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Chapter 1: Vardünheim (Berlin, Germany)

The rain had been lashing against the windows furiously as dawn approached. The servants in the main castle bustled around since it was a special day. The butlers, the maids, and the cooks were working hard since dawn to make sure the preparations were perfect.

It was not an ordinary day since the Emperor himself declared that he was going to grant his son an audience. It was the 525th Imperial Year. 

Our hero lay motionless in his bed, thinking about the life he had been born in.

Originally, the world was now in what we call the modern era, but the Imperial Year was kept in order because the Empire’s power had been reduced to a certain level and forgotten but the Imperial Order had not been abolished completely.

It had been 525 years since the discovery of the Map of Rule by the 22nd Emperor of the Vardünheim Empire, Bourscheid von Vardünheim, a piece of information Asidius had been taught about since birth.

 The four empires had been in discord after the discovery since Eldran had sided with the rival empire, Tenshujichi, while Valles remained neutral but all three of them had been united against Vardünheim for the right of the Map of Rule to all nations.

And in the midst of all this chaos was the appearance of the First Prince, Asidius von Vardünheim. He was a cold and stoic young man who had been hidden on the borders of the country since he was a page. And he also happened to be the protagonist of this story.

He woke up, dressed, ate and trained at set times. If this routine was disrupted, the servants would usually face immediate expulsion or a harsh scolding if it wasn’t for long.

The breakfast dishes had been emptied by him as usual. All of them lay spotlessly clean on the table, all except the carrots in the salad. 

He set his fork down and made his way to the audience room. The atmosphere grew darker and suspenseful as the door creaked open. On a dark red settee with golden lining, was a tall, grey-haired man with a clean-shaved, pale face, devoid of any color or warmth. 

“Greetings, Your Majesty,” said the young prince, bowing.

“Sit.” his father replied, an icily chill followed with his cold voice.

Asidius bowed again and sat opposite to the Emperor. His father, the Emperor, hardly ever visited him. Since he had been in battle from a young age, he had also been away for most of the time but it was unusual of the Emperor to not order him to go back, but instead, acknowledge him as his and the Second Empress’ heir and grant him his first audience.

“May I ask Your Majesty to what I owe the honor of this visit?” Asidius asked, his face showed calm but his palms were sweaty and a sense of uneasiness had swept over him.

The battlefield was the only place he had known since he was little, palace life was suffocating to him but he didn’t mind things being set up for him. As long as his life was not at stake like the Emperor had ordered it to be his whole life,  he would be fine with any task bestowed upon him by his father. 

“Have the tutors taught you properly about the Map of Rule?” the Emperor inquired. To this question, Asidius nodded disapprovingly while waiting for whichever ridiculous scheme was going to follow next. 

“Then I trust they have also told you about the location and the process of restoration?” the Emperor questioned again, now in an impatient voice.

“Yes, it has been safely kept at the Grand Temple for now, but restoring it won’t be easy for any ordinary person, Your Majesty.” Asidius warned the Emperor, he did not want him to fruitlessly endanger lives since the Map was known to only be restored if it was given two different Imperial powers’ energy. 

His own imperial power (fire magic) was growing stronger by the day but he could not figure out why. 

“I think we have let the people of common birth walk over us for too long. We will show them who we are by restoring the map again, and you will be the one to show the world!” His Majesty triumphantly declared, since in their opinion, using the imperial powers to their advantage would show the world who is always at the top by constraining everyone into obedience.

Asidius looked at him, dazed. He thought the emperor had lost his marbles at last. Neither had he had another empire’s princess for a wife and neither did any of his daughters marry a prince of another nation so why…? 

“A-Are you suggesting I try to manipulate the Map of Rule, Your Majesty? You’re also aware that no matter the amount the power cannot be acknowledged as separa–”

“Then join hands with the princess of Tenshujichi.” the Emperor said, a hint of finality in his voice. And with that, his father walked out of the room.

For the second time, Asidius had been completely thrown off his cold, icy demeanor and instead, frowned slightly out of confusion. He silently walked up to his office and collected his thoughts.

He and his knights had asked various guilds and every one of them informed that the rival empire’s ruler was unwed and had no children so he adopted his elder brother’s son as his successor. Where did a princess come from?

And right then, it came back to him, there was someone else from Valles empire which he had been corresponding with.

Isholde von Sevran. The name was feminine but he was the second son of a duke from the kingdom of Valles and possessed every trait of a nobleman’s son. He was educated about court etiquette and was a squire with a tall frame and grey hair with a pair of eyes the same color, which made him the centre of high society in Valles or more famously known as “The Lynx of House Sevran”. 

What most other than Asidius did not know was that Isholde was the head of an information guild which was famous for collecting such accurate information that they even got requests from the other empires, “The Iron Syndicate”. 

In his previous letter, he wrote that he had been told his guild members in Tenshujichi sensed imperial powers from a fourteen year old girl in the empire’s capital province, and Isholde had sneaked out to get information on her during their temple’s summer festival quite a few months ago, and had not answered since.

Chapter Glossary:-

[*Imperial power: More commonly known as magic, the imperial power has been inherited by descendants of the imperial families in all four empires since the founding emperors and empress regnants were the four great archmages carrying the powers of Earth, Water, Fire and Air.]

[*Page: A page in medieval times was a noble boy, usually around 6, serving a royal/noble household to learn manners and basic training as the beginning toward knighthood.]