Leonard peeled the bandage from his face, noticing Erwin shaking his head in disagreement. As soon as his eye was exposed to the air of the empire, Leonard noticed a pounding in his head.
Instinctively, he clutched at his temples, and the young Erwin shook his head as if to say, 'I told you so'. But Erwin was incorrect. He believed that Leonard was suffering from the pain of his wounds. In truth, it was the pressure of an immense power crushing down on his soul.
It brought him great pain, though somehow, it felt like the pressure came from somewhere external, yet still managed to bring him pain inside of his body.
What is this? I've never felt anything like it before.
...
No, that's wrong. I felt a feeling similar not long ago. In the realm of the black water, when I stood before Arcus.
Have you manifested yourself into reality, Arcus? Are you here, walking in our world?
Leonard lifted his head, wishing for the pain to subside, but it did not. As he looked around, half of his vision blurred, he noticed Erwin staring at him with his jaw agape.
"M-my emperor..." He stuttered, pointing a finger towards Leonard's face. "Your eye!"
The Emperor was filled with confusion.
My eye?
He wondered what the inner council member was talking about, but before he could question it, he noticed a strange directional feeling drawing upon his body.
Instantly, he knew that whatever the feeling was, it was far away, and was somehow the source of his pain. As he turned to face the direction that the pain came from, it intensified.
Leonard swiftly did the calculations in his head.
There are five islands surrounding The Heart.
The Head, to the North.
The Right Arm, to the east.
The Left Arm, to the west.
The Right Leg, to the southeast.
The Left Leg to the Southwest.
Right now, I'm looking towards the right leg. Also known as the land of the skies before they were conquered by The Final Empire.
In other words, the pressure is coming from where Ilandrus is.
Leonard placed his face in his palms, mind racing with thoughts.
Is it him that I can feel. Can I somehow sense deities?
Erwin's head began to bead with sweat as he reached for another unused bandage, handing it over to Leonard.
"My Emperor, we must cover your eye. If others see it like this, they will think something is wrong." The purple-haired man spoke frantically.
Leonard still had no clue what Erwin was talking about, so he pushed himself to his feet groggily and made his way over to the full-body mirror placed inside his chambers.
The entire time, Erwin watched with worried eyes.
Leonard stood before the mirror, head still pounding from the pressure, and looked at himself.
At first, all seemed to be normal. He stood roughly 175 centre metres tall and weighed roughly 70 kilograms. His hair was white and long, flowing to his shoulders, and his eyes were...
My eyes...
Leonard peeled open his eyelids.
One remained regular. A dark black shade like the black water in Arcus' realm.
But the other was a bright red, with a mottled scar running down its length. There was no white part of his eye, just entirely red with a faint glow to it, as though it were filled with some sort of demonic spirit.
Leonard recoiled from the mirror, instinctively placing his hand to cover his face as his breaths became heavy.
Seriously. What is happening to me? Am I cursed?
But as he covered his eye, Leonard came to notice something else.
The longer the eye remained covered, the more his pain began to disappear.
Testing this theory, he removed his hand from the eye, and instantly the immense pressure returned as he sensed the deity to the southeast.
Erwin walked over and handed him the bandage again, which Leonard wasted no time wrapping over his head.
He felt as though he was beginning to come to an understanding.
This must be because of the deal I made with Arcus. He has blessed me with some sort of power!
...
I may not be the prophet of The Only One, but it seems a new god rests upon my shoulder.
"My eye is fine, Erwin. Ignore it for now and call for a meeting with the other members of the inner council... No, the Outer Council as well. There are many issues we need to discuss." Leonard spoke calmly as he walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out his black emperor robes.
Erwin stood there for a moment, still worried about Leonard's health, before letting out a sigh. "I'll fetch them right away, Your Highness. We will be waiting for you at the roundtable."
The purple-haired man left afterwards without saying another word, taking his book with him.
After he was dressed, and with his crown resting atop his head, Raphael prepared to leave. But first, his left eye fell on the red sword resting on his wall like an ornament.
The Descended Blade. Passed down to him from his father, who had claimed that the weapon had fallen from the heavens on the day of Leonard's birth.
Of course, he knew that the story was false. But now that he had come into contact with a real god, he wondered if the blade would someday truly be able to hold divine powers.
Leonard lifted the blade from its place and sheathed it to his waist. Then, after relaxing for a few more minutes, he stepped from his chambers and out into the hallways of his palace with a high chin.
The Emperor's palace was located in Oxon City, the capital and highest location on The Heart Island. Its design was glorious, with paintings spread across the walls, depicting events of the Alvatus' bloodline conquering the six islands.
Maidservants walked through the palace, becoming flustered at the sight of Leonard. It seemed that everyone was aware of his two-week slumber. As they passed, they bowed their heads deeply to show their respect.
How can they respect me after discovering that my entire rule was based on a lie?
After continuing through the winding hallways, Leonard finally came to a familiar set of double doors, being held open by a maid who expected his arrival. As he stepped through, she swiftly closed the door behind him and scurried off.
Leonard stood in a large room, which, unlike most others in Oxon City, did not have a balcony or windows to let in the glorious sun.
This room was confidential, where secrets would be whispered, meant to be unheard of by all but the men in the room.
The Inner Council, made up of Leonard's closest men. Erwin, Bartholomew and Enoch.
The Outer Council, made up of seven men who did not carry a personal relationship with the Emperor but were rather there to give their opinion on matters at hand.
Of course, all decisions were ultimately Leonard's to make, but his father thought it was necessary to create a system which allowed advisers.
The men at the table watched Leonard with wide eyes, some even had their jaws hanging open unknowingly. None had seen the Emperor for the last two weeks, except for Erwin, who wore a slight grin on his face.
As he sat down at the largest chair around the roundtable, the room remained silent, waiting for him to speak.
Leonard cleared his throat, preparing himself to address those before him.
"I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting." He spoke, voice sounding naturally confident. "I was busy meeting with The Only One."