A villain's conduct, ingratitude, and repaying kindness with enmity (thanks to the reader for the gift!)

Matsumoto Masahito was not only his nephew, but also the martial prodigy upon whom the imperial family's younger generation had placed the greatest hopes-a promising prospect for the Martial Saint Realm.

And now he had actually died at the hands of Great Xuan's Imperial Guard.

"What?"

The emperor slammed the diplomatic letter onto his desk, sending the things on it tumbling to the floor.

"Bastards! Great Xuan's Imperial Guard, you shall die!"

"My nephew, the son of my most beloved sister, just died like that? Those people of Great Xuan dared to slay someone of our Fusang Kingdom's imperial bloodline!"

"Bastards! Great Xuan's Imperial Guard, you shall die!"

Before his words had faded, the door to the inner hall swung open. His sister, an imperial princess, stumbled inside, her plain kimono still stained with tears, her hand clutching a wooden carving Matsumoto Masahito had played with as a child.

"Your Majesty, Brother, Masahito-is Masahito really gone? Please tell me it isn't true."

The princess threw herself at the emperor's feet, weeping as though her heart and entrails were being torn apart.

"Before Masahito left, he said he would defeat Great Xuan's martial prodigies and bring fame to our Great Fusang Kingdom. How could he have died just like that?"

The emperor crouched and supported his sister's trembling shoulders, the anguish in his eyes gradually giving way to towering fury.

He raised a hand and wiped away her tears.

"Rest assured, Sister. I will avenge Masahito. Not only did those people of Great Xuan kill him, they even dared to rebuke Fusang for stirring up trouble and tell everyone in our kingdom to take this as a warning. Do they think the Fusang Kingdom is still the weak nation it once was?"

"After the Meiji Restoration and Rule All Under Heaven