The Martial Unity

"What?!"

"He's suddenly his son and his chosen heir?!"

"Unbelievable..."

"The Kandrian Throne War has changed forever."

"Who could have known..."

A wave of murmurs erupted from the crowd as the Emperor made his final declaration.

Rui himself was frozen where he stood, shell-shocked.

"...What?" A single whisper escaped his mouth.

The Emperor did not respond to him, instead waving his hand.

A servant walked over to Rui with a prepared ostentatious tray with a ceremonial blade and an insignia atop it. A platinum-gold adorned insignia that bore the crest of the Royal Family.

"Commence the blood seal," The Emperor commanded.

Rui had no idea what that meant, but the circumstantial context and evidence were enough for him to rapidly infer exactly what was expected of him. He took the knife, cutting his palm, allowing the blood to fall on the insignia.

VMMM!

The artifact absorbed the blood, shaking and glowing, before finally subsiding.

"The Royal Insignia is proof that you are of the Kandrian Royal Family," The Emperor declared. "And the Royal Sword of Kandria…"

He extracted his sheathed ceremonial blade from his robes. "…

is proof that you are my heir."

Rui stared at him with uncertainty.

"Come forth, my son, and accept my offering of heirship." The Emperor commanded him.

with a measured gait,

into his with askance, yet the Emperor's

hall as he bestowed his Royal Sword upon the kneeling Rui. "The world shall recognize you, Prince Rui Quarrier Kandria, as chosen heir unto the Second

CLASP

jarred back to reality as he broke out of his shell of shock. The surreality of what was unfolding at the moment had suddenly

real?' Uncertainty grasped at his heart, squeezing it in a

hoped he was having a

from the bottom of his heart, that he would wake up in the Quarrier Orphanage as just another ordinary orphan blessed to have been accepted by Lashara

denied his

it cruelly thrust him into a world where he was somehow a Royal Prince,

with uncertainty as he

Sword weighed

It was heavy.

a burden he

burden he

was thrust upon him against his

where he could calmly

shocked about the nature of his own circumstances. He didn't even know how to begin processing

"My subjects."

cut through the tumultuous atmosphere as the Emperor took the

"My children."

at the royals gathered closer

of his tone reflected the weight of the circumstances. "Much

aside from the Emperor himself, of

diseased," He closed his eyes. "I do not have much longer left. Know that I have fought, with all might, against this curse that addles my

final act. This is my will. I believe that this, even as I inch closer to death, is the right choice for Kandria. For the future

his words

the many powers and forces of Kandria that had gathered within the hall. "I have made my choice, and it is time for each of you to

The air grew electric.

hall understood what the

had

who bore the will of Rael

the throne had emerged from the woodwork. It was bound to be the birth of a new faction.

a great opportunity