Become Tyrant On My Own Way
Chapter 151 – AS AN EMPEROR

A king must sacrifice for his people even if it will hurt himself and his own family. A ridiculous idea I'll never admit to.

Didn't the story of Cassandra the witch teach you a lesson? In the story, Cassandra's father sacrificed even to lose his magic circuit for the sake of the people he loved.

But what happened to him?

Seeing the king's chance of weakening, the, the people behind it themselves who destroyed the king's life even to the point of killing him along with the queen in order to end the absolute obedience of the king they feared which when the king still had strength, they were too afraid to put up a fight.

That's how the people at the bottom. Fear of the strong, but instantly become a hyena when we see our weakness.

It is not that I hate the commoners, on the contrary, I am the one who knows their superiority the most since all my teachers are also from among the commoners. I respect them wholeheartedly and regard them sincerely as individuals who should be respected for their rights and obligations, each of whom is capable of equally making a great contribution to his country.

I just don't want to end up like Cassandra's stupid dad.

I became emperor in order to gain the power to protect the family I love, not the other way around.

But now I am told to betray the love of my own wife in order to defend my position as emperor? Who do they think they are? My love for my wife is far more important than my position as emperor because from the beginning I held that position to maintain my little happiness.

But even the request to marry another woman came from my own wife.

“Why, Talia? Why would you sacrifice to such an extent? Even without the blessing of the people of Vlonhard, I still have power in my palm that makes me free to do anything!”

After Princess Luciana's audience, for the first time, I had a fuss with Talia in our room.

“Mas Lou, that's the same as a tyrant, Mas. I don't want Mas Lou to end up being a hated tyrant.”

“What is the harm of being hated by them? What power do they have to take me down?! If necessary, I can use my power to manipulate the information out so that their protests can never be heard to the neighboring country!”

Actually, I'm the one who knows best what that bunch of weak people can do. Similar to the story of Cassandra's father in the story of Cassandra the witch, Cassandra's father who was originally mighty and invincible, was trapped by the group of weak people so that it fell from the reins of power. They made use of the gentleness of the king's heart, using a devious scheme to bring him down.

Exceeding any invaders and looters, the weaker humans in this world were more afraid of absolute power, which meant that whatever the ruler wanted, there would be no more capable of preventing him, no more, it does not matter that the ruler is actually a good person who will never commit arbitrariness to the power he holds.

“That's because if Mas Lou gets hurt, then Talia feels unable to live in this world anymore, Mas. Rather than bothering about my feelings being hurt because my love had to be divided, it was still better as long as Mas Lou was beside me.”

What have I done? I had made that frail woman cry in despair. I really am a bad husband.

The political pressure I received turned out to be stronger than I thought and it made Talia even more frustrated. I can bear to accept it, but if this involves my family, then another story.

Unbearable for the worsening impact received by Talia, then I decided to take a step back one step back.

I also invited Luciana to hold an audience once again with me, but this time in a private meeting. Of course he took Adam with him, and I took Albert with me.

“Do you love me, Luciana?”

“Hamba is always confident that love can be awakened after the wedding, Your Grace.”

“Then, I change my question. Can you love me, Luciana?”

“If it's an order from His Majesty, then I will do.”

That was the answer of a daughter who always thought logically. The love in his eyes was nothing more than a mere profit and loss transaction.

“You said you were willing to be a concubine. Are you sure your people will be satisfied with that?”

“For sure there will still be anger here and there. But surely they still have the self-awareness not to demand anything beyond what they can get. As a country that lost the war, it is only natural that I do not deserve the position of queen because the offspring born of a conquered couple, do not deserve to inherit the position of great emperor.”

There was not even the slightest trace of doubt let alone a lie in each of Luciana's words. My curiosity was also pushed a little about where this direction would continue. I agreed to the proposal to marry Luciana as a concubine.

In the 7th month of the 532 calendar year of the Meglovian Empire which is now the sole ruler of the continent, I married Luciana, a former princess of the Northern Empire of Vlonhard who has now become one under the coffers of Meglovia.

Not long after that, probably only five days away from my marriage to Luciana, the marriage between Albert and Lilia was also held. Although with a short preparation, Albert's marriage was certainly no less luxurious than my marriage since the imperial family itself collaborated with the famous duke north of the capital who was his sponsor.

However, I still caught the look of sadness on Albert's face. No, it's not a matter of him not being happy to marry Lilia. It was precisely by marrying the granddaughter of Duke Glenn van Rodriguez that the light in Albert's eyes began to seem a little lively. He's still like that ever since I didn't bring him to the battlefield against the invaders of the Maosium Kingdom in the south.

Albert's self-confidence is further eroded by his sense of inferiority towards Alice and Yasmin, despite Albert being very strong, only Alice and Yasmin are too beyond him.

I thought and kept thinking about how I could restore her confidence. Then came up with an idea that I felt was pretty good. It just so happens that it will soon coincide with Helion's first birthday, so I decided to hold the first martial tournament since the official establishment of the Meglovia Empire that controlled the entire scope of the Continent of Ernoa to celebrate the first Helion anniversary.

I appointed Alice as the committee chair. Then for his members, I freed him to choose whoever he considered fit to cooperate with him. Well, Alice's appointment as the chairman of her martial tournament committee, was actually just an excuse for her not being able to participate in the tournament.

Similarly, for Yasmin, she I asked to stand by serving me as a personal maid so that she would not be able to participate in the martial tournament. With the loss of two of his strongest competitors, I'm sure Albert will now be able to win the martial arts tournament easily.

Then as a last step, I was left to make excuses for how to convince Albert to be willing to take part in the tournament. It was quite easy to fool the innocent Albert where I just told him that he had to come and win the champion in that match as the representative who kept the good name of the emperor's palace.

What I clearly know is that Alice did it simply that participants were free to challenge anyone she wanted to seize their ranking until finally the top eight participants who managed to survive were determined.

Then as the top eight surviving participants, they were each:

Albert Ernest Lugwein, deputy palace of the emperor

Vultan de Ignitia, deputy grand duchy of Ignitia

Olbero Chalkie Obraham, deputy county seat of Obraham (former territory of Vlonhard Empire)

Adam fou Ligwartz, deputy palace first concubine

Damian fin Helix, deputy military officer of the palace

Ferrunt van Rodriguez, deputy duchy of Rodriguez

Stephanus van Cabalcus, deputy grand duchy of Cabalcus

Alcus von Maxwell, deputy county of Maxwell

Take the day of the match.

In the seat of honor, I sat with Talia, who was carrying our son Helion exactly one year old on his lap.

Next to us as bodyguards was Yasmin and coincidentally in addition there were also Nunu and Olo.

I could see clearly Olo's pouting expression.

“You're still upset about the outcome of your match, Olo?”

“Said upset, very upset, Sir. Each player is only allowed to fight the defending player three times. At the first opportunity, I chose Mr. Albert and I lost so shamefully. Then I thought because it was quiet, maybe your concubine bodyguard was weak, so I challenged him in the second match, but I also lost with more embarrassment.”

“Then at the last opportunity, because I thought he was still quite young, I chose Mr. Vultan as my opponent. Yet without even a chance to blink, I fell down by his swift sword move. What a humiliating defeat. Come to think of it, why don't I go up against vice-captain Damian alone huh, I guess he's the weakest participant among the other top eight participants. If so, there might be a chance for me to be selected.”

Olo, who could not forget his regret for not being able to be selected in the core tournament until he ended up being the imperial escort's bodyguard, spilled all his frustration. He is still an 18-year-old teenager. There was still a long way to go towards his knightly resolve.