Why Did You Summon Me?

The Emperor’s words caused a surge of warmth to flow through Baiyi. Finally, his master had shown how much he cared about him. His master was even willing to let him become emperor for a while!

When Baiyi entered the Emperor’s office, he trembled; there was a mountain of documents atop the Emperor’s desk. A million thoughts raced through Baiyi’s mind. ‘ The Emperor is not trying to use me, right? He cannot possibly be that black-hearted, can he? He cannot be that nasty, right? He cannot—’

“Sire, this is Lord Rugel, the royal clerk; he will lend you a hand with these documents,” said the attendant that ushered Baiyi into the Emperor’s office.

An old man with snow-white hair and a white beard stood beside the Emperor’s table. He was so old and fragile that Baiyi wondered if he would pass on at any second.

Despite looking like he would kick the bucket at any second, the royal clerk smiled brightly when he saw Baiyi. His eyes swerved up and then down, examining Baiyi as though he was an item in a warehouse. The old man took two big gulps of air and said, “Not bad, not bad at all! Such unbridled power, glowing brilliantly like the sun! Why do you still wear your helmet indoors, young man?”

The old man’s voice was so strained, anyone would fear that a long speech would be the end of him. Nevertheless, he managed to finish his long compliment.

Baiyi was surprised to see an old man in the Emperor’s office. After sifting through the Archmage’s memory in his head, Baiyi exclaimed, “Oh, so you are Rugel?”

“Your Highness knows of me? I’m quite honored.” The old sage smiled.

To most, clerical work is a cheap and common job that anyone could do, but Rugel was no ordinary clerk; he had the honor of serving the Emperor. From the Archmage’s memories and other accounts of history, Baiyi knew that the old man had been serving the throne since the Archmage was a kid. He was the Archmage’s first tutor; the old man taught him how to read and write. Despite the large difference in their ages, the old man had outlived the Archmage.

Although there was no definitive account on his actual age, it was generally agreed by scholars that Rugel enjoyed an inhumanely long life surpassing the maximum years a Demigod-level human could possibly live. His eerie trait had thus subjected him to various historical conspiracies, with many attributing his longevity to the secret practice of dark magic, a Faustian contract, or even a ritual sacrifice of young boys and girls.

Only now when Baiyi observed the old sage in person that he finally glimpsed the truth — Rugel’s long, pointy ears belied the fact that he was a fairy. It was normal for a fairy to outlive a human by centuries; how he managed to come to Isythre all the way from Mars should be the real mystery.

The reason behind the libelous claims against an old, benevolent fairy was once again tied to the infamous civil war spawned by Rohlserl the Twentieth’s controversial emperorship. During the war, Rugel had decided to stand with Dante the Hound by contributing powerful connections and resources he had gathered throughout the reigns of two Rohlserlian emperors. Had it not been Rugel’s backing, Dante’s mutiny would not have been able to set the Empire on the course of downfall. On that note, it was inevitable that Rugel would suffer certain degrees of defamation in the history written by the victors.

“His Majesty had previously informed me of Your Highness and his arrangement, so I am in the know. Please, allow this humble old man to be useful,” Rugel said. The Emperor had already made mention of Baiyi to old man Rugel.

Baiyi did not think that the Emperor told Rugel that he had come from the future. The Emperor probably only told Rugel that he had made Baiyi his successor.

Meritocracy was mentioned by many as the reason why the modern era venerated the Ancient Rohlserlian Empire. Back then, the heir to a throne did not have to share the same bloodline as the ruler, neither did they have to be from a noble house. When selecting heirs to the Rohlserlian throne, candidates’ raw power, skills, and the willingness of the Book of Servitude to submit to them were factors that were considered. For example, the Emperor’s great-grandfather was a man that had married into the imperial household. Meanwhile, Rohlserl the Twentieth, whose reign begun after the bloody civil war, was only Rohslerl the Nineteeth’s very distant cousin.

Hence, it was not a surprise that the Emperor chose his student, who was not related to him by blood, to be his successor. This would have been impossible in modern-day feudal Isythre, but it certainly was permissible under Ancient Rohlserlian law. Rugel approved of Baiyi — the heir selected by the Emperor — as he could feel the immense power radiating from him. Although the Emperor was only a hundred years old, selecting an heir was a task best done early.

The Emperor had made his choice known to the few closest to him as a way to fix the very grave mistake he made in the past. The civil war that followed his disappearance had only occurred because he, Rohlserl the Nineteenth, did not choose an heir before he vanished, neither did he leave behind the Book of Servitude.

Baiyi did not see a point in this, though. His ability to rule the ancient civilization did not matter; after all, he was a man from the future. He had responsibilities there that made him unable to remain in the past for too long. Sooner or later, Baiyi would have to return to his own time, and this gesture made by the Emperor to fix the mistake of his future self would be for nothing.

The old man, who was devoted to his job as the tutor of the empire’s emperors, was oblivious to the thoughts racing through Baiyi’s head. In a fine display of professionalism, Rugle patiently explained every facet and concept of governance to Baiyi. As he explained, he pulled out documents from the pile on the Emperor’s desk, with which he used to explain to Baiyi the challenges and solutions of governance.

Baiyi listened carefully but followed the instructions stiffly. He gave directives suggested by Rugel and, later on, summoned the Book of Servitude, which he used as an imperial seal to stamp whichever documents he was ready to send out.

It was a slow and ineffective grind. Morning made way to afternoon, yet the number of documents on the Emperor’s desk did not look to have decreased.

However, Rugel was pleased. He nodded often and praised Baiyi, calling him a natural, who would, no doubt, become a whiz in governance one day. Rugel persistently asked Baiyi why he wore his helmet indoors.

‘You’ll suffer a cardiac arrest if I take it off, old man,’ Baiyi grumbled in his head.

Late in the afternoon, Rugel asked Baiyi to take a lunch break. Baiyi declined the offer, saying that he had much more to learn. Hence, Rugel asked the servants to bring Baiyi’s meal to the Emperor’s office.

Rugel picked out the less-cluttered documents from the pile and carefully placed them onto the table. When he left, Baiyi skimmed through these documents and almost laughed.

In truth, Baiyi had no need to train. Although he had never ruled a country before, he had inherited memories and a wealth of knowledge in governance from the Archmage, the Thane Walker, and even the Devil Walker. Baiyi already possessed the knowledge and skills of an effective leader, so he considered Rugel’s training unnecessary.

Baiyi seized Rugel’s absence to quickly pour through all documents on the desk, after which he issued numerous commands. Strangely, the longer he worked, the more confused he was at the insignificance of the documents before him. None contained military plans that could affect people on a large scale. It was all so trifling.

After thinking about this for a while, Baiyi slapped his thigh hard. “Holy s***! I’ve been fooled by that geezer! He’s just using me as a secretary while he goes shopping!”

In retrospect, this was not surprising. The Emperor had his reservation about leaving a successor in charge of everything; after all, although an emperor’s commands were absolute, there were, and would always be, factions in his court wrestling for power. Politics was one of the trickiest challenges in government, and the Emperor wished to spare Baiyi these issues.

Nevertheless, work of that nature was not a common occurrence, so the Emperor used any time he had off work to relax.

“You damn well  know  that you’re doing all this to get back at me for the past!” Baiyi growled. He remembered how he often delegated the bulk of the work to his daughters and other Voidwalkers, while he only concerned himself with the most crucial decisions. This had gotten in the way of the geezer and his card game, and now, the Emperor — the old geezer as a young adult — was out for revenge!

“Why is the younger you so vindictive ?!” Baiyi mourned.

A different life had already begun for him.

Every morning, after Mia woke up, she would enjoy the service of her maids, have a scrumptious breakfast, and head out for an adventure.

Baiyi would be in the Emperor’s office, pouring over a mountain of documents.

The Emperor would take Mia to balls and banquets hosted by aristocrats, where she would meet his subjects.

Baiyi would be in the Emperor’s office, pouring over a mountain of documents.

Mia made some new friends, and these friends often took her out on many excursions and to tea parties. They were constantly impressed by her un-Rohlserlian fashion sense.

Baiyi would be in the Emperor’s office, pouring over a mountain of documents.

Mia joined an academic symposium as a Legendary-level sorcerer. Using what Baiyi had taught her, she mesmerized the crowd and earned a thunderous standing ovation.

Baiyi would be in the Emperor’s office, pouring over a mountain of documents.

Half a month passed. Mia was at a young noble woman’s tea party. A while later, her expression suddenly turned sad. She gazed at the horizon, lost in her thoughts.

An acquaintance saw Mia’s expression change and hurried over in concern. “Your Highness, what’s the matter?” She asked.

This lady was a beauty from a family of powerful sorcerers. She was a prodigy in magic, but in front of Mia, she acted humbly.

The Emperor had not assigned a title to Mia. Whenever he introduced her to other nobles, he would pat her hair gently and simply say, “This is Mia.”

That was all other nobles needed to know. They instantly guessed who Mia was to the Emperor and used an appropriate honorific to address her.

“It’s nothing. I guess I’m just a little tired,” Mia replied with a tired smile. She politely bade her friends farewell and returned to her room.