Cardinal Ioannes ne Benedictus XLII

Cardinal Ioannes ne Benedictus XLII Legatus (born 228,489 Anno Judicii) is a Rocannic Cardinal and Duke of Viridimae. He currently serves on the Emperor's Cardinalate Council, holding the position of Cardinal Expurgator.

Early Life
Ioannes ne Benedictus de Legatus was born to Paulus pa Severus de Legatus and his wife, Anastasia ta Cleopatra de Legatus. As the eighth and youngest child of his parents, he was never expected to come to much. He was taught about the Empire's view of survival of the fittest, which he felt very strongly about. His parents were the Duke and Duchess of Viridimae, ruling over the planet of Viridimae. Ioannes grew up to be ambitious, which was shunned within his family and amongst his older siblings. He soon found out that his older brother, Caesar, was plotting to kill him. Sensing his moment, he caught Caesar off-guard outside the Palace on Viridimae, and stabbed him. He left no traces of this murder. He was only six at the time.

After this murder, Ioannes became even more ambitious. He was always taught about survival of the fittest, and began plotting to murder each and every one of his siblings. He struck down his elder sister, Victoria, with a mallet on her own twelfth birthday. She was noted as missing, and her body was found two weeks later, decomposing and rotten inside a ditch. Suspicion began to grow across the family, but none suspected the young Ioannes for the murder. He caught two of his brothers playing together in the gardens, and stealthily snuck up with a sword. He stabbed them both with one slash, and buried them in the forest. They were never found. He was attacked by his sister, Mariae, at age 13. Mariae wasn't aware that he had come armed, and she was killed swiftly and painfully.

He managed to murder his brother, Hercules, at dinner. He slipped some lethal poisons on to Hercules' plate, to which he quickly died. Now, he had almost reached his goal, he had one brother standing in the way of his inheritance. He would find it increasingly difficult to dispose of Ludovicus, but got his opportunity when Ludovicus was speaking with his father. It was a brisk night, and had been relatively event-free. Ioannes had only came out with the intention of killing Ludovicus, and came armed with a crossbow. He fired, but his upgraded bow shot straight through Ludovicus and also struck his father. Both men fell to the ground, stricken. Ludovicus died almost instantly, but it was long and painful for his father. He knew he had to hide this, so he dragged his dying father down to the waterfall, where he threw the body in. A pool of red began to mix in with the water, as the body floated down stream and was never seen again. It was later uncovered 30 years later, but was deduced to have no connection with him.

Now, with his father dead, he became the Duke of Viridimae. He later ventured into a career in the Church of the Divine Sovereign, becoming a Cardinal and later Cardinal Expurgator on the Cardinalate Council. He immediately experienced threats from his uncles and aunts, so quietly and discreetly murdered them to eliminate any threat to his succession.

Duke of Viridimae
Now as Duke of Viridimae, Ioannes began to make plans to marry. He met a young noblewoman, Laelia la Calventia Pertus and eventually became betrothed to her. The two were wed and would go onto have seven children together. They were considered complete opposites, she was gentle and witty, he was more brutal and mysterious. Ioannes had little interest in love, and never had any affairs outside of his wife. He spent most of his time in court as the Duke, maintaining his position as a Cardinal of the Church of the Divine Sovereign, serving on Emperor Caelus' Cardinalate Council as the Cardinal Expurgator.

Ioannes would occasionally return to Viridimae, to visit his wife and family, as well as to maintain the governing of the planet. As Duke, he was known for innovation on his planet, including more efficient ways to harvest wood from the forests to trade across the Empire. In order to make sure the trees would never run out, as they were one of the only resources Viridimae thrived in, as soon as a tree was cut down, a new one was planted. This ensured that the trees on Viridimae would never die out. He stated that returning to Viridimae after being in the glitz and glamour of Rocan was "a bore". His reign as Duke of Viridimae ended up mostly uneventful, aside from one scandal in 228,654 A.J, involving the Viceroy of the ITC accusing the Duke of insulting the Trading Company, though this was eventually resolved.

Issue

 * Caecilia ci Pontia [aged 112]
 * Philippus li Petrus [deceased]
 * Feliciana li Camille [aged 110]
 * Solaris ri Viola [aged 109]
 * Felicious ci Priscillius [aged 108]
 * Victoria to Clarissa [aged 107]
 * Flora lo Parthenope [aged 106]

Titles

 * c. 228,489 - c. 228,566: Ioannes ne Benedictus Legatus
 * c. 228,566 - Present: His Eminence, Cardinal-Duke of Viridimae