Ancient Empire Calendar, Year 1839
After the war ended, both sides were burying their dead. This process would take hours, perhaps even days.
The exhaustion of the war had crippled both sides. Although the Queen had surrendered, an unease still prevailed.
Ricardo and the Sapharos Queen were discussing the terms of surrender in the royal bedchamber. Before this, they had introduced themselves.
"First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Queen Seraphine Sapharos, daughter and youngest child of King Kibele VII Sapharos, who invaded your Lands years ago."
"Pleased to meet you, Queen Seraphine. I am Krael II Kislavein, the 66th Dynasty Lord of the Kislavein Dynasty. My real name is Ricardo Kislavein."
After the introduction was over, they moved on to the main matter: the terms of surrender.
"Our demands are simple, Kislavein Dynasty Lord. We will give you any amount of war reparations you desire and our defensive technologies. In return, I ask that past hostilities be closed."
"You are the ones constantly reopening the past, and now you want to close it?"
"Unlike my ancestors and my people, I am not obsessed with the past. We lost two great wars. We lost half our population. Our lands were occupied. At this point, do you think there is any point in remaining obsessed with the past, Kislavein Dynasty Lord?"
Ricardo nodded in agreement.
"True."
Seraphine moved on to another subject.
"Dynasty Lord, since you have conquered our lands, you need legitimacy to govern them."
Ricardo understood where Seraphine was going.
"Do you wish to marry me?"
Seraphine confirmed.
"Yes."
Under normal circumstances, Ricardo would have accepted this offer. But he knew what kind of children would be born from the union of a male Kislavein and a female Sapharos. Moreover, since he himself was descended from the Spirit King, he could not predict what kind of race would be born.
Seraphine could more or less guess the reason for Ricardo's hesitation.
"We don't have to have children, if you prefer."
Ricardo was surprised.
"What do you mean?"
"You are worried about the hybrid children that would be born, aren't you? If you prefer, we don't have to have children."
Ricardo hesitated.
"Wouldn't that mean the end of your Dynasty?"
Seraphine did not seem to care much about Ricardo's question.
"Don't misunderstand. I had never intended to marry or have children anyway."
"Did your advisors never bring up this matter?" asked Ricardo.
Seraphine replied.
"Many times."
"And what would you answer them?" asked Ricardo.
"I said I would not marry until I avenged my father," replied Seraphine.
"Were you never worried about your Dynasty ending?" asked Ricardo.
"The logic of dynasty works differently for us."
Ricardo asked curiously.
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain, but I must warn you, it's a long history."
Ricardo was pleased to learn Sapharos history.
"No problem. I very much enjoy learning about history."
Before beginning to tell the history of her people, Seraphine asked a question to find out how much Ricardo knew about the Sapharos.
"How much of our history are you familiar with, Dynasty Lord?"
Ricardo recounted what he knew.
"I know that your ancestors, humans fleeing Vamparos oppression, hid in the Sapharos Mountains, where they interacted with Demon Stones and their bodies changed. Centuries later, they fought against the Vamparos under the command of my ancestor Harloumen I. Later, they were hunted under the name 'Demon Hunts,' and the few who escaped this genocide fled to the Archipelago."
Seraphine was astonished by Ricardo's knowledge.
"I didn't expect you to know so much. Very well, then I will tell you our history from that escape onward, covering 1,800 years."
Seraphine began to narrate the history of the Sapharos unknown to humans.
1,800 years ago
The few Sapharos who had barely saved their lives from the Demon Hunts, after great hardships, reached the Archipelago.
Their first priorities were survival and preparing defenses against the soldiers of Harloumen who might come from the Five Lands.
300 years passed.
The population of the Sapharos race had increased, and small, medium, and large tribes had formed, scattered throughout the Archipelago.
These tribes regarded each other as brothers and trained soldiers for the day when Harloumen's soldiers, whom they believed they would one day fight, would arrive.
Tribal leadership passed not from father to son, but to the tribe's strongest Warrior or Mage. Since everyone considered each other kin, no one objected to this system.
Another 300 years passed. The tribes grew. Some united through marriage and established dominance over larger territories. However, the increased population created a need for more resources.
Now, tribal leadership passed not to the tribe's strongest member, but to the strongest member of the family that governed the tribe.
Although it is not known exactly how aristocracy began within the tribes, during this period, each tribe had a ruling family.
Additionally, tribal leaders seeking power coveted the lands of neighboring tribes. As a result, the Era of Brotherhood ended, and a new era began.
The Era of Warring Tribes
This period lasted 500 years. In the year 1100, my ancestor, Balladeva I, united all the tribes and declared himself the one true King of the Sapharos race.
He ended tribal governance and initiated the Era of Lords. He built cities, fortresses, and villages, appointing a Lord to govern each.
The hierarchy among the Lords was measured by their wealth and number of soldiers.
Thanks to centralized authority, the people no longer suffered due to leaders pursuing power. However, this period did not last very long.
After Balladeva I's death, the succession wars that broke out weakened the central authority. This period was called the Era of Succession Wars.
100 years after the unification of the Archipelago, a City Lord named Arjendehar III, weary of the Princes' and Princesses' succession wars, raided the royal family's city, Sathor, with his army.
For the first time in Sapharos history, a Lord had staged a coup against the royal family.
After this coup, Balladeva II ascended the throne—as a puppet king, of course. The de facto ruler of the Archipelago was Arjendehar, who bore the title of Commander-in-Chief.
Arjendehar pressured King Balladeva II to bequeath this title to his descendants, resulting in a law being enacted.
According to this law, Arjendehar III and his descendants would inherit the title of Commander-in-Chief. Thus, a new era began.
The Era of Commanders-in-Chief
This period lasted 600 years.
Lords constantly struggled to seize the position of Commander-in-Chief. The royal family, having no authority even in neighboring cities, could not intervene in these civil wars.
Despite this, Princes and Princesses still started succession wars for the throne that would not govern islands that would have a crown sitting upon their heads.
Lords pursuing power used the succession wars of the Princes and Princesses to achieve their desired position of Commander-in-Chief through legitimate means.
Every time the throne changed hands as a result of succession wars, a new Commander-in-Chief family came to power. Of course, the period any of these families ruled over the entire Archipelago did not even reach a hundred years.
Towards the end of the 1700s, Kibele VII ascended the throne and swore to change this system.
He initiated the restorations known in history as the Kibele Restorations.
Using propagandists called 'Speakers' to win the people over, Kibele increased his central authority. With the people's support, he abolished the Commander-in-Chief system, broke the power of the Lords, and established his absolute central authority.
He worked for years to heal the wounds left by centuries of power struggles. Finally, he provided his people with the prosperity they had long dreamed of.
When Kibele VII had accomplished all his goals, he wanted to realize his greatest dream: to destroy the Harloumen lineage and the Human race.
For this purpose, he first built colossal, thick iron walls starting from where the coastal sands ended.
He made the tops of the walls wide enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of soldiers, then built a massive fleet and army.
All preparations for the campaign were complete, but the people did not view this campaign favorably. The fear left by Harloumen had been passed down from generation to generation.
At this point, Kibele did what he did best: propaganda.
The Speakers incited the people for a revenge campaign. It was so effective that all the people, the army, and even the weakened Lords were holding marches and writing petitions for the revenge campaign.
Kibele had achieved his goal. Thus, he set out on a campaign upon the Five Lands. Of course, he failed. Not a single one of those who went on the campaign returned.
Because all my brothers, all my relatives near and far, had died, I ascended the throne.
My psychology was so broken that the idea of marriage terrified me. I didn't even want to hear the word 'war' again. But my people wanted revenge. At some point, I had to give the order for the campaign, and we lost again.
Ricardo had listened carefully to the entire Sapharos history from beginning to end.
After a silence fell over the room, Ricardo decided to break it.
"You have been through difficult times. Both sides have suffered great pain. What my ancestors inflicted upon yours cannot be forgiven with any words or methods. But for the sake of our future and those who come from our lineage, we can create a period of peace."
Ricardo stood up and extended his hand to Seraphine.
"Queen Seraphine, the Five Lands and the Archipelago have been united under a single throne. A New Era is about to begin. I want this era to be an era free from racism, enmity, and the burden of the past, dominated by peace and tranquility. Will you and all the Sapharos help us in this new era?"
Seraphine was speechless. She didn't know what to say. All she could do was take the hand extended to her.
"I accept. I will walk with you in the approaching New Era."
A month later, Ricardo and Seraphine were married in a magnificent wedding.
This marriage symbolized the end of past hostilities and the beginning of a new era.
A New Era was beginning. This new era would be an era where Humans and all races descended from Humans would live together. And this era would be realized under Ricardo's leadership.
The name of this New Era would be The Eternal Empire Era.