89
The guard knight standing before it recognized Father and politely greeted him before opening the door.
In the center of the audience chamber, on the throne, sat an elderly man with a good physique whom I had often seen in portraits and who resembled Castian.
This was my first time seeing the Emperor this close, so I unconsciously swallowed when he said:
“Come here.”
I was startled when he gestured for me to come closer. Since Father patted me reassuringly and entered first, I followed closely behind him.
When we got close enough that each other’s facial features became clear, the Emperor, who had been waiting leisurely until then, smiled loosely and welcomed me.
“Finally we meet like this. Come here.”
“…I-I greet Your Imperial Majesty.”
“Hehe, you look very much like the Count. You don’t need to be so nervous. It’s not like I’m going to eat you or anything, right?”
“If you say things like that, he’ll be even more frightened, Your Majesty.”
“Ah, is that so?”
The Emperor tilted his head at Father’s advice. The Emperor, who soon moved on lightly, seemed to have many things he wanted to ask me as he began questioning me endlessly.
“Right. I heard you were chosen by a god called Prometil. How was it meeting that god? Did he grant your wishes? I have many curiosities.”
It was already surprising to see the Emperor this close, but to even feel like I was talking comfortably with a neighborhood grandfather…
I looked nervously at Father. Father, who met my eyes and smiled, gently stroked my back and said:
“Just answer comfortably and truthfully.”
Still, I was glad Father was by my side.
“…The god was more friendly than I expected.”
To put it badly, not very god-like…
[Is that a compliment or an insult?]
The way he suddenly pops out whenever his story comes up even after being quiet for a while is also somehow not very god-like.
“And… I didn’t make any wishes. They said each god can grant different kinds of wishes. Since Prometil is the god of wisdom, he can fulfill things related to that… but I, um, haven’t felt the need for it yet.”
“Oho, that’s very interesting. Is it possible to grant someone else’s wish instead? Are there no unreasonable consequences when granting wishes?”
The Emperor’s eyes flashed as he bombarded me with questions. As expected of Castian’s father, his curiosity was very vigorous.
Castian had asked similar questions when he was interested in Prometil…
Perhaps Castian’s scholarly temperament was inherited from His Imperial Majesty?
I satisfied his curiosity by explaining everything I knew in as much detail as possible.
In that process, the Emperor first brought up Terion’s story, and naturally, topics related to Castian came up as well.
“Whoo, who does this boy take after to have such interest in the outside world… forgetting even his status as a prince.”
The Emperor suddenly sighed and shook his head. No matter how I looked at it, he seemed to take after you, but I didn’t express such thoughts outwardly.
“He has too little desire for power. It’s fortunate that there won’t be a bloody wind between brothers over succession rights, but I wonder if there’s any need for him to wander outside like this.”
“……”
“Come to think of it, our son seems to show interest in you. I heard he even went to a matchmaking meeting. If you’re interested, shall I arrange a marriage between you two?”
“Pardon?”
I was so surprised for a moment that I unconsciously asked back. Not knowing how to react to this unpredictable flow of conversation, I was looking around nervously when Father intervened.
“This child already has someone.”
“Ah, really? That’s a pity.”
He gave up as easily as if he had just casually tested the waters. He’s truly an incomprehensible person.
The conversation continued. It was mostly at the level of the Emperor asking and me answering, but that could also be called a conversation of sorts.
How long did this subtly uncomfortable conversation continue? The Emperor smiled with a satisfied expression as if he had resolved his curiosity as much as he wanted.
“I enjoyed talking with you today, Edgar.”
It seemed he was now ready to let me go.
“Let’s meet again next time. You may also enter.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall take my leave now.”
Since Father was greeting him, I also bowed my head alongside him. Only after leaving the audience chamber with Father could I let out a sigh of relief.
Father, who looked at me, grinned.
“How was it? He’s not as scary as you thought, right?”
“Um, yes. But he wasn’t an easy person either…”
At first glance he seemed relaxed, but when I met his eyes, I felt the pressure that I absolutely shouldn’t lie in front of him. That wasn’t intimidation I could feel simply because the person in front of me was the Emperor.
“Haha. That’s why he firmly maintains that position.”
Father said that and patted my head. I also agreed with Father’s words.
“Are you going to your friends now?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Alright. Go carefully. Don’t forget there’s a banquet in the hall this evening.”
“Yes, don’t worry!”
I parted with Father in the corridor and went up to the room where Riette and Cedric would be waiting. The two were playing chess in Cedric’s room.
“Eddie! Come here, come here.”
Riette pulled over a chair and tapped it while urging me. She seemed very curious about where I had been and what I had done.
“Where did you go?”
“His Majesty called for me, so I went to see him briefly.”
“Oh, really?”
Riette’s eyes sparkled as she showed great curiosity. The two stopped playing chess and focused on me.
“What did His Majesty want with you?”
“He seemed curious about various things regarding the avatar.”
“Ah, I see!”
Having understood the reason I was called, Riette now subtly asked what she really wanted to know.
“How was it seeing him up close?”
It was natural to be curious since seeing the Emperor up close wasn’t common.
If Riette had had a private audience with the Emperor, I would have asked her how it was too.
I rolled my eyes around.
“Um. First of all, he looked a lot like His Highness Castian. And he wasn’t as stern as I expected… but should I say the atmosphere was very intimidating? It felt like he wasn’t easy to approach.”
“He definitely seemed more like the Second Prince than the Crown Prince. His hair and eye color too.”
Riette seemed to recall the Emperor she had seen from afar as she muttered quietly in agreement, then soon looked at Cedric who was just listening to the story.
“Cedy, what about you? Have you ever actually seen His Majesty?”
“…No.”
Cedric shook his head. Since everyone’s family backgrounds were what they were, all the parents would have had direct audiences with the Emperor, but for children who had just become adults, a country’s king wasn’t someone they could meet privately, so it was a natural answer in a way.
That day, we somehow ended up pulling out rumors about the Emperor and the imperial family like sweet potato vines.
It was because fascinating rumors surrounding the Crown Prince and Crown Princess came out of the well-connected Riette’s mouth.
“There’s a rumor that His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Highness the Crown Princess are each having affairs.”
Riette whispered in a very low voice. These kinds of stories are always interesting. It was so intriguing I couldn’t stop the conversation.
“Who are their partners?”
“It’s not certain, but from what I hear, His Highness the Crown Prince seems to have fallen for a Beta maid. As for who Her Highness the Crown Princess is secretly meeting, I only heard it’s an Alpha of noble birth, but that person doesn’t seem to be from a prominent family either.”
My goodness.
I know both the Crown Prince and Crown Princess are an Alpha and Omega with dominant traits. They have good families and good traits, but instead of the flower path already laid out, they want to take the thorny path.
Is it that the more you have, the more you’re drawn to forbidden love? I suddenly thought the Emperor would clutch the back of his neck if he knew this fact.
No, maybe like how he allowed Castian’s free-spirited life, he might say “you two figure it out yourselves” too.
“Well, putting everything aside… if the scandal spreads more, the image damage would be significant.”
Cedric muttered indifferently. He didn’t seem particularly interested. He was always like that with matters unrelated to him.
I also wasn’t interested in other people’s affairs, but regarding this matter, I had somewhat different feelings.
Because both I and Cedric had abandoned the stable path and chosen the difficult one.
“…Were Their Highnesses’ marriage a political one?”
“Yeah. It seemed like they had no affection for each other.”
“I see…”
I hope either way it resolves amicably. I was somehow moved and quietly thought this to myself.
After chattering until just before the banquet was held, we finally organized ourselves and left the room. When we entered the Great Hall in the center where the banquet was held, it was already full of people who had arrived.
Not long after, when Riette met Gareth and left, leaving just Cedric and me alone:
“Here.”
I heard a familiar voice calling and turned around. The red hair roughly tied up in one bundle could be recognized from afar.
‘Ah.’
It was Castian.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
