Chapter 4: Spark

'ARE YOU kidding me?!'

That is what Alesteria cried in her mind as everyone in the room became silent by the emperor's command.

Everyone simply froze when they heard his command, and they were wondering if they had heard him correctly, but when they saw the emperor's expression, they knew they had.

'A-A ruby emerald…!'

It is regarded as one of the world's most valuable gems. One stone of it may cost half of the budget of a lesser kingdom, and as it matures, it becomes stronger than metal.

All of the people know this, it is just basic knowledge.

So, it's understandable that they were taken aback when they heard the emperor's decree.

'Getting a ruby emerald is near impossible! And he wants it by the time of the princess' banquet!'

Tristan, who is the emperor's aide, already knew who would be tasked to get the ruby emerald.

It was inevitable for him, who decided to follow Xerxes, and promised him he will do everything he commanded.

'Damn, I shouldn't have pledged that.'

He is beginning to regret his choices now.

"Hey, Sir Aide, if you don't stop his majesty right now, we are all doomed."

The Imperial escort of the emperor, Bastian, whispered to Tristan.

Bastian has been the emperor's escort ever since he was just a prince, he also fought beside him in the succession fight and was rewarded as the emperor's head knight and escort.

There is no doubt that they are loyal to Xerxes, but when he is making unreasonable requests like this, they pass to each other the responsibility of doing it.

"Do I look like I can stop him? I didn't even have the power to stop his insanity towards Empress Esme, do you think I have it now?"

Tristan retorted back, annoyed at Bastian.

"Then, what do you think we need to do?"

The two glared at each other, while their words are dripping with sarcasm, and sparks flew out of their eyes.

The others who are watching the two sighed in dismay as the two most recognized individuals in the kingdom are fighting over who could stop the emperor.

"Oh, stop it! Nothing is going to happen if you two just glared at each other."

The nanny, named Bella, smacked the two to stop their fight.

The two instantly ceased glaring at each other and Tristan was the first to back down, sighing to himself before taking a step.

'Fine. Since I'm the emperor's aide, I will just have to sacrifice myself.' He thought dramatically.

Tristan cleared his throat first before speaking.

"P-Pardon me, your majesty, but did you say r-ruby emerald…?"

The rest of the staff and people waited for the emperor's response, they were filled with anxiety and dread.

Xerxes, the emperor, turned his head to look at Tristan with a serious expression plastered on his face.

Tristan felt a chill run down his spine.

"Yes, got a problem with that?"

Tristan immediately stood back; he lowered his head as his imaginary tail is between his legs.

"No, your majesty."

Alesteria looked at Tristan like she can't believe that he immediately backed down from that one sentence.

'I guess it is up to me.' She thought as she saw how Tristan's face turned quite pale.

Alesteria looked at the emperor sharply as she slaps his chest, making the emperor look her way.

The slap was certainly light, just enough to catch his attention, and once she had it, she opened her lips and began scolding him.

"Agrua ovshwua jhaaaa nyonha?" (Are you out of your mind?)

All of the people present in the room were shocked to see a 1-month-old baby blabbering like she was scolding the emperor.

Even the innocent blue eyes that they saw turned sharp and cold.

'W-What…Are we seeing this right?' They all thought at the same time.

The cute and innocent-looking baby is glaring at the emperor, but rather than looking intimidating and scary, she looks like a kitten ready to jump at her father.

'So cute…!'

The emperor, Xerxes, stared at the angry Alesteria and raised his hand.

Alesteria thought that the emperor was pissed she slapped him and closes her eyes, waiting for a slap in return.

Instead, Xerxes gently caressed her head and rubbed her cheeks, his eyes so full of affection and love for the bundle of joy in his arms that everyone doubted their own eyes.

'The emperor is…smiling?!'

Today was indeed a shock to their lives.

Alesteria, on the other hand, was surprised at this affectionate gesture.

She quickly relaxed in the emperor's embrace and was even staring holes on his face, wondering why he is so loving towards her.

'I…I have never been treated this way before.' She whispered in her mind as she continues to stare.

The emperor smiled at her and continued to rub her cheeks softly with his thumb, the rest of his hand on the side of her head as if to support it.

'Weird…I'm feeling warm inside.'

While Alesteria was having an internal conflict, the princes glared at their father as they witnessed how Alesteria relaxes in his arms and was staring at him intently.

They are not jealous of Alesteria, but rather, they are jealous of the emperor.

'I want Ales to relax in my embrace like that too!' Screamed Aldrich as he glared even more.

'If only father didn't come, Ales will still be holding my finger…' Aimilios grumbled.

The emperor paid no attention to the two pairs of eyes glaring holes at him and wanting him to disappear from this room.

He knows who the proprietors of those eyes are and why they want him to vanish, but he will just ignore them since he is his sons.

'Even if you want me to be busy and never visit, I will always make time for Alesteria.' Xerxes stated in his mind, wanting to say it to the two princes but held himself back.

Alesteria, who is unaware of this, pouted to herself as she woke up from her dream-like state.

'No. I can't be affected by just this. Humans are all the same, they are not to be trusted.' She chanted over and over again.

It sounded like she was brainwashing herself.

She shook her head gently and looked at the emperor more determined than ever.

She then grabbed his clothes and tugged them hard, her tug was strong enough that some of the buttons from the emperor's clothes flew off.

'Ah! I used too much force!'

Alesteria clicked her tongue mentally and once again stared at the emperor's face.

However, what her eyes first landed on was not his face, it was his chest.

His well-toned chest was open for her to see, which Alesteria has a front-view of.

'KYAAAAAAAH! SO SHINY! TOO BRIGHT!' Alesteria screamed in her mind the moment her eyes landed on his chest.

Xerxes did not react to this and was simply looking at Alesteria, who had closed her eyes for a second because of his chest.

He became worried when she closed her eyes and remembered that she fell into a coma, along with it was the late empress' face overlapping with Alesteria.

'No...!'

"Alesteria!"

She immediately opened her eyes in surprise at the emperor's shout.

The people in the room flinched at his scream as the two princes scrambled on their feet to run towards Alesteria.

'Ow! Why did he shout?' She whined as she slowly looked at the emperor.

That is when she saw his expression.

It was filled with anxiety and terror, and his eyes were not just brimming with those emotions, but he was also frantically shaking.

'I... I just closed my eyes for a second because of your chest.'

He seemed like he was scared of Alesteria falling into a coma once again, but this time she really has no chance of waking up.

Alesteria saw those emotions, filling her with regret and guilt.

She doesn't know why she feels that way but she just can't stand seeing the emperor in that state.

'Fine, fine. I'll...I'll let this slide for now since it is my fault.'

Alesteria sighs as she stretches out her hand, the emperor leaning in, knowing what she wants to do.

The moment he got his face close, Alesteria patted his cheek gently while looking straight at him, her eyes not wavering for even a second.

'It's alright. You'll be fine.'

Although the emperor couldn't hear what she was thinking, he had the impression that the late empress was with him, soothing him and encouraging him on.

Through Alesteria, he could still feel his beloved wife beside him.

"Baby, I'm sorry I scared you." He said, his tone low and hushed.

Alesteria smiled comfortingly at him but what she said in her mind was different from her appearance.

'Me? Scared? Hah! You'll need a hundred years more to scare me!'

The two princes who were the first to react to the emperor's shout moved closer to their father.

"Father, please refrain from shouting like that again next time! Ales' ears are very fragile, so they only need to hear soft and good voices!"

"That's right, father. We don't want you damaging Ales' ears."

The emperor came back to his senses after the princes scold him as he looked at the both of them.

"Ales?”

Aldrich nodded, "Yes, Ales! Short for Alesteria!"

The emperor hummed at this and glanced at Alesteria who still has a smile, or rather a smirk, on her face.

"Ales, hmm? I like that."

Then, he turned to Alesteria.

"Ales."

Alesteria unconsciously reacted to the nickname and met the emperor's eyes, which made him smile a little.

"See? She likes it too!"

The three are now surrounding Alesteria as they called her 'Ales' over and over again.

The scene was heartwarming and all, but it seems like the three had forgotten all about the 'ruby emerald' order and the people in the room.

"Should we leave them be?" Bastian whispered to Tristan.

Tristan whispered back, "I don't know, should we?"

"What about the order?"

They both glanced at Bella when she asked them that and then their attention went back to the heartwarming scene in front of them.

"Maybe he had forgotten about it?" Bastian answered uncertainly, his voice was hopeful.

Tristan nodded at this, agreeing with Bastian as he too, was hopeful.

"I wish he did."