CHAPTER 70: UNCLE AND NEPHEW

The feast lasted for half a month and finally came to an end.

Almost every nobleman in the empire had scattered to the cities and settlements. A few people, including Shen, the head of the Moneta family, planned to stay at Luke’s palace for a while longer.

Empress Emma chose to stay with her son Luke for a while longer, and as a result, there were perhaps no more than fifty nobles remaining in the palace.

Luke decided to use his last day before returning to work to ask Shen some questions.

Zoey, Callum, Kevin, and the others had already returned to their duties.

Luke and his uncle Shen sat across from each other at the table in the palace’s meeting room.

"You didn’t speak to me at all during the banquet, not even during the wedding ceremony. What’s wrong, Luke?" Shen asked gently.

When Luke heard this question, he focused on Shen’s eyes. Seeing that the bitter sadness was still there pushed Luke into a slightly complicated emotional turmoil, but he had questions he needed to ask.

"I’ve never asked before, not you or anyone else. Uncle, what happened to my mother?"

When Luke suddenly asked this question, it would be accurate to say that Shen was shocked. The young duke’s gaze tried to look away from Luke, but he seemed unable to do so.

"This subject... is a bit sensitive..." Shen said after a short pause.

"I’m eighteen years old, let me decide what’s sensitive and what’s not, uncle," Luke said.

Shen then clasped his hands on the table and made a fist.

"Actually, I don’t know much more than you do. I only know that Mad Emperor Liam Hiera poisoned my sister for some reason, and that’s why she gave birth to you prematurely..." Shen said.

It was obvious he was lying.

Even a fool could tell.

Shen Moneta was a master of political power.

Even within the Moneta family, which had been successful in foreign affairs for hundreds of thousands of years, Shen was a minister at the highest level. He was one of the smartest, calmest, and most emotionally controlled members of the family.

Still, every moment he spoke with Luke, every moment he looked at him, Shen’s emotions seemed to flow like a flood gathering in the middle of the road.

"The only thing I know is that my mother was poisoned by my grandfather, Liam. I don’t know anything else," Luke had said. Of course, Shen could tell he was lying.

"Aren’t you afraid?" Shen had asked.

"Of what?" Luke had questioned.

"You’re young, and few people know the truth... The truth can be terrifying," Shen replied.

When Luke heard these words, he furrowed his brows.

"I never knew my mother. I want to know what happened. My connection to her can’t even compare to yours, but despite all this, I have the right to know the truth," Luke replied to Shen’s words.

Shen took a deep breath and said, "All right," and then began to speak:

"My sister Lily was the one who found out what Liam Hiera had done in the first year of her marriage to Emperor Alfred... or rather, what he had tried to do."

"It was possible for my sister to discover documents and dozens of job diaries."

As Shen spoke these words, he reached into his magic bag and pulled out a document with a single page, extending it to Luke.

As Luke read the words on the page, his eyebrows raised naturally.

"Indeed, the Mad Emperor..." Luke murmured.

According to the page, information about slavery contracts, sexual trafficking involving mostly women, plans to invade regional systems, and even attempted assassinations of his children were all written in small print on the page.

"Unbelievable... I knew he was a psychopath, but this..." Luke muttered.

"Every single one is true. Even His Majesty Emperor Alfred doesn’t know the truth. Thanks to Empress Emma and the emperor’s three brothers, we managed to fix everything and even execute the perpetrators, but... within that year... When my sister became pregnant with you, it was impossible to save her," Shen said.

It was possible to see tears in the young duke’s eyes.

"Liam Hiera has committed many more crimes. Attempting to damage the northern barriers and Wirgo’s walls, kidnapping those who possessed this gift to create magic circles that would shorten the opening time of the magical monster gates..." Shen said, and then continued:

"As the wife of His Majesty Emperor Alfred, my sister managed to access those informations and even create witnesses, albeit secretly. Still, the Mad Emperor must have noticed this, as my sister was poisoned. It was a poison we had never seen before, and we don’t even know where Liam Hiera got it."

When Luke heard all this, his eyes lit up with joy.

Shen, to be honest, hadn’t expected to see such an expression on his nephew’s face.

"So... my mother died as a hero, right?" Luke asked, finally filled with the joy of learning about his mother and what had happened... even though a bubble of sadness had formed in his heart, he wanted to focus on the positive side of things.

Shen swallowed painfully. Since his sister’s death, many people had tried to comfort him, some who knew the truth and some who didn’t.

Still, no one... truly no one had ever called his sister a hero.

Shen couldn’t have imagined in a hundred years that his own nephew... his sister’s own son, would do so.

"Yes... Yes, that’s how it happened... Then you were born, and because of the poison, Hiera’s blood was affected, well, not affected, but while you still were growing and Lily, while poisoned, carried you for another four months, you lost some points of the bloodline. And your golden hair and bright blue eyes changed to jet-black hair and dark, shiny, dark pink and light blue eyes..." Shen had said.

He was trying to say random things to stop himself from crying.

"I understand..." Luke replied.

The fact that his mother had died a hero made Luke happy. Not only had she suffered immense pain from the poison, but she had also done everything in her power to keep her child alive while pregnant.

The Hiera archives contained many profound sayings about many people, thinkers, merchants, heroes, villains, and others.

Still, Luke had finally understood today what one of his ancestors meant by the saying, "Heaven lies at the feet of women."

No matter how much Luke thanked his mother, it was never enough... Lily had died, becoming a hero to many people, and perhaps none of them even knew who she was.

Nevertheless, Lily had become Luke’s greatest hero that very day, at that very moment.

A mother who wouldn’t care about her own life, while poisoned, carries her child in her stomach for four more months to make sure he’ll be born and not be targeted.

What brave woman she truly was...