Chapter 330
Chapter: 330
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 330
>Chapter Title: No. 21's Days (6)
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>“This isn't your fault. You were just keeping an eye on Kaien's antics and reining him in, but that boy arbitrarily decided it was hostility directed at him.”
The Holy Emperor added the words like a consolation, but No. 21 couldn't bring himself to lift his head.
He had believed without a doubt that his presence was necessary, yet it had ended up giving Kaien a pretext to turn his blade toward the Holy Emperor.
“I... then what should I...”
“Leave things here to the Asen branch, and you return to the capital right now.”
“...!”
He absolutely could not do that!
Leave that mad bastard alone with the Holy Emperor?!
No. 21 clamped his mouth shut stubbornly. But deep down, he knew full well that there was no other way.
In the end, there was nothing he could do about Kaien, so it was right for the cause of his mischief to disappear.
Just as the corporal punishments had lessened and so had the antics, he hoped that feeding poison to his father would naturally decrease as well.
“Your Majesty, I...”
Even so, as No. 21 hesitated, the Holy Emperor gazed down at him for a moment and changed his tone, issuing a low command.
“Enrique. Let me say it once more: this isn't your fault, nor is it something for you to worry about. So return to the capital now.”
The Holy Emperor was always like this. After No. 21 had officially begun his work as an assassin, at first it seemed like he was treating him the same as the other guild members.
But whenever he let his guard down or something urgent came up, the tone from when he had coaxed and scolded the young Kike would slip out immediately.
At first, he thought it was because they had spent so much time together. But now, in this situation, he had no choice but to realize it bone-deep.
To the Holy Emperor, No. 21 was not a full-fledged informant but still just a green kid who needed looking after.
No. 21 gave up completely.
“I shall obey your command. I will return to the capital and await you. But Your Majesty, if things continue like this, you...”
Even as he rose to his feet, No. 21 couldn't bring himself to step away. Toward him, the Holy Emperor continued calmly, as if to reassure him.
“Don't worry too much about Kaien. You already suspect it, don't you? That this end is predetermined.”
“...!”
“If I can no longer handle Kaien in the end, then at the very least, for that child's sake, I will have to make the best choice a father can. I am prepared for that.”
No. 21's eyes trembled faintly.
In truth, every time he came to this mansion, he always had such thoughts.
-I wish I could just cut down that madman tormenting you right now.
Perhaps the hostility that Kaien had sensed was exactly that.
But when the words he had been waiting for finally came from the Holy Emperor's mouth, the weight of that despair crushed him, making him feel like he would suffocate on the spot.
“Your Majesty. That is...”
Toward No. 21, who stuttered with a twisted face, the Holy Emperor lifted the corner of his mouth faintly.
It was an expression resembling the precarious smile he always showed when young Kike gave a wrong answer long ago.
“It's already something that can't be undone. The karma of the world always flows that way. So you needn't grieve so much over that child's future.”
* * *
After No. 21 departed like that.
Surrounded by guild members with somewhat dazed looks in their eyes, father and son quietly shared their mealtime.
The Holy Emperor merely kept his seat without touching the utensils, but for some reason, Kaien no longer pressed him to eat.
“So that guy just left in the end? He didn't hold out as long as I thought. How boring...”
As the boy opened his mouth with a somewhat relieved expression, the Holy Emperor sternly admonished him.
“Kaien. It's a grave breach of manners to speak with food in your mouth.”
“Oh, right. Got it.”
Kaien nodded obediently and diligently chewed and swallowed his food.
Munch, munch, gulp.
“...Was there really any need to push him that far?”
After waiting for the boy's mouth to be completely empty, the Holy Emperor posed the question.
At that, Kaien scowled deeply, glaring at the Holy Emperor with displeasure.
“Of course! That guy's such an arrogant prick. He was always grumbling whenever he saw me, like he couldn't understand why someone like me had to be Dad's son!”
“...”
There was no way Enrique had openly said such things. It was just that Kaien could easily pick up on the voices of others' souls, so his hidden feelings had been exposed without his knowledge.
“And that's not all! Once I started tormenting Dad, he was dying to devour me! Isn't that insane? Dad is mine, not that guy's?!”
“It's his duty to protect my person.”
“What? Don't make me laugh! Do you even know how that guy's soul looks at Dad?”
Having shouted that, Kaien pursed his lips openly, still feeling upset even thinking about it again.
“Besides, that guy somehow reminds me of that Aslan jerk! You know, that annoying guy who kept getting in my way back in the mountain village.”
“...”
“He's always poking around the mansion, messing up everything! And his skills are annoyingly good, so it's not easy to mess with his soul either. Of course, Dad always stepped in to block me whenever I tried...”
Up to there, Kaien spoke, then suddenly narrowed his eyes as if realizing something anew.
“Ah, right! Come to think of it, the way Dad keeps him glued to his side feels just like with Aslan...”
“...”
“Yeah, I really don't like that guy! I should've just sent him packing properly!”
The Holy Emperor gazed at the table without particular retort. Precisely, at the bottle of black poison blatantly placed right in front of him.
Enrique had ordered it removed at once, but the moment he was gone, it had returned to the table as if nothing happened. Proof that most of the guild members in the mansion now followed Kaien's orders.
“That'll do. It must have wounded him deeply, so how about we put him out of your mind now.”
At that, a smirk—
Kaien, who had been sipping a drink as a mouthwash, let out a sneer.
“Hold on? Wounded? Dad shouldn't say things like that. The one who meekly ate the poison I gave him right in front of that guy was you, wasn't it?”
“...”
“No, wait. Did you need a pretext to completely remove that guy from here?”
Muttering that, Kaien furrowed his brow and sank into thought.
“You're so hard to figure out, Dad. You seem so obvious sometimes, but then so tricky. Whenever you do something, your goals are never just one, so even I get confused sometimes.”
“Dad's soul clearly says it wants to atone to me. And that it would do anything to heal my soul. Souls never lie, so I just thought that was it...”
“But at the same time, you're trying to protect that arrogant jerk too? You willingly joined in tormenting him just to make me lose interest faster. And the moment you judged the timing right, you shipped him far away. How's that? Am I wrong?”
The Holy Emperor did not bother denying it. It was the same for both of them.
Kaien also had a tendency to pursue multiple goals at once whenever he did something.
The boy desperately wanted to torment the Holy Emperor, and he quickly realized that he detested meals—especially poison—above all else. At the same time, he hoped to torment Enrique and drive him far away.
It wasn't just that he disliked Enrique; above all, he was a hindrance to bending the guild members to his will.
The outward expressions differed, but in the end, father and son shared similarities in their ways of thinking.
Clink.
The Holy Emperor picked up the black bottle with one hand and quietly opened his mouth.
“Whether he's here or not doesn't seem all that important. The 'problem' remaining for us is unchanged, and this 'treatment,' though temporary, is effective.”
“True enough.”
“Then what will you do? Is this all you plan to have me consume today?”
At that, Kaien paused a moment before shaking his head side to side.
“Eh, that's enough for today. Somehow, now that he's gone, it doesn't feel as appealing? And Dad doesn't seem as sad as before, so it's no fun anymore.”
“...”
“Anyway, if I ask you to eat it, you'll do it anytime, right Dad?”
Kaien, who had asked that without waiting for a reply, confidently lifted the corner of his mouth. It was a strangely endearing sight, the smile of a child who knew nothing of human bonds.
“Yeah. You have to do that for me, Dad. After all, you stole my one and only mom, Marta, from me?”
“That woman's soul has entered eternal rest safely. I didn't steal her. Now, no one can possess her soul or disturb her peace.”
“...What? What does that even mean?”
Kaien tilted his head.
“Eternal rest? What's that got to do with anything?”
“It means a great deal, at least to her soul.”
“That's nonsense! Marta is my mom, not yours. She should have become completely mine in death! So why did you dispose of her soul on your own whim? You have no right to do that!”
No one has the right to possess another's soul.
But instead of preaching that, the Holy Emperor spoke to soothe the sulking child.
“Very well. You don't need poison today, then. So what would you have me do now?”
At that, Kaien fixed his pitch-black eyes on the Holy Emperor for a moment, then answered as if giving in reluctantly.
“Just play some chess or something today.”
“Chess? Didn't you say it wasn't fun the other day?”
“Hmm. Yeah, but...”
Trailing off, Kaien shrugged and flashed a wicked little smile.
“Seeing Dad's soul recoil in disgust is pretty entertaining. Win or lose the game, the very fact that we're playing means I've already won, right?”
“...”
* * *
The imperial palace office.
As noon arrived, the head steward, who had been about to prepare tea as always, received an abrupt halt from the Holy Emperor.
“Wait, Louis.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“...”
Gazing at the old man who bowed politely, the Holy Emperor fell silent for a moment.
Every day, this man poured his utmost effort into brewing the finest Melbourne for him, who never touched food. His devotion was touching, so he rarely turned it away.
'But it just doesn't appeal to me.'
To be honest, lately, whether beverage or food, he had no desire to put anything in his mouth. Just looking at it made him feel like the metallic stench of blood was wafting from his nose.
So he was about to say it.
“Louis, for the time being, the tea...”
Had he not sensed a familiar presence racing toward him from afar like an arrow.
Ah, come to think of it, that child quite liked Melbourne.
“No, forget I said that. Could you prepare an extra cup of tea today?”
“Yes. As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Not long after Louis left the office—
Thud thud thud thud!
Sure enough, someone was rushing toward the office at a near-run. It was his carefree son, who always brought trouble in his wake.
“Father!”
Bang!
The child flung open the door confidently and strode toward him, thrusting forward a small box in one hand.
“Take a look at this! Do you know what this is?”
Glancing down, an elegantly packaged small lunchbox caught his eye.
“It looks just like a lunchbox.”
“Yes, exactly! A cherry salmon specialty shop finally opened in the capital today! It's the historic first venture of Bertrand & Lee!”
Right. Now that he thought about it, there had been such a proposal.
He had expected difficulties due to lack of profitability, but this child, who excelled at pursuing only what interested him, had somehow carved out a cherry salmon supply route.
“Well done. You worked hard.”
“Haha, no big deal. But get this—our restaurant's already the talk of the capital. Reservations are lined up for days! Of course, it's thanks to plastering massive ad banners everywhere a few days ago!”
His son's explanation went roughly like this.
-Indulge in the freshness delivered by cutting-edge refrigerated carriages. Fresh cherry salmon certified by Ortona locals! The very taste praised by His Holiness the Holy Emperor! Friendly cuisine and delicious service staff!
Listening to the ad slogans his son proudly recited left him dumbfounded. Above all, the 'His Holiness the Holy Emperor' who had supposedly praised the taste hadn't even sampled it yet.
When he pointed that out, his son grinned carefree and began unwrapping the lunchbox himself.
“So I packed the very first one for Father right after opening. You haven't eaten yet, right?”
“...”
“Come on, give it a try.”
Soon, a neatly arranged cherry salmon steak appeared in the small box.
But the Holy Emperor couldn't gaze at it with peace of mind. The mere thought of eating something brought a wave of nausea that made him feel like choking.
'But...'
His son was staring at him with flushed cheeks full of excitement. He couldn't shatter that innocent anticipation with his own pathetic circumstances.
Hoping the boy wouldn't notice his revulsion, the Holy Emperor slowly placed a piece of cherry salmon in his mouth.
“...!”
At that instant, all the lingering thoughts remaining in the dish flooded into his mind.
-They'll buy cherry salmon from the Empire? Without haggling down the price like the Cyprus folks?
-Yeah. Enemy of the homeland or whatever, if it'll feed the family, there's no reason not to sell cherry salmon or whatever.
-Baa! Enough wandering, baa! Hurry and undo the merge, or all the contents will get messed up, baa!
Yet amid that chaotic jumble of thoughts, there was none of the thick malice he had always received through food until now.
-Give me the freshest, best cuts! This is going straight to the palace!
-How should we prepare this, Your Highness?
-What's your most confident dish? Let's start with a basic yet delicious signature menu!
Surprisingly, the various thoughts from the cooking process carried no association with the foul stench of blood.
-The day has finally come! I thought I'd have to give up on this once.
And the emotions his son had felt while carrying this to the office were solely immense joy and a sense of accomplishment—nothing more.
Finally emerging from those myriad thoughts, what remained in his mouth was just the crisp outer crust and the savory, tender flesh within.
No nausea whatsoever.
“...Delicious.”
At the words that slipped out naturally, his son beamed radiantly.
“Haha, I knew it! I knew this would be perfect for your taste!”
“Yes.”
It suited his palate astonishingly well. Just like the foods he had freely savored long ago, wandering the continent.
As he savored another piece, immersed in that strange emotion, his son scooped some sauce for him and continued.
“You can look forward to more from now on. I'll bring something even better tomorrow! I even brought in the most famous cherry salmon chef from Cyprus?”
Soon, his son rattled off every possible dish—grilled, braised, smoked fillets, and more. Even the Holy Emperor, who prided himself on having tried cherry salmon before, felt dizzy at the variety.
But as his boasting son chattered on endlessly, he suddenly dropped an outrageous bombshell with smug pride!
“Haha, now that you've tasted it, even Sir Valerie can't complain anymore, right?”
“...Sir Valerie.”
“Yes. That delinquent inquisitor from the monster task force. He was yammering on about how using His Holiness the Holy Emperor—God's proxy—for false advertising is 'heresy' and 'blasphemy.' He was so loud all day, I thought I'd die.”
“...!”
“I stuffed a piece of cherry salmon in his mouth to shut him up, but it felt like a waste of ingredients. Gotta get full value for a proper serving now.”
The Holy Emperor was momentarily speechless. Sir Valerie, no less—and he hadn't been hauled off to a heresy trial yet? What luck.
To fabricate the words of 'God's proxy' no less. Well done daring to do that in front of the hidden power of the Inquisition, my son!