In the deep of the night, within the king’s bedroom in the Golden Castle.
Becky·Tarn sat up in bed and took out a handkerchief to wipe away the perspiration accumulated from his ‘exercise.’ After putting on thin pajamas, he poured a glass of wine. He took a sip and carried the glass to the terrace to look down at the capital city under the night sky.
“Your Majesty… is something bothering you?”
On the soft bed, the Queen, who still looked beautiful despite not being young anymore, was naked. She pulled the blanket to cover her chest and looked at Becky’s back curiously.
They had been married for many years and knew each other’s habits very well. When they were “exercising” just now, she clearly sensed that Becky was distracted and could not perform well… but she did not dare to say it out loud.
(TL Note: Emotional damage)
Becky swirled the wine in his glass before he suddenly said, “Do you remember when the Empire was first established?”
“It’s been forty years. I was born not long ago then. How would I know?” The queen shook her head.
“But I remember it very clearly.” Becky’s tone was reminiscent, “I still remember the enthusiasm of the various tribes when they joined forces. At that time, everyone had a beautiful vision. They hoped to stop internal strife and friction. They wanted to gather the strength of all the tribes and completely resolve the threat of the mutant beasts so that everyone could live in a safer world… I followed my father to participate in the Joint Assembly of Tribes on the eve of the establishment of the empire. I witnessed the Tarn Clan finally becoming the royal family elected by the various tribes. I witnessed my father’s coronation ceremony.”
The Queen gently said, “It is these experiences that have made you so wise. The Empire has grown stronger under your rule. This proves that the Tarn family is born with the bloodline of a king.”
Becky shook his head. “These words are only for outsiders to hear. Tarn is no different from other tribes. It’s only the glory and deeds of Raven·Tarn, our ancestor, that have established the revered status of our tribe’s blood relatives. In fact, there has never been any royal bloodline.”
“Did something happen?” The Queen sounded worried. Usually, Becky wouldn’t tell her that.
Becky’s tone was low, “I heard some voices, questioning Tarn’s legal system.”
The queen was shocked, “Who is so bold?”
“Some people who are unwilling to give up are making more and more small moves. We haven’t found the source yet.”
Without turning around, Becky spoke in a low voice.
“The empire has only been built for a short 40 years, but the hearts of the people have changed. The initial enthusiasm and original intention of establishing a country together are like embers, only leaving behind a tiny flame that can be extinguished at any time. When Father ruled, everything was very stable, but the situation changed when the throne was passed to me. Father had expected this.
He told me that the bond formed from tribal unity was not strong. The throne was the source of chaos. Once everyone felt like they could take turns sitting on the throne, chaos would be born. Therefore, the best choice was for the members of the Tarn to continue the inheritance. It could prevent disputes and prevent the Empire that had been painstakingly created from fighting back to the tribal era… However, the various tribes had deliberately neglected one thing when they elected the Tarn as the royal family. That was, they did not admit that our Tarn could always hold the throne. Some people felt that the throne would rotate, and they would become the royal family.”
The queen opened her mouth wide, “Someone wants to take His Majesty’s throne?!”
“Perhaps… Even if there isn’t someone like that now, it will appear in the future. I was born before the Empire was established, and I can still be barely recognized to succeed the throne. But what about the next generation? The stronger the Empire, the more benefits the royal family will receive from it. Some tribes will be more unwilling to accept it. Sooner or later, there will be people who think they are qualified to covet the throne and fight for the legal system of Tarn.”
Becky slapped the railing of the terrace and said firmly, “40 years is still too short. Only by ruling for a long time can we establish the legal system of Tarn! Therefore, in order to stabilize the rule, we have to suppress the development of the tribes and let these people with disloyal intentions slowly weaken until they lose the ability to divide the empire… I can tolerate the joint rule of the tribes, provided that they further recognize the legal system of Tarn and support the Empire. A country can only have one voice and only one bloodline that is qualified to occupy the throne.
“Only by wiping away the traces of the tribal era can we truly enter the new era of unifying the Empire… The Tarn tribe is not a natural King, so I’ll use a few generations to make the world believe that Tarn possesses the bloodline of a King! What I want to do is to lay the foundation for generations to come!”
Becky’s eyes burned with ambition.
The queen murmured with admiration, “I’m sure Your Majesty can do it.”
But Becky shook his head and suddenly sighed, “It’s difficult… The royal family can gather the resources of the entire country and widen the gap between them and the other tribes. However, those tribes won’t sit back and do nothing. I have to ensure that the advantage of the royal family can’t be shared with them too much, so they won’t be satisfied. In order to protect the interests of their respective tribes, they will definitely steal the resources of the country in places that I can’t see and slowly drain the Empire…”
Becky paused and muttered to himself,
“Therefore, I need more special resources that can’t be easily replicated. I need to be completely in the hands of the royal family so that I can widen the gap between us and the tribe…”
At this moment, there was a flurry of footsteps outside the door, followed by a knock.
“Your Majesty, I have something important to report!” The voice of his trusted guard sounded.
The Queen hurriedly put on her clothes.
Becky returned to the room, put down his glass casually, and said in a low voice, “Come in.”
The door opened, and his trusted guard hurriedly walked in. He bowed and said, “Your Majesty, there’s news from the Empire Workshop that the new blood potion has been successfully made!”