The Duke's Passion

"Bow down to His Majesty, the Emperor when he is in front of you."

Silence descended on us until the last drop of the rubble bounced on the marble floor. What did Charlotte address Sam? I didn't believe my ears the first time, but I was certain I didn't hear it incorrectly. 

Charlotte addressed Sam, His Majesty, the Emperor? No way.

Everyone was beyond shocked, as we could only stare blankly at Sam as he took the three steps up. Charlotte dragged Jaime to the side to make way. When Sam sat down in the Earl's seat, he rested his leg over the other and cradled his unconscious son. 

"Jaime Malum, you poor, poor thing," he drawled while Charlotte aggressively grabbed Jaime's hair and pulled it up to raise his head. She still had her knees on the viscount's back.

One would wonder how her small frame could pin down a man, but Charlotte was more than what meets the eye. She had been bickering and sparring with Ramin, the strongest Bearer of the Order, after all. 

"How can you be so foolish?" asked Sam, staring at Jaime in pity. The latter seemed to still be in shock as his complexion turned pale. 

"I had been in Minowa for five years and lived in peace, taking care of my wife while raising a son. Why do you have to disrupt my peace when it is not your time yet?" 

Jaime opened and closed his trembling lips. "How dare you pose as His Majesty, the Emperor? Are you not afraid of the consequences?!"

"Why would I be afraid of myself?" Sam cocked his head to the side. 

Even though Jaime didn't have enough voice to speak his doubts, I understood his point. How could Sam be the emperor if he had stayed in Minowa for five years? He should be in the Capital! A lot of questions arose in my head and I couldn't deny that I doubted his claims as well. 

It didn't make sense!

Sam was not the person who would take more power than the title of the Duke. Being the Duke of Grimsbanne was already a chore to him. What more handling an entire empire? But Charlotte called him the emperor! How could I question its legitimacy?!

Just what happened to this kingdom in the past five years?

"I can't blame you if you doubt me. I don't even want this title if I had a choice," Sam replied lazily as he leaned back and scanned every single knight. His eyes lingered on me for a very long time. 

"Are you hurt?" he asked, eyes still on me. 

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't find the voice to respond. He sighed and shook his eyes after seeing my reaction. 

"It seems you are fine, my wife. Although you played too much..." Sam let out a disheartened voice and set his eyes back to Jaime. "... now, what should I do with you, Viscount? Your knight hurt my precious son."

"Your Majesty, let's use him as a fertilizer!" Charlotte suggested happily. Her tone didn't match the stifling air.

"Should we?"

"Your Majesty, please don't listen to Charlotte's suggestion. Why don't we punish him and let him do a walk of shame?" this time, Ramin finally spoke. I could still feel the competitive air between the two, but this wasn't the time to feel nostalgic.

"You won't get away from this..." Jaime mumbled as soon as he retrieved his voice back. "Do you think these cowards are the only ones I had? My people will soon find you and I will make sure to take my precious time to slaughter your wife and that damn son of yours right in front of you!" 

"Pfft —!" Ramin snickered, making us glance at him. He waved and shook his head, seeing that he caught everyone's attention.

"I'm sorry, Viscount. Please go on."

"Gosh... he is more stupid than I initially thought. Let them come in since I hadn't been exercising for a long time," Charlotte commented with a devious grin, turning up on her lips.

"Apologies, Viscount. Apparently, even if you screamed for help, no one will come." Sam sighed deeply and shook his head. I wondered if Charlotte had already slaughtered everyone outside this hall. That was why he said that. The answer to my question came out too quick, though.

"We are inside the labyrinth, Viscount."

I instinctively turned to Ramin, and he gave me a shrug. Back then, Ramin couldn't reach his full potential. So I never got to see the full extent of his Labyrinth, so I had no idea what did Sam mean by 'we are inside the labyrinth.'

"It seems you did not understand, Viscount. Do you want me to show you?" Sam cocked his head to the side, brushing his fingers through his son's hair. He scanned the knights and smirk.

"I will kill everyone here in ten seconds. If I were you, save yourself and leave Viscount Malum."

His remarks made the cautious knights look at each other. For a knight to run away from his duty was the greatest dishonor, but these knights had no notion of what a proper knight should be. So, even when they hesitated, they fled once Sam started counting.

"Hey! What are you...! Do you not have shame?!" Jaime harrumphed, only to have his face meet the ground as Charlotte pinned him down once again. 

"So loud," she muttered irritably.

I felt like a background seeing everything unfold and did nothing. The shock of the turn of events had frozen me in place.

"Eight... nine..." Sam trailed off as he batted his eyes, gazing up at the main door ahead as it abruptly opened. 

My eyes instantly dilated seeing that these were the knights who had just run away from here. Why did they come back? I assessed their aghast countenance, and it seemed they were just as shocked as I was. 

"They didn't want to go back..." I whispered, and I instinctively glanced at Ramin. He had this smug smirk on his lips.

"Welcome back!" Ramin exclaimed happily while still carrying the young Earl in his arms. "Did you like the tour?"

The knights looked at Ramin blankly. I heard one knight murmur, "Labyrinth... the emperor's left hand," before he shifted his eyes to the arrow, standing erect on the floor, and whispered once again.

"and the emperor's right..."

The knight's mumbling was loud enough in this silence. After spewing his disbelief remarks, the knights' eyes widened as if they had finally realized things. 

Jaime, who was rendered flabbergasted by the same realization, turned his head to Sam. He tried to speak, his mouth hung open for quite some time before his voice came out.

"Your Majesty..." Jaime's voice shook as his breathing grew heavy and ragged.

Sam raised a brow as if he gazed back at Jaime. "Yes, Viscount?"

"Damn... the manners of the knights in Minowa never ceased to disappoint me." Ramin let out a series of clicks of his tongue. His comment snapped the knights back to their senses as they immediately rushed inside.

The knights glided on the knees and bowed until their forehead touched the floor.

"Your Majesty, have mercy on us!"