The Tyranny of the French Empire

Chapter 15 : The Dark Truth

A/N : Weird request I have received about my book : "Can you make the direction of traffic to the left ?"

A/N : ... What ?!

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Early in the morning, the sun shone through the window of the Imperial Palace, gently caressing Aether's face, causing him to slowly wake up.

He was glad that in this world, summers weren't as hard as on Earth. But in exchange, the winters of this world were very tough to handle for those that didn't had warm house.

Around him, Aether could see Amelie and Emma clinging to his sides in their nightgown still asleep.

Since the day Aether declared the foundation of the first French Empire, they always slept with him at his sides. They haven't done anything of course, they just slept together.

Aether gently moved their body to not wake them up, and got off his bed. But then they started to slightly move in their sleep, searching for his body. Causing them to accidentally hug each other.

Which was very cute in Aether's opinion, he regretted to not have any camera at disposal to take a picture of them right now.

Diverting his attention from this adorable sight, Aether remembered about the dream he made last night.

For some reason, Aether have been making the same dream again and again. About his first battle he led one years earlier. As he looked through the window the sun slowly revealing itself, Aether thought about the consequences this battle had.

The first and most direct consequence of the battle came after signing the peace treaty, the Kingdom of France was able to keep his land and to obtain war reparations, as they didn't had the means to reconquer their lost land.

The sudden execution of members of the nobility that had conspired against Aether and assassinated Turenne, caused to the nobility the loss of multiple support and land that were handed to the Royal Domain, directly under the control of the King.

Another unexpected result of this battle is the creation of multiple rumors about Aether's resilience and will during the battle.

The Aranthian officers that were captured shared their story about the Dauphin turning a disastrous battle into a pyrrhic victory, thank to his brilliant tactical sense. Earning Aether a solid reputation as a military and as a ruler.

But this also greatly intimidated the Aranthia Kingdom, upon seeing Aether's resilience during the battle despite the horrendous losses, they understood that as long as Aether would rule, the Kingdom of France wouldn't tolerate another humiliation. No matter how many losses they would suffer.

The Kingdom of Aranthia decided that until Aether died, they wouldn't try to get into a fight against France. The casualties Aranthia suffered from were heavier than the French Royal Army.

This battle was originally supposed to be another fight between Kingdoms, quickly to be forgotten years later. But due to its impact, it became a reference among the militaries of the continent.

It also had unexpected benefits for the Kingdom of France as specified a little earlier, if this victory didn't happened, it would have been harder for Aether to launch his purge and take over the control of the State.

Suddenly, as Aether was still observing his gardens through the windows, he heard some movement coming from behind him. Turning his head toward the source of the sound, he saw Emma and Amelie slowly waking up from their slumber.