The Emperor’s Angel of Death

“His Majesty once invited this brother to Ctesiphon. Koz, covered in blood and disheveled, sat in the palace, rambling his mad words. He was an extremely brutal and misanthropic monster, with a touch of hypocrisy. He himself believed he was universally hated. He believed the Primarchs were the embodiment of all human sins, amplified a thousandfold. He firmly believed that everything he saw would be validated. He believed fate was immutable, even his hypocrisy—always paying lip service to justice, yet committing countless unspeakable atrocities on thousands of battlefields. He also believed this was the rationality of fate.

This book is first published on the entire network by 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞

Soshjan pursed his lips, inexplicably thinking of Talos.

“His Majesty wanted to change him, and did so with more patience than anyone else. He hoped Koz could understand that if there were no choices in the world, then nothing would have meaning. Even the universe itself relies on choice to operate. Fate, in relation to the mysterious future, is like one book in an entire library. Koz's problem was simply stubbornly reading one of those books, but isn't that itself a choice? Whether Koz listened or not, at least His Majesty was the only one willing to patiently communicate with him, to speak his heart to him. The other Primarchs avoided their half-mad brother like the plague. Even with Fulgrim, I could see only false pretense. In fact, Koz had already undergone some changes, but he laughed madly and wept, telling His Majesty that His Majesty would die in the light of Dionysus and Apollo. If His Majesty survived, then he would believe that fate could be changed, and he would truly change along with it.”

Saying this, Aeliana closed her eyes in pain.

“That’s why I detest Koz. Why did he have to say such things? Why did he have to curse the only brother who treated him kindly!”

“Queen Aeliana, it was not a curse.”

“His words were validated, and Koz became uncontrollably insane from then on. This is the Emperor's evil, killing one of his sons and driving another mad!”

For some reason, Soshjan thought of Talos again. It seemed that Xerxes and Koz had indeed had an unusual relationship. So, since Koz foresaw Xerxes's death, why didn't he try to prevent it?

“Queen Aeliana, do you know what made Xerxes different from the other Primarchs? I mean, his relationship with the Emperor.”

“One day after going to Terra, he took me away from the palace to a small tribe hidden in ancient ruins. The people there all served a mistress.”

“Erda.”

“I never imagined that the Mother of Gods would be such a gentle person, completely different from the tyrant in the palace. Xerxes respected her very much. It was then that I realized that the Primarchs were all products of genetic engineering. Only His Majesty was her true son. The Mother hoped he would leave the Empire and not waste his efforts on this brutal crusade, and hinted that their cruel father had even darker arrangements and plans for his sons.”

“Didn't she say that she was the one who threw her sons into the perilous galaxy?”

Hearing Soshjan's words, Queen Aeliana raised her pale, pretty face, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“Is it all her fault alone? How desperate must a mother be to do such a thing? Shouldn't the husband bear some responsibility?”

“Uh—”

Soshjan was speechless. He took two steps, and because the furniture here was relatively small, he simply sat on the carpet.

“Queen Aeliana, Xerxes certainly wouldn't want you to become like this. I believe what he loved was your intelligence, gentleness, and kindness.”

Aeliana lowered her head.

“You cannot imagine what kind of torture it is to wander in a desperate dream. When I woke up, I was even surprised that I hadn't gone mad.”

“I cannot feel your pain, but I don't want Veronica to become resentful of the whole world because of me. If the love that brings comfort is replaced by hatred, that would be too tragic.”

Aeliana was silent for a moment, then turned to look at him, suddenly saying something that surprised Soshjan.

“Can you hold me?”

Soshjan was stunned for a moment, thought for a few seconds, and then nodded.

Before he could stand up, Aeliana stood up first, walked to Soshjan in black high heels, and then sat directly in his lap.

Soshjan was wearing casual clothes, which were not thick. The black mourning dress Aeliana was wearing was also very light. Both of them could feel the heat of each other's skin. The faint floral and lavender scent from Aeliana kept entering Soshjan's nostrils, making Soshjan a little uneasy, but after she sat down, she pressed her cheek against his chest.

Aeliana seemed to have fallen asleep in Soshjan's arms, or perhaps she was just listening to his heartbeat. Soshjan didn't know what to do for a moment and just froze.

After an unknown amount of time, Soshjan felt some moisture on his chest and realized that Aeliana was crying again.

But she didn't make any sound. Soshjan could feel her trying to restrain herself, even gently biting his clothes with her teeth, just to avoid crying. But her trembling shoulders and the way her hands tightly gripped Soshjan's collar betrayed her mood at the moment.

In a certain moment, Soshjan felt a sense of heartbreak. He was very sad. After hesitating for a moment, he gently raised his hand and put it around her shoulders.

“Cry if you want to. It will make you feel better.”

Hearing Soshjan's words, Aeliana finally couldn't control herself and burst into tears.

This was perhaps the first time in ten thousand years that she had truly cried. The crying was so sad, so mournful, that Soshjan couldn't help but feel sorrow from the bottom of his heart and subconsciously hugged her tighter.

Until his chest was completely wet, Aeliana's crying finally gradually subsided.

“I'm sorry.”

When she finally left Soshjan's chest, she whispered a sentence, then picked up a handkerchief from the side and tried to wipe the water stains from Soshjan's clothes.

“It's okay, as long as you feel better.”

After calming down, Aeliana stood up from Soshjan's arms and returned to her seat.

“Soshjan, I will respect your decision.”

“Queen Aeliana, although I know it's a bit of a fantasy, I still want to ask, is there any other way to revive Xerxes?”

Aeliana shook her head.

“I don't know.”

“Okay, then I have one last question.”

Soshjan stood up, looked at Aeliana, and asked very seriously:

“Why did the Emperor execute his son?”

Aeliana seemed unusually calm at this time.

“What did that tyrant tell you?”

“He said that Xerxes sacrificed himself willingly because he could no longer control the Grey Matter.”

Aeliana responded with a cold laugh.

“As always, shameless, without morals, even continuing to exploit his dead son.”

Soshjan could only shake his head and sigh helplessly at this.

“Perhaps you can tell me something more valuable.”