Nyra Blackheart, former matriarch of the Drakethorne grand ducal house, stood at the entrance. She wore an elegant gown that hugged at the waist, giving her a mature look. She appeared to be in her mid-30s, despite already being over 70. Her raven hair cascaded down freely. Her black eyes glared in fury at the audacity of the emperor, who wanted to use that promise to bind her grandson in a wedding without his consent.
All the people attending the banquet were familiar with Nyra Blackheart's boldness. She was the sole heiress to Blackheart County, but after marrying into Drakethorne, Blackheart became the vessel of Drakethorne.
Blackhearts are famous for their boldness and for saying what they want with no fear, and this boldness stems from their lineage, as they are infamous for dual classes, which is very rare.
Nyra Blackheart, without caring for the presence of the emperor, looked straight at her husband, who was trying to look away from her,"Ragnar, have you forgotten about me or what? How dare you want to start a banquet without me?"
Ragnar Drakethorne faked his cough and said,"Dear, how could I forget about you? It's just that it was getting late, and our grandson has to sleep, and the throne is not good for that, so I wanted the banquet not to get any delay."
"Humph, you sweet talker, I will let this pass for my grandson", Nyra Blackheart spoke as she looked at her grandson, who was resting in the throne, not knowing the things that were being caused due to him.
Nyra Blackhear felt like laughing at this ridiculous situation, but held her laugh as she looked at the emperor.
Everyone stopped as the emperor began to speak,"This promise can't be nulled without being used once, and Ragnar, you are well informed of this sacred promise. I ask you to abide by this sacred promise."
"Your majesty, use this promise for something else in the future, but not to bind my grandson", Ragnar said to the emperor, as he didn't like how the emperor was forcing his daughter's and grandson's marriage this early.
The scroll's content started disappearing and began to become particles that surrounded the palace and entered into Drakethorne's family's bodies, and Alex's body, who was sleeping soundly on the throne, and others entered into the emperor's body.
Shane and Ragnar spoke out at the same time, turning toward the throne, their voices overlapping: "Your majesty, do not force me to take action?"
Meanwhile, Sera tried to use her magic and whatever means she could to stop the particles from entering the body, but she couldn't do so as particles began to enter her son's body one by one.
Sera felt weak and collapsed to her knees, powerless to protect her son despite her resolve to protect him at any cost.
"Ragnar, this is a sacred promise given by your founding father, and its magic can't be nulled as he has bidden this promise with black dragon's blood that runs inside your body", Emperor James Evernight spoke as if this was very casual and shouldn't be anything to worry about.
"Those particles won't harm the child; this is just something that will help in abiding by the marriage between your son and my daughter", Emperor James Evernight spoke as he looked this time at Sera Azurestorm, who was on her knees.
"I will allow this marriage to be void if your son ever wishes to when he can think for himself, until then, this marriage is fixed", the Emperor said as he looked at Shane and Sera, giving them some mercy.
People were stunned and unsettled by how the emperor coldly leveraged such a promise to keep Drakethorne from opposing the Evernight family, even though, in the end, he allowed the child the potential freedom to void the marriage if he ever wished, once he could think for himself.
This time, the emperor started walking upstairs. His steps were steady, and his aura radiated. There was calmness in him despite making such a ruckus; he didn't seem to care about anything else.
He neared the throne. Sera had already risen and was about to intervene when Shane restrained her from acting rashly.
The Emperor approached the throne, where a magic circle held Alex from falling. Alex was sleeping soundly on the throne.
The Emperor opened his dimensional space and took out a box.
Emperor James Evernight slowly opened the box, revealing a necklace crowned with a crimson diamond. Its brilliance was so dazzling that even distant onlookers could see it.
Ragnar saw what the emperor took out and was shocked to see that the necklace was of divine rank, not just any divine rank; it was very close to mythic rank.
Artifacts and treasures were categorized into mortal, enchanted, rare, divine, mythic, and immortal (the latter known for their sentience).
He extended his hand into the magic circle and carefully wrapped the necklace around Alex's neck. The necklace adjusted its size, shrinking to fit Alex's neck perfectly.
"This one is for you, my future son-in-law, become the best in the world", the Emperor said, and turned around to go downstairs, but was stopped by the voice.
"Your majesty, I understand, but why force my son now? You could have waited," Sera Azurestorm burst out, unable to restrain herself any longer.
"I like him. Your son can end the marriage at any time if he wishes." The Emperor spoke, and no voice stopped him as he descended the stairs.
The Emperor exited the hall with his knights. He left the banquet, and its people were baffled by this notorious side of him.
People were all too familiar with how cunning and powerful the emperor was, but never had they seen or heard of the emperor using such a tactic on such a child.
Some of Drakethorne's rivals were clearly frustrated and upset. They resented that the heir of Drakethorne is marrying the emperor's daughter, as this will only bring Drakethorne closer to the imperial family.
The emperor's carriage was getting ready. He looked at the sky. He began peering into things unknown to people.
"Your majesty, why are you doing this? You could have asked for my life, yet you chose my son's life." Shane Drakethorne spoke as he neared the emperor. All the knights and troops gave way to Shane as he neared the Emperor.
"Shane, I understand your concern. I have already allowed your child to revoke it if he wishes. You will understand with time why I am doing this," the Emperor said and boarded the carriage.
Shane stood there for a while and entered the banquet, not wanting to make this banquet any more disturbing than it was.