roccoschili Chapter 282 Sunset in the West
Chapter 282 Sunset in the West
The palace was quiet and almost no servants moved about, but large, full-blown vines covered the palace, showing that it was always carefully cared for.
This is the decree of an emperor whose reign is drawing to a close.
He just wanted to lie here quietly and spend his last moments without being disturbed. Even the softest footsteps and the faintest breaths displeased him.
His short life was filled with too many things, and only in his final days did he have time to recall those ordinary moments of warmth and some vague feelings.
Cortini loved the dense shade and flowers.
They first met under a patch of winding, lush vines. Tini was just a little girl then, and a sliver of sunlight fell on her cheek, a small, playful patch of light.
He never mentioned it.
Tini probably doesn't know that he actually remembers their first meeting when they were children.
When they meet again, he might ask her; perhaps she's the one who doesn't remember.
A cough, as if from a terminal illness, emanated from the magnificent bed. The decrepit emperor, nestled on the soft mattress, appeared aged and frail, like a skeleton just unearthed, despite being only middle-aged.
"Little Turner, you're here again," came the hoarse, broken voice with difficulty.
"Nothing much, just came to see you." Turner sat down by the bedside with a warm smile.
“There’s no need to come every day. I’ll send someone to invite you at the last minute.” Yulia’s previous emperor coughed and laughed. “I think you’re not busy enough already.”
Turner, though not yet in office, was already shouldering the responsibility of running the entire empire. He was not yet an adult, yet he handled these matters with ease, displaying remarkable foresight and ruthless methods.
That way he can rest easy and die in peace.
“It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching.” Turner reached out and tucked the blanket around the emperor.
“Turner, you are still young, and the lord of the Forest Empire has already arrived. Don’t waste such a good opportunity. You should spend more time developing your relationship with her.”
He had taught his son everything he needed to know about politics, both overt and covert, and this child had surpassed him by a wide margin, far exceeding his own abilities in his youth. At this moment, he was like an ordinary father giving instructions to his child, simply hoping that he could be happier.
"It seems you've worried a lot too, and you're still nagging me." Turner chuckled, offering a helpless reassurance to the emperor, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
“I know you look down on her.” The emperor coughed twice more. “When I brought you to my side, you were about the size of a kitten. Even your cries were soft. At that time, I thought, how could a child chosen by hundreds of sacred whales be so quiet? You don’t look like a hero destined for greatness at all.”
"But later I learned that you had a bright future ahead of you." His cloudy eyes were full of admiration and satisfaction.
"Please stop praising me. I'm just carrying on the glory of my predecessors and doing my duty." Turner was used to these words of praise and was no longer afraid or moved.
"He inherited the glory, that's true, but he also inherited the curse." These words sounded somewhat like gritted teeth, but the emperor's tone was calm, carrying only a hint of regret.
He then looked at the composed young man by the bedside with a mixture of heartache and pity: "Turner, are you feeling unwell? Why are you up so early?"
"You really can't hide anything from me." Turner said with a hint of helplessness, "Who exactly is it that has been so talkative in front of you, causing you all this trouble?"
That's what they say, but the power of perception etched into one's blood doesn't need anyone else to explain it to.
So Turner reassured me, “Please don’t worry, this is my mission, it was destined long ago. I’m only worried that I have too little time to fulfill my ancestors’ expectations. As for my personal health and well-being, I have never cared about it.”
"So you don't care about that lord of the Forest Empire, do you?" The emperor chuckled softly, then sighed, "The men of the Yulia family are all wicked, emotionless monsters."
"But nobody seems to think that we've already given up our lives, so how can we have the mind to talk about feelings?"
"Don't you agree, Turner?"
Turner smiled faintly. "That's right."
The emperor was silent for a moment, then thought of something and said through gritted teeth, "The Yuria family has quite a peculiar one. Isn't that damned exception supposed to be full of emotions? He has no interest in fighting, what a waste of his fighting prowess and talent, he actually went and joined forces with pirates!"
Turner was taken aback, not expecting that the emperor would still remember Keslan.
The image of the unruly owner of those clear yellow eyes flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but chuckle: "That's much better than pirates."
"Hmph." The emperor, whose life was nearing its end, revealed his true feelings like a child: "I really wanted to kill him, and I was also really jealous of him."
He rolled his eyes at Turner: "You actually helped him out by pushing things along and even helped him get what he wanted."
“Becoming an outcast in the Yuria family, the first half of his life was already unfortunate for him, and the second half is uncertain. I'm just curious to see.” Turner looked at the water glass next to him: “After saying so much, would you like some water?”
The emperor waved his hand: "Since you won't let me drink Burche wine, I don't want anything else."
“That’s true. No matter how much you say, I won’t give you any wine.” Turner still poured a glass of warm water and placed it beside him, so he could feed it to the emperor at any time.
"Why would you help him? Only you are so magnanimous. That kid doesn't take us seriously at all. He's so cruel at such a young age... cough cough." The emperor wanted to say more, but because of his turbulent emotions, he began to cough uncontrollably.
Turner quickly patted his back to help him catch his breath, and then fed him the warm water he had just drunk.
He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes obscuring all his thoughts.
Over the years, the emperor clearly intended to use Keslan as a whetstone for his power. Otherwise, if he hated Keslan so much, why didn't he eliminate him completely before he gained power?
He was clearly hiding in the shadows, eagerly anticipating a protracted and fierce battle between himself and Keslan.
Unfortunately, neither he nor Keslan could achieve what he wanted.
They both made a different choice without prior arrangement, and went in a different direction together.
This cousin was indeed feared, but not so much that one would risk personal injury to send him to hell.
Warm him, restrain him, help him, and take advantage of him.
Isn't this exactly what I'm best at?
Why resort to violence at the drop of a hat?
Turner gave a lukewarm smile.
No, all these years, Keslan has been doing all sorts of shady things for him, dealing with countless dissidents, so that he hasn't gotten a drop of blood on his hands.
His owl was practically the only one in the underworld, saving him a lot of energy and manpower to fight pirates and petty thieves.
Now, for the sake of a mere pleasure quarters, he is about to completely squander his power and trump cards.
Just thinking about it makes me feel good.