The scenery around him seemed to be spinning, making him dizzy and disoriented.
"Panic." Hughes could only feel his breathing becoming difficult.
"Remember this feeling," Joseph V said as he looked down, his sharp eagle-like eyes fixed intently on his son with an unprecedentedly serious tone, "because once you sit in this position, this feeling will surround you at all times. It will make you panic, breathless, like a mountain pressing down on you, forcing you to crawl forward."
Hughes’s forehead beaded with sweat, which rolled down in large drops, uncertain whether it was because of the sensations Joseph described or the implications of his words.
Holding back his panic, Hughes hurriedly stood up from the throne and retreated to one side.
"I know you have many questions." Joseph V sat back down, his voice returning to its calm demeanor, "There are some things I should tell you about now."
Hughes immediately bowed to listen attentively.
"I know you have grievances about the fact that I have yet to appoint a Crown Prince, allowing the internal strife within the Royal Family to persist, but I did this for your sake. If I really made you the Crown Prince, you would end up like your elder brother."
Hughes was the Second Prince, and he had an extremely talented elder brother who, tragically, died young—an unexpected casualty in what seemed to be an insignificant military operation.
After a lengthy investigation, it was deemed an accident.
Hughes was shocked, "So it wasn’t an accident?"
"How could it have been an accident," Joseph V scoffed.
"But we are the Royal Family, the supreme Mecklenburg Family. If even the heirs to the Royal Family cannot be protected, can our hold on the Imperial Throne remain solid? Will we still be able to rule over the vast Galaxy Empire?" Hughes asked incredulously.
"That’s why our hold on the Imperial Throne is not solid."
Joseph V’s immediate response made Hughes collapse to the ground in shock.
"Hughes, I am dying, and I hope you will not make the same mistakes I did," Joseph said, a trace of regret appearing on his aged face. He recalled his brother’s words from years past.
His brother had said he would surely regret it.
His brother had accused him of digging at the roots of the Mecklenburg Family.
How laughable that he had looked down on his brother’s cowardice, decisively instigated a coup, and only after his coronation did he understand his brother’s difficulties.
But did he regret it?
No! He would never regret the things he had done.
While Joseph V might not have been suited to be a monarch, he was certainly a mastermind, someone who would never admit defeat.
Having plotted for so long in the shadows against the Seven Guardian Dukes, the Cabinet, and the Military Department, how could he possibly concede defeat.
In the end, Hughes did not know how he managed to leave the Imperial Palace. When he passed through the crystal-clear, suspended corridor made of ice, he could barely stand, luckily supported in time by his loyal aides waiting there.
"Your Highness, you look very pale, should we call for a doctor?"
Hughes quickly composed himself, returning to the calm, aloof demeanor of the Second Prince.
"Inform the Elder Council that His Majesty is unwell and will not be making an appearance."
The aide immediately sent the orders through the work terminal.
"Your Highness..." The aide hesitated, a trace of uncertainty on his face, "There is one more matter."
"Duke Murphy has been released."
"What?" Hughes exclaimed, his face draining of color.
"Duke Murphy has been released and is temporarily confined to his private residence in the Noble District. There are soldiers guarding the outside, and without a transit order, no one can enter or leave."