In a grand hall, decorations were everywhere, yet the people in there were even more decorated!
It was truly an astonishing sight, for many had jewelry of gold, silver, and gemstones of uncommon size. It would have been fine if it was just that, but the clothes those people wore would truly horrify the average person. Not because of looking horrendous, as they certainly didn’t look bad as they just seemed quite unpractical, but it would horrify most people to learn of their cost.
In such a hall, a young blonde child, no older than perhaps eight years of age, ran behind a similarly aged girl and did a truly uncorrectable thing. He slapped her backside!
And the girl angrily said” You-“ before being interrupted by the blonde child.
“What are you gonna do about it?” the blonde child said with a smirk,” Not like anyone would want to touch you! Your muscles are bigger than mine, so you should be honored to be touched by one such as I.” the child arrogantly declared.
The girl blushed heavily, with tears welling in her eyes, not because he touched her, but because she would stay humiliated and unrevenged!
Soon, loud footsteps could be heard, and a youth entered the room.
The youth was broad shouldered and of a burly build. His height seemed a bit short as he was only about a hundred and sixty centimeters tall, though if one was to factor in his age, they would be surprised. He wore long leather boots and was dressed in simple basil green military uniform of the ceremonial kind, though he wore no hat as it would be impolite, and as such his scarlet mane flowed freely, for it was untied.
The youth was the eight year old Vikram! And today was his debut into the world of Purson nobility. So he first went to greet his father, of whom he knew from portraits and the one time Vikram saw him during his childhood.
“Greetings your majesty!” Vikram said to the emperor, who was his father.
“Greetings to you as well young man. You are?” the emperor replied in a questioning tone.
“I am the one you begot by a Suevi princess, Vikram de Avela von Purson.” Vikram said.
“I see…”
And so they conversed for a bit, mostly the emperor having an inquiry into the life of the prince before Vikram went to socialize with the appropriate age group.
Yet as soon as he walked to the area that had the greatest concentrations of youths, he saw the blonde haired child harassing a red haired young lady, or perhaps a girl. So he listened a bit and then decided to step in.
As for why he decided to step in? He heard that the young girl’s last name was De Epee! So she was perhaps related to the renowned Sword Saint! So by saving a relative of the Sword Saint he might meet the man himself and discuss of the sword with him.
“Why are you harassing the young lady?” Vikram asked as he put his hands on the blonde child’s shoulder.
“Which bastard are you? Who allowed you to interrupt this prince? What’s-“ the blonde child’s arrogant remarks were met with a slap!
To Vikram, it was not remarkable if someone insulted him, yet for his parents to be insulted was unacceptable! It was not the fact that he held some special connection to his parents, but the fact that someone implied that he was made from an act of adultery and faithlessness was intolerable!
“HOW DARE YOU, I AM THE EMPEROR’S SON-“ the angry shout was met with another slap.
“Hush you idiot! Not only are you defaming yourself, but you’re also harming the emperor’s prestige with such uncouth behavior!” Vikram rebuked, as though he wasn’t the one who slapped the child.
Yet the child continued with his cursing and spouting nonsense. So Vikram grabbed him by the collar, slapped him again, and decided to educate him.
“Hush you ignorant fool! Not only are you abusing your status to harass a young girl, but you’re spouting such obscenities!” Vikram said as he backhanded the blonde child,” Where did you even learn such words? You are a child of the imperial family no less!”
And Vikram continued with his constant acts of education, “Who taught you to act like such a brat? You as a member of the imperial family must lead by example! To court women, one mustn’t be so forceful! You need to be polite! And you can’t be so childish in acts!” Vikram rambled on and on.
Suddenly a beautiful blonde woman saw the education that Vikram provided to the blonde child, and cried out like a banshee, “MY BABY!”
“HOW DARE YOU TREAT MY BABY LIKE THAT! I MYSELF HAVE YET TO RAISE MY HAND ON HIM! PUT HIM DOWN THIS INSTANT!” the witch cried out.
The blonde child cried out” MOMMY” in response, before getting struck once again, then dropped to the ground.
“Since when was it the time for a woman to meddle in the matters of men? But since you said he is your ‘baby’, I must put the blame on you! You godforsaken witch! You raised not a son, but a brat! You doomed his future, yet you think yourself great! For him to be so unmanly in action is a living testament to your absolute inability to raise a child! I pity him even!” Vikram said, as he genuinely got annoyed at the child, but the child was not at fault, but its parent.
“YOU-“the woman said, only to be slapped, and thus she froze. Seeing as though the stunning was successful, Vikram grabbed the woman by the clothes on her chest and started slapping her fiercely.
“You failed to raise him into a man! You raised him into a dirty mouthed brat who knows not how to behave! Such a child, born into this family of power, would prove detrimental to the people! Not just commoners, but nobles! He would waste the funds of the treasurer to host useless but lavish parties and will live doing acts of perversion! I fail to understand how you became such a miserable mother to a child that you won’t raise your hand in discipline!” Vikram said in utter fury, as he slapped her for every word he said, causing the formerly beautiful woman to look unsightly.
Then he turned to the red haired young girl, who took a defensive pose.
“Don’t slap me!” she said,” I did no wrongs!”
She seemed actually scared, so Vikram bowed to her.
“Young lady, I apologize for having you see such an unpleasant sight,” Vikram said,” And to all the others who were forced to witness!”
And so, he escorted the young lady to her family, for she seemed genuinely shaken. Soon, Vikram was met with a family of red hairs.
While the family seemed quite worried for the young girl, once she explained the situation to them, a dignified looking middle aged man stepped out.
“Young Sir, I, Roland de Epee, thank you greatly for protecting my daughter!” the middle aged man said, and then continued “if you need anything that I can provide, just ask. It’ll be my repayment!”
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“Lord de Epee-“
“You can refer to me as Roland.” He middle age man said.
“Very well, Lord Roland!” Vikram said in mild surprise,” if I may ask, are you related to the Sword Saint?”
“I like your bluntness,” Roland said,” Indeed, the Sword Saint is my father!”
“May I arrange a meeting with the Sword Saint?” Vikram said,” I admire him greatly, and the first book I read was a biography of him.”
“I see! I will arrange a meeting,” Roland said,” Though I am surprised at your relaxed attitude despite educating the boy.”
“Well, I’ve already done it! So why should I worry about it?” Vikram said.
“Haha! I like your attitude, and I’m sure father would as well!”
Then some more conversation occurred before an officer came and escorted Vikram, who made no acts of resistance to it.
. . .
In the emperor’s office, Vikram stood by himself as he waited for the event to end, so that he may meet the emperor.
Vikram stood upright as though he was in the military, which gave him a dignified bearing, but he even though his eyes were open, they seemed unconcentrated. It was due to the fact that he was in a meditative state to pass the time.
As soon as he heard the door open, Vikram awoke from his meditative state. It was the emperor who came, and he seemed to be checking out something.
Indeed, what he was looking for were traces of Vikram sitting somewhere, and he found none! And he was satisfied to have such a disciplined son, the emperor had to give some punishment to Vikram, as he physically assaulted the members of the imperial family and the woman who was of ducal blood.
“Seeing as you assaulted the ninth prince, and his mother, you will be punished.” The emperor said.
“I see” Vikram replied.
“So you will be exiled from the capital for seven years.” The emperor said, and he braced himself for a violent reaction.
“I see! I accept my punishment!” Vikram said calmly.
The emperor was quite surprised at Vikram’s lack of violent reaction, as he had been used to the princes acting as such. So the emperor’s image of Vikram improved. At first, he thought that Vikram was prone to violence due to his Suevi blood, but he was grateful since that wasn’t the case.
Soon, Vikram dismissed himself and went on to prepare for his ‘exile’. It was quite an enjoyable exile as he would live in peace on the frontier, near some client kingdoms. Yet as he was leaving, near his carriage, he saw a young red haired girl, tearing up and seemingly waiting for someone.
She was waiting for him!
“I’m sorry!” she said, nearly in tears, though it sounded quite unclear to Vikram, he somehow understood that she was apologizing.
“No need for apologies!” he said magnanimously, as he spread his hands and embraced the crying girl.
And she hugged him back, as she was quite grateful, yet extremely guilt-ridden, for she believed he would go to some backwater bandit infested land. And all because of her!
The image of frontiers from nobles living in the central area was truly barbarous, so it was reasonable for her to think like that.
So Vikram did nothing but hug her, and let her cry into his chest.
Soon they parted, and Vikram climbed onto the carriage.
From the wooden vehicle, he observed the streets of the capital. The people were clothed in various dresses, differentiating in color, pattern, material, and such things.
Truly it was in the capital where one could see the disparity between the noblemen and the commoners. Indeed, the generational wealth of the nobles allowed an unending luxury, while the commoners would have to fight greatly.
Not to say that nobles didn’t struggle, but the struggles were different. Unlike the commoner who could live off physical labor, the hedonistic upper classes fought many hidden battles, where one wrong step would strip them of everything they had!
The conflict lessened since a unified monarchy appeared, so the nobles could fight over the status of a subordinate under a single figure, instead of constantly changing alliances and never ending backstabbing of their masters.
While he contemplated on the inequality that he wasn’t going to change even if he could, Vikram was pleased with the fact that he was reborn as an imperial family member.
Even in exile, his diet of great amounts of meat will be unchanging, and he will be able to enjoy hunting trips. Content with such a situation Vikram decided to continue with his martial improvement, as he truly enjoyed a life that has no worries. He traveled his whole life as Cao Xiang, so why couldn’t he enjoy life?
“Hurray for feudalism! Hurray indeed!” he chuckled.
He then closed his eyes and took a nap.
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