Chapter 42
4.3 – By now, it was almost time for the royal family to fall
Xue Ling woke up early the next day after a wonderful night’s rest. He rolled around in bed a few times, then opened the nano-computer and began to look through the Empire’s daily news.
People still seemed to be immersed in the grand wedding celebrations from two days ago. The royal family announced in the morning that His Highness Prince had left the capital planet for the battlefield, and people expressed that their hearts went out for the royal couple that had to separate as soon as they got married.
Xue Ling browsed through two pages before he laughed sarcastically and closed the window.
Thanks to the system’s reminder, Xue Ling called Honoria yesterday and asked her to release news of the Prince’s departure. It was better for him to take the initiative and share the news rather than to wait for others to find out. By then, not only would it be embarrassing for the Princess, his Royal Highness’ reputation would also be affected.
Although the Prince became the national idol of the Empire due to his outstanding powers and handsome appearance, the title of Princess was not just for show. As a well-known omega, Ashley had an entire escort of Alphas and a large number of followers who followed him even though they knew that he had been engaged to His Royal Highness from birth.
Simply put, Xue Ling had countless spare tires. He was of the opinion that since they were already there, he might as well make use of them and prepared to use public opinion to portray himself as the perfect Princess.
When the Prince returned, he would most likely discover that those around him had already become followers of the Princess. If the Prince really dared to do something to him during his heat, he would most likely be faced with an unexpected situation.
It was not advisable to overthrow an Empire alone, so Xue Ling packed up and returned to the Rhine family home with his attendants in tow.
The capital planet was very vast. The palace covered a very large area, and less than a hundred miles to the west was the Rhine family’s land.
This was a family that had existed since the establishment of the Empire. Their ancestors were the first pair of alpha and omega lovers in the Empire. Their love had been grand and spectacular, touching countless people of the Empire. Nowadays, the Rhine family had very few members left, and there were only two young masters in the family. One was stationed at the frontlines all year round, and the other had just gotten married.
Today was the day Ashley came home, and everyone in the family was very happy. This child was the apple of their eye, and they always felt that marrying him to the Prince was unfair to him. The Prince’s hypocrisy – having high vision and standards but little actual ability – made him unworthy of their child.
Xue Ling was warmly welcomed upon his arrival. After all, it was an aristocratic family, and most of the family members were involved with the palace in some way. Everyone knew that the Prince had left him to run off on the night of the wedding, and a few of them made sure to comfort Xue Ling, offering to cut the Prince into pieces when he returned if he was unhappy.
Xue Ling smiled and told them that he was fine. When all was said and done, it was an arranged marriage, and he had not expected the Prince to truly love him.
His graceful and understanding appearance despite his unjust treatment made his family even more distressed. They always had the feeling that they had handed over their most precious treasure to the Prince only to see him unhesitatingly smash it. He really deserved to be beat up!
Watching his family’s faces get uglier and uglier, Xue Ling knew that he achieved his goal, so he asked everyone to sit down and accompanied his grandfather and parents, coaxing them to the point where others began to say that he had matured a lot and knew how to be considerate of their emotions.
Lunch was served at home, and the entire family sat together. Everyone heaped food onto Xue Ling’s plate, and before long, his plate was completely full. Xue Ling laughed shallowly and separated everything one by one. His sensible demeanor once again made the family’s hearts ache.
Although his education was very strict from childhood, their family’s omega was still pampered and well-loved as he grew up. Back then, his head was always held high whenever he left the house, carrying with it a trace of arrogant charm, but now, he had just gotten married and had already become so sensible, no longer needing to be coaxed and rather spendt time to cajole others.
Watching his behavior made their hearts sour, and several elders’ impression of the Prince became even worse.
If it weren’t for the damned prophecy, their little Ashley would still be at home, and could slowly find an alpha or anyone else that he liked. As long as it was something he wanted, his family would be able to provide it. But now… his identity was different.
Xue Ling could faintly feel that the atmosphere was beginning to shift again; the balance that he needed to maintain was too delicate. In his heart, he cursed that the Rhine family was not that easy to sway; everything he tried didn’t quite work. It was really difficult when there were more family members.
The family dispersed after eating. Xue Ling pulled his brother Warren up to the second floor and into his original room, then slammed the door shut.
Warren was somewhat surprised. Although his heart ached badly for his brother, this younger brother had always been quite cold and aloof. It was the first time that he had seemed so careful and down to earth, and it piqued his interest. He wanted to know what sort of secret thing his younger brother had pulled him over to discuss.
“Elder Brother.” Xue Ling was serious as he looked Warren, slowly and carefully observing him. Warren was so surprised that he didn’t even breathe, and with this, Xue Ling could be certain that that man had not transmigrated into his elder this time. He finally let out a relieved breath, and began, “When are you returning to the frontlines?”
Warren was once again stunned, not expecting him to come so close only to ask such a simple question. He conveniently rubbed his younger brother’s head as he thought about it and replied, “It should be within these next two days. I had a short vacation.”
Xue Ling pressed his lips together, pulled over a chair, and invited Warren to sit. He then seated himself on the bed, appearing to want to discuss serious matters. “Brother, apply to transfer back.”
“Huh?” Warren had not heard clearly, and his face was puzzled.
Xue Ling took a deep breath, clasped his hands together and kept his face serious as though he had made a major decision. “Elder brother, I want to revolt. It doesn’t matter who sits on the throne, as long as it is not the Prince. I want to divorce him, and then have him die.” His expression was a little vicious, but he was very serious. Warren wanted to laugh at first, but soon found that he could not. “I’m serious, brother. If he does not die, the Rhine family will disappear from this world. I can tolerate that he doesn’t love me, but I can’t accept him laying a hand on my brother, my parents, or my relatives. Elder brother, don’t go back to the frontlines. Please come back and help me instead. Or else I don’t know when you or mother and father will disappear together.”
Warren’s expression was ugly. “What are you trying to say?”
“The Prince’s ambition is very big.” Xue Ling’s eyes were wider than usual, as though he could see through Warren and had seen something else. “He will not leave the Rhine family alone, and definitely would not keep anyone around that might hinder his grasp for power. Elder brother, he will kill all of us, including you and me.”
Warren reached out and grabbed Xue Ling’s hands and pulled him over, his eyes cold as he asked, “What did he say to you?!”
Xue Ling looked into Warren’s eyes and enunciated clearly, “Brother, promise me you’ll stand by my side.”
Warren’s expression turned strange, seemingly thinking about what he had said. After a long while, he nodded and agreed, “Alright, I’ll apply for a transfer, but you have to tell me what happened to you.”
The ice cold expression on Xue Ling’s face finally eased slightly. He pulled his hand out of Warren’s hand and then slowly sat back. “Elder brother, as I said before, he doesn’t love me, and he will never love me. Our family has existed for too long, to the point where it has become impossible for him to control the Empire without killing off our entire family.”
Warren’s eyes were hooded as he said, “Everyone in the family is loyal to the Empire.”
“But not loyal to him.” Xue Ling’s eyes grew cold. “The gaze he uses to look at me with is filled with undisguised disgust, and sometimes there is even killing intent. Elder brother, have you ever thought that there could be another way of interpreting that prophecy?”
Warren looked at him in surprise, but there was something off in his expression. “You guessed it?”
“Guessed what?”
Warren’s facial expression was odd, “Actually, I had already made my decision when you said that the Prince wanted to kill you. No matter what, nothing can happen to you.”
“Why?”
“This could be considered be a secret that has been kept within the family. It has something to do with the royal family.” Warren laughed shortly. “You already know that when you were born, the entire world reacted and there was a prophecy. But in fact, we had made a minor adjustment when we announced it publicly.”
“Adjustment?”
“The sacrificial prophecy was that you were the future Empress of the Empire. Empress, not Queen.” Warren clenched his hands. “You also know this; from ancient times to the present, in these seven hundred years, there has only been one person in the Empire that can be called the Emperor, but that person was from seven hundred years ago, and he will not reappear again.”
“Even if the Prince ascended the throne, he would not be the Emperor and can only be a King. We could not place you in such a dangerous situation, so we never told you the truth. Now that you’re saying that the Prince wants you to die, then we will overthrow his rule and find a real Emperor for you.”
Xue Ling did not expect that this plot could still have such twists and turns. In this case, how should he even account for the original owner’s wishes?
“In the Rhine family’s teachings it is said that ‘anyone can die, but the Rhine family cannot be lost, otherwise the Empire will be completely destroyed.'” Warren looked at Xue Ling and asked, “Do you know what it means to be completely destroyed?”
Xue Ling found himself speechless. He had always thought that it was strange that after the original owner died, the Zerg became frenzied and destroyed everything in interstellar space. Now, it appeared that there was a deep connection between the two. The Rhine family held the lifeblood of the Empire, and once nobody in the Rhine family was left in the world, the Zerg would no longer be afraid and the world would become a barren place.
It seems like that pair of protagonists were just two small experts at purposely seeking death. They were really in love with each other and were well-known and beloved everywhere, but ultimately sent this world towards its end.
This was really the highest level of looking for trouble. It was estimated that even when they died, they still had no idea why it all happened…
Warren watched his little brother’s blank stare, and somewhat helplessly reached out to touch his head before continuing on, “It is also in the Rhine family’s teachings that every omega born to the family would be the treasure of the Empire and its future hope. You are the Rhine family’s only omega. There has never been any omega in the Rhine family or the royal family in the past.”
Xue Ling was a bit confused. What kind of plot settings are these? Why is it different from what was said before? These ancestral teachings were all aimed towards the original owner!
“Alas.” Warren sighed helplessly. “I didn’t want to tell you any of those things. But you said you wanted to revolt.”
“Um… I do want to revolt.” Although the amount of information he had just been given was somewhat large, Xue Ling still stuck to his decision. “I don’t know how important I really am, but you are all my most important family members, and no matter what, I want to keep you all safe.”
“Since you are so certain, I’ll apply to transfer back.” Warren massaged his forehead. He had not thought that they would really come to this point. He had originally felt that if the Prince and his younger brother could have a good life together, even if they had no feelings between them and it was only a shallow relationship, they could bury these words in their hearts and never bring it up.
In some ways, the Rhine family had more inheritances than the royal family. The royal family looked very strong, and it seemed that the Empire would not be able to survive without them, but in reality, Warren knew that the existence of the royal family had always been subtle because they could not truly be considered to be of royal blood.
Those people were merely creations made from the Emperor’s genes, and those genetics had simply been passed down from generation to generation. The power in those genes had slowly diminished because the Emperor was not present.
By now, it was almost time for the royal family to fall.
editors: alamerysl & BlueBug
*drumroll…* i think it’s pretty clear who the ML is by now, right?