This made them feel uneasy and uncertain, even though they lived in the same empire as Victor.
So much so that while there were two dukes within the empire, the world outside the empire knew almost only Viktor.
This demonstrates the extent of Viktor's influence.
Many years later,
The Duke of Riviera has died.
Victor attended the Duke of Riviera's memorial service.
That day, it was drizzling and the sky was covered with dark clouds.
People, dressed in matching black suits and holding umbrellas, stood silently in rows.
Only Victor, wearing a trench coat, stood at the very front, holding a black umbrella.
They watched silently as Duke Rivi's body was placed into the coffin.
The silence of the funeral was broken by the priest's prayer.
"Rest in peace, Your soul will live on forever,"
"Your love will never fade; it will always be with us in the days to come..."
As the priest spoke, the guests fell silent, and many even secretly wiped away tears in the corners.
As for Erica
She was the one who cried the most.
She lay alone on Revi's coffin, without an umbrella.
The heavy rain soaked her clothes, and the sound of raindrops hitting the ground mingled with Erica's sobs.
It was impossible to tell whether the water on her face was rain or tears.
That day, even Queen Aurelion, who often argued with Erica, fell silent.
The Duke of Riviera was buried, and the memorial service concluded.
In fact, the Duke of Reeves had lived long enough.
He was the only one of Aubrey's brothers to live to such an advanced age.
But many people still cannot accept that this hardworking and dedicated duke has passed away.
Erica did not inherit the title of Duke thereafter.
Only those who have made significant contributions to the empire are eligible to be granted the title of duke.
So Erica's title was downgraded by one rank, and she became a marquis.
As a result, Victor became the Empire's only duke.
Because of his extremely high status, he was respectfully called "Grand Duke of Clevina".
But Viktor did not find joy in these empty honors.
His mood became even heavier after learning of the Duke of Riviera's death.
Because he knew,
The Duke of Riviera was one of the few people he knew who had passed away.
But he is definitely not the last one.
Soon, Ragnarok, the day of the gods, arrived for Victor.
The first person is Lia.
Due to overwork in her youth, and the fact that she was just an ordinary person,
Lia only lived to be in her fifties.
Even with all his miraculous abilities, Viktor could not prevent the end of life.
That night, Lia held Victor's hand the whole time and didn't let go.
By the next morning, her palms had completely cooled and she could no longer feel any warmth.
Lia died without suffering.
That day, he opened Leah's diary again.
The yellowed diary contained small but precious memories between them.
Among these memories, he noticed the following record:
The night my father died, he called me to his bedside.
He gripped my hand tightly and whispered to me that Victor was not my biological brother.
'Is that so...? There's no blood relation between us.'
'Then can I...'
The writing abruptly ends here, and the emotions that Keria had hidden until her death are finally released.
Viktor did not publicly mourn Leah's death.
He personally handled her burial arrangements and meticulously planned everything.
Then he locked himself in his study and didn't go out for three whole days.
But as mentioned before.
Leah won't be the last one.
About ten years later,
Empress Aurelian of the Empire has also reached the end of her life.
Many noble ministers were puzzled by this, and felt extremely anxious and uneasy.
Why?
Despite being a mage, Queen Aurelion was still young and beautiful even though she was over fifty years old, showing no signs of aging whatsoever.
Just a few days ago she was full of energy, no different from when she was young.
How come, suddenly, she was lying in bed, unable to stand up, just like Aubrey?
Only Victor knew that this was the curse of the [Emperor] profession.
Emperors are destined to have short lives.
Although Aurelion escaped the fate of dying in battle against the gods, her short life was still inevitable.
Most importantly, the empire is about to be leaderless.
Her Majesty the Queen was critically ill, but she had never married and had not even left behind a single child.
In the past, emperors who reached the age of Empress Aurelian usually had at least three or four children.
No matter how the ministers tried to persuade her, or even tried to find someone for Aurelion, Aurelion was simply too stubborn.
No, I don't like it.
It's not that they look down on it; frankly, it's just because there's a teacher there.
Although everyone understood what was going on, no one dared to say it outright.
In the end, the noble ministers could only conclude that Aurelion was still young, since mages typically had long lifespans.
After all, even His Majesty Auberly, who fought by expending his life force, lived to be seventy years old, so they left it to Aurelian to decide for herself.
Suddenly, Queen Aurelion fell critically ill.
The most terrifying thing is that when her life came to an end, she didn't even have a decent heir.
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