God of Systems: Maker of Heroes and Villains

Mathew walked into his father's room with an enraged expression. His hands were cuffed and eight soldiers escorted him in while his mother and Barou followed behind.

"Why are you in cuffs?" the chubby emperor asked as he looked at his son. His expression was relaxed as he sat on his comfy bed.

"Let me tell you what your beloved son did!" The queen exclaimed and walked forward before she turned to look at the soldiers, "Out."

They obeyed.

For the next thirty minutes, the queen went on and on about how ungrateful and disrespectful Mathew was towards her. She also recounted all the instances when he had stepped out of the line since his childhood.

She kept speaking, saying everything and anything she wanted. But she kept one part of the event out, the part where Mathew had accused her of sleeping with his uncle.

And as Mathew listened silently, he felt his heart go heavy/

He had indeed broken a lot of rules, so many that if he was a commoner, he would have probably been hanged by now.

'One slip up and now I don't even know if I'll be eligible for the succession war anymore. Haaa, I should have kept my emotions in check.'

But to his surprise, he heard his father respond with a chuckle instead of anger.

"He's not wrong though, is he honey?" he said as he smiled at the queen who had just flinched when she was addressed with the word "honey".

Mathew looked up and saw his father still smiling, but the man's eyes were solely focused on his wife.

"I want him punished." she said flatly, like her words were final but the emperor shook his head, "You've told me your part of the story, so now it's time for Mathew's part of the story. Please wait outside, honey."

She flinched again, but then glared at Mathew before she left the room. Barou was about to follow behind her, but the emperor raised his hand, "Barou, stay."

This not just stopped Barou, but also the queen. She spun around with a look of doubt and suspicion on her face.

"Why should he stay? What did my son even do?"

"He's the only witness to the things that Mathew said isn't he? Please, go out and wait." he said, and this time there was a weird sense of power.

It was hard to put it in words, but both Mathew and Barou sensed it. They had been sensing this multiple times during their childhood but they still hadn't been able to put a finger on how their father managed to do something like that.

Both of them turned to look at their mother who looked at the emperor and walked out without a single question.

"So…"

"Before you make your mind father, I must tell you something." Mathew said as he bowed his head low.

His father shook his head, "Not permitted. I'm disappointed in you Mathew, and I'm also disappointed in you too Barou. I was expecting great things from both of you."

"You." he said and pointed at Barou, "No, I'll come back to you later."

He changed his mind and looked at Mathew, "Raise your head son. I understand how you might be feeling right now, but you must learn to control your emotions even in the worst situations. That was what I've been expecting from you, but you still have time to learn."

Mathew grit his teeth and shook his head, "You don't understand what I am feeling. No you don't. You might have if you knew that she-"

"Silence."

One word and Mathew felt himself go still. He tried to talk, but his mouth just seemed to have gone out of his mind's control.

"I already know." the emperor said before smiling, "I always knew. I was the one who leaked that information to your team with my men. And yes, your team does have spies who belong to me. Though I must say Mathew, you've impressed me with the way you set up that group."

He then went back a little and patted the soft mattress, "Why don't the two of you come and sit down here? Let's have a nice and long chat since there isn't any real motive for any of us to hate each other. Right?"

Both Barou and Mathew looked at each other and then at their father before nodding. They joined him but the emperor pointed at the bedside table.

"There's a bottle of my favourite whisky in the bottom drawer along with some glasses."

Barou, being the closest to the drawer, grabbed the stuff and joined the two.

The emperor opened up the bottle and poured some for each one of them before he looked at Barou.

"This was my brother's favourite whiskey you know, your father's favourite whiskey." he said softly before he brought the glass to his nose and sniffed it.

"Mmmm, it always smells the same."

Barou looked confused, unable to wrap his mind around the idea that the man in front of him was not his father. In fact, he refused to even consider it. His mind wondered if the whiskey was a favourite of both his father, the person who was currently sitting in front of him and his father's brother.

Meanwhile Mathew looked just as distracted but it wasn't due to confusion. Instead, he was just trying to process everything.

"So you knew since the start. You were the one who gave me the information too…. Why did you marry her if you knew all of this? She poisoned you didn't she? Making you unable to use your powers…." he asked.

"Well, there's a limit to what a poison can do but that's all politics you know? I had no choice but to marry her but that's a topic for some other day."

Mathew nodded and then sighed, "Was it for the bloodline things?"

"Yup." the emperor said ans took a sip before swishing the whisky inside his mouth. Then, he swallowed.

He then looked at Barou, "Listen, my brother is your actual father and he's dead. As for the reason why he died, I'll tell you after the war but I want you to know that you can continue to treat me as you always did. I might not be your father but I'm still your dad. So, today is the time you can tell me whatever you wish to."

Barou frowned, looking both confused and disturbed but he shook his head violently and slapped himself on both of his cheeks before exhaling loudly.

"I don't want to fight my siblings. I don't like the way this whole succession war works and I don't want to hurt them."

"Sometimes, sacrifices must be made son." the emperor said calmly as he leaned backwards against a pile of soft pillows, "Even if it's your own blood."

"Though, there can be exceptions." he added, "You don't have much of an interest to rule this empire so you can just take sides. This will reduce the number of deaths but death is unavoidable."

He pointed at Mathew and looked at Barou, "Your younger brother here, your half brother actually… wants to become one to be selected as the crown prince. That's his goal and this is also the goal of your other brother, Zander.

Mathew teamed up with Leora because their goals didn't clash and I was pleasantly surprised that he did. Zander has managed to get a huge alliance and he also has the best chance of winning this.

I must tell you guys that I'm going to be impartial when it comes to the results but I don't really think that Zander can take good care of the empire. He cares way too much about building his harem.

And his favourite way of getting people to work for him, is through the use of fear and money. While it is a pretty effective way of doing things, there's a high chance of backfiring."

The three of them talked for a few more minutes about Zander since he was the one who had the highest chances of winning.

"So Barou, what do you think of teaming up with your brother? He'll be the emperor and take care of management while you'll be the great general who makes sure that no one would dare to even think about invading our lands. Hm? Think about it."

Barou hesitated slightly and then looked at Mathew. He had barely talked to his brother ever since he was a child, but now people were telling him to team up. Not just one, but two people had told him to do the same thing.

Keith was different since he was on Mathew's side but now, it was the man whom he considered his father, the man who never mistreated him until now.

"I don't care what you choose but it'll be a nice change to be on the same side for once." Mathew said as he looked back at Barou, who immediately grinned and nodded.

The three men then talked for a few more minutes before Mathew and Barou left the room, only to see the queen standing right outside.

"What did he say?" she asked, looking nervously at Barou.

Mathew smirked at her and answered instead, "We're going to team up. Though father didn't order it, we made an alliance. I will be the emperor and Barou will be my most trusted general. Don't you think that sounds nice?"

The queen glared at him and then turned to look at Barou, "Is this it son? I've done so much for you and now you throw me aside? I wanted you to be the emperor and brought you up to be one… and you betray me." she said and took out a dagger from the folds of her robes before she plunged it into her own abdomen.

"You… I hate you." she mouthed as her face turned bright red due to exertion.