69novels Chapter 137
Chapter 137
Chapter 137
In the original work, the number of times Leios was permitted to come and go from the Emperor’s audience chamber could be counted on one hand.
Even then, it was mostly when he was summoned to be reprimanded over something unpleasant or forced to shoulder some troublesome task, so whenever he was called, he would let out a deep sigh.
However, I, who had possessed Leios’s body, had already entered that place several times.
Perhaps because I had completely twisted his storyline, the Emperor had taken a liking to me, and when I showed that I had reached Sword Master, he had even gone so far as to call me his son.
Given his disposition of valuing strength, it was not something incomprehensible, but I had never imagined that his perception would flip so completely in one go, which left me feeling all the more uneasy.
And now, we were meeting the Emperor in the audience chamber together with Nepe.
Though it was called an audience chamber, it was practically the same as the Emperor’s private office.
“Have a cup each.”
When the Emperor arrived in the audience chamber, he greeted us with a gentler atmosphere than before. He deliberately approached us, who were seated on the guest sofa, and offered tea. Petra and I did our best to hide our tension as we took a sip.
“Doesn’t it smell nice? It’s a tea your mother liked long ago.”
“…Yes?”
At the unexpected remark, I doubted my own ears.
To the Emperor, Leios’s mother should have been nothing more than a fleeting dalliance. That was why she had never been mentioned even once in the original story.
But he had clearly said it just now. And with a warm smile on his lips, no less.
Perhaps interpreting my blank expression in his own way, he gave a bitter smile and spoke.
“Come to think of it, we’ve never talked about this before. Is there anything you’re curious about regarding your mother?”
At that, I slowly chose my words. Leios’s mother was not a particularly important element, but I was personally curious. After all, even in the original work, it only said she was a maiden from some village.
“What happened to my mother?”
The chances were slim, but whether she was still alive, or what kind of death she had met.
At my words, the Emperor gave a small nod and spoke.
“I first met your mother more than twenty years ago. At the time, I hadn’t even decided on my consort yet, so I was still in the prime of my youth.”
More than twenty years ago—meaning it was even before Carius or Darius were born. I had assumed it was merely a dalliance while he was already living with his current wife.
“I had heard the phrase ‘love at first sight,’ but I never believed it. After all, my consort had to be chosen according to my father’s will. But the moment we saw each other, we fell in love at first sight and were quickly dyed in each other’s colors.”
It was a lyrical way of speaking that did not suit his image. Before I knew it, Petra was completely engrossed in the Emperor’s love story, and Nepe, his close aide, kept nodding with her eyes closed, wearing a nostalgic expression as if reminiscing about those days.
“That might have been the happiest moment in my otherwise colorless life. Perhaps it was because I carried that memory in my heart that I was able to rise to this position.”
“Then my mother…….”
“Because of the difference in status, I had no choice but to marry another woman. But she never abandoned me until the very end. She eventually gave birth to you, but her health deteriorated due to a long-standing illness, and she passed away.”
The Emperor said that he made time now and then to go see her. As she grew thinner by the day, he used all manner of rare elixirs, but the lifespan decreed by the heavens could not be defied, and in the end, she closed her eyes.
“But your mother said she was happy until the moment she died. Because she met me and bore the fruit that was you.”
As he said this, a bitter emotion seeped deeply into the Emperor’s voice.
He knew it as well. How could someone dying of illness truly be happy?
It was merely wrapped in the name of love so as not to burden the beloved and the child who would be left behind with guilt.
“There is a grave in the territory I gave you, so go pay your respects at least once. She is still the one who gave birth to you, is she not. I will have someone tell you the location.”
“I will heed your words.”
“Now then, let’s end the old stories here. The reason I called you today was to speak of future matters.”
“Future matters, you say?”
When Petra cautiously spoke up, Emperor Gilgamesh grinned and nodded.
“I hear the two of you even went on a trip together in secret. It puts my mind at ease to see that your relationship has progressed more than I thought.”
“…….”
At the single word ‘trip,’ Petra’s face flushed red in an instant. The same was true for me. The trip he mentioned must have referred to when Petra and I set out together for the Temple of Darkness.
At that time, she had thrown her entire self at me, and we had shared a deep relationship. I knew that the Emperor’s eyes were lurking everywhere, but I never imagined he would have grasped even that.
“It’s something to be congratulated when people grow closer.”
There was a sense of relief in the Emperor’s tone. Given that he himself had been forced into an unwanted marriage by those above him, he likely did not want to impose the same on his children.
To begin with, the engagement with the Leipzig family had been Leios’s own decision. To survive, he needed a shield, and the Leipzig family needed Leios’s name to rise again.
It was a relationship formed by matching interests, but the Emperor seemed pleased with how we had turned out.
“I’d like to push forward with the marriage right away if I could, but you have your brothers, and you’re still attending the Academy.”
“Is there any need to rush it that much?”
When I asked cautiously, Petra cast me a sidelong glance. At that, the Emperor lightly tapped the table and spoke.
“As you know as well, the current situation on the continent is anything but calm. The matter of demons and Majin announced by the Holy Kingdom is a problem in its own right, but those who call themselves great powers are also flailing about.”
He frowned slightly, as if displeased by it. To be honest, it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but from the Emperor’s perspective, their movements must have been irritating.
“All things have their time. Well, you still have several years before graduating from the Academy, so discuss it and talk things through thoroughly.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
After taking a sip of tea to clear his throat, the Emperor looked at me again.
“You said you would be participating in the gathering being held in the Sword Saint’s territory this time.”
“Yes. Since it’s a gathering being hosted by my master in name.”
When I shrugged, implying it wasn’t entirely my own will, the Emperor let out a hearty laugh.
“Go and see many people. Various figures who lead each nation of the continent gather there. Sometimes, just mingling with them is enough to take away fragments of that experience.”
“I’ll suck them dry down to the marrow without leaving a single thing.”
Since the Emperor was in a good mood, I tossed in a joke of my own, and Petra, still smiling, lightly jabbed my side with her elbow.
Thinking my confident joke might have fallen flat, I grew slightly dejected, but Nepe, who had been standing behind the Emperor, turned her head while covering her twitching mouth.
When I looked at Petra as if asking how it was, she let out a sigh and shook her head with an exasperated expression.
“Now then, let’s stop with the trivial talk here. I was thinking of asking about things like heroes and demons, but it no longer matters.”
I felt that the latter was the more important agenda, but if that was what the Emperor thought, then so be it. In any case, the Chancellor and his close aides below would surely be on guard and handle it on their own.
“I will come to see you once more before the vacation ends.”
“Do as you please.”
Though he said that, the upward curl of his lips suggested he was pleased that I said I would come again.
After bowing in farewell, I left the audience chamber with Petra and headed back toward my palace.
“…He seems very different from the image I had, somehow.”
Petra murmured cautiously, and I nodded in agreement.
“Up until the last time I met him, he wasn’t nearly that gentle. It’s probably because you were with me.”
“Because I was with you?”
Petra smiled lightly. When she first learned she would have to attend an audience together with me, she had seemed very tense, but now she looked somewhat relieved.
However, she soon spoke to me with a darkened expression.
“But if what you said is true…….”
“Yes. Father will collapse before long.”
I didn’t know the reason. Whether the other Imperial Princes had made a move, whether enemy nations had schemed, or whether demon or Majin forces were involved.
I didn’t know why such a robust Emperor would lose consciousness and collapse, but one thing was certain: it was bound to happen.
Because of that, the Empire would split into four or five factions, giving other kingdoms that had been lying in wait an opening to move.
Of course, it would later reunite with the appearance of the gate to the Demonic Realm, but until then, countless wars would break out.
“Then maybe…….”
Petra stopped in her tracks and began to speak. Since I could guess what she was about to say, I quietly shook my head.
“That is a future that cannot be altered. Something that must happen, and must happen. Because through it, we have to move further forward.”
Right now, the Emperor was clearly favorable toward us. But if he remained firm indefinitely, the Empire would not fracture, and I would be unable to build an independent power base.
If things had gone smoothly like that, it would have been easier to lead a victory in the war against the Demonic Realm, but since it would mean going against the flow of the original work, there was no telling how the effect of absolute plausibility or its backlash might come into play.
‘I can’t afford to grow soft. Just taking care of the people around me is already more than enough.’
It wasn’t as though I had never considered it, but since it was unrealistic, I had given up early on.
“…I see.”
At my words, Petra nodded heavily. When I lightly grasped her hand to thank her for following my thinking, she responded with a small smile and leaned her body toward my side.
“Don’t worry. I won’t lose a single thing that’s mine.”
“…Leios.”
Petra looked at me with moist eyes. In response, I gently stroked her glossy red hair and quietly pressed my lips to her forehead.
“Khm.”
However, perhaps because we were too focused on each other, Petra and I failed to notice Nepe following behind us out of the audience chamber for a short while.
“…….”
“…….”
Having shown such an embarrassing sight to him, we snapped back to our senses as if burned, and with reddened faces, quickly headed toward my palace.