If Sidis fixed the Light, Egbert would go down in history as an incompetent emperor. Is there really no other way? Lyse racked her brain. If someone as clever as Alcede couldn’t come up with a better solution, she certainly didn’t think she could—still, she had no intention of giving up.
Sidis’s shoulders slumped as he continued, “Anyway, His Majesty once again implored me to take his place but made me promise to seek your opinion first.”
“Why me?”
“If I become emperor, you shall be empress. If that idea repels you, I vow to remain single for my entire reign. I will then step down and ask for your hand again,” he said with furrowed brows. “If even marriage is off the table, I cannot bear to be without you. You are my one and only love. If we cannot officially marry, I nevertheless beg you to stay by my side. But rest assured that my tenure will be short. After I resolve the current situation, I shall figure out a way to restore the crown to its rightful owner and cause my own disappearance.”
“Um, Lord Sidis, I’m sure you don’t have to disappear...” To have an emperor abscond for marriage would be extreme, to put it politely.
“I don’t know how I would relinquish the throne otherwise. Of course, I will discuss this all with His Majesty beforehand. And if he has no choice but to be reinstated as emperor, the people’s disdain will turn to me upon their relief to have him back. They’ll reswear their fealty and, in time, regain their confidence in his rule.” Sidis’s plan was to set himself up as a scapegoat, the thought of which didn’t please Lyse. Any scorn that befell Emperor Sidis would taint the Light as well, as he would be the one reigniting it.
“If that’s the case, you should at least claim to have lost your Light, Sidis. That would be a much more favorable excuse than your sudden disappearance.” It was awkward and desperate, but Lyse could think of no better plan.
“You’re right. I could pretend as if my mana waned.”
“Yes, that’s even better. If they’re placing you on the throne because you have the Light, losing your magical strength would justify you abdi—” Lyse gasped as something suddenly clicked in her head. “Wait. What about this?”
“Did something come to mind?” Sidis asked her, only to be hushed. Lyse needed a moment to gather her thoughts.
Couldn’t a Light bearer just temporarily assume the throne for the purposes of restoring the Light? No, better yet...
“I think we can make this work even without crowning a Light bearer. For example, we could claim to have a vision or some other divination that the gods have bestowed Light bearers to the emperor as aides, and that’s where we come in to assist His Majesty.”
“Then we could create some sort of special position?”
“Yes, that’s exactly it, Lord Sidis!” Lyse jumped to her feet. “You wouldn’t need to become emperor in that case. And even though we bear the Light, it’s not as if we use our powers normally. They’re only really called upon in emergencies.” Aside from helping with problems involving the Light of Origin, all having the Light within them did was potentially increase their mana. The empire favored magical supremacy, but that was the extent of the influence.
“That’s very true. If a non-bearing emperor cannot preserve the Light, that would set a precedent. No subsequent emperors would be judged by their characters, but solely by whether they possess the Light. And that’s a grim future I’d like to avoid.”
It just so happened that Sidis and Lyse had both acquired their powers by freak accident and that neither of them wished harm against the empire. The same was also largely true of Seren, despite being a late bloomer. With more life experience, the Alstran ugly duckling was sure to grow into a fine swan, although Alcede’s interference may yet wreak interesting twists and turns in his path.
It would be a problem, however, if anyone born with the Light harbored ill will against the empire. If they kept their evil intentions hidden and managed to become emperor thanks to their extraordinary power, it would surely herald the collapse of the great Razanate, and her citizens would be the ones to pay the price. Neighboring nations would even be in danger if a Light-bearing warmonger were to take the throne. Demanding that all future rulers bear the Light was simply asking for trouble.
“There’s another rub. What if we put this plan into play, yet His Majesty refuses to do anything but abdicate? How would we counter that?” Sidis asked, eager to make sure they had all their bases covered.
Lyse reached her finger out to smooth away the wrinkle on Sidis’s brow. “What would His Majesty do, I wonder?”
“If I had to guess, he would...”
Lyse softly laughed at what Sidis suggested. “If that’s the case, then I shall brandish excuses of my own and try to win over His Majesty.”
Her confidence surprised Sidis. “You have something in mind?”
“You see...” Lyse proceeded to explain herself.
In the end, Sidis gave his blessing. The silver-haired prince thought his beloved’s plan just might work.
The next morning, an ear-splitting scream rang throughout the palace when a chamberlain went to wake up Egbert—“Y-YOUR MAJESTY?!”
Knights and court ladies flooded his chambers as soon as they heard the commotion for fear of a threat to the emperor’s well-being. Rather than chaos, however, what they found was stark silence. All of His Majesty’s attendants were simply staring wide-eyed...at a dog as white as the purest snow—unadorned, as Egbert preferred—lying atop the cream-colored sheets of the royal bed.
The middle-aged chamberlain fell on his behind, too shocked to stand back up. He pointed at the dog, stammered out, “His Majesty has transformed!”
One of the knights who’d rushed to the scene chuckled. “Oh, did His Majesty use magic to transform again? He turned into a dog during that last monster attack too.” The other knights who’d witnessed the battle concurred, much to the relief of the servants who’d never seen it before.
The chamberlain on the floor, however, shouted, “No! I thought His Majesty was playing a practical joke as well, but try as I might, I couldn’t dispel the magic!”
“Are you sure His Majesty isn’t just overpowering you?” a lady-in-waiting chimed in.
“I wondered that myself, but His Majesty seems to be transformed by something far more powerful. See for yourself!”
Multiple onlookers took the chamberlain up on his suggestion, but nary a one was able to dispel the transformation.
“Is that really His Majesty? What if, you know, it’s just a dog?” a knight muttered aloud.
This elicited a gasp in the room. Perhaps His Majesty had simply put a dog on his bed to fool everyone before sneaking out. Perhaps the chamberlain had simply been fooled. Everyone was wondering the same thing—but Egbert beat them all to the punch.