Emperor Nartus of the Satellian Empire was frowning as he read a report from his spy organisation.

He sighed and put the letter down...

"What a thing..." He mumbled and looked out of his window.

It was the beautiful city of Salaten, buildings made of churrigueresque architecture, impressive structures heavily carved into with extreme, expressive and florid detailing...

It was truly a beautiful city and rivalled the most beautiful city in the world, the city of the moon, Luna, also known as the Capital city of the Grand Lunar empire!

Nartus then immediately held a secret meeting with his most trusted subordinates...

Once it was done he decided to have a walk around his wife's garden.

"Imperial Father!" He heard a familiar feminine voice and turned around to look at her.

"Amelia, my child what are you doing here?" He asked her curiously.

Amelia, the eldest of his children and the one whom he will give the throne to! She was so beautiful that even the most battle hardened soldier would fall for her looks...

Her long midnight black hair reached upto her supple rear, curves that were hidden under her luxurious female clothing.

"Nothing much father, I was just taking a stroll in the garden... and also, your face... it doesn't look good, what happened?" She replied with a worried expression.

'Wouldn't hurt to tell the future Empress!' He thought. Nartus then sighed loudly, "There are a few reports... the other three nations are developing new weapons. All of them are trying to produce the same thing! But not a single one is being built here..." He mumbled with a frown.

"It's almost as if the Gods themselves have forsaken us..." Nartus laughed deprecatingly as Amelia frowned.

"If you keep on relying on the Gods, nothing will change!" Amelia voiced out her opinion and continued, "Why don't you get your engineers, mechanics and blacksmiths to think of something?" She asked him.

"I wouldn't mind that... but the weapon can kill Divine tier mages! If something like that went into the ears of the mages of our Empire, it will bring about a civil war!" Nartus muttered.

"I've heard that the Lunar empire is mobilising it's military... is that true father?" Amelia asked Nartus who nodded slowly...

"...father, at this point mages are expendable! We need to get that technology and equip our empire with it! If you do nothing, the balance will be broken and it will bring about a war again..." Amelia spoke again and voiced out her concerns.

"You are right, I should have thought of it like that... I'm sure you will be a great Empress in the future! I need to go back to work and initiate a few projects." Nartus smiled at his favourite child and walked away.

'Empress... huh? All I need to do is defeat that man according to the Administrator and bring peace to the continent!' Amelia clenched her fists as her beautiful black eyes turned cold...

-●-●-●-

The next morning, Alexis woke up and found himself wrapped around in the arms of Florestine who was still sleeping.

He gently took her hands off of him and went to the bathroom...

Once he came back Florestine was awake and looked at him a smile.

"You want to do it now?" Alexis asked her with a raised eyebrow as she nodded with a grin.

"It's morning... you'll be tired when we go out today!" Alexis reprimanded her with a chuckle as she pouted and went to the bathroom but not before giving her hips a little sway...

Alexis who saw this shook his head, he then went back to his room and dressed himself up.

He wore his regular black suit that was made especially for him under the orders of his mother whom he had yet to visit...

'She would probably make a scene' Alexis groaned and decided to walk out of his room only to find Florestine was only in her wet towel.

-●-●-●-

'Damnnit... we're late!' He thought and looked at Florestine who still had a red hue on her face, her skin was smooth and looked moisturized in the after glow.

"Are you alright?" He asked her as she nodded, but tiredly.

"Your highness, you have too much stamina..." She mumbled meekly as Alexis shook his head and hugged her gently.

The duo arrived at Annalise's palace and came out of the carriage.

"Alexis!" He heard his mother's voice and groaned, he was then immediately hugged by her as he pat her head with a wry smile.

It wasn't until she started sniffing him that he pushed her away.

"W-What are you doing?!" He asked her fearfully and covered himself with his hands while Annalise then turned to Florestine and again at Alexis.

"So... when is she due?" His mother asked him with a smirk.

Florestine went behind Alexis in embarrassment as he sighed and shook his head.

"She's not pregnant!" He stated with an annoyed expression.

"Who's pregnant?!" He heard another familiar famine voice and groaned.

"No one Irene!" He said.

"BIG BROTHER!" She shouted and threw herself at him, hoping he would catch her.

Alexis used his wind mana and gently pushed her away until she could stand on her own.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?!" He shouted in annoyance as Irene and Annalise looked at each other and giggled.

"Big brother, are you sleeping with big sis Florestine?" Irene asked Alexis who stared at her for what seemed like an eternity and nodded slowly...

"*Gasp!* What about big sis Sophia and Isabella?? Are you cheating on them?!" She shouted at him with an angry expression.

"Who? Party girl and her friend... we are not going out, I'm still with Florestine!" Alexis said in a calm voice.

'What the hell do you mean by 'still'? you idiot!' The mother and daughter duo sweatdropped and looked at Florestine with pity in their eyes...

"Your highness, I'm not angry at all..." The woman they were looking at, turned to Alexis who shrugged and sat down on one of the chairs and poured himself some tea.

"Brother, I heard that the Empire is mobilising itself!" Irene shouted excitedly as Alexis nodded, Annalise frowned at the news and sat down, soon everyone followed her.

Florestine who was next to Alexis was still pouting but was aware of the conversation that was being made...

"Yeah, the Generals probably convinced father to expand it's territories or something... I'll be joining them too, the army is already equipped with the rifles and trained. The new recruits are taught about the rules of war and ofcourse... morality." He stated in a matter of fact tone and glanced at Annalise.

'3... 2... 1...' Alexis counted as Annalise shouted.

"NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO GO INTO A WAR!" She shouted and glared at Alexis who shook his head.

"Don't stop me, this will give me and my army more experience in battle... and I can also get some merit!" He smiled as Annalise walked upto him, she was frowning in anger.

"Mother, calm down!" Irene shouted and quickly grabbed Annalise by her hand before she could do anything to her beloved brother.

"Don't stop me! I need to teach this idiot son a lesson!" Annalise retorted but she couldn't wall upto her son as Irene held her hand preventing Annalise from doing anything rash, she looked at Alexis with teary eyes...

"...Why?" Annalise asked him desperately hoping her son would reconsider his decision.

"Mother, I've already given you my reasons... I promise you I will come back safe and sound!" He said with a wry smile and hugged her as she sobbed on his chest.

The atmosphere was very sombre, everyone felt as if something big was going to happen... it was like the calm before the storm or even, the peace before the disturbance. Something was not right and everyone was feeling it...

-●-●-●-

Alexis then set off to the Imperial castle where his father lived in.

The guards at the door opened the door hurriedly and motioned him to enter respectfully, Alexis walked in and saw Aurelius sign a piece of paper.

"Father..." He called out as Aurelius looked up and saw his son who was looking at him curiously.

"Alexis, what are you doing here?" He asked his son as Alexis shrugged and sat on top of his table, Aurelius twitched an eyebrow at his son's lack of mannerisms when it comes to sitting.

"Nothing much, I just want permission from you to fight in the coming invasion..." Alexis said with a smile and glanced at the beautiful city in the distance.

"Are you going to take an army from one of 'your' Generals or your 'secret' army?" Aurelius asked him while hinting at a few things Alexis had hidden from him.

"Did you get to know of it recently or from the beginning? Either way, I'm still impressed with your spy network... So, will you give me permission?" Alexis replied and asked him once again.

"Even if I reject, you will still go, won't you? And besides, the Generals will probably revolt against me... I must say, that was a good idea getting the support of the military!" Aurelius laughed as Alexis snorted in amusement.

"Well... I need to weed out the rotten eggs of the Empire once I take over the throne, getting the army will make things easier!" Alexis shrugged.

"Alexis, tell me the truth... did you release the information of the rifle to other nations?" Aurelius asked his son calmly.

"What if I did?" Alexis asked him with a innocent smile.

"...May I know the reason?" Aurelius did not get angry at his son, there was no point in getting angry at something that was already done...

"To balance the power scale of the continent... If they got to know of the rifles, all three would unite and attack the Empire... even if we were the richest, strongest and the biggest nation in the world, we cannot win against the combined force of the other three great nations." Alexis explained as Aurelius listened intently.

"That was one reason, the other one is the masses..." Alexis said as Aurelius looked confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked his son.

"If a nation was defeated instantly, how the masses of the said defeated nation react once they were conquered?" Alexis asked his father with a smirk.

"They would accept occupation or rebel?" Aurelius answered confusedly as Alexis shook his head.

"They will definitely rebel! The human mind works in mysterious ways, if the war is too long, they will rebel... if the war is too short, they will rebel... We need to give them a fighting chance, that way... we can break the morale of the entire country at once, we need to make sure to defeat them at the optimum time and to bait them into thinking they can win at the same time!" Alexis clarified as Aurelius looked at him with a complicated gaze.

Aurelius was proud of his son, very proud... but his peaceful ideals often collided with his son's own war monger-ish ideals...

"Do what you want... just don't die out there!" He stated and looked at Alexis worriedly.

"When will the invasion of the Satellian Empire start?" Alexis asked.

"Didn't your Generals tell you?" Aurelius fired back a question with a smirk on his face.

"Nope!" Alexis said with a straight face.

"In two months... The Republic and the Kingdom have started production, both are already threatening each other!" Aurelius said solemnly.

"By the way, how is it going with the Florestine girl?" He asked with a perverted grin as Alexis groaned inwardly and smiled mischievously.

"You will be a Grandfather next year!" Alexis told him with a smirk as Aurelius was shocked.

"ARE YOU FOR REAL?!" Aurelius grabbed his son's shoulders and asked him excitedly, Alexis felt bad now for lying...

"No! No! I was joking..." Alexis replied with an apologetic expression as Aurelius seemed a bit downcast.

"You are a man now! You need to... you know~" His father wiggled his eyebrows and giggled, his face was so disgusting that Alexis almost vomited, "I need a grandson after the war, so you better try hard!" he declared as Alexis shook his head at his father's antics.

"fine! fine! I'll be leaving now..." Alexis informed him and walked out while Aurelius went back to signing and checking the papers for any discrepancies...