After finishing yet another day's exhausting work that evening, Leonius found himself standing at the edge of the Paradis Palace's garden, his eyes involuntarily drifting upward as he strolled to embrace a time of respite before finally retreating to his chambers. Immediately, his gaze was fixated on a single point of unwavering brilliance amidst the motes of light that make themselves known after the last embers of crimson bled from the western horizon. As usual, the jewel of the Crown of Majesty continued to be the most recognizable distant object in the northern hemisphere's celestial dome.
His only companion on the outing, Ruperther, let out a remark. "A clear sky tonight, Your Majesty. The North Star is also shining particularly bright this evening."
"The North Star..."
A twinge of bitterness seeped into Leonius' features as he muttered.
Ruperther arched an eyebrow, sensing the underlying tension in the Emperor's voice. "Does the sight of it trouble you?" he inquired softly.
Leonius' jaw tightened. "It's not the sight that troubles me. It's the associations that come with it."
"Ah... Does Your Majesty believe in superstitions?"
Hearing his teasing chuckle, Leonius stopped, glanced over his shoulder, and shot him an unamused look.
"Hmph, hardly. But given developments that occurred between the Empire and Milishial, I have little reason to hold a fondness for the implications behind those words."
"I see... but I wonder what the world will give if it means easing Your Majesty's mind."
"I also often ask the same thing to myself," Leonius scoffed, resuming his walk with Ruperther in tow.
The North Star held profound significance to every nation and people, but its most potent association was undeniably with the world's undisputed titan of the world stage, the Holy Milishial Empire. The Milishial people traced their lineage back to the ancient Star Tribe, a legendary people who, according to the lore, emerged from the Ancient Sorcerous Empire's confinement under a clear night sky after the August Star of Heaven banished their homeland. So mesmerized these people with the sight of stars that they started to weave them into the very fabric of their identity. Even though at that time the present-day "North Star" had yet to occupy the celestial pole, it being the brightest star close to the pole made it looked up to as a crucial navigational aid for ancient civilizations.
Milishial's association with the North Star was a relatively recent invention, only several centuries before the founding of Parpaldia when the Middle Lands was already long since unified. Not everyone liked the narrative, thinking it as pretentious, but since this is about a great power that was recorded to indirectly cause a neighboring periphery country's succession crisis in the past by causing its monarch's sudden death by heart attack upon hearing its name being mentioned against him, no one reckless enough to dispute such a largely harmless claim. Nevertheless, Leonius' lack of appreciation for the North Star was but a projection of his lack of fondness for the country most often associated with it, and seeing it, so distant yet constantly hanging in the sky looking down on his troubles was an infuriating reminder of how similar this very country was doing to his Empire. O Heavens, how utter mockery.
This man inherited the rotting carcass of an empire by standing on top of the dead body of his father, a man more interested in searching for the immortality of all things conceivable than holding the nation together. Which was why Leonius killed him by his own hands and had his sycophants made an example of. Seeing how fallen and loveless his immediate family were, he had no love for them in turn.
Corruption had burrowed deep into Parpaldia's heart as a festering wound that bled the treasury dry, choked honest ambition, and brought resentment from other major powers abroad. Leonius, unlike his father, burned with a fierce, if often frustrated, ambition. He dreamt of a Parpaldia equaling the August Star of Heaven as a colossus that would bestride the Philades Continent and leave his land free of war and suffering because of borders. Yet the land was filled with nothing but corrupt officials, weak soldiers, fatuous rulers, and blind followers. And though proclaiming that he despised those as bearers of the sickness of mind that weakens oneself and the realm, in reality Leonius was projecting the hatred of his own weakness.
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Just A Reincarnation Story (Summoning Japan Edition)
Fanfiction"Unacceptable. If there's one thing that a conveniently appearing overpowered entity in this world has shown us, is that we are seen as weak and hopeless. I find that previous life's terms unacceptable. I want a better world. With these hands, I dar...
