Hail the King

-Royal Palace of Zenit, the Imperial Grand Palace-

“Your Majesty, are you comfortable letting Fourth Princess His Highness guard the western gate?”

In tight-fitting, black armor, Execution Knight Captain Akinfeev who was muscular and had sword-like eyebrows stood in the palace like a straight spear, and glints of confusion flashed in his bright eyes.

Emperor Yassin who was in a white royal robe stood at the back of the palace with his back facing Akinfeev, and he was looking at the map of the territory of Zenit. About one-fourth of the map was marked red; it was the southern region that Barcelonans took.

After staring at the map for about four minutes, Emperor Yassin sighed and turned around. He looked at Akinfeev and asked a question that had nothing to do with Akinfeev’s question, “Igor, how long have you been with me?”

Without thinking, Akinfeev replied, “56 years, seven months, and 29 days. When Your Majesty was only the prince of a level 1 affiliated kingdom, I was accompanying you as a study buddy.”

“Yeah, 56 years, seven months, and 29 days. Now thinking back, all those times flashed by in the blink of an eye.” A rare dispirited expression appeared on Emperor Yassin’s face as he continued, “I still remember that back then, you, me, Brother Doumbia, Brother Dzagoev… all nine of us were like real brothers, and we studied and practiced martial arts together when we were little. After we grew up, we battle alongside each other and killed enemies together. The people only know that I, Emperor Yassin, battled around the region and established the Zenit Empire, but they don’t know that without eight brothers like you, how could Zenit exist?”

“Your Majesty is talented and invincible in the Northern Region of Azeroth. Other brothers and I are proud that we battled alongside Your Majesty,” Akinfeev lamented while thinking back to the good old days. Unfortunately, those brothers whom they mentioned were all lying in their cold tombs.

“56 years have passed, and Doumbia and others have bled their last drop of blood for the empire and returned to the embrace of the stars,” Emperor Yassin sighed and said, “Only you are still with me. You were like me when we were little, and you are the most talented out of my eight study buddies. All these years, I trust you more than my sons, and you control the Imperial Knight Palace, monitoring all officials and making sure that the empire is in peace. You deserve a lot of credit.”

“It is my honor to serve you, Your Majesty.” Akinfeev wasn’t taking any credit for his work.

“We are only talking about what happened in the past. Don’t be so formal.” Emperor Yassin pointed at a chair beside him and said, “Igor, sit down and talk with me. About 20 years ago, Jolie passed away, and my third son disappeared, I… I almost died because of that incident as well. To recover my strength, I have been cultivating at every second, and I haven’t gotten the chance to sit with you and talk about the past in a long time.”

Akinfeev didn’t know what to say. Queen Jolie was the only woman who Emperor Yassin ever loved. She grew up with Emperor Yassin and his eight study buddies, and she was a beautiful and smart woman. Although everyone secretly liked this woman, only Emperor Yassin who was a rare genius that wouldn’t be seen once in hundreds of years deserved her.

It should be a fairy tale where a hero and a beauty lived happily ever after. After being married, Emperor Yassin and Queen Jolie loved each other, and Queen Jolie was kind and gentle toward all officials and citizens. All nobles and civilians loved her, and she was known as the Queen of Radiance.

Queen Jolie only gave birth to one son, and he was the Third Prince.

Unfortunately, not long after the Third Prince was born, a big change happened in the empire, and Emperor Yassin fell from his peak and almost died. In that incident, Queen Jolie passed away, and the Third Prince went missing.

This incident cut deep into Emperor Yassin’s heart and couldn’t be healed.