Lord of Annihilation

"Did you hear the news about the Eckhart family?"

Hearing Willem's question, the quietly resting Earnest let out a snicker and replied, "Are you referring to the one where that dying old man's only heir was murdered in a random Neutral Planet?"

Shrugging his shoulders, he continued, "Sure, I did. That incident angered the old man to no small extent. I heard that he even pulled out of the war for succession, retracting his support for Prince Arnold's faction, all for the sake of going after his son's murderer."

Nodding his head, Willem replied, "With the departure of the Eckhart Family, Prince Arnold no longer has the power to participate in the war for succession. I suppose, one of these days we will hear about the Prince's unfortunate 'accident' and the dissolution of the faction."

"Oh?" Earnest raised an eyebrow. "Is that what Her Highness thinks is going to happen?"

"Not at all," Willem gently shook his head. "It is but this foolish servant's thoughts." 

"I see," Earnest quietly clicked his tongue with disappointment and put down the recording device which he had sneakily removed from his storage ring. 

He had hoped to catch Willem with a slip of the tongue which would've given him some material to blackmail the Princess' faction later. However, his arch-enemy seemed to be too formidable to commit such a basic blunder.

"It seems that the number of participants has shrunk once more," he lightly replied.

---

Originally, the war for succeeding the Empire's throne had as many as thirty-four different individuals and factions participating in the struggle. 

However, after five years of continuous, brutal war both overt and covert, that number had dropped down to seven.

At the very top, possessing the most power, wealth, and support stood the Crown Prince's faction. This faction had numerous supporters and was backed by multiple large-sized organizations, hence possessing the greatest power within the political war. 

The Crown Prince himself was an ambitious and capable young man who not only had the strongest background with the most cause but also, the support of the Sword of Dawn, Uriel, who was the strongest person within the Empire and the Protector of the Throne.

Traditionally, the Sword of Dawn was a neutral party that only served the Emperor. However, for some unknown reason, she now served under the Crown Prince.

Closely following the Crown Prince's faction was the faction of the Royal Uncle, brother to the late Emperor and a person of the previous generation.

While his claims to the throne weren't as strong as the Crown Prince's, he did boast the widest influence within the Empire and possessed the loyal support of numerous Ministers from the Royal Court.

He couldn't match the Crown Prince's faction in the sphere of battle and wealth. However, there was none amongst the competing factions who could match him in political strength.

Beneath these two leading factions were the factions of Prince Dirk and Princess Ehril; the factions of which Earnest and Willem were respectively a part of.

These factions represented the promising youth of the Empire who wanted to reform the Empire and its standing. Filled with idealistic, promising youngsters, these two factions, which stood on equal footing, held the highest amount of talent within its ranks. 

They might not have the power, wealth, or influence that the two leading factions possessed. They, however, made up for this with ambitious youths with unwavering loyalty and peerless talent.

Finally, at the very bottom, possessing the least chance at winning this war for succession were the factions of Prince Arnold, Princess Elma, and Princess Lydia.

They possessed none of the advantages that the previous four factions possessed and were, in actuality, merely figureheads for the large-sized organizations and merchant's conglomerates that used them to enter the war. 

In a way, there were powerless prisoners whose purpose was to act as the 'banner' and 'rubber stamps' while the people in the background made all the decisions. 

Theirs' was a pitiable fate but was at least one that was leagues better than that of the other Princes and Princesses who had 'unfortunately passed' during the turmoil.

Now, with the Eckhart family, one of the main supporters of Prince Arnold's faction backing out, the faction was soon to collapse with the Prince joining the majority of his half-siblings in their unfortunate fate.

Taking the recent chain of events into consideration, the number of contenders now dropped down to six.

---

Getting up from his seat, Willem picked up the empty teacup from the table beside him and walked towards the corner of the room. 

After walking a few steps, he suddenly paused, turned around, and asked Earnest with a bright smile, "Would you like me to refill your tea, Sir Earnest?"

"I wouldn't dare ask you of such a task, Sir Willem," Earnest unhesitantly replied. 

Shrugging his shoulders, Willem turned around and continued towards the high table placed by the corner of the lavishly furnished room. 

Inwardly, he thought it was a pity that Earnest had rejected his offer, 'A pity he's still alert. I wanted to poison him.'

On the other hand, Earnest, who watched Willem with a polite expression, inwardly thought, 'You think it's that easy to poison me? Think again.'

Placing his cup on the table, Willem looked through the assortment of teabags and picked one which he found interesting. Holding the teabag in his hand, he inwardly muttered.

'[Check Poison]'

A green light shone in his hand, covering the teabag within his palm. Waiting for a few seconds, Willem noticed that the color of the light hadn't undergone any changes and nodded to himself.

"Any problems, Sir Willem?" Earnest peacefully asked.

"Not at all, Sir Earnest. I was just deciding on a flavor," showing the tea bag to Earnest, Willem continued with a smile. "Eremisian Willow. Sounds interesting, wouldn't you agree?"

"Sounds exotic for sure," replied the latter.

Responding with a polite chuckle, Willem turned around while cursing Earnest within his heart once again. 

Placing the teabag within his cup, he reached for the kettle containing the milk before realizing that it was empty. Inwardly irritated at the lack of provisions, he placed down the kettle and called out.

"Guards. Please come in."

"What's the problem, Sir Willem?" asked Earnest, to which the former replied, "Oh, I'm just requesting for a refill of the milk kettle."

The two then quietened and waited. They waited and waited and waited…

Almost a minute had passed and there was still no response.

"Guards?!" Willem voiced out impatiently, rage appearing within his heart.

Silence, once again.

It was then that both Earnest and Willem suddenly jolted as they realized something. 

Their surroundings…it was too quiet. Eerily quiet.

"Something's wrong," Earnest spoke first, getting up from his comfortable chair. 

"You're right," Willem agreed with his arch-enemy. 

The disquieting silence continued to increase in intensity as Earnest and Willem stared at the closed wooden door, which was gilded with gold and many precious gems. 

The eeriness which they felt continued to increase as did the ominous feeling within their heart. 

Swallowing a nervous gulp, just as the sound of silence seemed to hit its crescendo, the handle of the door opened with a click.

Click.

The door slowly opened and a youth wearing a black-colored robe walked in. His footsteps squelched against the floor as a crimson-colored liquid flowed past the opening and stained the pure-white fur carpet.

Alongside the bloody odor that hit their noses arrived a soft, monotonous voice.

"Your guards have left for a meeting elsewhere. Would you like to join them?"