“Somewhere I heard about the followers of Reman, but I do not remember who they were.” Kir interrupted.

“Have you ever heard about the theory of transformation, so this is the same thing, Reman was the founder of this theory.  So, the empire took part in this war on the side of the pilgrims, but inside a conspiracy arose among the clans against the emperor, with the assistance of the Ramenists. The center of the empire at that time was the Zakta system with the planet of the same name. There was an uprising as a result of which the Emperor was beheaded in the main square.”

“Public execution!” Kir was surprised. “It is not clear why such cruelty. And no one stood up for the emperor?”

“Cruel, I agree. And the subjects of the empire, as is usually the case in such cases, simply kept silent, they believed that nothing would fundamentally change for them. There are many similar cases in history, silence is caused by two reasons - fear and indifference. The same fate befell the entire family of the emperor. The emperor's mother was going to be the last to be executed, but she died, and before her death she cursed the empire. Several variants of her words are known and all claim to be a literal text, the words are different, the essence is the same. “From this day on, no emperor will die in peace until the taanga stains the color of the great tree with the blood of the last emperor.” To some it seemed like the dying delirium of an old woman.”

“What does it mean?” Kir asked.

“He will not die in peace, everything is clear here, wars, diseases. Taanga is an ancient animal that looks like a snake or worm, ten meters long. Narrow head-jaw with four wedge-shaped poisonous teeth. Endangered species. Hiding in muddy mud and attacking large prey. Deals one hit and crawls away. The victim does not die, but continues to live, necrosis forms at the site of the wound. The taanga follows the victim and when it loses strength, the taanga crawls inside the victim through the resulting wound and feeds on its victim until it dies. So, some historians believe that the curse uses an allegory comparing human behavior with a taanga. There is also a weapon made from taanga teeth, a poison blade.”

“And how did this curse affect the future of the empire?”

“The consequences for the empire were catastrophic. The Illites and the Garnians seceded from the empire. The power of dynastic houses was abolished. The former empire was ruled by clans for forty years. Constant wars with neighbors. In addition, the Tyrant Tamai attacked the former empire, in ten years his troops captured the entire empire. Having reached Zakta, Tyrant Tamai demanded unconditional surrender. But the planet did not give up, but stubbornly resisted for six months, and then suddenly decided to give up. The tyrant Tamai was not going to take over the planet, he knew about the story with the emperor, he was waiting for the resistance to stop and he would announce his verdict “I don’t need subjects who betray their emperor, since they can betray me, burn them as a warning to other peoples”.

“Did he burn the whole planet?” Kir was outraged. “There were people who had nothing to do with this crime!”

“If someone in the square had interceded for the emperor, everyone would not have suffered such a fate, but apart from the emperor and family members, no one else was executed. See how silence and indifference can be destructive. Well, the Tyrant Tamai didn’t burn everyone, he left a few alive, someone had to tell what the capital of the empire was punished for”

“What wildness!”  Kir was outraged.

“Do not try to evaluate the events of the past with modern views, this will be an erroneous assessment. Moreover, our time is even more monstrous than those times.”

“I didn't expect to hear that from you professor!” Kir was surprised.

“I have nothing to be ashamed of, I say it as it is. When people fall into debt slavery and they are sold like a thing, this is terrible! When they destroyed the people of the Titanian, for the sake of obtaining their technologies - it's monstrous! And there are more and more such examples every year. You know, the higher the level of development of civilization, the more vague morality.

“I could argue with you here, but I'd like to hear what happened next.”  Kir decided to change the subject.

“Yes, of course” The professor agreed. “Where did I stop. Oh yes! The valley of the imperial tree, the great tree, burned down on the planet. But someone took out the surviving seeds and planted them on the planet Nodia. Tyrant Tamai, who declared himself the ruler of the third arm of the galaxy, died after some time. And then they remembered the curse. Since then, no matter who declared himself the ruler, viceroy, supreme leader, and so on, the fate was the same. Hard times began for the peoples of the former empire. Only at the end of the second century before the new era did the revival of the empire take place through the efforts of five dynasties and eight clans. Nodia became the capital of the empire, as there was already a grove of imperial trees. Gradually, in the society of the former empire, an understanding came of the importance of the role of the emperor and the need to return to the monarchy.

During the conversation, Kir and Professor Tom came to the gates of the mansion. Two seven-year-old twins, the grandchildren of Kir, ran out to meet them. Bari happily wagged his tail and looked at the owner with a pleading look, that the professor immediately let him go to play with the boys. Kir and the professor entered the house and settled down in the living room.

“Sad story.”  Kir said. “It is difficult to believe in a curse, but you can understand the Nodians why they believe in it.”

“The last Nodian emperor of the Ling Dynasty died a natural death, although his brother was executed without becoming emperor. The Nodians breathed a sigh of relief, if I may say so, for the first time in history the curse had not come true.” Rreplied the professor.

“Wait, isn't the current emperor a Nodian?”  Kir asked.

“No, Rin Turshi, like his father, was a Vakatian by birth, and they were not even part of the empire.”

“I heard that the emperor may lose his throne, do you know anything about it?”

“Yes. This strange story began in 157” Began Professor. “After the death of Emperor Ling Shi, the younger brother of Emperor Ling Ho was to become the guardian of Princess Ling Sia until her marriage and viceroy on the throne. But the princess and some of her relatives die as a result of an assassination attempt organized by Ling Ho under the guise of a robbery. The princess was betrothed to Rin Tur in an arranged marriage to form a dynastic house. According to the will of the emperor, Rin Tur was to ascend the throne. But it turned out that Ling Ho was executed, and the princess was dead. Before the din-elders, the question arose of whom to elect to the throne. They decided to follow the will of the emperor and chose Rin Tur. Many clans and two dynastic houses did not agree with this decision, and subsequently withdrew from the empire. The continuation of the story began last year, when they found some kind of criminal who took part in the assassination attempt and was supposed to be executed back in 157. But apparently, he did not take part in the attempt on the emperor's family, but took part in the robbery of some adviser to the emperor, who was just transporting the will. Now many doubt that Ling Ho was involved in the assassination attempt and may have been innocently executed. And as if on purpose, the time has come for the flowering of the imperial-great tree. Rumors about the curse spread again among the people. The Senate raised a question about the legitimacy of the power of the already deceased Emperor Rin Tur. Accordingly, his son Rin Turshi, having become emperor by law, may be defrocked by the decision of the din-elders, who, in turn, decided not to make any decisions until the investigation is completed in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

“And who is this, ding-elders?” Kir asked.

“Dyn, this is the elite of society. People with a special status. As a rule, representatives of dynastic houses. Since childhood, they are brought up in asceticism, they live and work among ordinary people. And if he is a worthy person, he is given the prefix Dyn to his surname. This status cannot be inherited, it can only be earned the trust of the people. This is an ancient tradition among the Nodians. The people obey the Dyns, and they, in turn, obey the emperor.”

“The usual political system.” Kir smiled.

“No, absolutely not.” The professor disagreed. “The Nodians have pretty much the same power structure as the rest of the galaxy, but the Dyns are above that system. They do not interfere in politics, they observe it and, if necessary, correc.”

“From the looks of it, things aren't going well in the empire.” Kir smiled.

“This is the result of the deplorable reforms of Emperor Rin Tur. He almost completely abandoned the previous power structure.”

Professor Tom remembered the dog and became worried, since she and the boys could not be heard outside the window. Kir offered to go look. They went outside the professor called the dog several times. On the horizon, at the edge of a clipped field, the outlines of two boys and a dog appeared. When they got closer, the professor groaned, spread his arms and patted the pockets of his coat. The dog wearily ran up to the owner. Bari was up to his ears covered in mud. The dog, wagging his tail, approached the owner, breathing tiredly, swallowing saliva. The dog smelled like fish with a smell.

“What did you eat!” The professor was outraged.

“He chased a wild cat.” The boys shouted, interrupting each other. “He ran to the pond, and there he could not get out the dirt. He ate a fish head. Wild cats catch fish in shallow water. The carcass is eaten, the heads remain.”

Tom was about to leave, but Kir persuaded the professor to stay, and the servants would take care of the dog. He agreed, as it would be indecent to appear in the park with such a dirty dog.