Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

"What is happening?" Sachin yelled as the soldiers flooded into the hall.

Acuthan on the stage just froze and his eyes fixed on Viswa, standing blood-soaked in the middle of the hall. They were surrounded by royal soldiers.

"ARGHHH!!!" A bloodcurdling scream echoed from behind.

Acuthan glanced back with the others on the stages. The head of a Jadhav family elder rolled to his feet. Asokan and his body were equipped with swords.

"Lord... Asokan." He stuttered. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Acuthan, you have crossed the line." Asokan said coldly, slicing off the neck of another Elder.

"Why are you betraying us again, you damned bastard?" Acuthan yelled. "Is this your loyalty?"

"There was no loyalty in the first place." Asokan replied

"What?" Sachin asked, moving back slowly from him.

"I was here on Lord Viswa's orders." Asokan smiled.

With a roar from Viswa, the blood festival began in the hall. The soldiers sprung into action with their swords brandished.

The soldiers began to kill the medium nobles that were on the target list and yelled for the others to surrender without fighting back. It was a bloodbath and Viswa was at the forefront, slashing and killing the targets that were in cahoots with the first prince.

"Don't curse me, Acuthan. This was your doing," Asokan said coldly as he killed all the Elders of Jadhav.

Acuthan sank to his knees as he watched the world fall apart in front of him. His ideal of revenge was shattered in mere seconds. He thought he could take on the Emperor and he now realized he wasn't even worth the presence of him.

His subordinates took care of his plan and tore it to shreds. There was nothing he could do to repair it. The screams of the nobles reached his ear.

Asokan approached Acuthan from behind with a pitiful look.

He glanced back to see all the Elders that were in cahoots with him, dead. Sachin was trying to run away but Asokan didn't spare a glance at him. His eyes fixed on Acuthan.

"You should have known the consequences of your actions, Acuthan. You had your chance to just go and live your life." Asokan explained. "You were already being monitored by the internal corps."

"Your life was a mercy granted to you by the Emperor." He continued. "If only you had just foregone your revenge and lived your life away from this mess."

Asokan raised his sword. "I pity you, Acuthan."

He brought his sword down towards his neck; Acuthan's life came to a quick and unsatisfactory end.

Tens of nobles were killed and the rest were arrested by the soldiers and taken out of the mansion after tying them up. They would be imprisoned for treason or either executed depending on the Emperor's orders later.

The main heads of the movement were killed mercilessly by Asokan, Viswa, and the soldiers. They were already on kill-on-sight orders. Viswa took the bold step to have them gathered for a public execution, which they did.

Viswa walked up the stage to meet Asokan.

With a smile, he patted Asokan's shoulder. "You did well."

"It doesn't feel good to kill someone you've known for a long time." Asokan mumbled to Viswa.

"It was his choice, Lord Asokan. A ruler's job is to prioritize the Empire over emotional ties." Viswa turned to him. "I can assure you that if you didn't complete this here, in the future, your own people would be suffering for your incompetency."

"I know, Lord Viswa." He slightly bowed to Viswa and nodded.

Viswa turned away to see the soldiers dragging the battered Sachin up the stage. He smiled and walked up to the man.

He grabbed his hair and looked him in the eye. "I told you to choose wisely, right, you dirty bastard."

Sachin's eyes were watery and his face numb from the beatings he got from the soldiers. The soldiers beat him too much compared to the other arrested nobles. This was because they had heard about the story of disrespecting Viswa from others.

"Yet you went and did this." He smiled and slapped Sachin.

"Please—spare... me." Sachin pleaded with tears streaming down his face. "I...will...do anything."

SLAP

"You should have thought of it before pulling this crap," Viswa hissed and stabbed Sachin in the shoulder with a dagger.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream. Asokan and the other soldiers looked away. They knew that Sachin was in for a bad time.

Viswa twisted the dagger in his shoulder. "Treason. You dare go against the words of His Majesty?"

He pulled out the dagger and stabbed the same spot again.

"ARGH!!" Sachin yelled out.

Viswa took out a cloth from his back pocket and stuffed it in his mouth to stifle the screams.

"I would have considered it if you had gone about it logically and tried to propose a solution." Viswa slapped him. "But you decided to run your filthy mouth and do this."

Viswa let go of his head and stood up. He kicked him right in the chin and his head yanked back, his mouth open and bleeding. His eyes barely open and neck twisted at an unnatural angle.

He put a foot on his head.

"Does your 'superior' blood help now, you bastard?" He put more pressure and began to crush his head. "Upper caste this and that."

"Now you must understand very well why the emperor chose me instead of a bootlicking bastard like you." Viswa hissed. "Claim your place with your ability, not your blood."

Sachin couldn't even open his mouth to plead; his heart was racing and he was losing consciousness. He was sure of death and in death, he understood the reason why the emperor chose Viswa as his butler. The rumors weren't exaggerated; the man was strong and intelligent.

Vishwa took his foot off Sachin and turned to the soldiers.

They were also scared to see the behaviour of Viswa, including Asokan, who had stepped back away from him.

He looked puzzled for a moment and went back to his original demeanour and ordered coldly.

"Execute this one and make a show for the other nobles." He ordered the soldiers.

They dragged away the unconscious Sachin with a pitiful look on their faces.

Viswa then shifted his gaze to Asokan, who was standing a few feet away in a defensive stance.

"Stop your games, Lord Asokan." Viswa sighed.

Asokan finally relaxed and sighed. He also took an oath to himself that day.

'I don't want to get on his bad side ever.'

"Seize all the assets of the nobles that were gathered here."

Asokan nodded obediently.

"About their family." Viswa began scratching his chin. "The ones that were supportive and the ones that weren't involved are with Karna."

"Take that information and go."

"And what to do with the innocent ones?" Asokan asked.

"Seize half their property and impose restrictions on their travel for the time being." He said. "I shall have Karna monitor them for some time."

"Alright."

Before leaving,

"If I know any pregnant mothers and children are harmed in the process of seizing assets. I shall have a word with you personally, Lord Asokan." He warned coldly.

The warning sent a shiver down Asokan's spine.

'I wouldn't harm them either way.'