Chapter 9: First Episode: Chapter 9 (1/2)
Chapter 9: First Episode: Chapter 9
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Oscar excused himself from His Majesty the Emperor, it was already dark outside. The night fog had completely taken over Dulin. The few lights added a mysterious aura to this large city. Alfa III His Majesty was really talkative. It was as if he had never-ending things to talk about to his little nephew. Oscar eventually got used to his new identity during the chat with the Emperor.
Oscar's mind was a little overwhelmed now. The Emperor talked to him about a lot of things: his mother, his father, the events during his childhood and at last even the important matters of the country. Even though Oscar's views on these matters were still tinged with immaturity, he knew that His Majesty the Emperor was rather pleased with him. Especially! Oscar noticed that the Emperor paid close attention to him when he talked about his father.
The Emperor was truly pleased with this child! He hated himself for not noticing this earlier. During his conversation with this nephew, he recognized the many strengths of this young man. The young man was sensitive and calm. He even had his own view on some specific issues. Alfa III His Majesty thought that this child was undoubtedly the most excellent of all the young men he has seen. His future was immeasurable. However, upon coming to this thought, the Emperor became a little doubtful whether bestowing such a high status to this child was a correct decision.
But the Emperor immediately thought of the other identity of this child. He was his blood-related nephew. At the same time, he was the fourth son of the Andrew family! If the Emperor was able to make him the heir to the Princess, then why couldn't he make him the official heir to the Andrew family? The Emperor was taken aback by his random thought.
Yes! Letting a member of the Imperial family with the status of a Prince to control the Andrew family would be the same as making Andrew part of the branch of the Imperial family. No! He had to think about this clearly! The Emperor advised himself in his heart. During the chat with this young man, he found a crucial problem and it was that this child did not have a strong attachment to his father and the family he belonged in. He left home when he was five, then he was sent to prison in Damorga by the Emperor! In these ten years that he was imprisoned, his father almost did not care about his wellbeing at all. The request that the child asked him reflected his inner thoughts. O'Neil Andrew Morisette was more attached to the Imperial family in his heart.
But why would the Duke behave this way towards his own youngest son? The Emperor immediately thought of the answer he wanted. He figured that to a large extent, it was due to the fact that O'Neil Andrew Morisette was a member of the Imperial family. The Duke might not even want to accept such a son. If the Emperor had thought of using the young man to control the Andrew family, then surely the Duke would have some precaution to prevent this from happening since the day this child was born. Yes! The Duke was an intelligent person. No father would allow their son to be sentenced to a life of imprisonment. Now that he thought of this, the fight the Duke put up that year must have been a show. The General actually wanted to exclude his youngest son from becoming the heir of the family. Why didn't the Emperor thought of that at that time? He almost did a great favor for the Duke!
Alfa III His Majesty was a little proud of himself. He thought that he was a genius! It was as if he had solved the difficult question that had clouded the heart of Titan Imperial family for more than four hundred years. Letting O'Neil Andrew Morisette become the Prince of the Empire was simply giving him a little compensation in the form of honor, but everything was different now! Everything was not too late. It was not too late at all! After doing all these things, he would let this young man who has a strong connection to the Imperial family to become the official heir of the Andrew family. Then after that, or to be exact after a few generations, the Andrew family would eventually have a change in their bloodline and thinking! The Narcissus Knights at that time might as well be the private guards of the Imperial family!
Alfa III His majesty was sure of this. His long-term plan seemed impeccable. He decided that in his remaining life, he must assist O'Neil Andrew Morisette even if he could not control the Andrew family. This is because his father, the Duke would never agree to this. Then at least the Emperor must let him attain a part of the forces in the Andrew family that was loyal to him. This way, the Imperial family could forever be a part of the Andrew family. This way, the Andrew family would not cause much of a trouble then.
The Emperor was absorbed in his 100-year plan and could not get out of it. From controlling the family from the inside or dividing the Andrew family, this method was much more effective than the strategy of invading the family from the outside that was proposed by the Emperor who used to think he was smart. Alfa III His Majesty thought that he would become the most infamous Emperor of the Morisette Dynasty. His wisdom would be sung upon by his future generations.
Even though the Emperor's thoughts were reasonable, but they were simply his thoughts! It would not be hard to realize from the history that the number of Morisette Princesses marrying into the Andrew family was numerous. Almost every ruler in the Morisette Dynasty had thought of the method this Alfa III His Majesty was thinking. But they had all failed! The reason of this was that they did not truly understand the Andrew family.
There was only one strategy from a certain Titan Emperor that was proven successful in history. But as this Emperor limited the power of Andrew family, he had also strengthened his ability and development. Of course, there were things in this world that were out of the expectations of the people!
The Persians, who evolved from the nomads, believe in a True God, and their rulers used their devout belief to form a strong religious country. This country was aggressive in expanding its territories. When they were invading towards the west, they met the Titans who had the same exceptional devoutness towards religion. But the difference in race also meant that their culture would be different as well. The difference in beliefs, however, was even more apparent. Once engaged in war, these two countries fell into a state of madness. In the end, the Persian Empire, who had absolute advantage at the beginning, was crashed by the Narcissus and finally exiled out of the Titan.
The hooves of the Persian's army of cavalry once joyfully trampled the enemy's land, so being defeated by the weak believers of other religions was unacceptable for the Persians. Their cultural dignity and devout religion were damaged. They retaliated continuously, attempting to follow the footsteps of their ancestors. But their sworn enemy was as determined as they were and more stubborn than they were. The Andrew family never once let the Persians move a step forward from the border.
The nature of the war changed as time passed! Massive bloodshed bred unforgettable hatred. The war that lasted for a few hundred years robbed a few hundred and thousands of innocent souls. The Persians slowly forgot about their religion and culture. Now they were simply unable to forget the hatred. It was the hatred that drove the perpetual attacks by the Persians. As the attacks were continuously stopped by their enemy, they suffered a great blow. The damage intensified and the hatred became even more apparent. As time passed, the hatred continued and the loop of killing was formed.
The founding Emperor had attained his aim. Andrew had no energy and time to care for other things. He had to utilize the whole strength of the family to face the continuous attacks by the Persians, who had half the number of troops they had. It was that way for a few hundred years. After these hundreds of years of blood and fire, the Andrew family evolved into a strong and purely military-based group. The members of Andrew family were born to command thousands of soldiers! It was as if they were given a military title once they were born into this world.
The youngsters in the Andrew family only loved to use their energy on their troops and on the defence line. In their eyes, politics was something for the head of the family and the seniors to play with. They were soldiers. So, they had a natural distaste towards politics.
Many ancestors of the Andrew family have led troops to invade the Persian, but they have not receive any form of support from the Empire. Those high officials at the top rank in the Empire were complacent with their stable life. They utilized the so-called ”political factor” to suppress the Andrews. They did not even allow Andrew to actively attack the Persians. These high officials understood the true meaning of politics was actually balance. If the Andrews had lost, the Persians would surely eliminate them. However, if the Persians were significantly weakened, then the Andrews, would be able to deal with them. Only with the maintenance of the balance, would they be able to have a few more good days in the Capital, which was far away from the front line.
In history, the sixth time Andrew family expanded their army sparked an extreme fear of the Titan Emperor at that time. This Emperor thought that he should not let the Andrew family expand any further. Through methods such as arranged marriages, intentional division of its people and bribery, the Emperor found that there was not much result from influencing from within the Andrew family. So he could only chose to limit and suppress the Andrews from the outside. This Emperor spent his entire life nurturing another military power at the East Border. That was the Nedgabel family. The Emperor bestowed one of the provinces of the Andrews to the Nedgabel family. In accordance with the will of the Emperor, the Nedgabel family continued to cause trouble for the Andrews. They kept pulling the Andrew family back. Even though the Andrews were furious about this, they still had to face their true enemy.
During this dangerous time between these two families, the Nedgabel family finally committed some serious mistakes. During one of the military collaborations between the two families, the commanding officer of the Nedgabel family slowed down the advance of the troops due to the usual policy of the family. He knew that the army of the Andrew family was waiting to meet with them and stand on guard at the defense line together. He simply wanted to let the lads of the Andrew family to suffer a bit more.
When his army reached the border, he was stunned! The whole army of the Narcissus Knights and Narcissus Fighters were eliminated! From the remnants of the war, they were surrounded and eliminated by the enemy troops who had an advantage. Now that the enemy was gone, they disappeared deep into the forests of the West.
The Persians were very smart. They took a detour off the lands of the Andrews. Their whole troop appeared at the border of the Nedgabel. In their eyes, the army of Nedgabel family was just like a baby. They madly slashed at the soldiers. The killing intent that was suppressed by the Narcissus Knights for over hundreds of years exploded just like a volcano. They used the fastest speed to raid through this province and trapped the Nedgabel family's main city in the province. The Nedgabel had no choice but to request for aid from the Andrews. The foundation they built up was about to be destroyed.
The warriors of the Andrew family arrived. They did not hate the Nedgabel family who have caused a major damage to them. The cruelty of war has let the Andrews understand the importance of unity more than anyone else. Their troops fixed the defense line that was broken through as always. Then, they closed up the door and devoured the invading cavalry troop of the Persians.
After the war, the Nedgabel family had a major change of mind. The population in their lands was decreased by 30% in only a month of the war. Those beautiful cities became ruins in one night. The army of the family basically amounted to nothing other than the name that it still held. They suffered a significant damage. All those left of the war would not even dare to go out of their house. The cursing of the people drowned them. Nedgabel finally understood what kind of enemy the Andrews was fighting against now. Without the Andrews, the whole Empire would become just like their land in only a month.
The Andrew family also suffered a significant damage despite the victory. There was still a considerable amount of Persian knights running out and about within the border. Outside of the border was the enemy that consisted of an army of more than twenty hundred thousand soldiers who have been continuously attacking the defense line by the borders. The number of warriors who were sacrificed in this half a month was the total of that in the previous ten years. It was at that time winter came early. The Persians, who experienced strong resistance by the Andrews and its huge consumption of resources, finally decided to take a rest from the war.
The commanding officer who caused all of these events was sent to the Andrews by the family. The Narcissus Knights peeled his skin and threw him into the wine barrel. This person died of extreme pain. And the head of the Nedgabel family committed suicide soon afterwards right in front of the Duke of Andrew family. This head of the family said his last words before he ended his life.
He said, ”Don't even care about the words of His Majesty the Emperor. If the future generations of the family still hope to keep these lands, then respect the Andrews and learn from the Andrews. Without the Andrews, we could never survive at the East Border.”
The matter ended here. It was called the ”Red October Incident” in history. But the effect of this incident was extremely far-reaching. First, the attitude of the Andrew family towards the Titan Imperial family completely changed. The loyalty before was simply spoken of in front of others. Now, the Andrews edited their first Ancestral Rule. The long sworn words to protect their family and land were replaced by a few simple words: that was ”Beware of what's behind you”! It was precise and concise. Other than that, the most important point of all was that Andrews had won an overall development.
The Nedgabel family dutifully executed the last words of the head of family who had committed suicide after the ”Red October Incident”. They secretly swore loyalty to the Andrew family and then they arranged marriages with the Andrew family. Marriages were arranged to the point of 'madness'! In the first few generations, the ladies of the Nedgabel family did not marry into any other family. They searched for a husband madly in the Narcissus County. If this person was named Andrew, then marry him without further thoughts! Bear a child for him! Put the label of Nedgabel on the name of this son.
The inter-marriages between the two families continued for about two hundred years. Until this day four years ago, the Andrew family and the Nedgabel family arranged the grandest marriage ceremony for their two young people. Even though this pair of couples did not have a high status in each of their family, but this marriage had won the honor of being called ”The Marriage of the Century” at that time! All the members of these two families participated in this ceremony. These two young people had the thinnest blood relation with the family within these four generations. Along with their union, the Andrew and the Nedgabel were in nature one family. The marriage ceremony signified the official union of the two largest families at the land of the East Border of the Titan Empire. The union included the union of the two families' lands, armies, status and wealth.
When that Emperor's strategy became the greatest laughing stock in the history of Titan, it could be said that he indirectly created a stronger Andrew family that occupied the whole east side of the Empire.
Actually, the people of the Andrew family could not care less about these things. The thing they most looked down upon was the cowards of the Morisette family. At the same time, they kept their guard up against the Emperor who only knew how to execute nasty schemes and those politicians that followed his orders. But on the aspect of the main race, it did not matter whether your surname was Morisette or Nedgabel. At the East Border of the Empire, the sole responsibility of a member of the Andrew family was to lead the soldiers and protect the lands of the family. Most of the members of the family have never left the family territory before in their whole life.
It was the education that began since they were young: the examples of the numerous heroes, the glorious history of the family, the protection of the Narcissus citizen generation upon generation and the life-or-death war where immeasurable blood was shed. The unique mentality of the Andrew family was eventually formed in this kind of environment. This mentality held every member of the Andrew family together. They were patient; they were loyal; they were brave; they had an affinity to war, and they honored blood and sacrifice.
The historian once described the spirit of the Andrew family as ”the catalyst to invasion”. The reality truly fitted this description. When O'Neil Andrew Morisette successfully defeated the Persian Empire and caused the division of it, the Narcissus Knights, who were used to blood and fighting had no more war to fight! They had seized most of the lands of the ex-Persian Empire. Their leader –and that is O'Neil Andrew Morisette's wild ambition expanded at an incredible speed. The family spirit at that time also quietly changed. In order to expand the living space for Andrew, in order for the head of the family to unify the whole Westland, the Narcissus Knights cheered and once again embarked on their journey. They possessed a stronger combative ability than the fated enemy, the knights of the Persian; they possessed a more complete multi-army group war strategy than that in any other country. The whole Westland must surrender before their absolute power.
Andrews' desire to invade was much more determined and strong than that of the Persians before. Towards the north, the Andrews were at war until the foot of the iceberg; towards the west, the Andrews were at war until the edge of the ocean; towards the east, the Andrews only stopped their footsteps when they saw the huge beacon of the East Empire.
Even though these were all that happened in the future, but it was a fact that no one could truly understand the mentality of the Andrew family. At least, at Light Calendar Year 791 in Titan, no one could truly know what exactly the spirit of the leader of the Andrew family with his two hundred thousand army force was. Thus, Alfa III His Majesty of the Titan Dynasty's trick would never bear any effect at all. The ”Spirit of Andrews” would let anyone who was in contact with the person assimilate with him in a short amount of time. O'Neil Andrew Morisette would soon experience this magical power.
Oscar did not know of the thoughts inside His Majesty the Emperor's mind now. He was surrounded by the crowd. When he left the guest room of the Emperor, he was surprised to see that the hallway was packed with nobles. When they saw Oscar, the nobles quickly surrounded him. They all fought to kiss the back of the hand of Oscar. A few old men who had high reputations were also in the crowd. Their thinking was simple. The youngest Prince of Titan has just been born in the history of Titan! This Prince was not only the blood-related nephew of the Alfa III His Majesty but also the youngest son of the governor of the East Border. His identity as the member of the Imperial family would definitely aid the military power of the Andrew family. This young man would have an immeasurable amount of success in the future! It was definitely necessary to show respect to him now.