👑||Holy Roman Empire||👑

Twilight gilded the windows of the former imperial mansion where Sacro had decided to spend his post-retirement years. The gardens were manicured with beauty and almost military discipline, and in their midst stood someone else, a clear smile that contrasted with the solemn stillness of the place. Sacro watched him from the low balcony, a glass of wine in his hand. His cold, bright golden eyes softened as he followed his protégé's every clumsy, happy step. When the boy came running back with a handful of flowers plucked from the lawn, he placed them on the former emperor's knees.

The young man smiled proudly as he handed them to her. The man accepted the flowers and turned them over in his fingers, but instead of praising the innocence of the gesture, he leaned in and spoke with poisonous calm:

"Do you know what you did? You took what you liked. No one gave you permission."

She stared at him, as if she wanted to engrave those words in the boy's tender mind

"And yet, now they are yours. Because your will was stronger than that of those who planted these flowers."

The young man tilted his head, a little confused. "Is that... okay?" he asked. Sacro smiled, that crooked smile that seemed both a caress and a threat.

"Listen, my little one. The world isn't governed by what's 'right' or 'wrong.' It's governed by force, by choice. If you want something... you take it. If someone gets in the way, you push them away. That's what those who rule do, and you must learn it.

*The young man looked at him with wide eyes, processing what had been said. There was affection in the way Sacro ruffled his hair afterward, as if he were a protective grandfather. And yet, behind that tenderness lay an edge: the seed of a dark thought he wouldn't forget. The former emperor looked at the horizon again. Inside, a cynical voice murmured: "At least, when the world swallows him, he'll be prepared. He won't be a victim... he'll be a conqueror." Because yes, he wanted this protégé, in his own way.