Scene: Throne Hall, Palace of Blackwood
The room stood still as Cardinal Marcus Blackwood approached the elevated throne. His robes, simple yet marked with the crimson seal of the inner nobility, swayed gently with each step. The marble floor beneath his feet echoed in rhythm, as hundreds of eyes watched—nobles, guards, scribes, ministers—all summoned for a rare, unscheduled announcement.
At the head of it all sat Chris Blackwood—The God of the Empire. Cloaked in his pitch-black mantle, the crown hovering subtly over his head like an ethereal halo. His expression was unreadable. His gaze? Icy.
But when Marcus reached the foot of the throne and knelt, something changed.
Chris stood.
The chamber exhaled.
He descended slowly, each step making the guards instinctively shift closer. No one else moved. Only the sound of royal boots on marble.
Standing directly before Marcus, he spoke—his voice low, rich, and final.
> "When others sought to protect their coin, you protected the empire."
A pause.
> "When greed threatened unity, you chose loyalty."
Chris looked up now, not just at Marcus, but at the entire noble class who sat behind, frozen in silence.
> "Cardinal Marcus Blackwood... from this day forward, by royal decree—you are absolved of all forms of taxation. Your estates, earnings, and holdings—untouchable. You have transcended the weight of wealth. You have earned my favor."
The crowd gasped.
Permanent tax immunity? No one had ever been granted such before—not even military generals.
Chris turned his back to Marcus, returning to his throne.
> "Let it be recorded," he added, settling back into his seat. "Loyalty outweighs gold."
A scribe's quill scratched furiously. A new precedent had just been born.
The nobles didn't cheer. They didn't even applaud. They just sat, every single one of them, calculating—rethinking their entire strategy for survival.
And as Marcus rose, his eyes met theirs. There was no gloat. No smirk.
Just the silent knowledge that the throne had picked him.
And that knowledge... was more dangerous than gold.
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