Imperial Palace, Seraph
Within the grandeur of the palace, the Third Princess Lobelia was preparing for a dinner with the Emperor alongside the Sixth Prince Valen.
“Sister, do you think I’ll be able to win Father’s favor?”
“If you stand tall with confidence, I’m sure Father won’t find fault with you.”
It was Valen’s first time eating with the Emperor.
Gaining even a moment of the Emperor’s time was no easy feat.
And the reason the Emperor had chosen to hold a dinner with his children was simple.
“…I didn’t think Father even knew it was my birthday.”
Today was the Sixth Prince’s tenth birthday.
A dinner banquet to which all imperial family members were invited.
The Emperor who had never even shown his face on previous birthdays had personally arranged a banquet to celebrate Valen’s birthday. This made the occasion all the more meaningful.
Unfortunately, aside from Lobelia, the other siblings had already informed in advance that they would not be attending, so it was likely to be a quiet affair…
To be able to be with Father…
The great conqueror.
Just the chance to eat dinner with His Majesty the Emperor was an immense honor for Valen.
“He remembers everything. He hasn’t forgotten you. But… I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing.”
Lobelia gently stroked the nervous Valen’s hair.
Today marked a turning point in his life.
For the Emperor’s children, turning ten held that kind of meaning.
Many things would change after tonight’s dinner.
“His Majesty says the time has come and asks that you head to the dining hall.”
“We’ll go at once.”
Lobelia nodded at the servant who had come to deliver the message.
“Valen, don’t forget what I told you. Keep your guard up at all times. If you make even a single mistake…”
“Don’t worry, Sister. I know this isn’t just about seeing me…. it’s a test from Father.”
“…Good. I believe in you.”
Lobelia gave a nod and headed to the banquet hall with Valen.
The young Valen’s face was stiff with tension, but he entered the hall with confidence, without hesitation.
As Lobelia watched him, she slowly turned her head.
“Welcome.”
The Emperor was seated before a table overflowing with a lavish feast. He greeted them with a warm, almost human smile.
Flaming red hair that looked as though it could ignite at any moment and piercing golden eyes that seemed capable of devouring even beasts.
He didn’t look like a man who had lived for over a hundred years.
And as he smiled broadly at the two of them—
Yes, that man was truly…
“We greet Your Majesty.”
The Emperor of the Empire.
Abraham Vicious von Miltonia.
He was a man who overwhelmed others merely by being present.
It felt like being submerged in the deep sea. They felt an intangible, crushing pressure.
There was no hostility, no killing intent. He merely showed interest. But even that alone made it hard for Valen to breathe.
“Haa… haa…”
Valen trembled.
He wanted to run away that very moment.
But…
“We… We greet Your Majesty.”
He did not forget Lobelia’s words.
In the end, Valen overcame the pressure and met Abraham’s gaze.
He was an imperial member. A prince of the Empire.
So he stood his ground with dignity.
“Hmm.”
The Emperor seemed pleased by this and gave a slight nod.
With that, the oppressive aura that had been weighing on Valen lightened somewhat.
Only then could Valen catch his breath and step forward.
“Lobelia, it’s been a while. How are your studies progressing?”
“Thanks to Your Majesty’s grace, I’ve been making steady progress.”
“Good. Continue your efforts.”
After exchanging some formal words with Lobelia, Abraham turned to the true guest of honor at the table…. Valen.
“And Valen. Happy birthday. You’re now a full-fledged member of the imperial family.”
“I am unworthy of such grace, Your Majesty.”
“No need to be so stiff. Just stay reasonably alert and feel at ease.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Then, let us all sit. We can talk more over the meal.”
With a light chuckle, Abraham gestured for the still-standing Valen and Lobelia to sit.
Valen sat directly across from the Emperor, while Lobelia took the seat beside him.
Thus began the dinner for just the three of them.
***
To Valen’s surprise, eating with Abraham wasn’t as uncomfortable as he’d feared.
Just as Lobelia had said.
Though Abraham appeared indifferent toward his children, in reality, he paid them great attention.
“I heard you took first place in the horseback riding tournament. I also heard it was your first time competing. Didn’t you feel any pressure?”
“No, I simply enjoyed riding with the horse.”
“I see. On the battlefield, a horse is the one you must trust the most and entrust your life to. I’m glad to hear that you’ve already come to understand that, despite your young age.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“Hahaha! Is that something to thank me for? You’re the one who did well. There’s no need to thank me for every little thing. Even if you had my support, the results came from your own efforts.”
“…Yes!”
Abraham was more emperor-like and more human than Valen had expected.
Valen began to grow lively, forgetting the fear he had once felt toward Abraham.
Abraham too seemed pleased by Valen’s change in demeanor. He drank cheerfully.
As the mood warmed,
Abraham asked in a tone more serious than before.
“By the way, Valen. Now that you’ve turned ten this year, you do understand that you’ll be competing with your siblings, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then, as you compete with them, what kind of emperor do you wish to become?”
“…I want to become an emperor for all people.”
Valen swallowed dryly.
Some might say it was a naive answer. Even Lobelia, who had supported and cared for him, had once given a wry smile at that dream.
Would he be scolded? Would the emperor rebuke him?
Valen waited anxiously for Abraham’s response.
“That will be a difficult path. The empire has grown so vast that even I struggle to manage it. The ‘all people’ you speak of are unimaginably numerous and diverse. Can you truly say you’ll be able to embrace them all?”
“Perhaps I can’t say that with certainty. But I intend to keep striving toward that goal without giving up.”
“Hummm…”
Naive.
However, Abraham didn’t find Valen’s answer all that bad.
“Indeed. Without dreams, a person cannot move forward. I’ll be looking forward to the day you rise above your siblings and reach this seat.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Abraham smiled gently.
In truth, he didn’t care what kind of ideals the next emperor might have. After all, he himself had become the emperor who conquered the world.
If anything, one should at least have a dream that grand.
The greater the dream, the more one can strive toward it.
Abraham stared at the wine glass in his hand for a moment before setting it down.
The proof was sufficient.
“Valen, I’ve left a gift for your nanny. Take it with you after the meal.”
“Y-Yes…!”
Valen realized then. He had been acknowledged by Abraham.
And in that very moment—
Thud!
Valen’s head burst open.
A knife was embedded where his head had just been.
He likely never even realized he was dying.
Sitting directly across from him, Abraham spoke to the servant beside him with an indifferent expression.
“Bring me a new knife.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Abraham took the new knife from the servant and, without pause, began cutting the meat on his plate.
“Do you think I was wrong?”
The question was directed at Lobelia.
She stood frozen with her arm outstretched toward empty air.
She had probably tried to catch the knife Abraham had thrown.
But the sudden ambush had left her no time to react.
The flames coiled around her wrist had prevented her from stopping it.
Emperor Abraham had not allowed Lobelia to intervene.
However…
“…No, Your Majesty was right.”
Valen had been capable of responding.
Abraham had launched an ambush that, if nothing else, Valen could have handled.
Valen died because he let his guard down in the final moment.
“For someone saying that, your eyes look like you want to kill me right now.”
Abraham glanced sideways at Lobelia’s vacant expression, then let out a faint laugh.
“You know it too, don’t you? This was mercy. Valen wouldn’t have survived in this ruthless imperial family.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
“Dying peacefully now was probably the better outcome for him.”
Valen died with a dream in his heart.
Abraham thought perhaps that was for the best.
Clinging to dreams that exceeded one’s level could only lead to ruin.
That’s how it was in this imperial household.
Without power, you couldn’t survive. And even a moment’s lapse would cost you what you held dear.
From the moment you were recognized as an imperial member at age ten, no one could protect you.
That’s why he killed him. To see if Valen had the strength to protect that dream.
Unfortunately, Valen failed the test.
“You understand too, don’t you, Lobelia? You’ve already been through what Valen would have had to face. You never should’ve planted dreams in him. You never should’ve shown him warmth.”
You should’ve planted poison instead.
You should have broken that dreamy, innocent boy named Valen.
If you truly wished for him to survive, that would have been the only way.
“The First Prince abandoned his ideals in pursuit of a dream, and the Second Prince abandoned his dream and became a monster in pursuit of his ideals.”
The First Prince even relinquished the title of Crown Prince and left the imperial family.
The Second Prince, on the other hand, threw everything away to obtain the title of Crown Prince.
“So what about you, Lobelia? You, the only princess daring to challenge imperial authority… which side do you think you’re closer to?”
Lobelia chose compromise.
She decided to pursue her ideals without abandoning her convictions.
Some would call her half-hearted. Others would call her contradictory.
And Emperor Abraham said this:
“If you don’t break, you’ll be the next emperor, Lobelia.”
He said she was the one most suited for the throne.
“Of course…”
The Emperor let out a soft laugh and looked at Lobelia again.
“But you still have some immaturity left. You’ll need to fix that first.”
Lobelia was already throwing a punch at Abraham.
***
There was no battle.
The gap between them was too wide for a fight to even take place.
Abraham looked at the bloodied Lobelia and smiled.
“That was a shame.”
Lobelia had held back well.
It was Abraham who had pushed her to attack, slowly needling her nerves.
If she had held out just a little longer, he would have given her a passing grade.
“You still resemble the First Prince more. Though your skills fall far short.”
Of course, it would’ve been better if she had shown the talent to surpass even Abraham himself.
But she failed on both counts.
“Know that this too was mercy.”
With those words, Abraham left the banquet hall.
“……”
Lobelia who was lying in a pool of blood quietly clenched her fist.
She was furious.
Her own helplessness, having ended up like this without lifting a single finger, was unbearable.
The gap between them had been far too great.
Squelch!
Lobelia weakly pushed herself up from the puddle of blood.
The surviving siblings might laugh at her.
Even she would.
“So stupid.”
She was the first to mock herself.
She had no strength, no skill.
The only reason she was still alive was because, as Abraham had said, he had shown her mercy.
She had survived by clinging to that mercy.
Thud!
Lobelia struck a pillar with her fist, then staggered out of the banquet hall.
As she stumbled out, she spotted a figure standing in the corridor.
“P-Prince Valen, he…”
It was the nanny of the Sixth Prince, Valen.
She was holding a sword that looked to have been bestowed by the Emperor.
She clutched it tightly to her chest, as if it were something precious and was guarding it like a treasure.
It was a fine weapon. At the very least, it meant Abraham had truly meant to celebrate Valen’s birthday.
If Valen had managed to fend off Abraham’s surprise attack, he would be standing there now, smiling, accepting that sword.
The thought that such a possibility had once existed tightened around Lobelia’s heart.
Lobelia spoke briefly.
“He’s dead.”
“Ah…”
The nanny trembled.
The imperial gift she held to her chest now felt like Valen’s corpse.
Leaving behind Valen’s nanny, who had finally collapsed to her knees in sobs, Lobelia staggered forward.
She had to become Emperor.
Lobelia reaffirmed her resolve.
***
After locking Stan Robinhood away somewhere in the underground prison, I finally returned to the cradle.
Ha… I guess this is just how things are now. I was constantly being dragged outside.
Should I go to class first? No, I think I’m already too late… maybe I should just head straight to the workshop?
Come on, it’s not like I’ll get held back just for skipping a day or two.
Yeah, I’ll just go straight to the workshop.
“Hmm?”
That’s when I noticed someone nearby.
Another student skipping class? Well, I guess that makes sense.
It’s not like the world is full of perfect students.
Feeling a strange sense of kinship, I thought I might at least take a look at her face, so I walked closer.
“……”
She looked familiar.
She was also the last person I wanted to run into at the cradle right now.
Lobelia Vicious von Miltonia.
She was leaning against a bench with her whole body wrapped in bandages.
“Hmm.”
I naturally turned and began walking in the other direction.
I could take the long way to the workshop. Nothing wrong with getting some fresh air now and then.
“Johan Damus.”
“Yes.”
“Stop and turn around.”
“Yes.”
“You haven’t gone to class, so you must have plenty of free time. Mind having a quick chat?”
“Oh, time is something I have in abundance. Of course, Your Highness.”
Damn it. Bad luck.
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