To General Diland of the 5th Magic & Steam Legion,

First of all, congratulations on your recent promotion! You do not need to thank me, since I only promoted you at the urging of several of my finest commanders. Designation to such a high position is required by the emperor, so it is really just a formality. And it is quite an accomplishment to achieve such a high rank at only twenty-two.

But, more to the point. You wrote a letter to me asking for a personal account on how I become emperor. While you can consult many of the countless books written on the subject, I understand that you'd like my side of the story. I don't do this to everyone, so consider this your one free question.

My path to the throne is a bit complicated.

I was born into a noble family distantly related to Xaven XII, the emperor at the time. For a noble family, mine was quite poor, so we never did own a large estate, or many servants. My mother died during childbirth, and my father was a general who was off handling border disputes and small uprisings. Since my family was not well-off enough to own many servants, I was left to my own devices most of the time. Most of my days were spent studying alone, or wandering the streets of the city. A majority of my time was spent in the lower-class sides.

I disguised myself to look like a commoner, of course. Even a poor nobleman is still a nobleman, and it's very likely that I would have just "disappeared" if I had ever gone out in my finer suits.

This lifestyle continued until I was about 16, when a very rich relative died.

He left my father, and by proxy, myself, a huge sum of money, along with a massive mansion. My father, whom had never had political aspirations at that point, began tailoring me to become a "proper nobleman", in his words. He hired the finest teachers from every corner of the empire and beyond, to both mold me into a shrewd diplomat and a keen strategist. I was to become like every other rich boy: Taught in how to backstab everyone to climb your way to the top and have as many offspring as possible, usually through forced marriage to someone you've never met.

...Anyway, while all of this occurred, I still snuck out on occasion and visited the slums, and over time became disgusted over the conditions of them. I became to loathe my own social class, my "responsibilities", and the elitist philosophies that were being drilled into my mind on a daily basis.

And then, one day after visiting the slums, something just snapped. I was going to confront my father that day, and tell him about what I thought of what he expected from me.

Then I had learned he died from a horse accident later that day. It wasn't much of a blow to me, since I had never been very close to him. Still, his death affected me in a more profound way; every bit of his wealth was transferred to me. I was now master of my own estate, free to make my own decisions and even participate in the court of the emperor to influence my own interests.

Not that I had interest in politics either. Had a bit of contempt for that too, actually.

After my father's funeral, isolation was the rule of the estate.

I locked myself in my room and the only clue that I was still in there were the empty food plates that my maids would pick up at my door. I would spend entire days wondering what to do with my life, since I had no interests in either the military or the royal court. At that point, I had no idea what to do with my life.

Then, one day, I recieved a letter that Emperor Xaven XII had died in his sleep just days ago. His successor was to be Prince Iaith II, a cousin I had met before on one of my trips to the capital city.

I did not go to the succession ceremony. From what I heard, it was grand and magnificent. However, I did get a letter from Iaith himself a few days later, inviting me to take up residence in the capital city, and participate in his court. Since we barely knew each other, I only assumed he needed a rich lord in his court to influence trade. I did not care, but it did give me an excuse to escape from my self-inflicted prison. I left immediately.

Life in the court was...intriguing. I met diplomats, kings, and generals from lands I had only heard about and species that I thought were only legends. In the court, as expected, one of my main duties was to try and shape economic policy to Iaith's liking. During this time, I really began see Emperor Iaith II for who he really was, and I did not like what I saw. He was elitist in the purest sense, seeing the lower classes as beings not deserving of a fairer life, for not being born into a 'pure' bloodline (aka having a child with your half-sister), and every other excuse. Still, I betrayed my conscious and did as I was told, telling myself that I couldn't resist anyway. In this way, I did gain his favor. Since he only had one child of his own, he appointed me third in line, after his brother.

Three years after becoming the Emperor, Iaith Raven Boldguard II died of an intense fever he had contracted after visiting one of the jungle kingdoms to the deep south. His daughter became the new empress at the age of eight, far too young to rule over anything larger than a dollhouse.

In her stead, the late emperor's brother became effective emperor until she was to come of age. Where Iaith had been a cruel and often distant monarch, his brother Vivan was much more approachable. He even appointed me as one of his daughter's teachers. The time that I was her teacher were good times; she was bright, kind, and open to new ideas. She was the shining example of an effective ruler. At this time, the succession to the throne was Iaith's daughter, then Vivan, and then his son, Vivan II, and then myself.

Only six months later, she died in a horsing accident. The death of a princess is a somber matter in any country, and a general outpouring of grief gripped the land. Vivan was inconsolable over the death of his niece.

Everyone in the court tried to make his suffering less, whether through self-interest or not. Nothing seemed to work, as the grieving emperor had become a shell of his former self, a gray and somber figure whose only purpose it seemed was to silently walk through the castle with a distant stare on his face. Perhaps the stress from his loss and the responsibilities of running an empire were too much to bear, as he abdicated to his son some few weeks later.

Vivan II was acting emperor for all of a day. The official news of his ascension hadn't even been declared when he called a personal meeting with me. There, he explained that he also could not handle the stress of becoming the emperor. He almost begged me to accept his abdication; which I hesitantly agreed to.

I became Emperor Xaven XIII at 21 years of age that day, with Vivan II acting as my closest advisor.

Funny how things work; at first I had nothing but hatred for the inner workings of politics, and as I'm writing this, I am monarch of the most powerful nation in the region. My relatively poor upbringing has colored my outlook on life, and people describe me as witty, abrasive, intelligent, rude, and shrewd.

A visiting diplomat once referred as "The Cynical Emperor" when asked what I thought of my own court.

I have since embraced the title.

My path to the highest office in the land is an interesting one, yes?

I hope this letter answered your question.

Signed,

- Emperor Xaven XIII