His Destined Empress

Ch-12 (Nephew and Niece)

Anderson looked at William, who was sitting down on the throne.

“Greetings, My King.”; Anderson paid his respects to him. William smiled at his friend and walked down from the throne.

“Come on., Anderson lets have a walk.”; William said. Anderson frowned at the behaviour of his behaviour but said nothing and started walking beside him.

“How have you been, Anderson? You have been awfully busy with your fief.”; William asked.

“I have been fine, My King. But I think that is not what you called me here for.”; Anderson replied, making William smile.

“You know, Imperial Crown Prince will visit Asiaur. He has sent a letter to inform me.”; William said. Anderson frowned at this; imperial crown prince has never visited Asiaur or any other kingdom. He always sends his trustees to handle the matter he wants to be handled. So why suddenly?

“He came to know about what happened in the church. I am sure that Pope will call Eugene soon enough.”; William added. Anderson sighed; he did not know that the energy will make everyone notice the church.

“What happened in the church, Anderson?”; William stopped and looked at him.

“I don’t know, My King. Me and my sons went to the church to pray for my wife’s nephew and niece, who have just arrived and that is when this happened.”; Anderson said. William raised his eyebrows at him.

“Why did you go to the church to pray for them?”; William asked. He knows Anderson loves his family, but he has never heard about his nephew and niece that he would love so much.

“They went through some accident and have lost their memories. Their condition became worse while staying in Casuer. My brother-in-law thought it would be better they come here for scenery change. My wife wanted to pray for them but seeing how disturbed she was hearing about this; I went on behalf of her.”; Anderson said. He looked down at the ground. He does not like that he has to call his own daughter, his niece.

“How bad is their condition?”; William asked.

“They recognise nothing. They know nothing about them. It is bad.”; Anderson added.

William wanted to think that he is lying but seeing Anderson’s face, he restrained from saying anything. He looked like he was in pain.

“Are you fond of them?”; William asked again.

“I am, especially of my niece. I always wanted a girl, and she feels like my own.”; Anderson said with a small smile on his face. William’s eyes widened, but nodded.

“It was nice meeting you. I won’t keep you here any longer. You can return.”; William said, as Anderson bowed down and walked away.

He walked out of the palace as soon as possible. He has to go to the portal circle; he hates that s**t. He sat down inside the carriage and went away. He wanted to join his daughter’s first market visit, but because of this stupid king, he could not.

“Father, what did you talk with Archduke”; Augustus asked. William smiled as he kept looking at beautiful flowers that adorned the garden.

“Augustus, you don’t have friends, right?”; William asked; making Augustus look at him with an offended face.

“Father!!”; He said, not wanting his father to make him remind his friendless status.

“Send a letter to Archduke that you will visit tomorrow.”; William ordered his son.

“But father, Samuel and Michael aren’t really fond of me”; Augustus said. He knows his father wants him to get some information in the garb of making ‘friends’.

“Oh, also add that as his nephew and niece have lost their memories; you would like to make friends with them. That way they will have a broader perspective and maybe they will recover fast.”; William added.

Was that the excuse Archduke told his father? Since when did Archduke care about his nephew and niece and even better; since when did he get a nephew and a niece?

“You want me to look into them?”; Augustus asked.

“No, I could see on his face that he cared about them. I just want to confirm. I don’t think Anderson would ever become a traitor.”; William said.

Anderson is his childhood friend, and since he became Archduke, he has been loyal to the Royal family. William has to say that much of his success is because of Anderson. He sees Anderson as his brother and he does not want to believe that there is any way that he could better the Royal family.

Yet, he knows Anderson is hiding something. Why? He has to find out. He would have left Anderson’s secrets alone if only this would have not happened. And he has a strong gut feeling that he is involved in this.

…………………………………………………………….

Aahana and Aarav looked at the market. There were street vendors selling vegetables, fruits, breads, candies, accessories and many more things. People were walking and children were playing and running around.

They saw how they all looked at the carriage they were sitting in with anticipation, as if they were waiting for something. Samuel got off first, Michael followed. The siblings saw in awe how the crowd cheered at the brothers. Seems like they are popular in the market area. Aarav and Aahana looked at each other with raised eyebrows and shook their head. This all seemed like some clichéd manga or anime.

Aarav got out and gave a hand to Aahana. They noticed how everyone stopped and looked at them with a wondering expression. Black hair and brown eyes are not really a common feature here, Aahana thought as she looked around. Everyone had obnoxious hair and eyes colour. Some kids even had snow white hair and blue eyes. She has to say he looks very cute.

“We will guide you.”; Michael said. He stood beside Aahana, while Samuel stood beside Aarav. They nodded and walked on.

“I really want to ask, is black hair not common here.”; Aarav asked.

“Yes, black hair is rare in the Cranait Empire. Crown Prince of Gloria’s kingdom has black hair, but he does not have brown eyes, instead he has silver ones. Black hair and brown eyes are very rare.”; Samuel answered.

It must be something genetic, Aarav thought.

“Empire? Kingdoms? Aren’t they the same?”; Aahana asked.

“No. We live on a continent named Cranait. This entire continent is an Empire which is governed by Imperial family. But as the area is vast, Emperor divided the continent into three parts or kingdom governed by three kings. The kingdom we are in is Asiaur, it the Western kingdom and the second largest one; then there is Gloria, the one with the largest port and lastly there is Casuer, the biggest kingdom, it is our mother’s home kingdom.”; Michael answered.

“Wait, isn’t Emperor worried kingdom might rebel because seeing from the look, you guys have your own army.”; Aarav said as he pointed out at the soldiers who were taking their routine route.

“Oh, there was a fourth kingdom, the Northern one. It had the largest and the strongest army. It tried to rebel against the Imperial family. Now, that kingdom does not even exist.”; Samuel answered.

“What about wars between kingdoms?”; Aahana asked.

“Oh, there have been wars between kingdoms, especially between Casuer and Asiaur, but it died down after our parents’ marriage. There are still some tensions though. Speaking of wars between kingdom, Imperial family has never interfered in anything unless there is too much bloodshed that it might affect the entire continent.”; Michael answered.

“Imperial family seems mysterious.”; Aarav said as other boys shrugged their shoulders.

“We won’t know; Imperial family has not stepped out of the imperial capital for a decade. It is also said that the Imperial family is so powerful that they can kill everyone in this world with a snap.”; Michael said.

“Ow!!”; Michael shouted and looked at Samuel, who slapped his head.

“Stop scaring them.”; Samuel said. Michael’s eyes widened as he looked at the siblings.

“I am sorry; I did not mean to scare you guys. And this all is just a rumour, nobody really knows about Imperial family.”; Michael said, in order to comfort them.

“We are not scared, thanks for telling us.”; Aarav answered, while Aahana was intrigued.