Raog was executed, and his images were taken in a very compromising way – naked, and in an orgy of men. I disguised it as a crime of passion by his lover, and all through the underground sites, the news circulated like thunder, not only in the empire, but around the world.
Oris called for an emergency meeting. Furious, he started screaming about everything and at everyone, blaming the royal guards, the Services, the army, and even the royal palace's gardeners. The oligarchs attended the meeting, and they were all looking at me as the true emperor, their way of saying that they accepted the sign.
The oligarch's signs were smart. They demanded the generals to dismiss the royals' authority after the disgraceful fiasco that shamed the entire empire. The end is near, and they must pick a side. The army didn’t want to gamble on the wrong horse, as they know that the oligarchs are the real sponsors of all the army's weaponry, and more importantly, their paychecks. The same day, the oligarchs put their mercenaries and special security forces under my power. I left the royal palace and gave the instructions to arrest the royal family and lock them in the royal resort outside of the capital. I asked to keep Oris in the royal palace until I get back when all is done.
Four days after his humiliation, I struck back at a god to get my revenge. Oris didn’t see how vulnerable he was. In his head, he is a demi-god, as wherever he goes, clapping, hand-kissing, and submission are bestowed on him from the most powerful people in the empire and beyond. It’s hard to combat the sense of greatness when it is the only goal of the species, and resisting it is unnatural. That feeling will blind you completely if you keep only the most obedient people in your first circle. You lose your balance when there is no equalizer, no criticism, and no logical thinking is tolerated by the “god,” as god is right and never wrong.
“My son, you need to rest a little bit now. You are tired. It is dangerous to stay here, in the palace. The guards will escort you to a secure place. Your family is already there.”
“Traitor! I’m not your son as no lion has ever been related to a crow,” he replied.
“I never loved you. I wanted to tell you this face-to-face before you leave for good,” I said.
“You only taught me how to hate, as you never knew what love was. A lonely, miserable person as you will never rule this empire. You will be murdered by the oligarchs as soon as they get rid of me. You are stupid. They are already preparing an emperor right now, and he will be from their trusties. Why keep you when the gate is open now, and they could use a real trustworthy person from their inner circle, not a traitor like you?” he said.
I left after that; he was right. I may have made a mistake. I have no idea why I did this. In a moment of anger, oh my god, what have I done?
The echoes of Oris screaming were following me like a nightmare.
“Fuvo! Seizing power is easy. Keeping it is hard.”
Chapter 20
Drying the Blood
“Believing is the only thing we can do.”
~ Banume
C onfused… I feel I’m on the edge of hurting myself again… I’m cutting my skin to liberate my tortured soul, the soul that I betrayed by the way I lived in my past and even my present. There are no more places to go, anyway. My body is all that’s left.
Oina told me that she is backing him. She is deep into him in a way that I have never seen a woman be before, giving up everything for a man. That is strange behavior from a woman from the League, but especially one with the power that she has. How and what does she know about love for the opposite sex? Nothing! And yet, she is taking enormous risks for him; organizing the meeting in her territory without consulting with the supervisors is risking her life.
Oina is not naïve. She may know something that all of us don’t or have just ignored. She surpasses the seniority of every world leader. She is 98 years old, even if in our eyes she looks 30, and that never fooled me. I always knew that her body is nothing more than a distraction. Nevertheless, she knows my state, and she services me secretly, too. A thing that I appreciate even if she doesn’t have to, as she is protected by Konu now. She doesn’t need to do me that favor anymore, although she kept doing it in a way to tell me that the League exists with or without Konu. That is an act of admirable courage.
I stayed two extra days at the League as Oina arranged for the best doctors to check my brain again. I can't stop the voices inside, and recently they did worsen. They are torturing me to the limit! It’s a burden that is pushing me to end my life. And that might happen soon, as they concluded my condition is incurable.
The voices echoing in my head are in his favor, as they recognized his personality in a flash of a second when he shot the Second Citizen. He is a master who is trying to create the exception, not because he has anything to prove, but because he is acting against nature in a revenging rage against that higher being that took everything from him. The voices
