Emperor Aurelius grabbed his son, Prince Evan, by the collar, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against the wall.
"How dare you disobey my order?"
"Father, when I thought that the wives and children of those soldiers were waiting for their return, I could not bring myself to kill them."
The emperor knocked him to the ground and kicked him hard in the side with his foot, so that Evan screamed into the air.
"You are my damn successor, is this how you want to rule in the future? By freeing your enemies and sparing their lives?
You want to turn the government that I, my father and my great-grandfather drank our hearts' blood for it, to ashes?"
And then he kicked his sides again and again. At this moment, Minister Alf ran to the Emperor and sat on his knees.
"My lord, please punish me instead of the prince. I was his master and I should have trained him well, but I failed to do so."
The emperor stopped beating the prince and said to Alf:
"You too will be punished."
And then he called the guards.
"Take the prince to his room and lock him there."
The guards executed the order and Alf and his lord were left alone in the hall. The emperor went to his throne and sat on it. Alf also got up and went to that side and knelt in front of him.
Aurelius looked at Alf for a while and slowly the anger on his face disappeared and was replaced by a mixture of affection and kindness.
"You know, Alf, it's my fault. I shouldn't have chosen you as Evan's master. You're his mother and you're unintentionally too soft on him."
Hearing this sentence, the color jumped from Alf's face and he looked around as if he was afraid that someone had heard the emperor's words.
"My lord, I promise you that I will reconsider my training methods."
Aurelius said in a serious tone.
"Do it, Alf. I know you love this land as much as I do, and you don't want it to perish."
"Of course I do, my lord."
Aurelius stared at Alf's angelic face. The passing of years had not affected it and he still looked young and beautiful.
Aurelius got up from the throne and went to Alf.
"Get up."
Alf stood up and Aurelius said:
"Look at me."
Alf raised his head and looked at his lord with his sky blue eyes. Aurelius raised his hand and placed it on Alf's cheek.
"In the midst of this maelstrom of hypocrisy, betrayal, lies, and filth that engulfed the palace, you are the only bright spot in my life."
Tears gathered in Alf's eyes.
"But I have not been able to serve you well. I have not been able to relieve you enough of the burden."
"Don't say that, you expect too much of yourself."
That wasn't true, Alf thought to himself, and the Emperor knew it. Hadn't he reminded him of this a few moments ago? Right now, the emperor was being emotional, and it was the only reason he was honoring his son's secret mother.
Tears rolled down Alf's cheeks. He was afraid of the future of himself, the emperor, the prince and his people. What was really waiting for them? Were they really going to be destroyed because of his unworthiness?
Aurelius took Alf's face in his hands.
"Listen to me well. You think it's your fault that I'm a harsh emperor and the prince is too compassionate.
But let me tell you one thing. None of this is your fault. I point the finger of fault at you just to calm myself down."
Alf sobbed.
"My lord, you don't have to say these things to put me at ease."
"Alf, I said these words to ease my conscience."
And then he put Alf's head on his chest.
"Don't cry. Everything will be alright, my love."
Alf closed his eyes and listened to Aurelius' heartbeat, the music that promised him a bright future.
