EMPIRE (Capital)

ROYAL PALACE-

“Head maid, the Emperor and Empress are not responding to my call in their chambers.” Martha said to the head maid.

The head maid appointed her as a messenger to deliver information to the Emperor whenever needed.

“Hmm, let me see what’s the problem,” The Head maid said to Martha.

As the Head maid approaches the grand doors of the Emperor’s chambers in the dead of night,

She feels something is wrong. Her heart pounds in her chest with trepidation.

The moon casts eerie shadows across the palace corridors, and the silence of the hour amplifies the pounding of her heart.

Three more maids are standing behind her.

Summoning her courage, she raises her hand to knock on the ornate door, hesitating for a moment before the sound echoes through the corridor.

There is no response, only silence, as if the very walls hold their breath in anticipation.

The air feels heavy, suffused with an unspoken dread that hangs like a dark cloud over the palace

With growing unease, the head maid calls the royal guards and asks them to push open the door.

She get inside the chamber, and what she saw shook her to the core.

The Royal chamber was revealing a scene of unimaginable horror.

The opulent chamber was splattered with blood, the air heavy with the metallic scent of death.

Her eyes widen in shock as she takes in the gruesome sight before her—the Emperor and the Empress lie motionless on the floor,

Their bodies contorted in agony, their lifeless eyes staring into nothingness.

Trembling with fear and disbelief, the maid recoils in horror, bile rising in her throat as she struggles to comprehend the senseless brutality of the scene before her.

The other maids behind her were already emptying the contents of their stomach.

She stumbles backwards, her mind reeling with unanswered questions—Who could have committed such a heinous act?

What could have driven someone to murder the rulers of the Empire in cold blood?

As panic sets in, the head maid’s thoughts race with the implications of the Emperor and Empress’s deaths.

The political upheaval, the power vacuum, the uncertainty of what lies ahead for the Empire. With trembling hands,

She reaches for the door. Her only thought was to flee from the nightmare unfolding before her.

She forcefully collects herself and instructs the guards to notify the Imperial general Budo about the horrifying incident.

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As there was a rising turmoil in the Royal palace, the Populace was still unaware of the huge incident that was going to affect their lives in a way which the lines of distinction between man and horrifying monsters would become blurred.

The first light of dawn revealed the city streets, and Leo woke up, yawning and stretching on the bed.

Leo slowly makes his way towards the front door of the house.

Leo saw Liya making her way towards the street, a small bundle of leftovers clutched in her hands, and he immediately knew where she was going.

Walking with purpose, Liya navigates the bustling streets as she nears a secluded corner where a frail-looking man, dressed in tattered clothes, sits quietly on a makeshift cardboard mat.

Despite the early hour, he looks weary and downtrodden.

Even though he seemed hopeless, the man's eyes maintained the sharpness of his days as an imperial soldier as he observed the passersby.

Approaching the man with a gentle smile, Liya offers him the bundle of food, her voice warm and comforting.

“Good morning,I hope this helps,” Liya says, her kindness shining through her voice.

The man’s eyes darted towards Liya’s face. He then grabbed the food without offering a word of gratitude before digging in the food.

Nearby, a small figure emerges from the shadows. It was Leo, and he was making his way towards Liya.

Leo then stands beside Liya as he greets her.

“Good morning mom”

“Good morning dear, let’s go home”

As Leo and Liya proceeded to make their way towards their home, Leo couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked Liya,

“Why are you always feeding that man mom, I have heard from neighbours that the man was a former imperial soldier and he had killed his entire family?”

As Leo asked her this question, Liya halted her steps and then, after pausing for a moment, Liya knelt down beside her son, wrapping him in a protective embrace.

“You see, my dear,” she begins, her voice gentle yet tinged with sadness, “not everyone is as fortunate as we are.

Not everyone has a chance to make wrong things go in the right direction. Sometimes, people make mistakes, and they end up in difficult situations.”

Liya lets her words sink into Leo’s mind and then she proceeds to say,

“If you just hear people say someone is a good or a bad person, it doesn’t do justice to that particular person.

A wise person should always observe what is hidden beneath the veil that people see and should not judge a person’s personality recklessly.”

Leo then stays silent for a moment…. until now, he always has seen the cheerful and graceful side of Liya.

He never knew her ability to judge people, as this was his first time experiencing this new side of her. Then, after a minute, he asks Liya.

“How do you know this mom, who has taught you how to judge a person?”

Liya giggled, happy to know that her son was taking an interest in this topic and then she replied with two words .

"No one."

“No one,” Leo repeated these words with confusion written on his face.

“Yes, no one has taught me how to judge a person. This ability only comes to a person who has accumulated experiences on his own journey.” Liya said, her words laced with honesty.

“Your father and I have built trust over our childhood and that’s why I accepted his proposal without a second thought”

then after a slight pause she said with a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips,

“Then how can you trust that man that he is not a killer of his entire family?” Leo asks as he was slightly confused.

“You see, my child, it was written all over that man’s face and you can also see through your own observations of how a person acts over a course of time.”

“I understand about observations, but how could you tell it from his face?” Leo asks.

“Yes, his face. I have passed over that street for months and that man had only one expression written all over his face, which was grief,” Liya says with sadness.

“One can easily judge a person, but as there are two sides of the same coin, there is always a hidden story behind that person’s actions,” Liya says as she concludes the topic

The mother and son duo then proceeded to make their way towards their home while Leo was contemplating his previous discussion with his mom.

‘Well, I will see it when the time comes.’

After three days, news leaked in the capital that shook the entire Empire’s populace to their core.

“THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS HAS BEEN ASSASSINATED!!”

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