"I wouldn´t expect such tunnel in the depths of the imperial palace" He could see that the columns around them were old, yet strong enough to resist the castle above them.

"This is the true heart of the Empire. The imperial palace is built on an older construction that was erected in the area by the Hresvelg dynasty. "This is the past, when the foundations of the Empire remained strong, yet now the structure above is falling apart because of Duke Aegir and his lackeys. Even now they resist against the corruption above them, but now the time has come, the time to take down this rotten apple"

"The Duke Aegir" he thought as he followed her. He had never seen him, but he couldn´t believe that someone like Ferdinand could be his son. "Does he know his father as he truly is or he has remained ignorant about all his crimes?" He suspected it was the latter one, there was no way that Ferdinand knew anything about the matter. The Ferdinand he knew would do everything to stop such abuses.

The path they were following was growing narrower and the air around them was clearer.

"We are accessing the current castle. Officially there are only two paths to the throne room. The main entrance is heavily guarded by soldiers, among them loyalists to Duke Aegir. There is no way that we can access it from there. The other path is connected to the private chambers of the Emperor, but this secret path will allow us to sneak through the guards into the throne room" she said as she suddenly stopped. Before them there was a statue of Saint Seiros, her face covered by a stoned veil. "Saint Seiros was said to be a cautious individual. She avoided being seen publicly and when she acted as the counselor of the first emperor it was said that she used secret paths to reach for him. This may be one of them. It only reacts to a wielder of the crest of Seiros so there may be some truth behind such old tale" she said as she placed her hand on the statue´s chest, the moment she did, a mechanism started to move, revealing a small access.

"This way, Byleth. I´m confident that my father is already waiting for us"

…

"Edelgard, you have finally arrived. I´m so glad that I´m able to see you with my own eyes once again" said the old man sitting on the throne. Compared to its magnificence, he appeared to be consumed, only skin and bones under his clothes, yet the aura of his violet eyes was still strong.

"My dear father, I´m so sorry that I have to ask for such a favor from you. Even though you are ill, you have made your way to the throne room"

"I´m dying and the Prime Minister knows about it. They are flying over me like crows waiting for the feast to begin. Furthermore, this is the only thing I can do for you. When my family needed me the most, I failed them. Edelgard…I see all of your faces when I close my eyes, yet I failed to save all of you" the old emperor said as his hands started to tremble violently.

"Father… I don´t blame you. I know that you suffered as our own flesh was torn apart and during all these years I´ve seen the blood coming from your hands. You´ve done what you could. The crown must be already too heavy for you, I´ll succeed you and end for good the corruption of this Empire. I won´t allow further unnecessary sacrifices to take place"

"Edelgard… Your words are strong, but I´m afraid about what could happen to you. The lives of many will be placed on your shoulders and no matter where you look at, enemies will conspire to take you down. I don´t want to see your smile die down under the cruelty of the throne, but my body is telling me that I don´t have much time left"

"Father, you have been a guiding light to me since I was a child, but the time to rest has come. Allow me to assume your burdens. You´ve done enough for the sake of everyone" Edelgard said as she caressed his father´s hands.

"Your skin…I´ve already forgot how soft it was. However, to make the ceremony take place we will need a member of the Church"

"Byleth will take such role. He is the Professor who had been taking care of me all this time" Edelgard said with a faint smile as she looked at him.

"I´m Byleth Eisner. It is an honor to meet you, your Majesty" he said with a quick nod.

"It´s been years since a member of the Church has come to the throne room. I know little about you, but I know that you saved my daughter from the attack of a group of bandits. You are kind of heart and that is what matters in these dark times. We have to hurry up, we don´t have time to waste. Come here, my child, the time has come"

Edelgard kneeled before his father as he stood up.

"Who is willing to claim the throne of the Eagle?"

"Me, Edelgard von Hresvelg, a direct descendant of the first emperor Wilhelm"

"Edelgard von Hresvelg. The imperial throne only chooses those who are worth of its magnificence. The crown that lies before you is not a gift, but a burden that is only given to those who are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the realm. Are you willing to do such sacrifices, even if they mean the end of your own life"?

"No matter the burden, I will wear it proudly as the first Emperor did at the dawn of time. My blood will be the rivers that nourish the empire and the double headed eagle will extend its wings over my head"

"In that case I give you the crown, Edelgard von Hresvelg. The double headed eagle will rest on your head until your death or until a worthy heir takes it. Is the Goddess satisfied by my successor?"

"I´m only a faithful servant of the Goddess, but she places her blessing upon her as long as she protects the weak and the poor and those who are unable to save themselves"

"In fact, it is, the Emperor must die for his people if needed, but today won´t be that day. Rise now, Edelgard, my daughter…and the new Emperor of this nation!"

With the crown on her head she slowly approached the throne as his own father kneeled before her.

"I entrust you Fódlan, Edelgard. May your reign assure prosperity to this forsaken region. The future is already on your hands"

"Father, you don´t need to kneel before me, I should be the one doing so. No matter what happens I assure you that I will continue my path. Fódlan has already suffered too much. The land of Fódlan is corrupted and its inhabitants suffer the consequences. I know that my path won´t be easy, but I promise I will never surrender" she said as she offered her hand to his father. He appeared to be exhausted, yet he could sense that his eyes were filled with renewed energy.

"I wish I could live long enough to witness the fruits of your reign, but I´m just the ashes of the past" he then looked at him. "I barely know you, but I have the feeling that I can trust you. You are honest of heart. Even if I won´t be here, promise me that you will take care of her, even a ruler needs someone to rely on when the light vanishes"

"I promise you she will be safe. She is strong and her will is unbreakable but I will make sure to protect her if she ever needs me"

"Of course, I will need you. No matter what happens I´m counting on you, Byleth. All the events that have passed during these months have made me realize how important you are to me. It is my wish that you could continue helping me from now on" Although her words were warm, he could sense that there was some sadness in her smile.

"It would be a pleasure"

Ionius was about to speak when the doors of the main hall suddenly opened. A bald man with a bit of orange hair and eyes appeared.

"What is going on? Your majesty, you should be resting in your room. Coming to the throne room has been negligent. What are you waiting for?" He ordered as he looked at the Imperial guard surrounding the former Emperor, but they didn´t move an inch.

"How could you dare to disobey my command! I´m the Duke Aegir, the Prime Minister of the Adrestian Empire. Lord Arundel himself, the regent, has granted me the power to govern on behalf of our majesty. Disobeying my order means disobeying the Empire and it could be considered treason!" he said as he looked at his own guards. "The Emperor is tired, bring him to his private rooms"

"I won´t allow that" Edelgard said as she placed herself before the Prime Minister and his father.

"Princess Edelgard…I must admit that I´m quite surprise to find you here, but you must understand that your father needs to rest. This is for his own wellbeing"

"I don´t authorize that order! Besides, you are mistaken, Duke Aegir. I am princess no more, but the new Emperor of the Adrestian Empire!"

"That´s impossible! My informants haven´t told me anything about…"

"So, you were spying my daughter, Duke Aegir? I am so disappointed in you. The fact that you have been taking advantage of your position just to amass a fortune it´s disgusting. I will…I will…" he couldn´t end his phrase as he started to cough violently.

"Dear Father, don´t waste your energies on this worm. His machinations will come to an end here and now. Duke Aegir, you are accused of high treason against the crown. Not only you took advantage of the weakness of my father but you also tried to conspire against the heir of the Imperial throne.

"You are insane! A woman shouldn´t be the ruler of the Adrestian Empire and you don´t have any proofs of what you are saying. Not even the Emperor can accuse someone without proof!"

"Unfortunately for you there is plenty of evidence against you" chuckled a familiar voice. "I happen to have a list with all your misguided actions. Some were tougher than others, but in the end, they admitted that they acted on behalf of House Aegir. You should value your friends more carefully. Making them sing was too easy to my liking" Hubert laughed as he observed the scene leaning on one of the columns. "Tell me what do you prefer, the axe or the gallows?"

"You can´t do that to me! I´m the Prime Minister! Imperial guard, stop this madness, imprison them!" but the guards next to the imperial throne didn´t react. "How dare to disobey my command!" As he shouted his own forces started to unsheathe their weapons, the moment they did so the Imperial Guard started to prepare for combat.

"Are you willing to sacrifice the lives of your own soldiers just for your own sake? How pitiful. A true commander would try to avoid unnecessary casualties. The Throne room hasn´t experienced a bloodbath in hundreds of years, I won´t allow that it happens now. Soldiers of Duke Aegir, I appreciate your bravery, but you must know that the man you are defending is wicked and corrupted. Even if you have sworn loyalty to your Lord, no man is above the law, neither him, neither the Emperor. Return to the lands of Aegir. I´m sure that his son will soon want to hear what happened here. As a token of gratitude, all of you won´t be accountable for the crimes of this wicked man"

The soldiers of the Duke looked at each other and their rivals. They were vastly overwhelmed and after a few seconds of hesitation the first of the soldiers sheathed his weapon.

"Scum! I´ll order the execution of all of you. Your brides will be begging me to lend them a penny! I´ll make sure that you´ll pay for it!"

"Duke Aegir, it is over now" Edelgard said with a soft voice. "For your crimes half the properties of House Aegir will return to the Imperial Crown. The rest will be under my direct control until your son assumes your place. You´ll remain in the dungeons of this castle from now on" she then looked at Hubert. "Bring him to the dungeons, but make sure that he remains alive. Duke Aegir, if you ever try to leave this place you will be killed by my forces. If you ever had a bit of decency you will comply with my command. Otherwise consider yourself dead"

"My lands, my power…why….why" Duke Aegir sobbed as he fell on his knees. He continued sobbing as he was carried away by Hubert and some of the soldiers of the Imperial Guard.

"The Prime Minister is finally done for good. I wish I could have done it by my own hands, but words cannot express how proud I feel of you. Forgive me, my dear daughter, but I need to take some rest"

"I wish I could have done it earlier as well, but sometimes the only thing we can do is to wait. Rest well, father. Guards, escort my father to his room!"

"We should leave here some soldiers, your majesty"

"The health of my father is frail and he will need to be protected until the situation stabilizes. Besides, with the Professor by my side there is nothing to fear"

"Understood, your majesty" As the soldiers left the room they were left completely alone.

"Are you ok with your decision? Why didn´t you kill him? He has done so many terrible things to your family, no one could really blame you if you ordered his death"

"It is true that he has been the cause of so much pain, his ambitions the source of the destruction of my family. I despise him with all my heart, yet I have the opinion that his death won´t solve anything. Killing him would only bring me pleasure, but I would be spilling the blood of others for egoistical reasons. He is a bastard and I won´t be light on his punishment but killing him won´t bring me any benefits. Besides, even if he is a corrupted noble, he is the father of one of my classmates. Ferdinand can be annoying at times, but he has good intentions. I´m confident that he will heal the injuries of his father´s legacy and he might want to hear the truth from his father´s lips. I won´t be the one taking the life of his father until he has the chance to confront him"

"Even then, don´t you think he will despise you because of what have you done? With this move, House Aegir has lost importance within the Empire. There will be resentment and I´m not sure how he will take it"

"House Aegir won´t be the last one to hold resentment against me and in the case of Ferdinand I hope that time will make him think about it, even if he despises me after what has happened. I told you, no matter what happens I will continue my path, even if I have to confront you"

"I would never do something like that"

"No one truly knows what is the future preparing for us, but I hope that such dreaded events never happen. I´ll be staying here a couple of days. I´ll be busy but it would be a pleasure to show you the gardens of the Imperial palace. If you are interested of course"

"It would be a pleasure" he said as he gently reached for his hand.

"How moving, such sweetness is menacing to make me throw up. Anyway, I must say that what you have done is really impressive, I would have never expected less from you, Edelgard or should I call you, the new emperor?" said a cold voice from the entrance of the room. Looking at the origin of the voice, he could see Lord Arundel ironically clapping at them with a sinister smile on his face. Strangely, he wasn´t accompanied by any soldiers of his own.

"I didn´t expect your visit here and now, uncle" Edelgard carefully said, the imperial crown contrasting with her hair. "Have you come to bow before me and swear to me an unending loyalty?"

"Is there a loyalty stronger than family bonds? That should be enough. I see that Duke Aegir isn´t here anymore. What happened to him? Did you order his execution? I would have enjoyed to take a first seat in that case. I´m sure he would look like a pig sent to slaughter"

"He has been imprisoned and half his possessions will return to the crown. He will remain in an isolated cell for the time being. However, I know that you have developed some fondness for him. I have no objections if you want to join him in his cell. He will be pleased to see you again"

"Despite everything that has happened you have decided to forgive his life…" Arundel said with a thoughtful look before bursting in laugher. "The throne has been granted to a woman that forgives her enemies. If you aren´t willing to wield a sword you should be letting the future of the empire on better hands. How could we live in a time when the throne is ruled by a child? How embarrassing"

"Regarding incompetence your head comes to mind, dear uncle. Punishing the people with heavy taxes and executions won´t give you the love or respect of the people"

"I need neither of them. Fear is a useful way to rule. No insurrections have taken place since I took control and the same model should be applied to the rest of the Empire, only weaklings think that the common folk should be deserving of more. They are the pawns that we, the lords, use in our games of power and they should be pleased to have such honor. Duke Aegir was weak regarding that matter, but I would have done better. May I ask you why did you decide to take earlier the crown from your father? Are you that power hungry?"

"Of all people it is surprising that you are the one to make such accusations. I have a dream and I won´t give up even if that means my own demise. The crown on my head is the reminder of the sacrifices made and the ones waiting to be done, although you don´t seem to understand the meaning of these words."

"Youth surely make people entitled of their own opinions. Such is the way most fools live in this world, but I will ignore that last comment from you. Listen carefully, ideals are just air until they turn into reality. You can say whatever you want. If you don´t have the power to back it up your objectives would be a fruitless utopia. Regarding the coronation, the tradition asks for the presence of the archbishop to guarantee that the ceremony is accepted by the Goddess, yet I can´t see the archbishop´s presence. Could it be that you are neglecting the sacred traditions of your own people?"

"I didn´t expect pious comments from you, uncle. Byleth has assumed such role and you are incorrect about one thing. The tradition only refers to the presence of one member of the Church, but it's not necessarily the presence of its leader. Normally it would be attended by the current archbishop, but that doesn´t give less value to his presence here. Furthermore, he has been named as the champion of the faith by the archbishop herself and he has aided me in times of need. I can´t think about anyone else more suitable for such task"

"In ancient times, when the first Emperor was alive, Saint Seiros was said to be the one to assume such role. Interesting decision to say the least" he said as he looked at him, the moment he felt his eyes on him he could feel tension in his sword hand. "Since you are my niece let me illustrate you about what awaits you. The eagle is the symbol the Adrestian Empire, but only the eagle of House Hresvelg has two heads, do you know why? The blood was strong in the first generations of emperors, but as time passed the blessing of the crest of Seiros started to grow scarce and to compensate for it some emperors turned into tyrants or killed their siblings to keep the throne for themselves. Among all the royal houses in Fódlan, the members of House Hresvelg have been the more prone to commit atrocities during their reign so even if one head is willing to fight for the greater good the other one could be the one to drag the world into more suffering. Such is the fate of those crowned as emperors. I wonder which head of the eagle you will be"

"Thanks for the history lesson, uncle, but I won´t let my own fate been dictated by the mistakes of my ancestors. I really hope that this wasn´t the only reason why you have come here"

"Not at all. As you should know by now I´m not a person that likes to lose his time. There have been reports of turmoil to the west of the Empire, if you are the protector of the realm from now on the responsibility of keeping the citizens alive should be yours. By the way, Baron Ochs has come to the capital, I wonder what his intentions are, the poor soul. He still believes her daughter is alive…pathetic"

"Enough of your talk" he said as he approached him, his hand touching the handle of his sword. "Even if I wasn´t able to meet the real Monica, I won´t let you insult the memory of one of my students"

"I understand now why the Goddess has favored you with her powers. In the case of my niece, I'm not belittling her, I´m just making sure that she will be a proper ruler. I don´t want my efforts to be wasted on her" he said as his eyes observed the Sword of the Creator. "The Sword of the Creator…a magnificent piece of art I must say. Some scrolls refer to it as the celestial emperor sword, could it mean that the Adrestian Empire is just the mirror of the true empire above us? It is the Goddess´s early gift to us mortals, although uncompleted by the lack of a crest stone…yet the sword has chosen you. Will you be the successor of the King of liberation, the one that forged his own rule by war and blood?"

"I´m the one to choose my own path. Your opinion has no value to me"

"Arrogance is the curse of the young and the pass of time is its cure…if you survive long enough. Some people aren´t that lucky, their dreams are illusions numbing their minds as they run into their deaths. You were just a mercenary not so long ago so don´t think so high about yourself. Remember where you come from and never forget it. That´s the only thing certain about us apart from death" he said with an analytical look. "I´m sure that her majesty will be busier from now on. I have no business here anymore. If you want to take the weight of duty go ahead, it will surely crush you" Arundel said as he started to turn into dust, his presence disappearing from the throne room.

"It seems that he wasn´t even here. He must have casted a spell to make us think he was between us, but he was just deceiving us" Edelgard sighed. "He really thinks that I will be a failure as a ruler, but I will show him how wrong he is. His influence over me has been strong, but now the time to change has come" she said as she looked to the mural behind the throne, the one depicting the first emperor accompanied by Saint Seiros.