Sarda, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 24th day of Fall

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The Senate became awfully quiet as the tension shifted from the Senator Lucresia and Senator Prestonheim to the Imperatur and Prince Arterius. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they waited for the Imperatur to give his reply.

After the deafening moment of silence, the Imperatur smacked the table with his fist in frustration.

"Y-you!" He began, "We could have avoided this entire fiasco if you have given the letter to the Senate the moment it was presented to you!" He pointed a finger at Arterius.

Arterius knew his father will put the blame on him. He can't blame for that because, obviously, he did hide that letter from the Imperatur and the Senate. But what good would it give them if he reported it earlier?

The answer to that was more chaos. Arterius knew that Senator Lucresia and his lackeys will do whatever it takes to get a grip of this find. His sister was already the Lady of House Bieroff that would mean that he was at an advantageous position to state his case and claim the aetherium mines for himself. In the long run, the sly snake would then choose his own research team and would try to fake any discoveries just for a quick payday.

Arterius was aware about the Lucresia's gross misconducts since the founding of the Principalia. The House of nobles hailing from the Western lands near Oyue's sea were considerably powerful due to their wealth. They were also known for being cut-throat traders who employ the services of highway men to raid caravans and occupy lands from their neighboring kingdoms.

It was only about 200 hundred years ago when they finally decided to join the Principalia in an attempt to quell the kingdom's anger after an incident their highway men cost against House Ordaneus on what was called the Bloody Trail.

Even after being incorporated to the Principalian Government, the Lucresia's made a lot of mess and at one time almost tore the country apart with their blunders. The only reason they stayed in power for this long was because of all the blunders they did, they always put the blame to a rival noble or destroyed their evidence and trails.

Arterius knew all of this because of a journal that the Prima family thought was gone from existence. That journal was hidden from their plain sight for almost a century and only he discovered it while he was lost in one of his father's libraries in their estate. He kept that book with him and never told the family about it.

For some reason, that book was written by one of their ancestors, Sigirio Prima, but no one had mentioned him and his works as a chronicler for the Principalia. But his book however contained a few dirty laundries from each of the Houses including their own.

"Prince Aterius, with all due respect," Senator Lucresia butted in. "That information would have been relevant if it was given to the Senate days before. Now, that's nothing more than—"

"That is a viable information about my brother's motives! I know he meant well!" Senator Prestonheim pointed at Senator Lucresia.

Another wave of banter and nonsensical name-calling followed. The Senate returned to shouting and screaming out their opinions as if it would change the other party's mind. Arterius shook his head as he was completely muted by the overlapping voices of the Senators trying to cross each of their points to one another.

"Silence!" The Imperatur smack his hand on the table once again. "Arterius, you do know how consequential your action was against the empire, right? Because withholding this information is considered a heavy offense!"

Arterius knew about this game, the blame game. That's how it goes in his father's reign. Every little blunder his father had, if it was possible to be blamed to other people, he'll do it to save his face. But Arterius was not going to let it happen to him at least not the conventional way it always did. He'll still take the blame for it, but he'll make sure his father and Senator Lucresia would look stupid for it on the eyes of the Senate. It looked like the Imperatur and the other fool was taking the bait.

"I do, Fa—I mean your Majesty." He bowed. "But I was under your order along with the Senate's directive. As a Prince and citizen of our beloved empire I felt that my first response would be to follow the orders vested upon me by my Imperatur and the Honorable Senate."

The Imperatur and the Senate was left speechless with his answer. He knew that he struck a nerve and had incurred the wrath of his father and the Senate. But he also knew that what he said was irrefutable proof that he followed their orders to the tee. Therefore, he was innocent of his father's accusation.

Arterius waited for his father or any of the Senate members to refute his statement. But even the loud Senator Ordus stood silent, everyone did. Senator Lucresia and his allies looked at him like a murderer set free from his crimes.

Of course, he still wanted to get his father's approval in assigning to him the mines. He wanted that as his punishment even if he knew there was no need for any of it. Arterius knew his father's vengeful nature and this provocation could get him to something even worse, but he knew he played his dice right at this time.

"Your Majesty," Arterius sighed. "I understand that even if I did follow your order with diligence, it still doesn't clear me from the fact that I made a blunder with Lord Prestonheim's letter. I accept full responsibility for it and will take the consequence of my actions but only if…"

Arterius paused and met his father's eyes. The Imperatur's raging eyes cursed his existence and wanted to lash out at him. But even the mighty Imperatur couldn't do that as much as he wanted to, at least not in front of this crowd.

Regardless of his father's hatred towards him, the Imperatur would still need to follow the rules and culture of the Arterian civilization. One of those rules prohibit the killing of kin.

That crime was considerably the most taboo of all that no one was above that rule. From the Imperatur down to the poorest of peasants, once you kill a member of your kin, your fate will end the same. That fate would include quartering your body and burning your head, then removing your existence from the society by burning every record that would have mentioned you. Which was considered a curse to their culture and belief practices.

The Imperatur wouldn't like the idea of his name deleted from the society he helped built and protect. Arterius knew that his father's anger was also rooted from the fact that he couldn't see his son suffer at the punishment he gladly would have enjoyed choosing.

"What are you pausing for, you fool?" The Imperatur clenched his fist as he waited for Arterius to continue. "I could just call the knights and get you imprisoned for life. But I want to hear what you have in mind."

Arterius was surprised. He didn't think his father, the Imperatur would answer him that way. Did his father notice his gambit? Or was he trying to provoke him to make that decision for him. Either way, it would still be a bad situation to be at, but he wanted to make the best out of it.

"Your Majesty, give me the honor to do this research at the Crescent Isles as punishment!" He answered.

His father's eyes widened while the Senate exploded at him. Most of the Senators shouted at him and cursed him. They spat a good number of words and a copious amount of saliva at him. The Imperatur raised his hand and asked for the roaring Senators to keep silent as they continue to converse.

"T-that is your punishment?!" The Imperatur raised his eyebrows. "To be honest its more of an order to me rather than punishment." He spat.

"It is indeed, your Majesty…" Arterius paused and took a deep breath. "…if you put it in a regular circumstance. This one isn't!"

"What do you mean by that?" The Imperatur asked.

"As it is a punishment, I don't get to have the budget for this undertaking. I will pay all of this from my own coffers. I also won't take any knights as escorts during this time. I could only depend on the knights Lord Commander Prestonheim would provide me with." The prince answered.

"Lord Commander Prestonheim?!" Senator Lucresia exclaimed. "I hope the sound of your booming cannon hadn't made you deaf, but as I said, he's currently under arrest!"

"On what grounds again, Senator?" Arterius asked. "Destroying Arterian property? As you know, the destruction of the mines might have something to do with what he had discovered."

Arterius walked back to the podium. "There might be monsters lurking below those mines, who knows?" He tapped his fingers on the cold marble. "I could investigate for you! Free of charge and no need for escorts! Yes, your Majesty and honorable Senators, I am signing my own death sentence and you get to be my witness!"

The Senators began to whisper with one another. Arterius was glad about the attention he was given. This was one of those moments he felt relevant to the Senate. The moment that he risks himself was the only moment the Senators would give a damn about him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Prince Arterius!" Senator Lucresia said. "You have already disgraced your House's name when you admitted your fault don't—"

The Imperatur suddenly grabbed the Senator's arm. Senator Lucresia paused and lend his ear to the Imperatur who whispered him something.

Arterius could see how Senator Lucresia's face turned pale. The Senator sat immediately before he turned his sights on him. There was indeed anger written all over his expression but Arterius didn't mind it.

The Imperatur looked at him with disgust. "Prince Arterius of House Prima, I hereby sentence you to the punishment you have chosen. I, Imperatur Severus wash my hands of any fault in the instance of your death while serving my beloved empire. What say you?" He asked.

Arterius nodded and sighed in relief. "I accept."