Maybe I Was Stronger Than I Thought?
Theodore IV, the Emperor. If you played through Romance Tale as a standard romance fantasy, he was the kind of character whose name you’d only hear in passing and never actually meet in person. But if you ignored the romance routes with the male leads and started gallivanting across the world on expeditions instead, he was the ruler of the empire you’d occasionally run into.
Ordinary people would live their entire lives without ever laying eyes on him, and under normal circumstances that should have been my fate too…
“Raise your head.”
I had been kneeling on one knee beside the old man, head bowed, when the Emperor’s dignified voice made me look up. The Emperor’s face was heavily wrinkled. At a glance he seemed to be around the same age as the old man.
I don’t know his exact age, but if he looks this old, the timeline probably isn’t that different from when I played the game…
The Emperor shifted his gaze to the old man and spoke.
“Younger than I expected.”
“He has only just turned twenty, Your Majesty. It is only natural.”
“So this is why you abandoned your duty of supporting me, disappeared for so long that your visits were rarer than beans in a drought, and never sent so much as a single piece of news?”
“I have committed a mortal sin, Your Majesty. However, the world is currently at peace, so there has been no urgent need for someone like myself to be deployed. I believe the Captain of the Imperial Guard has served Your Majesty without any shortcomings. Please forgive this servant’s disloyalty.”
When the old man bowed his head even lower to beg forgiveness, the Emperor stared at him for a moment. Then he crossed one leg, and the imposing aura he had worn until now vanished completely as he spat out a casual curse.
The words were far too light to have come from an emperor. I blinked at him with a dazed expression.
Was the Emperor always like this?
The Emperor stood up, opened a door set into one wall of the audience chamber, and stepped into the adjoining room while calling for both the old man and me.
“Stop with the ridiculous formalities and bring your disciple. Come pour me a drink.”
“Keh keh keh, as you wish.”
The old man answered in the same casual tone. The moment the Emperor disappeared into the room, I jumped up in a panic.
“Are you insane, you damn geezer?! You told me not to make any mistakes, and now you’re speaking informally? We’ll all get our heads chopped off for treason! If you’re going to die, do it alone instead of dragging someone with a bright future like me down with you!”
The old man ignored my outburst, simply laughed with a “Heh heh,” slapped me hard on the back, and shoved me forward.
“Don’t worry, you fool. His Majesty is waiting, so get inside already.”
When we entered the next room, I found an extremely luxurious tea table decorated with ornate carvings and cozy leather sofas already prepared. The Emperor picked up one of the wine glasses on the table and held it out. The old man, with shocking disrespect, grabbed the wine bottle with one hand and poured for him. After pouring, he picked up an empty glass for himself and held it out as well.
“Pour me one too.”
Ordering the Emperor to pour him a drink! I shook my head, thinking this senile old man had finally reached the end of his rope. To my astonishment, the Emperor took the bottle in one hand without complaint and poured for the old man.
“Aran, do you know how to drink?” the old man asked.
I made a bewildered face. “All I’ve done my whole life is train with you, sir. I’ve never even tasted alcohol before. How would I know?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. Then it’s better if you don’t touch it today. We don’t know what kind of drinking habits you might have.”
Since I had no particular desire to drink anyway, I immediately set the glass back down. The two old men clinked glasses and downed their wine in one go as if it were soju. After emptying his glass, the old man began critiquing the wine right in front of the Emperor.
“Is this a thirty-year-old from the Ligrea region? It’s not particularly good, is it?”
“That’s your own fault for sending one measly letter and then showing up unannounced. I already drank all the really good stuff.”
“Still drinking like a fish at your age? Planning to borrow the power of alcohol to have another late-born child?”
“Better to have a late-born child at this age than to grow old as a childless widower like you, Luke.”
“Heh heh, look at this rotten bastard. How can a widower live with that kind of shame?”
The two old men seemed extremely close; they completely discarded the difference in status between emperor and subject, spoke to each other comfortably, and kept tilting their wine glasses. Only after the third glass did the Emperor turn the topic toward me.
“Your name was Aran, correct?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I hear your skills are quite remarkable.”
All my life I had only ever plotted how to cut the old man’s throat, but I had failed every single time. Because of that, I honestly had no idea how strong I actually was. The title Blood Crow probably meant he was that powerful, but even so, I still couldn’t beat this ancient old man. What was so impressive about that? Unable to find an appropriate response, I stayed silent until the old man answered for me.
“Remarkable indeed. He spends every day thinking of twelve different ways to stab me in the back and then actually tries to carry them out.”
“Hey, old man—”
I was about to get angry at the old man’s sudden sneak attack of criticism, but the Emperor looked even more intrigued.
“Oh? So instead of cowering before the great Luke Harlan, he actually tried to kill him?”
Watching the two of them talk about the old man’s assassination attempts as if they were medals of honor filled me with indignation. I immediately began tattling to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty! This may be presumptuous, but this person is rotten to the core from the very beginning! He picked me up from the mountain when I was so young I don’t even remember it, but instead of raising me properly he threw me into a mountain shack and abused me!”
“Is that so? What kind of abuse?”
“Until I was eight he made me meditate and control my mana for over twelve hours a day. If my posture slipped even a little, he’d twist my whole body to ‘correct’ it! When I turned eight he handed me a worn-out sword, dumped me alone in the mountains, and told me to survive! I had to fight monsters while covered in blood, and when there was nothing to eat I even had to roast and eat goblin balls! Then a month later he showed up without a shred of shame and didn’t even apologize! This horrible human being should never again be allowed to see the light of—”
“You fought and defeated the goblins alone?”
The Emperor’s abrupt question caught me off guard.
“Y-yes…”
When I affirmed it, he turned his gaze to the old man.
“Luke, is everything this young man Aran just said completely true?”
“Every single word, without the slightest falsehood.”
That’s right! He’s confessing his own crimes! The time has finally come for this damn old man to face execution for child abuse! I made a face full of mockery where the Emperor couldn’t see and flipped the old man off with both middle fingers.
But contrary to my expectations, the Emperor did not sentence the old man to death. Instead, he placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded as if praising someone who had made a tremendous discovery.
“You’ve brought an absolutely incredible talent.”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
…Huh? This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
The Emperor grinned, then turned back to me.
“Aran.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“There is something I didn’t mention. When Luke said he was returning with you, I actually informed all the nobles throughout the empire. I told them that Luke, having completed a very long mission, was returning with a disciple, and that they should all come to celebrate.”
The old man frowned at the Emperor’s words.
“You damned bastard. Stirring up trouble again.”
“After wandering outside for well over fifteen years, shouldn’t you show results worthy of that time, you slippery fool?”
“So? Did many say they would come?”
“From the border barons to the central dukes, not a single one is missing. Especially their children—they seem to have fire in their eyes.”
“Tsk.”
The old man clicked his tongue, but at the same time he looked at me, smirked, and patted my shoulder.
“Aran, it looks like you won’t be able to spend your time in the Imperial Palace comfortably.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
And a few days later, once the nobles who had received the Emperor’s invitation began arriving at the Imperial Palace one by one, I finally understood what he meant.
“Where is Sir Luke’s disciple?! Who is he?!”
“The current Blood Crow has taken a disciple? I refuse to accept it! He rejected even me! Come out! I must see his skill with my own eyes!”
The nobles—especially the younger generation, not the family heads—began searching for me with blazing eyes the moment they finished greeting the Emperor. Seeing their behavior, I glared at the old man with eyes full of resentment.
“You rotten old bastard. You said nothing would happen if I just stayed quiet in the palace.”
“Spreading rumors like this wasn’t my idea, you fool. And what’s the problem? Just prove yourself with strength and be done with it.”
The Emperor, who had spread the rumors about me to the nobles, seemed to find the swarm of noble heirs rushing toward me incredibly entertaining. He spoke in a calm voice.
“Causing a disturbance in the Imperial Palace?”
The noble heirs turned pale and bent at ninety-degree angles.
“W-we apologize, Your Majesty! We merely wondered whether the disciple of the Blood Crow Sir Luke truly possesses qualifications befitting that title…”
“Hmm. It is true that all of you once sought instruction from Luke and were rejected.”
The Emperor stroked his beard, glanced at me, then smiled and made a suggestion to the angry young nobles.
“As it happens, I too was curious about the skill level of Luke’s disciple. How about a full series of sparring matches in the Training Ground? That way you can be fully convinced, and Luke’s disciple can prove his worth.”
“If Your Majesty permits it, we could ask for nothing more!”
The noble heirs bowed to the Emperor while sneaking sidelong glares at me. And so, the moment I arrived at the palace, I found myself forced into fights I had never asked for…
“C-Cormon family’s young master Bambo has been defeated. Disciple of Sir Luke, Aran—thirteen matches, thirteen victories…”
I was winning every single one.
Me… Maybe I really was stronger than I thought?