Crimson and Gold

Octavius was sitting in his office as usual. The past couple of days, he spent most of his time there. On a few occasions, he even managed to fall asleep at his desk and sleep till morning.

The spread of the weird sickness that was turning people into—what the locals called—the Husks was giving him quite a bit of trouble.

At least, ever since employing the daethri to fight these things off, the situation started calming down quite significantly. The breaking into the Grand Library, on the other hand, looked like a lost cause.

With a lack of witnesses and no leads, the investigation was stuck at a dead end.

Drowning in work didn’t prevent Octavius from thinking about his family. Quite the contrary. It made him think about it more.

At the start of the infestation, Loukios took Melite away from the city. They decided to stay in one of his villas, where his wife could spend her days without worrying about dangers. She was entering an advanced stage in her pregnancy and required a lot of peace and quiet.

As for Octavius’ second child…

“You wanted to see me?” Lysandra entered the office and stopped by the desk.

The golden bracelets on her slim wrist chimed as she folded her arms on her chest. The simple, flowing pale blue dress she was wearing was meant to look casual and effortless, yet on the Princess, it gave off an expensive, luxurious vibe.

Even among the nobility, there was hardly anyone who could compare to Lysandra’s beauty.

Someone like her should have had no issue finding a suitable marriage partner.

Unfortunately, as Octavius always believed, the Princess inherited the rebellious character from her mother, which made her extremely unattractive in the eyes of most respected men. It was something even her beauty couldn’t make up for.

Tasting the bitterness of this thought, Octavius cleared his throat. “I have arranged for you to marry the oldest of House Naevius, Adrian. The ceremony will be held on the third of next month,” he announced, then immediately resumed reading the reports piling before him.

Lysandra snorted. “No, thank you.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion.”

“I don’t care what it was. I’m not marrying him or anyone else for the matter.”

“Do you realize what situation you’re in? You’re almost thirty and still unmarried,” the Emperor said, gritting his teeth. “There was hardly anyone willing to even consider this marriage because of your reputation.”

“Even if he were the last man in the world, I would still refuse to marry him. Are you even aware of the rumors circulating about him?” Lysandra retorted. She was still furious about the time he lured her into his villa and then tried to imprison her.

If Therion didn’t show up in time, she would be too late to save Saria from that cockroach Sulla.

This alone made her feel nothing but disdain towards the man. The rumors about his frequent visits to brothels only solidified this feeling.

“House Naevius is well respected, and Adrian’s status matches yours. As the princess, you ought to set an example for the people,” Octavius said without missing a beat. “A woman’s duty is to get married and have children.”

Hearing this, Lysandra laughed even harder. “What children are you talking about? Have you forgotten, Father? My womb was deemed unfit to bear a child. Shriveled up like a raisin, was it?”

Not many people knew, but aside from her complete lack of magical aptitude, the Princess suffered from another mysterious condition that made her unable to bear children.

It never really bothered Lysandra, since she always knew she didn’t want to have any. But for others, especially men like her father, it was one of the worst things that could happen.

Octavius clenched his teeth. “It’s because of the way you conduct yourself! The gods have punished you for your unnatural behavior!”

“Unnatural?” Lysandra’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Tell me, Father, which part of my behavior is unnatural?” she asked, leaning against the desk.

“Which part of my behavior goes against the teachings of Aether the All-Mother and her partner Sera the Night Mother? Or perhaps it was Astesis and Laurentina that I have offended? Maybe it’s Vitia who’s unhappy with me for cherishing one of her beloved children?”

The Princess was glaring at the Emperor with such heat that it threatened to burn a hole in his forehead. “Tell me, Father, for if I truly offended one of them, I have no way of knowing.”

“It’s the Sun-Father you have sinned against!” Octavius slammed his fist on the desk. “The Sun-Father, who holds the highest position in the Heavens, who had chosen his sons to guide the people! You offended him!”

“Really? I can’t remember him saying anything like that. Or anything at all for the matter…” the Princess mused.

Out of all ten gods in the Aelian pantheon, the Sun-King Aelius was certainly one to communicate with his followers the least. Even the Oracles serving in temples dedicated to him heard from him extremely rarely.

“Of course, you never did. The Sun-Father speaks to his sons only. How could you ever hear it?” Despite his words, Octavius’ voice didn’t sound confident at all. As if he didn’t believe in what he was saying in the first place.

Lysandra’s eyes lit up as she finally connected the dots. A cunning half-smile appeared on her face. “Fascinating. I didn’t know you were such a spiritual man, Father. It makes me wonder if you, perhaps, experienced some divine enlightenment, or is it the lack of endorsement from the Oracles making you repeat the doctrines of Helists?”

The shadow sweeping across Octavius’ face told Lysandra that she hit the nail on the head.

Helists were a group of politically driven religious extremists whose origins could be traced all the way back to the beginning of the era.

After its transformation from a kingdom to an empire, Aelius experienced an explosive growth. The next few centuries passed without any major military conflicts in this part of the continent, allowing the Land of the Sun to stabilize its own internal conflicts and increase the standard of living for most citizens.

However, the emergence of the status quo in the continent in its current form wasn’t to the taste of everyone.

While the Aelius Empire established itself as one of the most influential forces in the region, it lacked the natural resources that could elevate it even further.

Those who had the most interest in Aelius’ growth were, naturally, the first to advocate for the territorial expansion.

Nevertheless, the matter wasn’t as widely supported as they could have hoped for.

The relatively high standard of living of the common folk made them unwilling to abandon their livelihoods to join the Aelian army and march to their imminent deaths.

The Senate was more flexible in the matter, but even among the highly born officials, there were hardly any voices sympathetic to the cause. After all, the main source of wealth for many was trade that flourished during the time of peace and was the first to wither during war.

Who in their right mind would be willing to pour insurmountable gold into their own demise?

To add insult to injury, the Oracles and the Empress-Mother publicly admonished any acts that could lead to an unjustified war.

While the people and the Senators could be eventually convinced with enough money being poured in, the representatives of the Divine not so much.

At first, the Expansionists made a few good attempts to buy the favor of the Oracles. They sought those they deemed a ‘weak link’ and proceeded to tempt them with exorbitant money and power.

Of course, no matter how much the Expansionists offered, even the poorest Oracles refused to have anything to do with them.

The Oracles’ exclusive nature—a group of women selected by the Gods to wield their powers and mediate between them and mortals—was the source of their greatest strength. It made them inaccessible to the tendrils of greed.

As time went on, the unwavering nature of the Oracles was becoming a bigger and bigger thorn in the side of Expansionists.

Being unable to get them to their side, there was only one thing left the Expansionists could do—to found their own replacement for the Oracles.

The process wasn’t fast or easy, it still took almost a century for their new religious faction to gain enough power to start being useful.

Eventually, with enough scriptures rewritten, words misinterpreted, and details conveniently omitted, the Helists finally became popular enough.

Their doctrines were simple.

The Sun-King Aelius was considered the only legitimate deity, the rest of the pantheon was either discarded or kept as a background decoration. Lucetta was deemed a blemish on the Aelian spirituality, and the Oracles were considered blasphemers following the false god.

The Sun-King’s words condemning the religious wars were skillfully rewritten into a rallying cry to defend the nation from foreign evil.

Despite the support the Helists managed to gather in the Senate and among the nobility, the same couldn’t be said about the common folk.

Due to their dogmas being blatantly written with politics in mind and not to aid the spiritual life, most commoners were, at best, indifferent towards the movement. At worst, they were openly hostile to it.

The existence of the Oracles made the presence of the Gods very clear even in the daily life of people. They weren’t just some distant beings whose existence might or might not be true. Every day, countless Aelians received various blessings from the Gods or were aided by them in one way or another.

Their influence was obvious and tangible, so any attempt at distorting their image was met with strong push-back.

If the people were to know that the Emperor was disrespecting the olden ways and their gods by spreading lies and false narratives about them for his own political gain, they wouldn’t sit quietly.

It was because of that fear of riots, Octavius never dared to openly endorse the Helists or denounce the Oracles.

And that fear was the leverage Lysandra was happy to use.

She looked her father in the eye, a confident smirk dancing on her lips. “You know, Father. If you are so dedicated to setting an example for the people, then how about you find a nice, god-fearing man for yourself and have him bear your children?” she said, infusing each word with a hearty dose of mockery.

“Until then, don’t bring this matter up ever again. I’m not the same girl who used to cower under your stern gaze. Push me to my limits, and I won’t hesitate to fight back.”

Without waiting for her father’s response, Lysandra strode out of the office, slamming the door shut on her way out.