“Me? How could I?”
The Duke quickly composed himself and spoke with a smile.
"Would I do such an impious thing? I have never dared to covet the throne. From now on, Your Majesty..."
"I will proclaim the decree of banishment in fifteen days."
The Emperor's voice fell, cutting off his words.
“All over the Empire.”
The Duke's composed face eventually shattered.
"By the authority of the Emperor, I shall strip all those bearing the surname of Wasenberg of their noble titles and order their banishment, so that they may not reside within the Empire."
The Emperor added calmly, as if he had nothing to lose.
"I have no intention of retracting this, even if you kill me right here."
"Uh... uh... Your Majesty?"
In the tense atmosphere, a flustered Elliott intervened.
However, the Emperor spoke to him first, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"Persuade your father to accept the abdication of the throne. Then, you will no longer need to seek my permission or negotiate regarding your actions. Wasn't that what you wanted?"
"..."
Elliott glanced at the Duke sitting next to him.
The Duke remained silent. He simply stared blankly at the empty table as if glaring.
...Emperor?
Elliott knew that what his father wanted was not the Emperor's throne.
"Ah. Ahaha."
Up until he got here, Elliott never imagined that such words would come out of the Emperor's mouth.
What made him make such a decision?
"Could it be that you are angry because of the salvation medicine?"
This is likely the matter that has given the Emperor the most headaches in recent times.
Making the medical institutions collude on prices so that people could not even receive treatment.
Elliott found himself in a disadvantageous position at the first negotiation meeting.
"That problem is a matter that can be resolved by adjusting the distribution volume of the salvation medicine or by reaching a sufficient compromise with us..."
“I don’t want to do that.”
The Emperor abruptly cut off Elliott's stammering words.
"I'm tired now."
With that one word, all of the Emperor's decisions were understood.
He fought Wassenberg his entire life. To preserve his flesh, he shed blood and swallowed his pride. He endured to prevent his country, which was being eaten away by the Emperor in name only, from becoming a ruin, and then abandoned it.
But now he is tired.
From the suffocating behavior of Wassenberg, who brings in a new leash to put on him just as he is about to catch his breath.
So he finally declared.
Defeat.
The choice to let go of everything rather than be tormented by being a toy until the day he dies.
"I assume you have no intention of discarding everything you have achieved so far."
The Duke will not sit idly by while being stripped of his noble title and submitting to the decree of banishment.
"So there's no need to worry."
He must receive the imperial throne by abdication.
"Would you please answer now?”
However, the Emperor knows.
The Duke will be unable to make any choice in this place right now
***
Ryan.
His inner self is probably made up of 5% reason and 95% emotion.
Humans who feel emotions twice as intensely as ordinary people.
Twice as happy, twice as sad.
The same applies when you feel affection for someone.
If his supernatural ability had manifested a little sooner and he had received abundant love from his father without being excommunicated...
Ryan might have willingly grown up as the family's killing machine for his father.
But I couldn't.
He grew up feeling double the sense of betrayal, anger, and murderous intent toward the father who had 'abandoned' him.
Knowing all too well that he was a human vulnerable to emotions, Ryan personally carved twelve cuts into his forearm, hollowing out his affection for his father and filling it with revenge.
It was only natural that he felt loneliness, as well as a yearning and bond for the 'family' that had disappeared, twice as intensely.
The moment I came to him, who had been released from prison with nothing but the will for revenge.
I became Ryan's weakness and his world.
Family suddenly returned to his side, the only blood relative with the same blood flowing through them, who even resembles him in the plight of being abandoned by his father.
'Seriously... I'm screwed.'
Lately, I have been constantly mulling over Ryan's bad habit of speaking to myself.
I only realized it after I died this time.
That the meaning of me as a person to Ryan was greater than I could have imagined.
"You know what? Dad... cough."
I was talking when my throat suddenly tickled, so I coughed.
Just as I was about to continue, Ryan, who was loading a load on the horse's back, turned around pale and snapped at me.
"What's wrong? What's wrong? What's with the cough? Does it hurt? Is it bleeding?"
"..."
Ryan has been in this state ever since I was resurrected.
He went completely insane.
Ever since Alex died and was resurrected, Revan had been worried that he might get sick like that, really.
I am not a doctor, but I can be certain.
Ryan is currently mentally ill.
"No. It's just that my throat is itchy. I inhaled some dust."
"Ah."
Ryan, looking around, kicked his own shadow.
"Come in. Use this ability."
"Yes. I'll come in. But."
I have received word from the capital, and now I am setting off for the major operation.
I still haven't been able to calm Ryan's anger.
"Let's take off those dangling knives before we go."
If you add up the weight of the knives Ryan carried attached to his harness, it would be 10kg.
He lost the mercy to let his enemies go peacefully after my death.
"Yes, I won't do it. I just packed it for you, just in case."
"Is that lie true?”
I don't care how those who have spent their entire lives doing things deserving of death die. What I'm worried about is Ryan.
Ryan, who must continue to live on even after everything ends; the fact that he killed his own flesh and blood, even if it was for the greater good.
You must carry the memory with you for the rest of your life.
That fact was already weighing on my mind, and on top of that...
"Leave it alone! Damn it, I insist on butchering that bastard no matter what, so what can I do!"
Yes.
I know that killing enemies like that won't make Ryan feel relieved at all.
Because even that would clearly become a deep trauma for Ryan.
"Don't you love me? I'm begging you like this, and you still won't listen?"
"I'm doing this because I love you. Because that bastard messed with what I fucking love."
"I don't want this. If you really care about me, please listen to me."
"..."
Ryan stared at me intently.
Soon after, he sighed.
"Yeah, fuck. What wouldn't I do for you?"
I took the weapons out of the harness one by one and threw them on the floor.
Ding, tang, tang...
I was surprised.
I tried persuading him for days, but it didn't work at all.
“Yes? Hug me.”
Soon, Ryan opened his arms with a lighter look on his face. I ran to him and hugged him in one go.
"Thank you, Dad..."
“Are you coming?”
The moment I thought, "That's a relief."
Revan clicked his tongue as he walked past.
"I wonder what that horse is carrying."
"...What?"
A large bag tied to the black horse. I hurriedly slipped out of Ryan's arms and opened it.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Crazy.
It was packed with knives and various torture tools.
"What. What. What on earth is this..."
Click.
Ryan's hand reached out. He locked his bag, gestured toward his carriage with his chin, and spoke to me.
“Go inside.”
"Dad."
"Hurry."
"..."
Now, a 'gaze' that has grown cold with no room for compromise.
I felt like crying.
I just couldn't handle those crazy eyes.
'David, this @&#@X~~!!!'
That bastard actually wants to be a sensation!
Why did we make things this bad?
To me, he was truly an unexpected dark horse.
So, for some reason, it felt ominous.
David, who should have arrived at the capital by now.
For some reason, right up until the very end, I had a feeling my damn eldest brother was going to cause trouble...
***
By the time David arrived at the capital, he was informed of the situation via telepathy from his younger sister, Brigitte.
[...So, Father is in a very, very bad mood right now.]
Abdication of the throne. If refused, exile abroad.
So there was a reason he acted so boldly.
Since they dared to detain a person with supernatural abilities, he thought they might have some leverage to stand against Wassenberg.
That is not it; they simply intended to let go of everything and declare defeat.
The reason for doing such a reckless thing... was an expression of determination that the declaration was not a joke, but a life-or-death decision.
'Hmm.'
David was on his way back, having already confirmed that Ryan had nothing to hide, but hearing the Imperial Family's position made it even clearer.
It ended up being like he was needlessly stirring up his younger sibling... but well, that wasn't a problem at all.
[Please bring Diana and Gabriel.]
David immediately headed to the imperial palace.
[One way or another, an armed conflict seems unavoidable, but my father says he needs to consider appeasement, so he tells me to act as gently as possible.]
He entered the imperial palace with several guards, making his way in as if it were his own home.
As if they knew he was coming, no one stopped him.
“Open.”
Even when he reached the noble prison on the eastern side of the palace and gave the order, the door opened easily.
As soon as it opened, the person waiting for David was the 3rd Prince.
"You came quickly."
Nike smirked and gestured to the two guards next to him without even asking the reason for the visit.
The guards headed straight somewhere.
"Thank you for not giving me a headache."
"There's no need to shed blood unnecessarily."
David smirked. He had intended to smash the head in this time if the other person resisted, so it was a pity.
Eventually, the guards brought out the two people who had been detained.
Diana. And Gabriel.
“Brother!”
Even though her face was free of scratches, as if she had been held gently, Diana sobbed for no reason and hugged David.
Gabriel, with a bored and indifferent expression, also swept his long blonde hair back and stood beside his brother.
Then Nike silently gestured with his chin.
It seemed like he was asking them to go.
David's eyes contorted at the arrogant gesture.
"Your neck is quite stiff, Your Highness."
"..."
"I think you are in a position where you should be bowing down now."
"You’re quite stiff in front of the royal family."
Nike recalled what he had said long ago while dealing with David, who had come to interrogate Ryan.
And then he laughed out loud.
“There’s a rear end.”
“No problem.”
"Have you become an emperor already?'
“Maybe not soon.”
"Go ask your father about that."
David's chin bulged.
He had been madly annoyed by Nike for quite some time. It must have been since the day he was spectacularly humiliated.
That brat, acting so arrogantly...
He wanted to tear apart that pretty face and the mouth that chattered as if it weren't even afraid of death.
Why on earth is his father trusting him enough to be so confident in front of someone with superpowers?
"It seems you have two lives. Do you think I would let you go alive if I became Emperor?"
"Kill me after it happens; don't expect it."
"If it were me, I would want to pass away honorably while I am still a member of the royal family. Please let me know anytime if you wish."
"We are going to die anyway, so what does it matter whether I die as a slave or as royalty? They wouldn't even notice if you threw my corpse to the pigs, so don't worry about me."
Nike gestured outside once again.
"If you have time to babble uselessly, go whine to your father instead."
"..."
Ugh. My fever rose.
Nevertheless, the reason he couldn't smash that head in right away was that Father's decision hadn't come down yet.
Father would surely want to set up 'Valencier' as a puppet no matter what...
David turned away once again, carrying only rising murderous intent and humiliation.
'Ah'
Then. Pause.
He turned back to Nike and spoke.
"My younger sister, who was desperately begging to be spared until the very end, probably wants to die honorably, unlike Your Highness."
For a moment, Nike's eyes blinked slowly, as if weighing David's words.
"It is pitiful enough that she was used, but please treat her properly. While the castle of Valencia granted to her is still in the imperial family's possession, it would be best to hold the funeral without delay."
Soon, Nike's face turned pale in an instant.
"... What?"
His lips part in despair. Blue eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins. A completely cracked, crumbling expression.
David finally felt a thrill at that unexpected reaction.
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