CHAPTER 161: THE NIGHTS OF MASQUERADE 4

With the retreat of the crown prince of the Boreas Empire, so too did our short gathering end, as the others did not linger any longer either, with Aurelius being the first to take his leave after, in much the same manner as the aforementioned Nicholas, before being joined by the heir of the eastern empire, a few seconds later.

I remained in place for a few seconds after, looking at their retreating backs with myriad thoughts spiralling and clashing in my head, before I calmly spoke without turning to Darius, who just returned to my side, after he and every other retainer of ours silently and considerately strode a few slight steps back at some point after Nicholas joined.

"What do you make of them?" I asked in seeming off-handedness.

"Young." He simply answered in a plain tone, his eyes the same as mine, staring ahead and swirling with unfathomable thoughts.

I nod in agreement, as I began to quickly come to terms with this new naïve and inexperienced side of the men I have and would once again call my rivals.

’Aurelius is brash and easily taunted,’ I coldly analysed ’utterly unalike the calm and collected warlord of my memories, who presided over battles and wars with blinding indifference and scorching magnificence, a true sun in the heavens that inspired his men and nation with zealous hope and ardent ambition, all done by the mere fact of his presence alone. Meanwhile Nicholas is warmer and more approachable than I know him as, nothing akin to the ruthless strategist and fanatic pragmatist I duelled against in endless bloody battles and mind wrenching conspiracies. While Weixiao...’

My flowing train of thoughts paused at that point, my mind suddenly drawing a blank when wanting to compare the Weixiao of my memories, to that of my present, simply because he was by far the man I least interacted with in my past life.

’A majority of the wars at that time were raging in the northern, southern and western hemispheres of the world, but the east remained in relative peace throughout, with a few scattered wars here and there across the centuries, mostly against the southward invading Nicholas, but rarely did anyone else bother with them, or they with any of us; as they were content to remain mostly neutral in the endless wars, profiteering greatly from all the bloodshed, until at least the last offensive against me, when it became clear who the ultimate victor would be, as they happily gulped down all of my eastern lands. Meanwhile I had my hands full with Aurelius, and his annoying horde of western realms, along with Nicholas and at the time, the newly united empire of the Murathicus tribes to the south, who barged in from the undermanned and understaffed Broken Gate Pass to wreak havoc on the empire’s southern provinces.’ I skimmed through all the archives I held within me of all I remembered of Weixiao in my past life, but discovered that in so many centuries of existence I had spoken with him only a handful of times, most of which were short greetings in summits, or basic words exchanged in bland letters discussing trade or some border disputes, all of whom were always swiftly resolved.

Suddenly I realized that all I truly knew of the man, and even my impression of him were born of the reports the Shade Corps routinely provided me, as well as the rumours surrounding him in our past life.

’But the problem now lies with the fact that he is wholly dissimilar to the man I knew. The Weixiao I remember was called Weixiao the Wise, or the Austere Emperor, for his permanently unsmiling features, for he was the only one to completely distance himself from the horrific devastation incurred by our wars, which greatly benefitted his nation; but he was not a foolish man, who thought wealth without power to protect it was a feasible option in our world, so he reportedly became nearly as obsessed with accruing more power than I was.’ I frowned when I thought of those words.

’But that is not the person I beheld today. Though callow and inexperienced, I still recognized the same seeds of the characteristics within Aurelius and Nicholas that they possessed in my memories; unwatered seeds, ones that are still tainted with the mud and muck of youth, and buried beneath a thick layer of naivety, but they exist nonetheless, even if they are difficult to spot with the naked eye; only needing the right set of caring hands and careful cultivation, and that amateurish layer of immaturity, unwetted by the struggles of imperial life, concealing these fledgling foundations, would turn into a rich soil that would feed the ravenous saplings, until it once again became a forest of resolute trees. Yet not Weixiao; he lacked all the aspects that would define the Austere Emperor...’ But before I could further delve into my thoughts, a jovial voice broke through my ears and into my tumultuous thoughts.

"Brother, we’re back." It was Cyrus rushing to my side, with Nizam half a step behind.

"Where were the two of you?" I asked as soon as I saw the pair, as I had lost sight of them at one point in time during the lengthy ball, and had to send the guards to keep an eye on them.

As for the questions I had about Weixiao’s personality, I needed a clear head to properly decipher this newest riddle.

"We were...ehmm... just walking around." Nizam answered with a throat clearing cough midway, yet it still did not manage to cloak the trace of shyness he tried to hide from me.

"Exactly." Cyrus then concurred with an elated nod, and though I couldn’t see it due to his mask, I knew for a fact that a massive grin was currently plastered across his face.

’What’s wrong with these two now?’ I asked myself in frustration, as I grew suspicious at their odd state of being, feeling as though a new mystery is born within these halls every few seconds, and it was beginning to grow irritating.

Then I remembered our earlier conversation before we entered the masquerade party today, as my eyes caught the glint that came off of Cyrus’ golden costume, so I swiftly said with apparent realization "Oh, that’s right! I understand now. I forgot, I still haven’t spoken to king Aegaeon and queen Aella about your attire. Come, since the ball isn’t scheduled to end until an hour more, and they’re still present, let’s deal with the issue now."

I thought I realized what was happening here, which was that the two were too embarrassed to remain in the hall any longer with their blindingly gaudy clothes, so they slipped out when none was looking and silently explored the castle, during which the two began one of their usual verbal spats with each other, ultimately leading to Cyrus’ victory, explaining both his excitement and Nizam’s shyness, as he managed to successfully tease his normally inexpressive older brother; which was indeed a rare occurrence.

So I instantly turned around to make do on my earlier promise, yet suddenly Cyrus voice came out, saying "Oh, there’s no need for that brother."

"Right, there is no need to trouble our hosts." Nizam then quickly agreed with our little brother, making me turn in surprise at the two.

"Huh?" I mouthed. "Didn’t the two of you revile these clothes and wished to be rid of them as soon as possible?"

"We did...but I think they’re fine now." Nizam spoke softly, his voice diminishing with every uttered syllable.

"Agreed." Meanwhile Cyrus only grew more animated with his every reply, nearly jumping and screaming by this point.

’What the...?’ I thought in utter befuddlement.

"Fine, do you as you please." I eventually decided to relent, as the early signs of an onsetting skull rupturing headache began to blare in my temples, and I had no interest to add more pain to it by trying to decode my brothers’ newest antics.

Either way, their decision to no longer want to change their attire was a welcome one, as it just meant that it was an additional thing less I have to spend time on, a commodity I was very quickly beginning to run out of.

We then took our leave for the night from the already winding down ball, partially on account of my own discomfort, but mostly due to my mounting tasks that still needed handling, which didn’t end until noon the next day, when I had to once again prepare for tonight’s danse.

And the second day of the Nights of Masquerade was very much alike the first, with a few key differences, the first of whom to be noticed by us, and as I suspected, was the increasingly ostentatious clothes draped over the pompous guests, as they somehow further accentuated the already garish opulence of their clothes with even more sickening pomp.

The second was Cyrus and Nizam’s excitement to leave my side as soon as we entered the hall, which piqued my curiosity even more, as both of them had already rejected me earlier this morning when I asked what between them yesterday, but both of them claimed that they’ll tell me when the time is right, before then making me promise not to investigate it until said time.

Which only furthered intensified the itch of my deepening intrigue, yet I restrained myself and kept my word with the two, mostly due to me being occupied with the last thing I noticed.

Which was not only Octavian and Roxana’s continued absence, but now Nicholas’ as well, all of which was becoming increasingly concerning in my mind, simply due to the condition of my utter ignorance, as I still had no clue why Octavian’s aura possessed that slight oddity in it two days ago, or why he would be missing now along with his wife; while now Nicholas has also become a second truant.

"What in the name of all the Gods is happening with them?" I muttered to myself that night.