TPITT - Chapter 21

"Yes."

Michael stood in front of Desmond II with an expressionless face.

Like a golem that just performs its role according to the input word, no emotion was revealed in the eyes.

“Kneel.”

What Desmond II required was not the usual knightly manner of kneeling on the left knee.

He ordered both knees to kneel, and Michael silently followed.

Desmond II rolled up the sleeve of his right hand. He harshly touched Michael's forehead.

Many artists of the empire viewed the oath of loyalty ceremony as a baptism of blessings from the Emperor. It was described, but the reality was different.

The hand that violently held Michael's head in place, as if grasping an object. It was clearly not baptism, but violence. Both physically and mentally.

Nevertheless, the white light flowing from Desmond II's hands was sacred and brilliant. It was truly a deceptive light.

Desmond II instilled loyalty to the imperial family in Michael through words.

“The 16th Emperor of the Hadelamid Empire, Desmond Dominic Callisto of Hadelamid. Order by name. Michaelis Agnito, as a creature of homunculus, from this moment on, you will be loved by all who have the blood of the Hadelamid royal family flowing through them. Obey us. Do not dare to go against the wishes of noble blood relatives, and do not dare to go against noble blood relatives. Do not cause harm. This bondage takes precedence after imprinting and remains in effect until your life ends.”

“I will obey your orders.”

“Then kiss my feet.”

It was a humiliating demand that was only made to slaves 200 years ago. Now the expression is completely dead. Michael obediently followed even that.

He bowed down and kissed the carpeted floor. Disheveled black hair touched the tips of the Emperor's white shoes.

Desmond II looked down at the top of Michael's black head and smiled in satisfaction.

The homunculus who had been struggling so hard fell politely at his feet. The humidity was unbearable.

"Finished. Go down.”

Desmond II washed his hands in the basin brought by the chamberlain.

Meanwhile, Michael got off the stage and returned to his place without making eye contact with me.

‘Michael..."

I, who was watching, was in pain, but Michael, who was involved, felt terrible.

I quickly concluded the audience.

“Thank you for performing the ceremony, Father. How dare we take away more of my Father's precious time? I am very sorry, so I will leave now. Tea that helps relieve headaches, I will leave it to the chamberlain.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Permission was granted.

Only then was I able to take Michael out of the suffocating audience room.

I went to the eastern villa through a different route than usual.

I had to take a bit of a detour, but I passed through the hydrangea garden, which is good for avoiding people's eyes as there are few people there.

I stopped for a moment at a place where two beautiful poplar trees adequately blocked her view.

I looked back at Michael. It was my first time since leaving the main palace.

"Are you okay?"

Michael was still expressionless, so at first glance he seemed to have no emotions.

However, I did not miss the deeply sunken purple eyes.

His sunken eyes expressed his mood.

I felt like sighing. Who is Michael? He was the future King of the Homunculus.

Letting people experience the crappy parts of the imperial palace increases the probability of treason.

Thinking about this, worry surged in my heart.

It was then, that Michael opened his closed lips.

“It was completely different from when you did it.”

"Huh?"

“When you imprinted on me, I didn’t feel anything this disgusting at all.”

It was an unexpected confession of feelings. It was so honest and direct that it made me feel a little depressed.

Suddenly, Michael's bangs, which Desmond II had disheveled, caught my eye.

I carefully placed one hand in front of his eyes.

“Can I touch it?”

“...I am your direct knight. No permission is needed.”

“Then excuse me.”

I touched Michael's head with delicate hands as if I were handling glass. He silently accepted the touch like a gentle animal.

After finishing tidying up, I lowered my hand and said.

"Great job. You did well, Michael.”

Michael's stiff eyes softened slightly. As if my words were a small reward, Michael looked into my eyes.

The dark and heavy look was erased.

He stared at me for a long time before finally answering.

“Thank you for your kindness, Princess Evienrose.”

After just one day, Michael called my name.

Before I could say anything, Michael took a step forward using the excuse of being an escort.

I could see Michael's straight back leading in the direction of the villa.

Somehow, during the long and difficult journey ahead, I can trust and rely on that person.

I had a feeling that it might be okay.

***

Michaelis Agnito entered the palace.

The news quickly spread among the homunculus, and now, five days later, there is almost no one who doesn't know about it.

Michael was famous from the time he was in the training center. This is because he exuded a sense of intimidation and was rebellious towards the imperial family, unlike any other homunculus.

Although homunculus is generally indifferent, there were quite a few who were hostile towards Michael.

Those people were not favorable to Michael's entry into the palace.

'The monster from the public prison became the 7th Princess's direct knight?'

'He pretended to be so special, but he seemed to have come to his senses after spending some time in prison, right?'

'So, if he had obeyed His Majesty the Emperor from the beginning, he wouldn't have been imprisoned.'

The homunculus who had been brainwashed into loyalty were busy criticizing Michael.

It has not changed from when Michael was imprisoned in the public prison to now.

They believe that the emergence of a homunculus who can reject the Emperor's rule

They were foolish people who couldn't think about how much it meant.

Michael didn't care.

In any case, homunculuss are instilled with an extreme sense of competition for survival since their days at the training center, so the bond between them is almost non-existent. A bad reputation or outright ostracism didn't really hurt.

Cheaeng!

Today too, Michael came to the training center with Eve's permission.

The Homunculus' training ground is located a little further north from the exclusive lodgings for the Royal Knights.

It is a shabby and drab amphitheater that cannot be considered part of the imperial palace.

That was the 'Colosso Arena', a training ground used every day by about 300 Homuncluses.

Dozens of all kinds of immunity magic and defense magic barriers were spread out on the 7th-floor high exterior wall.

This is not to protect the amphitheater from the outside but to protect the amphitheater from the outside.

The purpose was to protect the imperial palace from intense training.

Quagwang! Cheaeng! Kugugoogung!

Homunculus is everywhere in the arena. They were each undergoing actual training against a training mithril golem. The same was true for Michael.

“Hmm.”

Michael took a deep breath as he looked at the giant golem in the middle of the floating stone.

Michael held a long sword with a light glow of sword energy straight and horizontal at his shoulder height and aimed it at the golem.

Then he kicked the ground with his foot and rushed in at high speed.

Quagwagwang!

An explosion occurred with a loud noise in the air training center built on a floating stone.

Gray dust clouds littered the atmosphere of the Colosso Arena.

After a while, Michael came out through a cloud of smoke. He jumped off the floating seat without hesitation.

There was not a single scratch on Michael who landed on the ground.

They were watching his training using clairvoyance magic on the ground in the arena.

The homunculus looked like they were all monsters like that.

Of course, the gazes of other homunculus were of no concern to Michael.

“Phew..."

Michael slightly loosened the collar of his knight uniform and shook his head slightly from side to side.

The intention was to cool off the heat without compromising neatness.

At that time, someone approached Michael.

“Would you like a drink?”

The water bottle held out in front of his nose was something he had never thought of.

Michael looked up and saw the face of the person holding out the water bucket.

The opponent was Sylvestian, a homunculus with unique long silver hair.

The blue eyes he met were so clear that they were so cold that he felt a sense of uneasiness.

Michael, who took a moment to gauge his intentions, decided to accept the favor.

“Thank you.”

With a gulp, the water flowed down his esophagus as his neck throbbed sensually.

Michael emptied the entire water bottle in one go and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Sylvestian took the empty water bottle and opened his mouth.

“It’s amazing that you defeated the Mithril Golem by yourself in such a short time. However, it would be better to control your strength a little more next time. It would be difficult if the repair costs were billed to Her Highness the 7th Princess.”

“I shouldn’t have destroyed it. Thanks for letting me know."

Although he mentioned someone else's Princess unnecessarily, it was helpful information and there was no sense of malice.

Michael obediently accepted the advice.

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