Chapter 27: Third Episode: Chapter 9 (2/2)

If Alfa III had not suddenly made way, perhaps the little fatty would not have heard the old pope calling out to him. We should however forgive the youngster for his disrespect to the pope because during their first encounter the youngster only had one opinion about the man closest to God, that was – ”Old Geezer”.

The youngster suppressed his disrespect and humbly walked to stand before His Grand Eminence the pope.

”Young man, how do you feel about the responsibility and duty you are about to undertake?” His Grand Eminence the pope had a good feeling towards the chubby little boy for he could not sense any ostentatious air about him and this quality made him superior over the other nobles.

”My Grand Eminence Pope, I will treat it as if it were my entire life.” Just like in the rehearsals, Oscar followed the pre-prepared script.

The pope flashed a fatherly smile and lightly placed the scepter onto Oscar’s shoulder and Oscar followed by kneeling down onto one knee at the pope’s feet. The old man looked around at the nobles who were waiting anxiously, and said: ”So do you swear before God that you would forever protect this favored nation of the God?”

”So do you swear before God that you would forever protect this favored nation of the God?” The people in the Cathedral chanted after the pope’s words.

”I swear before God, until the last drop of blood is shed, I, O’Neil Andrew Morisette will guard this nation with my life,” For the first time, the youngster realized that his voice was actually quite grand and felt immensely pleased when he heard it echo.

”Then, will you swear before God that you will forever protect and love your people?” Just as the pope finished, the cathedral resonated with the echo of the crowd.

”Then, will you swear before God that you will forever protect and love your people?”

”I swear before God, that even if I suffer betrayal, I, O’Neil Andrew Morisette, by the Mercy of God, will protect my people.”

”Then will you swear before God that your sword will forever be aimed towards the enemies of God and always be ready to go into battle for Him?”

”I swear before God, even if I am the last man standing for Him, I will not hesitate to charge on ahead.”

Upon receiving the answer, His Grand Eminence the Pope tapped the scepter lightly on both his left and right shoulders then took the Holy water from the bishop by his side. The fragrance of the Holy water wafted through the air and formed a beautiful arc. When Oscar lifted his head, he felt tiny little clouds drifting around him.

”Child, the God of Light has accepted your oath, prepare to receive His gift.”

Oscar turned around to face the nobles in the Cathedral and made a round to scrutinize them. It seemed like only his mother and sister were immersed in the indescribable blessed moment. ”Finish this up! These people appear as if they are just itching to swallow me whole.” The youngster muttered quietly in his heart.

Alfa III walked up to the front of the stage joyfully. According to the rehearsal, after the pope announced the crowning of the youngster’s title, Alfa III was to place the golden crown that symbolized power onto Oscar. However, His Majesty regretted it immediately, for the Old pope seemed to have forgotten about such a thing.

”The people of God, let us be the witness be of this great moment, the ruler of Titan have just bestowed princely power onto this noble young lad, and power have been acknowledged by the God of Light himself!”

The pope took a dazzling golden crown embedded with diamonds and precious stones from the Imperial household’s chamberlain. Alfa III eagerly extended his hand but the pope turned his back and placed the crown onto Oscar’s head.

The chamberlains beside the Emperor turned pale with fright. They looked at each other in dismay. This was not within their prediction; the pope actually excluded Titan’s ruler from the coronation ceremony.

As compared to the flustered chamberlain, Alfa III could be considered furious beyond measure. He grinded his teeth, his eyes were huge and blazing with flames of rage. He knew that it was the pope’s way of demonstrating against him, but this had severely crushed his ego. He was itching to set the Roman Vatican on fire.

”The people of God, please greet this lad with the most respectable way possible! He has earned the Emperor’s trust and received the blessings of God. The twenty-seventh prince in the history of Titan is born!”

”His Imperial Highness Prince O’Neil Andrew Morisette! May the blessings of the God of Light be with you for all eternity!” As if everyone had agreed on it, the nobles of ages in the Cathedral once again voiced in unison. However, the only difference this time was that the youngster was wearing the golden crown, high and mighty, while everyone else was on their knees.

The coronation ceremony came to an end. Oscar suspected that he must have had the wrong impression when he saw Alfa III beaming. He knew that His Grand Eminence the Pope made a dire mistake at one of the most crucial points. If this old geezer did it on purpose, then the relationship between the Vatican and Titan’s Imperial Household deserved to be severed.

Alfa III felt somewhat better now. He just used his wits and His Majesty had decided not to wait for the pope to finish his nonsense. As soon as the nobles finished bowing, he pulled the little prince from the stage and walked down.

The pope evidently did not expect the man to once again take action. He shot daggers at Alfa III who was walking in front of him but it dissolved instantly. The pope, with assistance from one of the chamberlains, descended from the altar, his face lit by a kind smile.

Oscar had taken note that it was about forty meter long walkway from the altar to the door of the cathedral and that in the last thirty minutes, he and Alfa III had barely taken a few steps. Oscar did not know how many times he had kissed the hands of the ladies while the Emperor was already dazed by the number of times he had introduced the youngster to those nobles.

Despite the chaos of the scene, Oscar still felt oddly great. When Titan’s Emperor led him by the hand out to the Cathedral’s gates, Oscar felt the wild atmosphere once again reached its peak.

The youngster wore the golden crown, a symbol of the Titan prince. As compared to the Emperor, he was exceedingly young. The people could sense a new era was about to dawn.

Oscar waved at the jubilant crowd. As it should be, he did not forget to lag a few paces behind the Emperor. And just like this, there was a miraculous change in the scene. The Emperor could feel the change, for by the way he saw it, the citizens were cheering for him.

In actuality, no one really cared about these vague matters. ”Long live His Majesty the Emperor!” The cheers resonated throughout the skies of Dulin Scott Cathedral. However, all this was enough for the not-so-very-vain Majesty and it kept him elated for the next few days.

The bells of the Dulin Scott Cathedral resounded. Its immense booming caused the birds resting on the eaves of the Cathedral to scatter away in all directions in fright. The cries of the people grew all the more stronger and even the nobles were influenced by the zealous atmosphere. They crowded around the Emperor and the prince and showered them with all kinds of flattery. Alfa III and Prince O’Neil’s encouragement to these nobles, who were eager to present themselves and to rise in the ladders of society, were enough to leave them exhilarated for a while.

In the midst of the carnival-like atmosphere, the Titan Emperor and His Imperial Highness the Prince, the youngest in the whole history of the Titan Empire, mounted the Imperial household’s vehicle. As soon as the attendant closed the wooden door, Oscar let out a huge breath of relief.

The carriage advanced forwards slowly and all sorts of cheers surrounded the whole procession.

The Emperor looked at the youngster and was inadvertently reminded of his younger self. He had taken part in huge Imperial households events such as this with pride and arrogance. He felt that this young lad before him did very well, especially during their coordination towards the end. The Emperor knew that if it were not for this youngster who purposely offered up his place, he would not have let the pope off so easily.

Thinking about this, the Emperor felt very gloomy. The pope’s act of giving away the golden crown personally was not altogether inexcusable, but this would mean that he stripped the Titan Emperor of his right in plain sight of the people.

Although not many would care much if the matter was made known, but Alfa III still managed to come to conclusion that would leave one disgusted, which was, the undeniable transformation of the coronation ceremony to a divine event by the pope. By convention, a King or Prince who acquired the crown from the hands of a pope, would receive protection from the God of Light and even the worldly legislation had no authority to trial them for their crimes.

Alfa III stared at the youngster beside him. He recalled that a few ministers from the Ministry of Justice had mentioned before that the youngster was deeply interconnected with some of the crime syndicates.

”Your Majesty, may I know what you are observing?” Oscar was already uncomfortable by the way the Emperor beside him stared at him. He felt as if the atmosphere outside the carriage might have been better.

The youngster’s question broke off the Emperor’s train of thought and Alfa III took a long time before he came up with something to say. His Majesty decided to play the role of a kind and wise middle-aged man.

”Haha! I was looking at your complexion, seems like it’s not bad, little chap!”

”Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. However, I am definitely not as fine as I appear to be. Honestly speaking, these damn clothes have made me develop a sweat rash. Another thing, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this, but many appeared to have an interest in me and from the looks of it, they either want to slaughter me or devour me.”

The Emperor laughed happily. As expected, this fellow was not simple. As for the rumors in Dulin regarding the youngster, Alfa III was very clear about them. He knew that the little prince’s situation was not as optimistic as it appeared on the surface.

”Yes. Do you know, Oscar? I am relieved that you are able to think this way. This comes to show that you have the requirements to stand firm in this exploitative city.”

Oscar was very astonished at the Emperor’s pretext, but when he thought about it the other way around, he felt relieved. The Emperor did not intend to help him from the start. In fact, he did not intend to give him an actual power. Oscar felt that this was not something bad because according to his plans for himself, there were still a lot of things he had to do before he truly advanced into adulthood.

The youngster started to despise the Emperor who was in front of him. Speaking of exploitation, this man was undeniably the one who surpassed all throughout the entire Empire.

”You are saying that I still have a long way to go. Once again, thank you for all your care for my family and I. The house of Andrew will show utmost loyalty and devotion to the house of Morisette to the very end.”

”You silly lad, these things are no longer suited for you to say. Do not forget, you too are a member of the Morisette family and an indispensable one, at that,” Although his lips said these, but Alfa III’s heart was starting to writhe deep down inside. He felt as if the youngster was trying to imply something by saying those things, but come to think about it again it did not seem like it.

”Oh, that’s right! Your Majesty, would it be okay to invite Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis to the wine reception that mother organized?”

The Emperor narrowed his eyes vigilantly. The trouble the two youngsters caused previously was still fresh in his mind but as a father, he had no excuse to stop them. Moreover, a voice inside him was screaming that this was the best way to bring them together.

The Emperor gave him a harmless smile and said, ”Young lad, you seem to visit Westberg Fort a lot these days. Why did you not personally invite my daughter?”

Oscar was a little embarrassed. The Princess had actually already agreed but the youngster acted in front of the Emperor and stupidly rubbed his nose. ”Uhh... I just wanted to get your permission first.”

Alfa III gave a hearty laugh for he finally experienced the youngster’s adorable side. There was not much difference between him and the other young lads who were pursuing his daughter. ”Haha, you’ve got it! Alanis has more guts than you and already brought up this matter to me yesterday while you, on the other hand, thought that you could keep this from me.”

For the first time, Oscar felt deeply ashamed. He knew that he was being very irrational but dating a princess should be like this. Anyway, he knew that the Emperor would not bother him about this matter.

Embarrassed, Oscar broke into a laugh together with the Emperor and the atmosphere in the carriage became very friendly.

”Did you know? My State of Secretary was just arrested,” The Emperor had an abrupt change towards the end of his laughter. Oscar was taken aback for he was not prepared to handle such a statement.

The Emperor was very pleased with Oscar’s reaction for Oscar probably did not know about these things. However, someone had secretly reported to him about the youngster’s suspicious actions.

Oscar did not know that his momentary astonishment had earned him the Emperor’s trust as he had overestimated his steadiness. The Emperor thought that if the youngster could manage to look so stunned, it was unlikely that for him to be a suspect in framing the State of Secretary. Furthermore, the facts for the State of Secretary’s crimes were very clear and it seemed that the possibility of being framed could be excluded.

O’Neil Andrew Morisette gulped down a breath of air. For the first time, he felt that it was not that easy to deal with His Majesty.

”Uhhh... I heard that the Brickfield family’s investment at Deiss fell through a while back, was it that serious that the State of Secretary had to be arrested?” Oscar said carefully. He knew that he could not make a single mistake with his words for he already had a taste of just how bright His Majesty was.

”Hehe, that’s right! Financial dispute, Haha! The big guys in the State of Council and the Ministry of Finance gave everything they had and engaged in a bawl at the office. The whole Westland already heard about it. Don’t tell me you think I should not have taken action against this culprit!”

Oscar clearly understood what the Emperor was trying to imply through his words. The youngster finally knew just how risky his previous actions were. This Emperor was not a simple man and he had always taken him lightly.

”What’s wrong? Are you not happy to hear this news? I remember that he was the one who got you into Damorga prison,” The Emperor did not want to let Oscar off so easily.

Oscar spat in his heart. How could the State of Secretary be the one who got him sent to Damorga? It was this Emperor who had no sense of shame! ”Uhhh... How should I put it, Your Majesty? I never had any good opinions of Robinson Brickfield, but perhaps you should take into account the stability of the Empire.”

The Emperor crossed his eyes and looked at the youngster beside him and his smile faded away. ”The Empire’s stability is none of your concern! Moreover, I have a person in mind that is more qualified than Robs as the Secretary of State. Oh, and you actually know this man, the old man who always plays chess with you, Duke Kachev Drakas Ferdinand. I heard that you are well matched with him when it comes to chess. I dare say, Your Imperial Highness Prince, that you are indeed not a simple man!”

Oscar was already drenched in cold sweat. Under Alfa III’s playful gaze, the youngster suddenly thought of the words that old man Kachev had said, ”All kings are strange creatures, when you least expect it, they will checkmate you.”

Next Episode Preview:

The Emperor did not take any actions towards the little Prince as he already had a solid plan in mind. Through a complicated process, His Imperial Highness the Prince managed to resolve issues in the capital. Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis did not want to let off our hero; she did not sneak out of Dulin, and blended in with the little prince’s procession that was returning home. When the prince got back home, he will be met with the largest armed force in Westland and his huge family who have not left a profound impression on him.