Side Story: Alantuile

“Father. I have succeeded. Antheria is destroyed now. It’s odd, I didn’t even do anything. I guess you are right. Their behavior will be their own downfall. Evil carries their own seed of destruction while those who sow benevolence shall sow love and respect” Alantuile said before his father’s grave. 

He had cursed Antheria for killing his father and his ideals. When he was alive, his father often talked about how kind The Aelaranthae are. It was unthinkable that someone bore them ill will. But here they are. not only Antheria, but the cultists and Petraea were hostile to Aelaranthae Empire. And now, they still do. Alantuile could see that these nations merely feared the Aelaranthae empire. They acted obsequiously for their own profit. None of them truly treated Aelaranthae like friends.

Yet, The Aelaranthae did not seek vengeance. They merely focus on sowing benevolence. Soon enough, merchants and bright minds gathered. Those loyal citizens, cast out and ridiculed by their home. Now, Aelaranthae empire thrived. His father was right. Instead of greed, the secret of a flourishing nation was benevolence. Not only from the king, but from the people.

He swore to serve Aelaranthae with such acts and spread his father’s teaching. Humans have needs, and thus, it was normal to be greedy. But Alantuile believed it could be controlled. Serve the nation and it will serve you back. That should be the norm. This will become the cornerstone of Aelaranthae Empire’s belief.

“Alantuile. Are you done, the kid is behaving again….” Altressia said as she carried a baby in her arms. Alantuile was blessed by two sons.  One was in her embrace while the other was prowling on others graves, looking at the tombstone and picking some fancy stones that caught their eyes around it. Altressia had told him to act respectful, but their respect merely extended to not stepping on the graves.

“yes. I am done.” Alantuile replied. He looked at her and pondered, but the question never left his mouth. The answer was made clear years ago, before their marriage.

Altressia didn’t want anything to do with Antheria. She had cast away everything. It would be logical for Alantuile to ask Altressia to reclaim Antheria and execute those nobles. That way, they could expand the Aelaranthae Empire further. He thought Altressia would hate them for their deeds in executing Lilianne. However, Altressia merely replied with a saying “their actions reflect what they are. Why blame a snake for biting? It’s in their nature. Like rabid dogs that were set loose, it’s in their nature to bite.”

“Then, shouldn’t we dispose of them? They are dangerous.” Alantuile replied.

“Their fate is their own. You may do so if you wish.”

“I will not order it from you.” Alantuile looked upon the sky, realizing the error in his way. Even today, his hatred for the Antheria empire still persists. He almost forgot that he was now the prime minister of the Aelaranthae Empire. Unlike Antheria, which represented greed and took things, he swore to make the Aelaranthae Empire a benevolent kingdom. It should care not for race but for merit. Instead of adopting a belief of ‘take and be taken’ like Antheria, he wanted the citizens to give their best to the empire and the empire will give them back. Give and you shall receive.

Thus is the conversation they had months prior. As time went on, such thought receded into the back of their memories, until one day, nobles from Antheria tried to wiggle their way into Aelaranthae Empire. They spoke of the vast land they owned and will give a hefty discount for those who opened their business there.

However, no matter how they enticed Aelaranthae Empire, its citizens would not budge. Even those from shadier organizations such as brothels would not dare speak to Antheria’s nobles. The event years prior was still fresh on their minds. The way Antheria had confiscated their goods was vile beyond words. The mark of bandit country had been etched into their territory. Even if the nobles that came before them now were honest, their citizens would not. Whenever someone that looked rich came, they would plunder them for all their worth.

Humans were not merely made of greed, they were also fueled by vengeance. Even when the council of Antheria had lifted the embargo on Aelaranthae goods, none of the merchants was willing to invest there. The very name of Antheria nobles would send even the fattest merchant flying away in fear. Their act of stealing and putting ridiculous embargo laws was still fresh on the merchant's mind.

Even if they did accept the hefty discount, they would still need to hire many soldiers to guard their business. Which in turn would cause the price to rise. If the price rose, the impoverished citizens there wouldn’t even buy it anyway, so there was no point.

Alantuile didn’t have to do anything to ruin these people. Instead, he had to intervene and save one of these noble's lives when some merchant decided to take their anger out on them and was about to kill them. Aelaranthae wanted to create a nation that accepted everyone, but even they spoke no further about forced deportation Alantuile did to these nobles even though the nobles had yet to commit any crimes in Aelaranthae Empire.

Then Alantuile remembered another of his father’s teachings. ‘You will be judged by your actions. Your race and origin mattered little to those of noble heart.’

It was just another day in the Flourishing Aelaranthae Empire. Alantuile went back to his office with light steps. His works piled up like a mountain. He had a lot to do in this flourishing Nation