Chapter 410: The Eccentric(1)
Chapter 410: The Eccentric(1)
Perhaps because of the sheer scale of the Imperial Palace, the walk to the garden took longer than expected.
It felt several times larger than the palaces of Helium, Albenheim, or even the rival Ters Kingdom I had visited before.
According to Mari, the vastness of the territory required equally vast administrative departments. Since the laws differed for each estate and the lords were granted significant authority to simplify management, the reporting procedures for each region were naturally complex, leading to a proliferation of various departments. In fact, she said that what was visible to the eye was only a tiny fraction of the whole.
The White House or the Kremlin probably aren't even this big.
Even the presidential offices of the United States and Russia, famous for their terrifying landmasses, likely wouldn't be this large. In many ways, it was a scale truly befitting an 'Emperor.'
It wasn't an exaggeration to say the entire palace complex seemed to rival the size of our own territory. While our territory was small due to being underdeveloped, the palace was simply gargantuan.
"How much longer until we get there?"
"It should be about ten more minutes of walking. The garden is connected to the banquet hall."
When I asked Mari as we passed through a corridor lined with numerous statues, she told me there were still about ten minutes left.
I let out a breath of disbelief at the scale, which exceeded my imagination, and looked around. The place was so vast that the sound of our footsteps echoed throughout the entire hallway.
Along the edges stood the statues I mentioned earlier, arranged in neat rows. Whoever designed this, I wanted to praise their aesthetic sense.
The Ters Kingdom had a similar place, but it wasn't nearly this wide, nor did it have statues. It only had paintings.
Because of this, the Ters Kingdom was often mocked for supposedly imitating the Empire, while the Minerva Empire would retort by asking if they were even capable of producing something like this.
It would be nice to hold an exhibition in a place like this.
Of course, that would be difficult. It would probably be faster to just build a new building. According to what I heard from my father recently, something similar was already being pushed forward.
As I walked down the corridor, I took in the statues one by one. They were so lifelike they looked as if they might start moving at any moment.
Among them were some that made me wonder how they were even crafted from plaster. There was even a statue that depicted a net, something I had only heard about in rumors.
"…Aren't these Jin and Lily?"
There was even a statue depicting the poignant love between Jin and Lily. I pointed at one particular statue with a bewildered voice.
At first glance, it was just a man and a woman holding hands and leaning their faces toward each other.
However, the horns sprouting from the man's head identified him as a Demon, and the woman's attire was unmistakably that of a priestess.
A Demon man and a priestess woman. The probability of this combination existing before was near zero, so it had to be Jin and Lily.
"It looks like it, doesn't it? This statue wasn't here before. I guess they placed it recently."
"…What's the criteria for placing statues here?"
"Whatever His Imperial Majesty desires?"
"……"
I had a sinking feeling that things were royally screwed. Was the Emperor actually a fan of Jin and Lily?
I stared at the statue, which radiated a natural sense of longing, and then looked behind me. I wondered if there were any statues related to Xenon's Life on the opposite side.
Fortunately, there was a statue that looked roughly like Xenon. The problem, however, was that Xenon wasn't alone.
But he wasn't with the heroine, Mary, either. The person with him was none other than Kair.
Specifically, it was a statue of Xenon being beaten by Kair under the guise of training. Why on earth would they put something like that in here?
"So… His Imperial Majesty has… unique tastes?"
"Right? I can't exactly deny that."
Mari giggled as she answered, unable to disagree. Lina had once mentioned that, contrary to her philosophy of just aiming for the middle ground, the Emperor was an unpredictable person.
I wondered if these statues were related to the Emperor's personality. After that, we passed the statues and headed toward the end of the corridor.
At the end of the hallway was the banquet hall, but it was currently closed and couldn't be opened. Instead, taking the path next to it led straight out to the garden.
"But why is it so empty? Shouldn't there be people maintaining it or guards?"
"There's surveillance magic. If we touch a statue or do anything suspicious, an alarm will go off immediately. Even if someone neutralizes the surveillance magic, the knights will come rushing out. Besides, isn't it better that there are no people right now?"
I shrugged at Mari's question. It wouldn't have mattered much if I ran into someone who recognized me.
This wasn't the Academy; it was the Imperial Palace. A place where Demon worshippers could never hope to crawl into.
One shouldn't be careless, but they certainly wouldn't have ignored security entirely.
"I probably would have given them an autograph."
"An autograph? That person would be absolutely thrilled."
As we chatted, we eventually reached the end of the corridor. What greeted me there was a massive gate that nearly touched the ceiling.
I tilted my head all the way back to observe the gate in detail. It was inscribed with unique geometric patterns, and the banquet hall was likely spread out behind it.
Perhaps not in the immediate future, but I felt like I would see this door open someday. I would walk through it proudly, holding Mari's hand just as I was now.
While I was looking at it with such mixed emotions, I felt a gaze from the side and turned my head.
Mari was looking at me with a soft smile. Truly, her beauty was something I could never tire of, no matter how much I looked.
"…What?"
"You're just so handsome. Nom!"
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I asked quietly, and Mari bit my forearm in her characteristic display of affection. She even mumbled against my skin and gave it a little suck.
I responded to her cute behavior by stroking her hair. At that, Mari stopped biting and began rubbing her cheek against my arm.
After confirming our affection for each other for a moment, we immediately turned and headed toward the garden—our original destination and the place Mari had been so eager to visit.
"Oh…"
"What do you think? Isn't it exotic and beautiful?"
As expected, a beautiful garden unfolded before my eyes. At the same time, it was unexpected.
Usually, Western-style gardens incorporate geometric elements to match the theme of the structures, making their artificiality stand out.
However, the garden before me was not Western, but closer to an Oriental style.
It was a style that focused on expressing nature as it was, without transforming it.
Even Elodia, the palace of Albenheim, gave off an atmosphere of being integrated into nature, but even that didn't feel this 'Oriental.'
"It's amazing. It feels like nature was brought in without being damaged. This is really a garden?"
"Yes. For your information, it's a recently created garden. It didn't exist during the previous Emperor's reign."
So it was built in modern times. I looked around the garden with a fascinated expression.
The pond, created at the end of a long, winding stream, was far from dirty; it was so clear that the fish inside were vividly visible.
Occasionally, a fish would leap above the surface, and their size was impressive.
It was a place with a great atmosphere in many ways, but at the same time, a question arose. If it was a recently built garden, what had been here before?
Since it was right next to the banquet hall, it was a perfect spot to be used as a garden from the start. It should have normally existed since the beginning.
"It didn't exist until the previous Emperor? Then what was this place like before?"
"Lina said it was a dense forest. It was a kind of dating spot. But unlike now, there were lots of bugs and wild animals would pop out, so the reviews weren't great."
"That explains why it's so large."
In any case, one had to acknowledge the scale of the Minerva Empire. I stepped into the garden with my arm linked with Mari's.
Perhaps because of the pond, a cool breeze blew against my face despite the sweltering summer heat.
Unlike Albenheim, this garden had a strong Oriental feel. Stepping stones were even placed across the pond so one could walk over it.
"It feels pure, doesn't it? I like places like this. Just walking here without a thought makes my mind feel calm."
"Have you been here before?"
"I used to come often. Though I didn't set foot here for a while after a big fight with Lina."
It was certainly a perfect dating spot for lovers. The grounds were so vast that just walking through them would take up all the time.
"There are even secluded spots tucked away for lovers. I didn't know what that meant when I was a kid, but I think I understand now."
"…Is that allowed?"
"Of course. That's what it was made for in the first place. Are you curious about what kind of place it is?"
Mari gave me a mischievous look and slowly traced her index finger from my sternum down to my navel.
I couldn't help but chuckle at her blatant intent. Unfortunately, I had no intention of doing that right now.
I caught Mari's finger and quietly moved it aside. She seemed disappointed, but not truly upset.
"It's a very tempting offer, but think of the heat. Do you want to go back drenched in sweat? I certainly don't."
"Ah. I didn't think of that. No wonder I only heard those kinds of sounds at night."
Mari nodded as if my point made sense. I was a bit dumbfounded by how serious she seemed, but I let it slide.
What mattered now was being alone with Mari. Perhaps because it was our first date in a while, Mari began to bring up various topics.
"It's going to be finished soon, right? Once you're done, are you going to rest before serializing your next work?"
"I'm not sure. I'm thinking of releasing a few volumes of side stories first. Something came to mind after seeing Grandfather Clark."
"A side story… then that character is going to die, isn't he?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
I couldn't help but be a little surprised. I hadn't mentioned anything yet, nor had I said a single word about the characters.
Yet Mari had predicted in one go that the protagonist of the side story would die. I was naturally stunned.
At my reaction, she gave a smirk and answered as if it were all predictable.
"That's just how your stories are, isn't it? And with Jin being confirmed this time, it's a pattern. Everyone who appears in a side story dies. Like that. Kair was the same, wasn't he?"
"Isn't that a bit of an overgeneralization?"
"So, does that person die or not?"
"…They do die."
Since it was a story about Xenon's biological father, he was a character who absolutely had to die. Besides, since I was essentially writing about a 'Passing Hero,' it couldn't be helped.
Mari giggled at my answer, as if to say, 'I knew it.' Then she spoke to me in a playful tone.
"Can't you just… not kill them for once? If everyone around the characters keeps dying, what's the fun in watching?"
"People seem to enjoy it just fine, though?"
"Sure, they'll watch your work. But give them some hope, I mean, hope. I don't even ship the Jin-Lily couple, but even I find it too pitiful."
"Hmm…"
She'd probably faint if I wrote a novel about World War II. I kept my mouth shut, watching her reaction.
Usually, silence is taken as consent, but right now it was a bit different. It probably felt more like I was being stubborn.
Mari seemed to realize that as well and shook her head. It looked like she had half-given up.
"Well, you're the author, so it's not my place to interfere. But I wish you'd consider people's feelings a bit. Even your mother-in-law is rooting for the Jin-Lily couple; can you handle the fallout?"
"A man's got to have backbone. But I'll leave an insurance policy like you said. If things get too serious, I'll have to write a side story."
"Right. That's the only way… Huh? A side story? Not the main work?"
Mari asked me with wide eyes, having noticed something strange. It seemed she had roughly figured out that the side story wouldn't be canon.
I could concede as far as Jin's resurrection. However, it would never be incorporated into the main canon.
Only then could I provide a better setup for the sequel to Xenon's Life. For the record, I wasn't talking about World War II, but a true sequel.
"Yeah. I intend to make Jin's death absolute canon. The side story will strictly be a 'what if' scenario."
"Wow… do you really have to do that? How are you going to handle the backlash?"
I was about to answer Mari's exasperated remark when—
"I agree. What would it take for you to let him live?"
"…?"
Suddenly, a strange man's voice reached my ears from behind. It was a husky yet dignified middle-aged voice.
Startled, I whipped around. Standing boldly behind us was a middle-aged man with blonde hair and blue eyes.
He had a beard that connected to his sideburns and deep-set eyes. He was wearing ordinary formal attire, but the way he stood with his hands behind his back was anything but ordinary.
"Must I go as far as to kneel?"
Who are you?