The Journey To Find The New Golden Emperor

In the Golden Era there was also a Golden Haven. This Golden Haven would have no main Empress, Empress Dowager and no Crowned Prince. There would be one woman from each Haven, that would enter the Golden Haven Harem, and each would be bestowed a male heir from the Golden Emperor.

This was how the Golden Haven kept the trust and faith upon all the other Havens. These 'forced' heirs, were 'Golden Heirs' who were bonded to each other and would be even more of a brother to each other than normal. They could know the area in which their brothers are, through this bond, and it was more of a feeling that was looked upon well, so then felt about well.

The ‘Golden Heirs’ are, of course, led mostly by their whole Haven, even venturing into their maternal Haven's with their mother on the occasion. Each 'Golden Heir' prince has a chance at becoming the next Golden Emperor, even the youngest or sickest. It was only common sense to the Golden Emperor, to pick the person that would be the best person suited to take over the legacy. And, the laws stated for peace, showed that no 'Golden Heir' was to reproduce until they were thirty. It wasn't like reproducing was a problem, as they would easily be able to use a 'Golden Meditation' that would forcefully produce a male heir that would become a 'Golden Heir'.

With everyone knowing that reproducing wasn't a problem, waiting until they were thirty, was to keep the Haven's from picking and choosing the next Golden Emperor, who will keep the Haven's connected with the Golden Bridge.

This also gave the 'Golden Heir' princes time to show what they have been taught and find respect and favour with all of the Haven's.

On the occasion a Prince may have given up his own right to the throne, and with that, was able to marry and move out of the palace, living the rest of his days as a noble, perhaps in his own maternal Haven...This wasn't really looked upon well, as the maternal Haven would be upset to lose this potential power, but it has happened.

Then, if a Golden Emperor was to die early, another law was then enforced to continue on in the most peaceful way, so that a Golden Bridge can emerge quickly, as well as the next respectful, chosen Golden Emperor.

Of course, power was something people seemed to love, but there were also other advantages of being the Golden Emperor. Not only were they often picked because they were talented and strong, but smart. They were always offered to go see other Haven's and would always be favoured upon. If a Golden Emperor cultivation base ranks into twenty, they are able to control a large Divine Beast, that others could not. A Haven, known as Indigo Haven, had been destroyed using a Divine Beast a very long time ago in this way. The damage was easily done, as the Golden Emperor had taken down the anti-beast barrier, so that the Divine Beast could wreak havoc how it wanted to...Controlling this beast was a specific 'Golden Meditation', and its history was, of course, written down.

So, it was every Haven's wish, for their 'Golden Heir' Prince to become the next Golden Emperor, especially when the Golden Emperor has their own library full of meditations, that could only make one stronger...But, that cannot be entered, unless you are the Golden Emperor...

With having an alliance from each Haven, the Golden Emperor was able to bestow this golden bridge, in which gave them the power to even call the planet a name. The planet has had several names, as they might have changed with the Golden Emperor’s. The last name that the planet held was Shalom, as people had thought of it as peace, yet, the Golden Emperor who had called it that exclusively meant Shalom because of feeling whole and complete.

There were other things that the Golden Emperor had to do, obviously he connected the Haven's, but also tried his hardest to keep in the good graces of each Haven, without losing his prestige. This was not an easy thing to do, compromise and choosing the best words could take days with only one matter, yet, as the emperor who wanted to stay in good graces, one has to think the best of every situation, to the best of his ability.

There would be quite a few golden followers, loyal only to the Golden Emperor, who had the 'Bending Space' Meditation, and they would always report exactly what was going on in each Haven to the Golden Emperor, practically making it impossible to have no secrets. It was a much more easier time in those days, as people knew of these cultivators with the 'Bending Space' Meditation and they could only tell the truth and be honest, and it was much easier to get along with one another.

And if one lies…Well, it was much easier to know who your enemies were…

This was how time continued and stayed for many centuries and trade was much better. Purple Haven had been the second richest Haven back then, also very populated.

Green Haven had not changed too much, as they had not the resources, but they had the people with talent. Sadly, the best they could do to obtain something, was to sell someone for it. Green Haven has this in their royal records, therefore they slightly remember that they should not only keep up their talented people, but also not rush into any kind of problem because of wanting something. They were not able to put a wall up around the entire Haven, like that of Purple Haven, because they had not 'sold' their people half-heartedly. That was why Green Haven sometimes had deaths, due to mostly children running beyond the anti-beast barrier, just outside of the border of their Haven, yet they could not regret an action from a Green Haven Emperor from the past, knowing their people would have been the ones that had to be sold to have put up a wall. It was a sad fate of trying to understand and make do for the past, but the royals do know of this...And so, for many years now, there were quite a few people dedicated to watch the barrier and keep children from unintentionally walking or running out of the anti-beast barrier. But that was the best that they could do, especially now that they couldn’t trade for what they would need to make the wall, as the Golden Bridge was now gone. Yet, they still couldn’t regret not making the wall…

***

Then...A certain Emperor had come into rule over Golden Haven. He was a 'True Golden Heir', and he had fallen in love with someone from no other than his own Golden Haven.

Mandala was but a girl that was born from a maid, who had become a maid herself. She hadn't much of a background, nor had any kind of person to back her up. She hadn't much power...She was very...Normal, a commoner. But what she had experienced, was some of the things other commoners had experienced. She had been homeless, so she was able to understand the homeless. She had been hungry and thirsty, to the point of being close to death, so she was able to understand famine. She had no idea upon who her father had been, and her mother had died early, so she was able to understand the orphans and what they are missing out on. Yet, she was a positive soul that saw a lot of good, overcoming the bad that she had to endure. She was happy with a roof over her head and food on the table, making her very excited and grateful, if she was to receive anything else.

At the age of twelve, she was able to get a job inside of the palace and was able to positively work there, even though she had nothing else…

Mandala hadn't ranked beyond seven in cultivation throughout her entire lifetime, but she most definitely knew how to step inside someone else's shoes and be able to say the right words to those whom she would visit or would visit her. Some strange circumstances led her to be safe in her younger years, as others close by, mainly commoners like herself,  seemed to have the occasional thief or perhaps someone that would kill to leave their position as a commoner to move up in the world would gain bad luck. Seeing this, Mandala would be able to follow something, in which she thought it as her heart, and it was telling her what to do…Through this early time of her life, she had unintentionally helped catch a thief and a murderer…

Upon growing up, this certain 'True Golden Heir' Emperor, having the name as Marcus, had indulged this maid very dearly, he had helped her grow within herself and they both ended up falling in love. He would see her often in the palace, able to give her what others could not, and she in return, would put thoughts, that he had never thought of before, into his head. She would make him think of not just responsibility, but more so on how to make others happy and how it would make him feel.

'There's always room for improvement', Mandala would say to Marcus. And Marcus would bluntly want an answer from her on how to make something that he thought that couldn't be improved, yet she would always find a way...Even if it was the smallest bit of improvement…

Over those years, Marcus hadn’t been sure on which part of Mandala that he loved the most. Was it that she was able to feel as the commoners do? Was it because she had a different mind? Was it because she was so damned positive? Was it because of her beautiful smile? Why?

It didn't matter though, she stole his heart, and he could only try and win the beautiful girl over.

Their love wasn't something that was questioned, it was...Everything else. She was not from other Haven's, she was also not of high, noble birth.

She would find excuses not to be with him and would often walk away, having Marcus only able to watch her back...After all, Mandala wasn’t stupid, she felt that there was no future for a person such as he, to be with someone like her. It wasn’t like she had no self-confidence, it was more so her realistic thoughts and stating basic fact, especially when it was a common known fact then that he was already going to become the next Golden Emperor...

It was tiresome though, she would want to be with him, the person that made her smile. He made her feel whole and complete, made her feel loved and like she had something to offer…

All the times that she had forced herself to walk away, it wasn’t easy and would be unhappy afterwards, but could only coax herself and be reminded that their relationship just couldn’t happen…

The sad thing was, he was already the future Emperor, as he was a 'True Golden Heir'...Meaning he was to take a woman from each and every Haven. It was normal, natural, and nobody questioned it...Yet, he knew his beloved didn't like this, which was a reason why she never let him have her completely.

He knew of how he had been conceived and somehow wished that he was normal, but he wasn't. His father, the emperor, had actually fallen for one of his wife’s and conceived a second child with her over ten long years. Marcus was, indeed, fifteen years younger than his next blood brother, but he was conceived...Naturally. There had been no forced ‘Golden meditation’ upon the union between the Golden Emperor and this woman that he loved…