lost their access to magic without God's Dust but the Emperor had no need of that as long as he had his throne room.

The room itself was filled with maps sprawled out on every surface. Most of them were decorative ones of what lands looked like before Habrin conquered them. The most noteworthy map was the one on the floor.

The first Emperor of Habrin razed his own country of resources to start conquering other nations. The old country was on full display, painted on the ground for every generation after to step on their way to ascension.

The capital may change with every Rutilus, but this room stayed the same. The twisted magic of his forefathers meant that this room would be summoned when the battle of accession was over, and the victor could sit on his throne. It didn't matter where the war ended; this room would appear to claim its new owner.

Akkad and his other brothers were waiting for him, but there was no sight of their seed giver.

No one said anything, and Red saw the sweat on the brow of his brothers and their pale faces.

"It seems father visited all of us," Red said with a dark chuckle at their expense.

His attempt at levity was met with looks of annoyance from his remaining half-siblings.

"Attention and make way for his grace Emperor Kaan!" The nameless servant shouted, and the mood in the room grew worse.

Red and his brothers hadn't heard the official announcement of their father in years. He was the one person in the entire world they had to lower their head for and bow before.

Every man turned towards the door as if their strings had been pulled. They bowed their heads and crossed their arms over their chest.

The door swung open, and their father's loud, careless footsteps were heard.

Instead of stopping in front of Akkad, the apparent favorite, it was Red that the Emperor paused in front of.

Red looked up incredulously at his father, who had extended his hand for him to kiss.

Red couldn't stop his glowering expression at something that had never been offered to him before. He certainly didn't want it now.

Without breaking stride, the Emperor's mouth grew into a smile, and the man used his free hand to tug at the string attached to his heart.

Red's resolve to kill his father grew as he lowered his lips to kiss his father's hand. He then brought the hand to his forehead and somehow managed to say some flowery ceremonial words about the other man.

Red was still reeling from the rage-inducing moment as his father made the rounds to each of his sons except for Akkad. He walked right by his well-known favorite to sit on his throne.

"Emir is dead." The Emperor said. "It appears that one of you did it."

Everyone was speechless, but more than one set of eyes went to Akkad. He was the most vocal about desiring the throne, and it wasn't a secret how he managed to cause trouble for Red.

Red stared at their father as he tried to plan how this would go.

He could not have prepared for what the Emperor said next, "Guards! Arrest Rutilus Akkad!"

Akkad started to protest and scream his innocence, but his words fell on deaf ears. Two guards came in, and after they quickly bowed their heads to the Emperor, they grabbed Akkad.

Red watched as they skillfully dragged the Rutilus out of the room without once turning their back to the Emperor. It was sinfully forbidden to turn your back on the Habrin Emperor. It was ingrained in all of them to mind, which is why they'd turned when the man entered the room. And they turned their bodies as he sat on his throne.

"Now, on to more important news; I've decided to give Aram a province."

Maybe Red should have allowed Acuzio to bite off his leg and gain him an out from this torture. His father was feeding off his misery.