Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

“Gaius. An empire is only as strong as its leader, remember that. In the future you must become an emperor that is strong and ruthless, to ensure that your rule is stable and respected, to make sure that your home is strong. Weakness will not be tolerated, that is how those below us who are not chosen by the goddess act, as royal blood we are above and beyond all of them. Look at your father, he embraces that truth and he is a strong ruler and the empire is stronger for it. Do you understand?” 

“Yes Grandfather”

“Good, now leave. Your father told me you have sword practice for today” 

That was the last conversation I ever had with my grandfather, Alistair IV the “Conquerer” Emperor. We were in the middle of the imperial palace, in his personal study. I was only five at the time but I already felt that his words were wrong. 

My father, Emperor Alistair V was a very cold and distant man. He barely spent time with me and my mother, choosing instead to spend time with his many mistresses who were foreign princesses that came from the lands he conquered, just like my grandfather before him. I can count on one hand the times we ever spoke and I can count with both hands the times we met, Suffice to say that him not being there for me combined with my mother blaming me for why my father never spoke to her was a pretty good way for me to resent them. 

When my grandfather died, the funeral that was held in his honor was the first time I ever laid eyes on my father. His rugged looks, with his sideburns and short hair that were coupled with his very muscular body, were, I admit. Very intimidating. During the funeral the man called my father barely spared a glance at me and my mother, choosing to just look upon grandfather, acting as if I was not there. 

Needless to say, my childhood was filled with the royal tutors employed by my father, his mistresses, and my mother, tormenting me and abusing me. Whether it was a ruler, boot, shoe, wooden plank or anything that could be wielded as a blunt weapon, I was hit and beaten with it. The scars still plague my body.

When my father died of a heart attack it was during my thirteenth birthday, one I spent all alone mind you, electing to just hide away in a far corner of the city, trying to fit in with the commoner children. The news reached me and I quickly went back to the imperial palace, hoping to at least see him one last time, but something happened when I got there. 

When I arrived, the entire place was on fire. All I could hear besides the firefighters running around with the mages trying to put out the fire was the laughter of my mother, and as I ran into the grounds hoping to find her, I did. Unfortunately, the last thing I saw was her laughing in the middle of a circle of the corpses of the many mistresses and political advisors of my father, with flames violently shooting out of her hands. 

But strangely enough, when I and her locked eyes, instead of the scowl and hatred that were always in her expression, I saw a small glimmer of regret and sadness, whether it was regret that she failed to kill me as well or a regret of not raising me but instead spending years hating me I will never know, the building collapsed on her before I could find out. 

After that whole experience, I was taken in by the Grand Duke of the Erstad Duchy, one Mikalias Erstad. I remember that he was a noble who was very verbal against his disdain against my father and grandfather, always using the title to the best of his abilities to try and hamper their work, and their conquest. It was not surprising to me at all that he was the head of the opposition party that sought to reform the empire from the ground up, and from where I was standing, I was about to be their puppet. 

But surprisingly I was not into a puppet like I had thought. Instead of declaring himself as the next emperor he simply declared himself regent and that I would be under his care. And if you're wondering what about the party that supported my father, apparently they all died in the fire so there was no one to oppose him and his declaration. 

The next few years before I could take the throne at eighteen years old were spent being educated or re-educated on how to rule. I was still soft-spoken as the abuse I had suffered never really left me, sure I would speak when spoken to during social events, but my way of speaking was equivalent to me saying something incredibly embarrassing and stupid at the same time. Earning the laughs of the Erstad's while I kept looking at the person I was speaking with with a large smile, looking like a complete idiot sometimes. 

Speaking of the Erstad's, Grand Duke Mikalias, although a widower, had a son. His name was Gregorits and he was basically the brother I never had. He was one of the few who could bring me out of my shell and he would do his best to help me in the many awkward situations I would find myself in, much to his enjoyment while at my despair as he would laugh at the situation before coming in to help, annoying? Yes. But would I have had it any other way? No. 

Over the years of me being re-educated. I had learned how the Erstad's ruled. They helped the people who lived in their duchy, whether they were human or non-human did not matter. I watched and learned as they showed me that a ruler can make a strong home can still be achieved by a ruler who is not strong but is compassionate and caring, someone who listens to the problems and jumps in head first to fix them. But I also learned that strength and toughness have their uses, as I saw that arrogant and unreasonable people need to be humbled and if they refuse, they were swiftly eliminated. 

I recall that on the eve of my eighteenth birthday and ascension to the throne, Grand Duke Mikalias took me aside in private and personally asked me what type of ruler I would be. I stayed silent for a long while as I looked him in the eyes, I understood that even after looking after me for the past five years, he was still wary that I would become my father, which I understood partially but mostly brushed off. 

I told him I would do my best to ensure that when I became emperor I would bring about change. I told him that after witnessing everything inside the duchy, I understood what a leader needed to be and how they were supposed to act. And to my relief, he nodded. That nod made me feel like life really was worth living. 

Soon after, I became emperor. Emperor Gaius I had a nice ring to it in my humble opinion. And as soon as I became emperor of the Hillsbrooke Empire, I saw just how broken and crooked the system really was. Elites who had dodged taxes and were feeding off the commoners who were taxed into the grave, generals of the army no more than the petty bandits they were ordered to fight, a religious institution having actual say in government matters because they lie through their teeth and bribe the officials who are in their pocket, and a system that rewarded men and humans only and disgraced and mistreated women and non-humans. 

Grand Duke Mikalias during the time he was regent, tried to implement a bunch of reforms that were supposed to have been passed no problem, but to his surprise and to mine, the many nobles who were on the fence and on his side opposed them. Stating that unless it was the next emperor himself who ordered these reforms, they would oppose it. This resulted in me, Gregorits and his father just angrily drinking and venting one night, with all of us having a severe hangover come morning.

But after that, I held a session with all the nobles of the empire and declared to them my intention of pushing forward with all of the reforms. 

"What do you mean your majesty?!"

"Surely you have thought these through?!"

"That bastard Grand Duke Mikalias has polluted your mind, your majesty!" 

These were some of the comments the nobles made after they had heard my intentions. And of course, as their emperor I simply looked at all of them, dead in their eyes, and stated them down as I said

"I believe I called you all here to inform you. Not ask for your opinions. This empire is decrepit and dying, and I for one will not allow it to slip into anarchy and death. If you do anything to stop or slow down these reforms, then that means a forfeit of you and the lives of your family" 

I remember the shocked looks on their faces as I told them, and to be fair, they had it coming. Bastards staying on the sidelines not doing anything for the empire. Whether it was out of fear for being destroyed or just cowardice I care not, they had their chance long ago and did nothing. If they expected another chance under new management, they sure were disappointed.  

And if you were wondering what said reforms were, here are some of the major ones. 

• Reformation of the judiciary system, with the goal of equality before Imperial Law. Whether they are nobles or commoners. Or even foreigners. 
• Reformation of the taxation system, decreasing of taxes on the commoners and increasing for the nobles
• Equality of races and genders, with heavy punishment for those who ignore this law
• Reformation and reconstruction of the Imperial Army, with heavy punishment on those who had violated their oaths and committed crimes
• Establishment of an Imperial Bank
• Creation of the Imperial Investigation Bureau 
• Separation of the church and the government

And several others that were to improve the state of the empire.  All of which by the time I reached 50, were in effect in full force. 

And then, when I was twenty, I met the love of my life. Her name was Illyria and she swept me off my feet when we first met, literally. 

I met her on a trip to the southern border of the empire as I went with Gregorits and his newly wedded wife Pamela, to check up on some rumors that a group of bandits was currently gathering strength because of the neighboring country to the south called the Duchy of Warszawa supplying them weapons and essentials to keep a large army going. In all honesty, I had not taken the rumors seriously, brushing them off as I remembered that at the time, the Duchy was on the brink of collapse. 

When we arrived at the southern border I felt like fate was laughing at me and my hubris as not only were we attacked by bandits, but it was the same bandits who were rumored to be supplied, and when one of them died next to me, I knew then that the rumors were true as they were sporting Warszawa style armor underneath their ragged cloths. When another man came rushing at me when my guard was down, that’s when she came. 

Charging out of nowhere was one of the knights that were in charge of protecting us. The bandit who charged me was down the second she appeared and I was at a loss for words as I saw her remove her helmet as it took the blow from the bandits club and I saw a beautiful woman with flowing crimson locks and a face that could make other women jealous by just a glance. But in my daze, I apparently failed to notice another bandit coming up behind me and the knight dashed forward, picked me up, and as she turned with me in her arms, she kicked the bandit away. Needless to say, I fell in love. 

What came after that was a love story akin to the many novels I had read in my free time over the years, I found out her name was Illyria and that she came from a commoner background. With her poor family having nothing, she forcefully trained herself to the brink to master magic and swordsmanship to the best of her abilities, by the standards of the adventurers’ guild she could be considered a higher A-Rank at her peak which was impressive of itself. Anyways, I spent a lot of time courting her which always ended up with me headfirst in a pile of dirt…don’t question it. Illyria was very hesitant, despite my amazingly good looks like my sideburns, my short but spiky black hair, and my very well-built body that I had spent years trying to mold in an effort to get stronger, all to no avail in her eyes. But soon enough, my courting finally got to her and she accepted my feelings, but telling me that I had to beat her in a duel to win her…I did not win, in fact, I lost so badly, Gregorits, Pamela, and Illyria joked about it for as long as the four of us were together, with the main joke being that I screamed like a girl when Illyria picked me up and broke me over her knee without much effort.

Of course, I was annoyed by the jokes, but did not think much of it because I appreciated that it brought the four of us closer together, and with the many jokes and laughter, I felt that I finally had people I could enjoy life with, when I was thirty I even had my first son Visnet who looked exactly like Illyria, things were looking up…if only I knew what was to come, then I would have done more to cherish those moments of bliss.

A/N: Hello! so, my school is starting soon and I am posting some of the chapters that are done and finishing those that are almost done before it starts. For today, we have a small look into the life of Gaius I, the current emperor of the Hillsbrooke Empire. I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day. also, let me know what you think in the comments below!