Nike braced itself for a scolding. Even if his disappointed father says he will never see his face again for the rest of his life, it can’t be helped.
'I only turn off the time when my father collapses from shock or something.'
Nike, having thought, gently opened his eyes.
The Emperor was standing up from his seat.
Frozen in the exact position with mouth wide open and index finger extended.
Soon, unable to say a word...
Dump.
He sat back down listlessly.
"Father!"
Nike, who hurriedly went to the Emperor's side, checked his condition.
"Are you alright?"
“Haa, haa, phew...”
The Emperor, seemingly quite shocked, kept taking deep breaths to catch his breath.
“...Shall we pretend you didn’t hear that?”
"Don't do it!"
The Emperor shouted. Nike flinched and closed his mouth.
At that time.
The door to the Emperor's office swung wide open as if it had been waiting.
The one who appeared confident was the Crown Prince.
“Now, escort His Majesty to his chambers! Call the personal doctor as well! He must rest completely!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The trained attendants quickly swarmed to the Emperor's side. They wholeheartedly supported the staggering Emperor as they left the office.
"Good job, little brother!"
The Crown Prince approached and stood before Nike, who had been completely drained to the brim, with a pleased expression.
“Leave the rest to your brother. I will tell Father more once he has stabilized. Of course, I will also make sure to emphasize your unavoidable circumstances.”
“...”
Watching Nike blinking blankly with unfocused eyes, Bane bit his lip as if feeling sorry for him.
"It was for your lover, wasn't it?"
"... Yes."
"Before the regression, and after the regression. For the sake of the person you love. In a way, it was a truly consistent action."
“...”
What is this? Are they teasing me?
While Nike looked dumbfounded, the corners of Bane's mouth refused to droop, simply because he was happy that things seemed to be going well.
"You worked hard!"
The Emperor, Alphonse Road Valencier, recalled a long-ago memory.
The first meeting is remembered differently by each person.
When Alphonse first saw Ryan...
“Father, who is it?”
Was it around the age when he had just started speaking?
The little child was sitting on his father's lap, looking down at the Emperor who was prostrate before him.
“He is the person you must serve from now on.”
Edgar, grinning with his teeth bared.
Why the person he's supposed to serve is kneeling before him, and what a noble humiliation that is.
Ryan, who was just giggling, knowing nothing.
As if rummaging through an old cupboard, Alphonse dug up another memory.
A battlefield of utter chaos.
A young man who appeared like a hero.
“Your Majesty, it is dangerous! Why are you out here!”
Melvin Wassenberg.
The moment he ran up breathless, he sent the Emperor behind him and stood there.
The roaring monsters collapsed at once.
This ability, <Instant Death>.
It was a sight he couldn't believe, even after seeing it.
He was like a god who controlled life and death.
The monsters were killed and collapsed one after another just by coming into Melvin's sight.
As new monsters push aside the corpses of their own kind and burrow back up the ground.
He breathed his last like a helpless worm.
“S-Sir. Thank you. Thank you so much...”
Since he was an Emperor before he was a human, Alphonse couldn't help but be grateful to him.
Wasenberg. Even though he is an able user bearing that surname, hw detest with a shudder.
After all, Melvin was the man who had already saved the empire several times from the monstrous beasts that were ruining this land.
Instant death
But the next moment.
The monsters are running wild again. Melvin was frozen in place. His own bewilderment.
“...Sir?”
Melvin simply bit his lip tightly and avoided Alphonse's puzzled gaze.
"Oh dear, my younger brother has caused trouble. He really isn't being taught well."
The voice coming from behind.
Looking back, there was Edgar.
"The principle is that one must march out only upon receiving His Majesty's command."
An order? That order that can only be issued if you permit acts that ruin the country and surrender vast amounts of gold and land?
He swallowed his anger with a fist clenched so tightly that blood came from his palm.
Edgar, who was smiling bitterly.
And next to him, Melvin just hung his head.
The heroic man who, just moments ago, was slaying monsters, has become a helpless puppet obedient to his brother's commands.
Alphonse was angry.
Why?
While possessing such power.
Even though you have the will to fight for the greater good.
You ran breathlessly right into this pandemonium to come here.
Why would you bow your head to such a devil and willingly invite yourself to be swayed?
'Back then, it just felt so heartless.'
Alphonse emerged from the heavy thoughts of his memories.
Now he understood why Melvin, who was like a god, had no choice but to obey Edgar.
Ryan, perhaps why he has been holding his breath for such a long time, trying to hide his power from Edgar until the promised day.
"Bane."
Alphonse, who was lying in bed, called out to the Crown Prince who was keeping watch by his side.
“Yes, Father.”
The son could not hide his joyful expression. Alphonse also followed suit and burst into a hollow laugh.
The son he had desperately protected, not wanting him to experience the misery he himself had felt.
Therefore, Bane's unbroken heart had become a small spark unbeknownst to Alphonse and was now burning like this.
Then...
"Please summon Nike."
The Crown Prince came to see us and informed us that the Emperor had summoned him.
He said that he had already finished the detailed conversation, and since the Emperor had something else he was curious about, he told me to answer sincerely.
'Ugh! But why me too?'
The audience chamber is connected to the Emperor's room.
Nike and I had to wait here until the Emperor, who had reportedly collapsed from the shock, called us in.
'Why, why isn't it Ryan and it's me?'
I break out in a cold sweat.
My two hands, placed neatly on my thighs, are trembling.
'It's so scary, I said it's so scary...'
Recalling the Emperor's dignity, which had changed 180 degrees from the moment he entered the palace, unlike our first meeting, where he seemed like a neighborhood uncle, I couldn't help but tremble in fear.
As I imagined what the Emperor would say to me, my mind went blank, and my vision started spinning.
'Um, I, I just... got regressed... that's all...'
Enough to forget my gratitude to the lover who saved my life, and just want to deny any fault on my part!
It's that scary!
"Vania."
Nike's hand wrapped around my trembling hand. I turned to look at him.
"It's okay. Don't tremble."
Nike seems more at ease knowing there is someone to get scolded with...
“What if His Majesty gets angry and refuses to take that?”
I pointed to several sheets of paper placed on the table in the audience room.
That is a marriage certificate.
It becomes effective only when the seals of the two people getting married and the heads of both families are stamped.
"Then I'm sure he'll do it for me, my big brother."
Of course, although the Crown Prince's seal was also delegated authority regarding the state marriage so that it would take effect,
“His Majesty told me to bring the documents. It seems he intends to affix his seal himself.”
That's what they said.
You said you told them to bring it in so you could stamp it yourself? Really?
"Ugh."
Well, I don't know. I kept having only bad thoughts.
“My Prince, shall we imagine the worst-case scenario? Then we won’t be shocked no matter what His Majesty the Emperor says.”
“...”
“What if he actually asked me to bring those documents so he could tear them up after revoking the authority he delegated to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?”
"What?!"
Nike turned pale.
With trembling eyes, he swallowed hard several times and then finally spoke to me.
“Then... then let’s run away.”
"Yes?!"
Why are you being so extreme?
“Of course... first, after I finish everything I need to do. There isn’t much left, you know.”
Nike, who said that he could not abandon his main job in the meantime, turned my body toward him with a serious expression and spoke.
"Because I can't get married without my father's permission while I'm still under his control."
"So what?"
"I have to take it off."
What? The royal family's surname?
Nike glanced at me because I was frozen with my mouth wide open.
“...Do you perhaps dislike me if I’m not of royal blood?”
I suddenly threw myself into Nike's arms. He flinched, but soon hugged me tightly.
“I was just surprised because it was an answer I hadn't imagined. I like it. So be it. Let's run away. Let's go to a country estate with fresh air, where you plow the fields, and I sew; let's live like that.”
“You don’t have to sew. I’ll make sure to support you somehow.”
Sob. I'm so moved...
"But I have to have a baby, too."
“What, what?”
“Why are you being so surprised? The babies have mouths to feed, so I’ll do some sewing to help with the household expenses.”
We dreamed of a future where we would abandon our identities and flee in the worst possible situation.
That seemed like it would be happy in its own way.
As if Nike felt the same way, the arms embracing me trembled gently.
I was held tightly in my man's arms for quite a while, burying my cheek in his chest.
The door opened right before my eyes.
The door to the Emperor's room.
He, whom we naturally expected to tell us to come in, opened the door himself and came out.
We faced the emperor, who stood there motionless, looking like a pair of cockroaches mating.
With that, the Emperor, who collapsed clutching the back of his neck just a few hours ago, upon hearing our love story of selling out the country.
'Honey, we're cursed.'
As I slowly stepped away from Nike, I thought that.
'Otherwise, the whole world wouldn't join forces to drive us to the edge of a cliff like this every time.'
The Emperor trudged over, letting out a deep, blatant sigh as he looked at the cockroaches he couldn't even get rid of.
However, even in this trial, we see hope.
Because with the Poem of Reverse, I fear nothing.
I poked Nike's thigh.
“Don’t do it.”
The Emperor spoke immediately.
'Ugh!'
My needlessly honest man listens to me tell him not to do things, even though he wouldn't know if I just twisted the words around.
Sitting opposite, the Emperor spoke.
What?
Ah! Only then did I discover the golden seal in the Emperor's hand.
“Yes, Father!”
Bang!
Seeing that, Nike got excited and stood up, but hit his knee on the table. Wow, that must hurt like hell.
“No, ugh. I won’t do it!”
'I only turn off the time when my father collapses from shock or something.'
Nike, having thought, gently opened his eyes.
The Emperor was standing up from his seat.
Frozen in the exact position with mouth wide open and index finger extended.
Soon, unable to say a word...
Dump.
He sat back down listlessly.
"Father!"
Nike, who hurriedly went to the Emperor's side, checked his condition.
"Are you alright?"
“Haa, haa, phew...”
The Emperor, seemingly quite shocked, kept taking deep breaths to catch his breath.
“...Shall we pretend you didn’t hear that?”
"Don't do it!"
The Emperor shouted. Nike flinched and closed his mouth.
At that time.
The door to the Emperor's office swung wide open as if it had been waiting.
The one who appeared confident was the Crown Prince.
“Now, escort His Majesty to his chambers! Call the personal doctor as well! He must rest completely!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The trained attendants quickly swarmed to the Emperor's side. They wholeheartedly supported the staggering Emperor as they left the office.
"Good job, little brother!"
The Crown Prince approached and stood before Nike, who had been completely drained to the brim, with a pleased expression.
“Leave the rest to your brother. I will tell Father more once he has stabilized. Of course, I will also make sure to emphasize your unavoidable circumstances.”
“...”
Watching Nike blinking blankly with unfocused eyes, Bane bit his lip as if feeling sorry for him.
"It was for your lover, wasn't it?"
"... Yes."
"Before the regression, and after the regression. For the sake of the person you love. In a way, it was a truly consistent action."
“...”
What is this? Are they teasing me?
While Nike looked dumbfounded, the corners of Bane's mouth refused to droop, simply because he was happy that things seemed to be going well.
"You worked hard!"
***
The Emperor, Alphonse Road Valencier, recalled a long-ago memory.
The first meeting is remembered differently by each person.
When Alphonse first saw Ryan...
“Father, who is it?”
Was it around the age when he had just started speaking?
The little child was sitting on his father's lap, looking down at the Emperor who was prostrate before him.
“He is the person you must serve from now on.”
Edgar, grinning with his teeth bared.
Why the person he's supposed to serve is kneeling before him, and what a noble humiliation that is.
Ryan, who was just giggling, knowing nothing.
As if rummaging through an old cupboard, Alphonse dug up another memory.
A battlefield of utter chaos.
A young man who appeared like a hero.
“Your Majesty, it is dangerous! Why are you out here!”
Melvin Wassenberg.
The moment he ran up breathless, he sent the Emperor behind him and stood there.
The roaring monsters collapsed at once.
This ability, <Instant Death>.
It was a sight he couldn't believe, even after seeing it.
He was like a god who controlled life and death.
The monsters were killed and collapsed one after another just by coming into Melvin's sight.
As new monsters push aside the corpses of their own kind and burrow back up the ground.
He breathed his last like a helpless worm.
“S-Sir. Thank you. Thank you so much...”
Since he was an Emperor before he was a human, Alphonse couldn't help but be grateful to him.
Wasenberg. Even though he is an able user bearing that surname, hw detest with a shudder.
After all, Melvin was the man who had already saved the empire several times from the monstrous beasts that were ruining this land.
Instant death
But the next moment.
The monsters are running wild again. Melvin was frozen in place. His own bewilderment.
“...Sir?”
Melvin simply bit his lip tightly and avoided Alphonse's puzzled gaze.
"Oh dear, my younger brother has caused trouble. He really isn't being taught well."
The voice coming from behind.
Looking back, there was Edgar.
"The principle is that one must march out only upon receiving His Majesty's command."
An order? That order that can only be issued if you permit acts that ruin the country and surrender vast amounts of gold and land?
He swallowed his anger with a fist clenched so tightly that blood came from his palm.
Edgar, who was smiling bitterly.
And next to him, Melvin just hung his head.
The heroic man who, just moments ago, was slaying monsters, has become a helpless puppet obedient to his brother's commands.
Alphonse was angry.
Why?
While possessing such power.
Even though you have the will to fight for the greater good.
You ran breathlessly right into this pandemonium to come here.
Why would you bow your head to such a devil and willingly invite yourself to be swayed?
'Back then, it just felt so heartless.'
Alphonse emerged from the heavy thoughts of his memories.
Now he understood why Melvin, who was like a god, had no choice but to obey Edgar.
Ryan, perhaps why he has been holding his breath for such a long time, trying to hide his power from Edgar until the promised day.
"Bane."
Alphonse, who was lying in bed, called out to the Crown Prince who was keeping watch by his side.
“Yes, Father.”
The son could not hide his joyful expression. Alphonse also followed suit and burst into a hollow laugh.
The son he had desperately protected, not wanting him to experience the misery he himself had felt.
Therefore, Bane's unbroken heart had become a small spark unbeknownst to Alphonse and was now burning like this.
Then...
Alphonse’s sore spot is the love he has kept buried in his heart his entire life.
***
The Crown Prince came to see us and informed us that the Emperor had summoned him.
He said that he had already finished the detailed conversation, and since the Emperor had something else he was curious about, he told me to answer sincerely.
'Ugh! But why me too?'
The audience chamber is connected to the Emperor's room.
Nike and I had to wait here until the Emperor, who had reportedly collapsed from the shock, called us in.
'Why, why isn't it Ryan and it's me?'
I break out in a cold sweat.
My two hands, placed neatly on my thighs, are trembling.
'It's so scary, I said it's so scary...'
Recalling the Emperor's dignity, which had changed 180 degrees from the moment he entered the palace, unlike our first meeting, where he seemed like a neighborhood uncle, I couldn't help but tremble in fear.
As I imagined what the Emperor would say to me, my mind went blank, and my vision started spinning.
'Um, I, I just... got regressed... that's all...'
Enough to forget my gratitude to the lover who saved my life, and just want to deny any fault on my part!
It's that scary!
"Vania."
Nike's hand wrapped around my trembling hand. I turned to look at him.
"It's okay. Don't tremble."
Nike seems more at ease knowing there is someone to get scolded with...
“What if His Majesty gets angry and refuses to take that?”
I pointed to several sheets of paper placed on the table in the audience room.
That is a marriage certificate.
It becomes effective only when the seals of the two people getting married and the heads of both families are stamped.
"Then I'm sure he'll do it for me, my big brother."
Of course, although the Crown Prince's seal was also delegated authority regarding the state marriage so that it would take effect,
“His Majesty told me to bring the documents. It seems he intends to affix his seal himself.”
That's what they said.
You said you told them to bring it in so you could stamp it yourself? Really?
"Ugh."
Well, I don't know. I kept having only bad thoughts.
“My Prince, shall we imagine the worst-case scenario? Then we won’t be shocked no matter what His Majesty the Emperor says.”
“...”
“What if he actually asked me to bring those documents so he could tear them up after revoking the authority he delegated to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?”
"What?!"
Nike turned pale.
With trembling eyes, he swallowed hard several times and then finally spoke to me.
“Then... then let’s run away.”
"Yes?!"
Why are you being so extreme?
“Of course... first, after I finish everything I need to do. There isn’t much left, you know.”
Nike, who said that he could not abandon his main job in the meantime, turned my body toward him with a serious expression and spoke.
"Because I can't get married without my father's permission while I'm still under his control."
"So what?"
"I have to take it off."
What? The royal family's surname?
Nike glanced at me because I was frozen with my mouth wide open.
“...Do you perhaps dislike me if I’m not of royal blood?”
“You don’t like it?!”
“I was just surprised because it was an answer I hadn't imagined. I like it. So be it. Let's run away. Let's go to a country estate with fresh air, where you plow the fields, and I sew; let's live like that.”
“You don’t have to sew. I’ll make sure to support you somehow.”
Sob. I'm so moved...
"But I have to have a baby, too."
“What, what?”
“Why are you being so surprised? The babies have mouths to feed, so I’ll do some sewing to help with the household expenses.”
We dreamed of a future where we would abandon our identities and flee in the worst possible situation.
That seemed like it would be happy in its own way.
As if Nike felt the same way, the arms embracing me trembled gently.
I was held tightly in my man's arms for quite a while, burying my cheek in his chest.
The door opened right before my eyes.
The door to the Emperor's room.
He, whom we naturally expected to tell us to come in, opened the door himself and came out.
We faced the emperor, who stood there motionless, looking like a pair of cockroaches mating.
With that, the Emperor, who collapsed clutching the back of his neck just a few hours ago, upon hearing our love story of selling out the country.
'Honey, we're cursed.'
As I slowly stepped away from Nike, I thought that.
'Otherwise, the whole world wouldn't join forces to drive us to the edge of a cliff like this every time.'
The Emperor trudged over, letting out a deep, blatant sigh as he looked at the cockroaches he couldn't even get rid of.
However, even in this trial, we see hope.
Because with the Poem of Reverse, I fear nothing.
I poked Nike's thigh.
“Don’t do it.”
The Emperor spoke immediately.
'Ugh!'
My needlessly honest man listens to me tell him not to do things, even though he wouldn't know if I just twisted the words around.
“I won’t take a picture.”
What?
Ah! Only then did I discover the golden seal in the Emperor's hand.
“Yes, Father!”
Bang!
Seeing that, Nike got excited and stood up, but hit his knee on the table. Wow, that must hurt like hell.
“No, ugh. I won’t do it!”
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