880 The Verdict
9:40 A.M.
Within the room, all the women were crying, while the men looked heartbroken.
"My wives, my children, brothers...
Please, don't weep for me.
It pains my heart to see you all so sad.
But you must be brave and strong because I know that my time is up." Julius said lovingly while cooling at his children warmly.
All his children were here except for one, Henry.
Thinking about this son of his, he couldn't help but feel disappointed even till now.
Back then, he intentionally added to the boy's problems by making him a punching bag for Ulrich.
He wanted to lower Henry's confidence so that he would end up working alongside Ulrich as his lackey in future.
Ulrich has always been his most beloved son.
So he wanted a very obedient person by his beloved son's side.
The problem was that when Henry was 15, he gave him advice to go work for Ulrich.
But the fool chose the second option, and that was to have his territory.
That day, Julius was so mad that he slapped Henry hard and sent him off without any formal coming of age party.
All his hard work with the boy had gone down the drain.
Thinking about it now, he was glad that the fool didn't come to see him because it would only make him die faster.
How could someone be so hateful?
There was a time that Julius felt like Henry wasn't his because out of all his sons, Henry was the weirdest and weakest.
Even the sons behind him could do better.
He seriously suspected that the boy's dead mother cheated on him with another.
In fact, the boy's entire maternal family pissed him off since they weren't easy to control.
And the moment his grandfather, the war legend, was accused of sending assassins to kill his wife, heh, he wasted no time and killed the fool without a fair trial.
Everything about Henry made his blood boil.
Julius felt delighted that he didn't show up today.
.
"Alright, some things have changed.
So before I pass, I'll read my verdict for the empire's future.
Guards, allow some of the nobles and court officials to come in now."
"Yes, your majesty."
The guards quickly did as they were told, and those outside were rushed in speedily.
And while that was going on, the royals were silently in turmoil.
Did father just say that there were changes?
Did this mean that Ulrich wouldn't be the heir?
They now felt like they had a chance, while Ulrich's face was dark.
What does father mean by this?
Hopefully, it wasn't what he was thinking.
Mother Lilian gripped her dress tightly while trying to hold her rage.
She too, hoped that it wasn't the case
Or had any of the other queens said something ill about her son to make Julius change his mind?
Eldora just leaned towards mother Lilian with a calm smile: "Mother, I told you, I will be ruler and not Ulrich. What do you think I've been doing every time I visited father?"
Lilian looked up to the sky and really felt like beating this shameless daughter of hers.
Ulrich looked at her for a bit before silently turning his attention back to Julius.
The court officials and high-ranked nobles who were here since 8 A.M greeted Julius and stood in the hall patiently.
Everyone stared at him intensely, not daring to make any sounds.
.
9:55 A.M.
"Everyone, I've gathered you all here to read my verdict before I pass on personally.
I, Julius Tudor, The current Monarch of the glorious empire of Deiferus, choose my son, Prince Joffrey...."
Eh?
Ulrich's face turned cold.
Yes!
Jeffrey almost jumped in the air with joy.
His heart felt as light as a butterfly.
Hahahhahahahaha.
In your face!
He was the heir!
Hahahahahhahahaha!
He always knew father had a soft spot for him.
He always... Eh?
"I, Julius Tudor, choose my son, Joffrey Tudor, to aid my Son Winston Tudor in managing the empire."
--Silence--
Crack.
Something broke within Joffrey and his mother.
Joffrey in particular, felt like someone had poured cold water on him.
Aid Winston in managing the empire?
Didn't this mean that Winston was now king?
His eyes burned with rage while Winston tried his best to hide his smile while stroking his chin.
But unbeknownst to him, he too would have his heart chattered by his father.
"Prince Joffrey will be assigned the chief Constable in charge of criminal law in the empire and will directly report to Prince Winston, who will be the Chancellor of the law.
As for my 3rd Son, Prince Bonivier, he will be the official Dapifer, who will represent the future king outside the moire when needed.
My daughters, of course, should be married decently with all their dowries intact.
They are to receive monthly allowances until they are married off.
And for the rest of my sons that I haven't mentioned, all of you are already of age.
So you can continue overlooking your territories or come back and work for the future king.
My wives should also move out and live in their estates... All except one.
Everyone, I hereby announce that I, Julius Tudor, have appointed Crown Prince Ulrich as the heir of the throne upon my death.
And his mother, Queen Lilian, is to stay back and become the Queen Mother of the empire.
This is my verdict."
.
Ulrich and Lilian secretly smiled triumphantly.
For a moment, they thought their positions had changed.
But fortunately, the old geezer maintained his words back then when he made Ulrich crown prince.
Everyone else felt their blood boiling in rage.
Why raise their hopes only to crush it?
Joffrey, Bonivier, Winston, Eldora, Duke Bulkington and Duke Osias secretly looked at the duo viciously.
Who wanted to help Ulrich run the empire?
Nonsense!
They wanted to rule the damn place and not be someone's dog.
They scoffed and thought it didn't matter because they already knew that they would fight and battle it to the death.
No matter what, they had to take the crown!
9:59 A.M
Cough, Cough, Cough.
Julius started coughing like crazy.
Plah.
"My King!"
"Father!"
"Husband!"
Everyone held when they saw the black blood that their king spat out.
The physician quickly stepped forward to aid the shaking Julius.
COUGH, COUGH, COUGH.
The coughing was so loud and scary.
Blahhhh.
Julius opened his mouth and continuously let out a ridiculous amount of black blood as if he were in a horror movie.
His heat felt stuffy as he struggled to breathe.
He raised his trembling hands towards the physician, but soon, the Grim reaper had appeared.
Bam.
His hands dropped on the armrest of his chair, and the Physician's eyes grew wide in horror as he hurriedly checked his pulse.
He froze, turned around and looked at everyone sadly.
.
10 A.M on the dot.
King Julius Tudor was dead.
