From the start, Red's grip on control was tenuous, a relentless battle that escalated with each passing day. The once harmonious connections with Merin and his daughter now felt like a desperate struggle to maintain.

How could he maintain ties with them while his father was out of sight? The man was mocking Red, observing everything from a distance.

The man didn't even deign to attend Red's naming ceremony. Instead, his Sosia, a mere figurehead, took his place and anointed Red with a blend of blood and oil. The ritual was steeped in family tradition, a part of Red's life that had been absent until now.

The room was packed with viziers, courtiers, his brothers, and every Russus in the palace. The pinch of cold gold on his ear didn't bring the satisfaction Red desired.

He no longer yearned for this ridiculous ceremony that gave him the proper rights of Rutilus. Red just wanted to kill the man who sired him, but he couldn't take the risk. Red's hands were tied, and until he found a workaround, his father would walk around to taunt him another day.

No one cared about his ceremony; even the Sosia seemed to rush past the spoken words. Red's was just the placement card for what everyone wanted to see: the new Roseus.

So it wasn't a surprise when everyone perked up when Merin came in carrying Alev. The week-old baby was draped in pink silk, befitting a Roseus. There hadn't been a Roseus in Red's generation, and there shouldn't have been one in the following.

Yet here she was, proving the futility of the Elan Nation's struggle against Habrin. The most unique baby in the world and the very beacon Red's father would exploit if he weren't stopped.

Merin gave him a little wink as she walked up next to him. Red noted Merin had ditched the orange robes she despised to don the silvery blues of her choice. This simple flaunting of tradition didn't make anyone bat an eye. She could get away with anything now that she had given the Empire a Roseus. No Russus could enforce palace etiquette, not even the Consort dared to breathe any dissent.

Red had told Merin that the Emperor's face had been healed, but she was shocked when she saw the Sosia. The Sosia was not just a puppet of the Emperor but his double in every facet that mattered. The Sosia had to look like the Emperor to take the fall for him. The once-empty eye sockets were filled with red glowing orbs that penetrated everything.

Merin seemed overly shocked at how handsome the Emperor was, and Red didn't like how her eyes darted to him. She wisely said nothing but refused to hand her baby over to the Sosia when it was time.

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"Russus Merin." The Emperor spoke through the Sosia, which collectively stopped everyone's breath with those two words.

"I can hold her," Merin said as she met the cured eyes of the Sosia. The only acceptance she received from the Sosia was a quirk of his lips.

The rest of the ceremony for Alev was simple. The gold earring that pierced her ear would grow as she did. The traditional role of Roseus held the same amount of influence as any Rutilus. Any daughter born to the Emperor could climb to power only by becoming the last one standing. The current Emperor had to kill twenty-five brothers and sisters to sit on the throne, but the biggest shake-up was the announcement at the end.

"The Roseus is exempt from the succession battle. The Roseus is now the most important title for women in Habrin. If someone tries to harm her, it will be returned tenfold." The Sosia said, and with a flick of his long-sleeved robes, he walked off.

There was a nonstop chattering after these words dropped.

Merin inched closer to Red, and she held up the baby to him. Red wiped away the anointing oil with the sleeve of his black robes.

"She's ranked even higher than his consort." She whispered in her native tongue to him.

"There will be more attempts at her life," Red said in the same language.

"Letha, Zoltan, and Bellare should return from the dungeons tonight." Merin said, "We'll need more people we can trust."

"I'm already taking care of it," Red said.

The Emperor only increased Red's ire towards him with each passing day. His father had tossed his loyal people in the dungeons for the crime of not protecting Merin and Alev from the Emperor.

The man had the audacity to say that if he could whisk the baby away, anyone could. That was a bold-faced lie because the Emperor was the most powerful man in Habrin. Nobody could have done what he did, and who could refuse a direct order from him? No one could do so. The Emperor tossed the people Red trusted to protect him in the dungeon.

Red had to debate heatedly through hoops until he could finally secure their release.

Red wasn't able to relax with them back in their quarters. Alev received countless gifts from all over the world as news of her birth spread. Screening everything was more tedious than fending off those who wanted a glimpse of Alev.

The naming ceremony proved she had Habrin royal blood, and her title of Roseus granted her new power. Everyone who was anyone wanted to be in with the new Roseus.

Red couldn't sneak out of the palace, and every day, his patience was chipped at by the countless lurkers.

He wanted to break free of the ties that bound him to breathe the same air as his creator. But he was trapped, and the Emperor won public opinion for the first time in twenty years. No one even seemed to care that Cem and Hakan were dead.

Reu had finished the job in Ceren, and things worsened instead of calming down after the funeral.

The Emperor gave his granddaughter the province of Ceren.

Red knew that the other man was laughing at him and was well aware of Red's plots. Red wouldn't slow down just because a red string held him in one place.

He was going to kill Emir next, and he was going to frame another brother for it.