A terrace bathed in moonlight.
We are standing face to face.
“...To comfort you.”
Nike spoke to me, who was standing there blankly.
At those words, I laughed.
“How?”
He hesitated, then spread his arms. He laughed again.
As I approached and gently put my arms around his waist, Nike hugged me back as if to wrap his arms around me.
Consolation...
His embrace certainly had a magical effect on me.
Before the regression. Even when things were so hard that we thought about giving up on everything, we endured by relying on each other for this warmth.
I quietly pressed my ear against Nike's chest and called out to him in a whisper.
"Your Highness."
"Yes."
“....”
“...”
“I can’t focus on being comforted...”
“...”
Nike paused at my words, chuckled, and apologized, saying, "Sorry."
His heart, which had touched my ear, was pounding violently as if it would burst out.
Fast and strong.
I turned my head slightly and looked up at Nike's face.
He also stared intently while holding me.
"Do you like me?"
“...”
Irregular breaths escaped from between Nike's lips. His hand, having risen carefully, stroked my left cheek.
"...Yes."
I held his hand, gripping my cheek, and asked again.
"How much is it?"
“...”
His gaze dropped as he let out a breathless sigh. The tip of his thumb caressed my lips.
"You..."
“...”
"Enough that it wouldn't matter even if you ruined me..."
Yes.
Our love was destructive.
As he said, even when he made me regress.
“Because I’m going to... ruin you again.”
I his life, and he my life.
We ruined and destroyed many things about each other.
Even though we knew from the moment we were born that we were pieces that could never fit together.
Inevitably, for me to belong to him, and for him to belong to me...
Cut, smash, and slice.
Trying to force the blood-stained piece together.
We had that kind of love.
"I'm the same way."
He lowered his head. Our lips met. The first kiss that rushed in was hot and slightly bitter.
The tongue, sliding into my mouth as if to swallow, shook me to my core. The swirling heat made my mind dizzy.
Nike, who had been firmly holding my body as it involuntarily lost its strength, pulled his lips away for a moment and met my eyes from close range.
A distantly unfocused gaze. Blue eyes distorted by excitement.
Whispering in a low, husky voice.
“Can I... kiss you?”
It was a belated question. I smiled and hugged his neck.
The heated heat mingled again. To ruin him and me again, to stir things up...
The young Emperor, Alphonse Rod Valencier, knelt and bowed his head.
He saw the opponent's feet in his weakly raised field of vision.
The battlefield, which had been a scene of utter chaos, was brought under control in an instant. Since a single humiliating act of submission saved the lives of hundreds of the empire's citizens, it was an unsurpassed gain for the Emperor.
"Your Majesty."
At the sound of being called, Alphonse raised his head.
He saw a man who resembled the sun.
Hair and eyes shining like gold.
No, it's not that they look alike...
In fact, it was the one who stood on the sun of this empire.
Edgar Wassenberg.
The man who surpassed his brothers to become the head of a family of supernatural beings.
"Remember the screams and cries of your people."
The young Duke laughed with delight.
"And please also remember the state of this land, turned into ruins by your hesitation."
He stepped on the Emperor's hand with his boot and spoke.
"Lastly, please remember this eye level between you and me."
The beginning of a bitter feud.
As Edgar said, something that has never been forgotten in Alphonse's mind from his youth until now...
It was a memory that had been imprinted.
Phong
Phong
The float on the water's surface sank in.
Two middle-aged men who were casting their fishing rods flinched.
Their appearance was shabby, but both of them had faces that exuded nobility.
“Wow, that’s a big catch!”
Alphonse glanced at his aide, Paul, who had already caught the tenth fish that were all solid, and pouted.
It has already been three hours since he cast his fishing rod, but there has been no sign of anything.
“Haha, Your Majesty, your mind is in turmoil, so even the meat won’t come near.”
Paul said as he put the fish he had caught into a bucket already piled high.
“Nonsense. Dizzy? What do you mean?”
“When do you plan to return to the palace?”
Paul, having baited the hook and cast his fishing rod again, asked. Alphonse looked at the bobber floating on the water's surface and spoke.
"I want to rest a little more."
“You know His Highness’s heart must be burning with anguish. You are being too harsh.”
“Burning up? It’s not like the matter will slow down just because I’m not here.”
"Do you really think so?"
Paul turned around in disbelief.
“What child in the world could comfortably proceed with a marriage their father opposes?”
“I did not object. I handed over the right to object or not to the Crown Prince a long time ago.”
Alphonse thought of Nike.
His stone-faced son, who had never wanted a single thing his whole life, looks his father straight in the eye for the first time in his life and says there is a woman he wants to marry.
“There’s no way I’d object, right?”
That was the case.
"Weren't you upset because the marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Ebonwind fell through due to His Highness the Prince?"
Alphonse frowned at Paul's question.
“You’ve been by my side your whole life, and you still don’t know me?”
“Hahaha. Just kidding.”
The two men were not merely in the relationship of an Emperor and his aide.
Political partners. They shared the burden of the lifelong humiliation and indignity suffered at the hands of Wassenberg.
Paul was a brother and family member who knew Alphonse's inner feelings better than his own children.
"It was a marriage you intended to proceed with out of concern for your son, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
Alphonse thought of Nike again.
Whenever he thought of his son, his feelings were always complicated.
The child he pushed into the grave with his own hands.
The son who, throughout his life, was only given heartless imperial orders risked his life to protect the people of the empire.
It is not as if Alphonse could have been that cool-headed from the beginning.
Countless nights spent tossing and turning, having nightmares of self-loathing and guilt.
Then one day, the son who came to visit said.
“Please regard me not as your son, but as Your Majesty’s subject. Your Majesty has always made only righteous judgments for the sake of the Empire. Do not worry about employing me and do not hurt Your Majesty’s feelings.”
The son who said he would head into the jaws of death, holding even the guilt his father felt in his own hands.
How could he not have longed for his parents' love and attention?
However, knowing what he had to give up as a member of the royal family, he willingly took up a sword and went to the battlefield instead of his father's love.
Alphonse, who had no choice but to be the 'Emperor' to such a son every moment, wished.
He hopes that someday, when everything is over, he can do something as a 'father'.
So that his son, whom he gave birth to as a noble but whom he failed to cherish, may finally be able to enjoy the things he ought to have.
“I thought that if he met a good woman and started a family, he would come to know what happiness is. Wouldn’t it be nice if he gradually laid down his knife and lived knowing how precious his life is?”
Knowing full well that his son would never, ever want to get married of his own accord, she was a bride he had carefully chosen on his behalf.
Naturally, even when Nike refused and mentioned another marriage partner, Alphonse was simply glad without any regrets.
Nike?
That blockhead of a guy who seemed like he would go his whole life without knowing a woman unless someone deliberately set him up with one?
"She is the biological daughter of Duke Edgar Wassenberg."
When the Crown Prince revealed who Nike's opponent was.
Hmm, yeah.
He couldn't help but have a lot on his mind.
However, he did not object.
On top of thinking that he has no right to tell his son what to do when he owes him a debt he can never repay in his lifetime...
'Surely he chose well.'
How could Nike have met her thoughtlessly, knowing full well that she was of Wassenberg's bloodline?
Even though she was merely the Duke's daughter, she had a tragic backstory of being abandoned and not properly cared for.
But.
Nevertheless.
"It’s because I’m such a narrow-minded person. I know that very well myself."
Alphonse muttered with a sigh.
An enemy who has branded him like fire for a lifetime.
His bloodline. His daughter.
Whether they can avoid finding traces of the Duke.
He wonders if it is possible not to hate that innocent child.
He wasn't sure.
That was the reason. That was the reason he decided to leave his son's side while he prepared for the royal wedding.
“How unsightly would it be for a worthless father who has done nothing but boss him around his whole life—let alone congratulate him—to even look at his woman with a blank stare?”
“No, I’m saying this because even I don’t know if I’ll make it or not...”
Phong
Phong
Just then, the float, which had been floating quietly, sank in again.
“Uh oh!”
This time it was Alphonse's fishing rod.
And at the same time.
"Father."
A familiar voice was heard.
Alphonse turned his head sharply.
“...Nike?”
His son was standing a little over ten paces away.
Why here?
Before he could even wonder, Alphonse saw a pink head pop out from behind him.
The first impression of the young woman, who was small enough to be completely hidden by his son's body, was that he looked just like a small animal.
Why, like a rabbit...
'Ah.'
Eventually, Alphonse, who had been staring blankly at the pink-haired girl's face, realized.
The fact that she was the daughter of Duke Wassenberg.
Because she came with Nike. Because they are discussing the royal marriage. It was not a realization that occurred within such a natural train of thought.
Sparkling golden eyes.
Beautiful eyes and facial lines.
It was because of someone's traces that were so deeply ingrained on her face, even though he didn't want to look for them on purpose.
"Remember this eye level between you and me."
Alphonse's hand, holding the fishing rod, trembled slightly.
That voice he never forgot for a single day, and could never forget...
"Nice to see you!"
The dark thoughts were shattered.
In front of the surprised Alphonse, the little girl thrust her hips 90 degrees and shouted in a loud voice.
“Father~~!!!”
“...?!”
We are standing face to face.
“...To comfort you.”
Nike spoke to me, who was standing there blankly.
At those words, I laughed.
“How?”
He hesitated, then spread his arms. He laughed again.
As I approached and gently put my arms around his waist, Nike hugged me back as if to wrap his arms around me.
Consolation...
His embrace certainly had a magical effect on me.
Before the regression. Even when things were so hard that we thought about giving up on everything, we endured by relying on each other for this warmth.
I quietly pressed my ear against Nike's chest and called out to him in a whisper.
"Your Highness."
"Yes."
“....”
“...”
“I can’t focus on being comforted...”
“...”
Nike paused at my words, chuckled, and apologized, saying, "Sorry."
His heart, which had touched my ear, was pounding violently as if it would burst out.
Fast and strong.
I turned my head slightly and looked up at Nike's face.
He also stared intently while holding me.
"Do you like me?"
“...”
Irregular breaths escaped from between Nike's lips. His hand, having risen carefully, stroked my left cheek.
"...Yes."
I held his hand, gripping my cheek, and asked again.
"How much is it?"
“...”
His gaze dropped as he let out a breathless sigh. The tip of his thumb caressed my lips.
"You..."
“...”
"Enough that it wouldn't matter even if you ruined me..."
Yes.
Our love was destructive.
As he said, even when he made me regress.
“Because I’m going to... ruin you again.”
I his life, and he my life.
We ruined and destroyed many things about each other.
Even though we knew from the moment we were born that we were pieces that could never fit together.
Inevitably, for me to belong to him, and for him to belong to me...
Cut, smash, and slice.
Trying to force the blood-stained piece together.
We had that kind of love.
"I'm the same way."
He lowered his head. Our lips met. The first kiss that rushed in was hot and slightly bitter.
The tongue, sliding into my mouth as if to swallow, shook me to my core. The swirling heat made my mind dizzy.
Nike, who had been firmly holding my body as it involuntarily lost its strength, pulled his lips away for a moment and met my eyes from close range.
A distantly unfocused gaze. Blue eyes distorted by excitement.
Whispering in a low, husky voice.
“Can I... kiss you?”
It was a belated question. I smiled and hugged his neck.
The heated heat mingled again. To ruin him and me again, to stir things up...
***
The young Emperor, Alphonse Rod Valencier, knelt and bowed his head.
He saw the opponent's feet in his weakly raised field of vision.
The battlefield, which had been a scene of utter chaos, was brought under control in an instant. Since a single humiliating act of submission saved the lives of hundreds of the empire's citizens, it was an unsurpassed gain for the Emperor.
"Your Majesty."
At the sound of being called, Alphonse raised his head.
He saw a man who resembled the sun.
Hair and eyes shining like gold.
No, it's not that they look alike...
In fact, it was the one who stood on the sun of this empire.
Edgar Wassenberg.
The man who surpassed his brothers to become the head of a family of supernatural beings.
"Remember the screams and cries of your people."
The young Duke laughed with delight.
"And please also remember the state of this land, turned into ruins by your hesitation."
He stepped on the Emperor's hand with his boot and spoke.
"Lastly, please remember this eye level between you and me."
The beginning of a bitter feud.
As Edgar said, something that has never been forgotten in Alphonse's mind from his youth until now...
It was a memory that had been imprinted.
Phong
Phong
The float on the water's surface sank in.
Two middle-aged men who were casting their fishing rods flinched.
Their appearance was shabby, but both of them had faces that exuded nobility.
“Wow, that’s a big catch!”
Alphonse glanced at his aide, Paul, who had already caught the tenth fish that were all solid, and pouted.
It has already been three hours since he cast his fishing rod, but there has been no sign of anything.
“Haha, Your Majesty, your mind is in turmoil, so even the meat won’t come near.”
Paul said as he put the fish he had caught into a bucket already piled high.
“Nonsense. Dizzy? What do you mean?”
“When do you plan to return to the palace?”
Paul, having baited the hook and cast his fishing rod again, asked. Alphonse looked at the bobber floating on the water's surface and spoke.
"I want to rest a little more."
“You know His Highness’s heart must be burning with anguish. You are being too harsh.”
“Burning up? It’s not like the matter will slow down just because I’m not here.”
"Do you really think so?"
Paul turned around in disbelief.
“What child in the world could comfortably proceed with a marriage their father opposes?”
“I did not object. I handed over the right to object or not to the Crown Prince a long time ago.”
Alphonse thought of Nike.
His stone-faced son, who had never wanted a single thing his whole life, looks his father straight in the eye for the first time in his life and says there is a woman he wants to marry.
“There’s no way I’d object, right?”
That was the case.
"Weren't you upset because the marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Ebonwind fell through due to His Highness the Prince?"
“Huh?”
“You’ve been by my side your whole life, and you still don’t know me?”
“Hahaha. Just kidding.”
The two men were not merely in the relationship of an Emperor and his aide.
Political partners. They shared the burden of the lifelong humiliation and indignity suffered at the hands of Wassenberg.
Paul was a brother and family member who knew Alphonse's inner feelings better than his own children.
"It was a marriage you intended to proceed with out of concern for your son, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
Alphonse thought of Nike again.
Whenever he thought of his son, his feelings were always complicated.
The child he pushed into the grave with his own hands.
The son who, throughout his life, was only given heartless imperial orders risked his life to protect the people of the empire.
It is not as if Alphonse could have been that cool-headed from the beginning.
Countless nights spent tossing and turning, having nightmares of self-loathing and guilt.
Then one day, the son who came to visit said.
“Please regard me not as your son, but as Your Majesty’s subject. Your Majesty has always made only righteous judgments for the sake of the Empire. Do not worry about employing me and do not hurt Your Majesty’s feelings.”
The son who said he would head into the jaws of death, holding even the guilt his father felt in his own hands.
How could he not have longed for his parents' love and attention?
However, knowing what he had to give up as a member of the royal family, he willingly took up a sword and went to the battlefield instead of his father's love.
Alphonse, who had no choice but to be the 'Emperor' to such a son every moment, wished.
He hopes that someday, when everything is over, he can do something as a 'father'.
So that his son, whom he gave birth to as a noble but whom he failed to cherish, may finally be able to enjoy the things he ought to have.
“I thought that if he met a good woman and started a family, he would come to know what happiness is. Wouldn’t it be nice if he gradually laid down his knife and lived knowing how precious his life is?”
Knowing full well that his son would never, ever want to get married of his own accord, she was a bride he had carefully chosen on his behalf.
Naturally, even when Nike refused and mentioned another marriage partner, Alphonse was simply glad without any regrets.
Nike?
That blockhead of a guy who seemed like he would go his whole life without knowing a woman unless someone deliberately set him up with one?
"She is the biological daughter of Duke Edgar Wassenberg."
When the Crown Prince revealed who Nike's opponent was.
Hmm, yeah.
He couldn't help but have a lot on his mind.
However, he did not object.
On top of thinking that he has no right to tell his son what to do when he owes him a debt he can never repay in his lifetime...
'Surely he chose well.'
How could Nike have met her thoughtlessly, knowing full well that she was of Wassenberg's bloodline?
Even though she was merely the Duke's daughter, she had a tragic backstory of being abandoned and not properly cared for.
But.
Nevertheless.
"It’s because I’m such a narrow-minded person. I know that very well myself."
Alphonse muttered with a sigh.
An enemy who has branded him like fire for a lifetime.
His bloodline. His daughter.
That he felt something for that child...
He wonders if it is possible not to hate that innocent child.
He wasn't sure.
That was the reason. That was the reason he decided to leave his son's side while he prepared for the royal wedding.
“How unsightly would it be for a worthless father who has done nothing but boss him around his whole life—let alone congratulate him—to even look at his woman with a blank stare?”
"As long as you don’t open your eyes in the snow, you’ll be fine~."
Phong
Phong
Just then, the float, which had been floating quietly, sank in again.
“Uh oh!”
This time it was Alphonse's fishing rod.
And at the same time.
"Father."
A familiar voice was heard.
Alphonse turned his head sharply.
“...Nike?”
His son was standing a little over ten paces away.
Why here?
Before he could even wonder, Alphonse saw a pink head pop out from behind him.
The first impression of the young woman, who was small enough to be completely hidden by his son's body, was that he looked just like a small animal.
Why, like a rabbit...
'Ah.'
Eventually, Alphonse, who had been staring blankly at the pink-haired girl's face, realized.
The fact that she was the daughter of Duke Wassenberg.
Because she came with Nike. Because they are discussing the royal marriage. It was not a realization that occurred within such a natural train of thought.
Sparkling golden eyes.
Beautiful eyes and facial lines.
It was because of someone's traces that were so deeply ingrained on her face, even though he didn't want to look for them on purpose.
"Remember this eye level between you and me."
Alphonse's hand, holding the fishing rod, trembled slightly.
That voice he never forgot for a single day, and could never forget...
"Nice to see you!"
The dark thoughts were shattered.
In front of the surprised Alphonse, the little girl thrust her hips 90 degrees and shouted in a loud voice.
“Father~~!!!”
“...?!”
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