From Enemy to Companion (6)
“Today I heard you were having tea, so I came right away. Since you’re not working anyway, I didn’t think I needed to go through the attendants. Was I wrong?”
“You weren’t wrong, but it was rude. Extremely rude.”
“Come on, Father. Why are you like this? I’m the crown prince. How could I possibly—”
The crown prince’s smiling face suddenly twisted into something ugly.
“How could I possibly, after more than thirty years, Father!”
The ear-splitting roar confirmed it.
The crown prince’s hysteria had reached its peak and driven him mad.
Otherwise, no one would dare raise their voice before the ruler of the strongest nation in the world.
No matter how much of a son he was, this crossed every line.
Yet even faced with a son who had gone beyond mere insolence into outright madness, the Emperor…
“Helmut, this is not a private conversation between you and me. Lower your voice.”
“Do I look like I can lower my voice right now? I’ve spent over thirty years as nothing but the crown prince!”
“I’m sorry.”
‘He definitely just said he was sorry.’
“If you’re sorry, then get out of here already!”
Only after saying everything he wanted did Helmut look around.
His gaze landed on Irinid first.
“Who the hell are you to be standing here?”
“I greet the Little Sun of the Empire. Forgive my late greeting. I am Irinid von Reichland, daughter of Ereia von Reichland.”
“Ereia’s daughter? Who was that again?”
When Helmut failed to recognize the name, an attendant quickly whispered in his ear.
“Ah, so she’s the girl with mixed blood. No wonder I didn’t know her.”
For a moment, Irinid’s eyes trembled.
Helmut had just called her mother, a member of the imperial family, “the girl with mixed blood.”
But he wasn’t wrong. Ereia had not been born to the Empress.
Irinid kept her head bowed, refusing to lift it.
She didn’t want anyone to see how tightly she was biting her lip.
Then—
“You’re rather pretty, though.”
Helmut rudely grabbed Irinid’s chin and forced her face up.
His eyes raked over her face and body with blatant interest.
“How old are you?”
“Helmut!”
The Emperor finally raised his voice.
Helmut remained indifferent.
“Are you going to shout at me? Really?”
“No matter how much of a libertine you are, don’t lay a hand on your own blood. She’s my precious granddaughter.”
“Her blood has already been mixed once, so she isn’t a true member of the imperial family. So what does it matter? Hey, you. Want to rise in status? It’s simple. Just spend one night in bed with me—”
“That’s enough.”
Helmut’s gaze turned toward the speaker.
The speaker was me.
I couldn’t stay silent any longer.
“Who are you?”
“I am Erewon von Soleil, Prince of Solea.”
“Solea? Ah, I know that country. It’s a dog-like nation. A hunting dog that has to fight whenever we tell it to.”
It wasn’t wrong, but I had to admire Helmut’s sense of timing.
To pick words that provoked people this thoroughly.
“I only just heard the rumors about Your Highness the Crown Prince. They say you’ve maintained the lofty position of crown prince for over thirty years.”
“What? You little bastard, what did you just say?”
“I merely wished to express my condolences.”
The face that had been so relaxed while harassing Irinid now twisted completely.
I was very satisfied.
But…
“Die!”
I hadn’t expected Helmut to draw his sword and swing it at me so immediately.
“Well, this is troublesome.”
I dodged lightly.
Helmut’s blade missed me, but the chair I had been sitting on was cleanly sliced in half.
‘He’s not as unskilled as I thought.’
Still, he was beneath me.
Helmut kept swinging at me, and I simply kept dodging without difficulty.
“You rat! Stop running! Fight me properly!”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. How could I possibly draw my sword against Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
“I’ll kill you no matter what!”
The sight of a middle-aged man, the crown prince no less, swinging a sword while completely out of his mind was deeply unsightly.
It was an excellent example of exactly what I never wanted to become, no matter how old I grew.
But I couldn’t let him keep swinging forever.
So I subtly changed the direction of my dodges.
Each step I took backward brought me closer to the Emperor.
“Y-Your Highness Helmut! Please stop!”
The first to realize what was happening was the attendant, who cried out in alarm.
“Shut up! I’m going to kill this bastard!”
Irinid also tried to draw her sword in shock, but her hand only caught the hem of her dress where the weapon should have been.
“Grandfather! No—Your Majesty! Please get away!”
“No. It’s fine.”
The Emperor remained perfectly calm.
He simply continued sipping his tea as he watched me approach.
“Die, die! Die already!”
Then, when I was close enough—
“Well, this is troublesome.”
I drew my sword in one swift motion and swung it twice.
Helmut’s blade spun through the air several times before embedding itself in the floor.
“Aaaaargh!”
The first swing had struck the back of Helmut’s hand with the flat of my blade, forcing him to drop his sword. The second had sent the weapon flying far away.
“Y-You bastard. You were hiding your skill!”
“Of course I had to hide it. How could I possibly draw my sword against Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
“What are you all doing? This bastard dared to draw his sword on the crown prince of the Empire! Seize him at once!”
Yet none of the attendants moved to obey Helmut’s command.
“Do you all want your heads to roll? I said seize him!”
“That’s enough.”
The quiet voice belonged to the Emperor.
“Father? Didn’t you see? This bastard actually drew his sword on me—”
“It was to protect me.”
At those words, Helmut’s face went blank with shock.
I smiled and dropped to one knee before him.
“Please forgive me. I had no choice but to act when I drew too close to His Majesty the Emperor.”
One more line.
“As Commander of the 8th Division of the Imperial Knights, I had to protect His Majesty.”
“What? Commander of the Imperial Knights? Don’t talk nonsense. How could a green little brat like you become a division commander? I know all seven commanders personally. Where did you learn to lie like this?”
“Prince Erewon is telling the truth.”
Once again, the Emperor took my side without hesitation.
“We only just decided this right before you arrived. We’ve established an eighth division within the Imperial Knights, and Prince Erewon has been appointed its commander.”
“Hah…”
With the Emperor stating it so plainly, Helmut could only stare at me in hollow disbelief.
“I’ll let this go just this once. But the next time, I won’t forgive you. I’ll kill you for certain.”
Helmut delivered his one-sided sentence and left without another word.
He didn’t even offer his father a parting greeting.
Only after Helmut’s footsteps had faded completely did the Emperor let out a deep sigh.
“I showed you something unsightly, Commander. I’m sorry for indulging my immature son’s tantrum.”
“Please forgive my rudeness. I was the one who acted discourteously toward Your Majesty.”
“Using me to subdue Helmut? That, I don’t mind at all. Thanks to you, I feel quite refreshed. And once again, I’m impressed by you.”
The Emperor had seen straight through my intentions.
He rose from his seat and extended his hand for a handshake.
“I thought your little sister had the better head on her shoulders, but today I see I was mistaken.”
“You flatter me.”
“No. I quite like your methods. If there’s something you want, you’ll use any means necessary to obtain it.”
“In the end, it can’t be called entirely honorable or clean.”
“I don’t think so. You don’t seem the type to resort to truly dirty methods. Even though you used a rather forceful approach, I remained unharmed. You’ll do whatever it takes to get what you want, yet both the means and the result stay clean. That’s what I admire about you.”
My chest tightened.
Since regressing, only three people had truly acknowledged me.
My father, who had offered me the throne. My sister Lua, who had sworn to become a king for my sake.
And now, the Emperor was the third.
The Emperor had once tried to destroy Solea, and might try again in the future.
Yet even knowing that…
“I look forward to working with you from now on. My knight. Commander of the 8th Division.”
Right now, the Emperor truly looked like an emperor.
* * *
“I didn’t expect you to assign the escort duty to me.”
The Emperor had instructed that Irinid accompany us on the way out of the palace.
At the time, he had said:
“This isn’t a request. It’s an order. As a knight, you will escort the lady. Ah, and one more thing.”
The old Emperor had added with a sly smile.
“Since the lady is wearing high heels, make sure you hold her hand properly.”
Holding Irinid’s hand, I could feel it clearly.
The lady was completely rigid.
“Are you uncomfortable, my lady?”
“Don’t call me ‘my lady’! It’s so awkward I could die!”
Her voice trembled as she struggled to contain her confusion.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny? Stop laughing.”
“It’s just that I find you quite impressive, Irinid.”
“Impressive? Me?”
“Yes. You manage your image so calmly in front of others. Even though you’re actually quite emotional and cry easily.”
“Don’t tease me. I still can’t sleep because I keep remembering how I bawled my eyes out in front of you.”
Irinid’s face flushed slightly with embarrassment.
She really was beautiful.
“I’m not teasing you. Everything I said today was true.”
“Huh? Everything was true? Then…”
Irinid trailed off.
“Which part do you want confirmed?”
“When you said I was beautiful. That wasn’t a lie either, right?”
As she spoke, Irinid looked up at me with shy eyes.
‘This… this is…’
Far too dangerous.