The Emperor's Weakness
Rudine’s voice pierced my eardrums like tinnitus. My brain throbbed and my eyes stung. “Hm? Kyle?”
Until her face drew close and stopped right in front of mine, I stood frozen as if bound by rope. “Kyle.”
Rudine’s voice, brimming with certainty, crawled up to the top of my head. I barely managed to restore color to my rapidly paling face.
“I missed you, Kyle.”
Her voice carried a trace of moisture. It was laced with affection, longing, and a hint of reproach.
‘I’m screwed.’
Rudine never reveals her hand first unless she’s certain. The fact that she so casually announced her return meant she had some hidden agenda.
My mind cleared in an instant. I had to stay calm. The moment the penalty was revealed, I should have anticipated even this situation to some degree.
There were only two choices: admit it obediently or deny it. And only one was viable for me.
“Rudine.” I blinked innocently with a guileless expression. “What do you mean by ‘returned’?”
“What?”
“Is it because I broke my promise to visit the palace often? I’m sorry. I had unavoidable circumstances too.”
“Ah.” Rudine muttered in a gloomy voice. “This isn’t right… There’s no need to hide it from me either…”
She took an exaggerated deep breath and sniffled theatrically. Even as she did so, her gaze remained fixed on me. Soon, as if realizing something, she let out a deflated sigh.
“Ah, I see.”
She exhaled as if reproaching herself. “Sorry, was I too hasty? You must still be confused about everything, Kyle.”
Rudine asked cautiously, “But it’s still nice, isn’t it? Being able to see you like this.”
“Nice?”
“Of course! I told you earlier. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time.”
Rudine began spouting incomprehensible words. Hearing that she was glad to see me wasn’t something that should come from the mouth of a woman who had always schemed to kill Kyle at every opportunity. Was she perhaps indirectly warning me that this time she would definitely kill Kyle with her own hands?
For a moment, several scenes flashed through my mind.
‘Come to think of it…’
Yes, if I thought about it carefully, it wasn’t just Rudine. Isabel, and Luna too. At some point, they had also started begging me for affection for some reason.
A question mark floated in my head. For what reason would they beg for affection from a man they had so despised? Was this plausibility something that could be accepted merely through inheriting memories?
“Kyle, even when you finally ended your relationship with that foolish Isabel and left the ducal residence.”
“…”
“Even when I heard that your sister and former fiancée were heading to the Imperial Capital hand in hand.”
Rudine continued as if she had been waiting for this. “My heart trembled.”
Her face as she spoke was flushed red like a ripe apple. “To think that after settling the past ties stained with wounds, the place you finally came to was my coming-of-age ceremony.”
That’s how she interpreted it? …Well, I suppose it could be misunderstood.
I barely suppressed the boiling unpleasant emotions. For now, the best I could do was blink stupidly.
“Ah, finally an opportunity has come for me too.”
Rudine wiped her tears and smiled pitifully. “I’ve always missed you.”
“…”
“You’re the only one I have, Kyle.”
A chilling sensation burned up to the top of my head as if a fuse had been lit. But on the other hand, a thought suddenly occurred to me that this was fortunate.
‘If it’s like this…… it’s actually become easier?’
My goal wasn’t to run around avoiding the crazy women who had inherited memories. It was to secure the Holy Relic as quickly as possible and tear through dimensions.
The twisted emotions that had darkly proliferated in Rudine’s heart? I could endure them. There probably wasn’t a better excuse than this to build a relationship with Rudine going forward.
Just one thing. If there was something that bothered me…
‘Just how much does she know?’
Whether it was simply about the regression. Or whether she also suspected that I wasn’t Kyle. The former had solid grounds for inference, but the latter was truly in the realm of delusion. Rudine wasn’t the kind of woman to be consumed by such vain delusions.
“Rudine.”
But why? I couldn’t be certain at all. Perhaps it was an instinct close to intuition.
Above all.
“I really don’t understand what you’re saying… And as for the auction, I don’t know how you found out either, but…”
A lingering sense of guilt in one corner of my chest stabbed at my lungs. The question of whether there might be another way besides killing briefly crossed my mind. However, there were no other options left for me.
I desperately missed the voices of my parents calling my name. I had no confidence in remaining in this world any longer.
“Me too.”
So.
“I missed you.”
This couldn’t be helped.
“Thank you for saying that, Rudine.”
I smiled brightly.
That was when it happened.
“Please maintain silence!”
The attendant’s shout waiting at the entrance echoed through the hall. The heart of the Empire, the guardian, and all sorts of splendid modifiers followed. In this imperial land, there were only two people who could have such modifiers attached to their names.
“His Majesty Emperor Aleot and Her Majesty the Empress are entering!”
A heavy silence settled over the hall. Not even the usual applause could be heard. It was imperial etiquette and custom to bow one’s head and remain silent during the entrance of the Emperor and Empress.
The Emperor and Empress walked leisurely through the hall toward us. A moment later.
“You look beautiful, Rudine.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. You are dazzlingly beautiful as well, Your Majesty.”
Rudine rose from her seat and exchanged greetings with the Empress. After the brief exchange, the Empress’s gaze soon turned to me.
“……Rudine, it seems an explanation is in order.”
The Empress asked Rudine in a displeased voice. At that question, Rudine smiled brightly.
“This is Kyle Winfred, who has agreed to be my escort today.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. On a day when you should be the one shining brightest, why have you placed someone who would diminish your light by your side?”
The Empress waved her hand dismissively and spat out a sharp remark laced with affection. Rudine smiled brightly as if it didn’t bother her.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Denying it won’t solve the problem.”
“Since Your Majesty commanded me to choose my own partner, I simply made my own choice.”
The Empress clicked her tongue once and then turned her gaze to me.
“You said Kyle Winfred, correct?”
“I greet the sun of the Empire.”
“Formalities are unnecessary. Come now, answer in his stead. Why did you not flatly refuse an escort request that was beneath your station?”
Because I needed the Holy Relic and planned to kidnap him. Though I already had a clear answer, I gave the Empress the response she wanted, beating around the bush.
“How could I possibly refuse an imperial command?”
The Empress’s mouth, which had opened to say something, closed as if it were a lie. The Emperor, who had been watching the situation, chuckled and intervened.
“That’s enough.”
“Your Majesty!”
“The ceremony isn’t over yet. I’ll speak with Rudine separately later.”
“…Understood.”
The Empress clenched both fists with a smiling face. I already knew there were no normal people among the imperial family, but it was impressive in many ways.
After a brief exchange, the Emperor and Empress also took their seats.
“Your Highness the Princess, Lady Rosne of the Trevián Marquisate has arrived.”
“I’ll go down right away.”
Rudine, the protagonist of the coming-of-age ceremony, briefly left her seat after hearing the attendant’s report. I stared blankly at the floor before lifting my head. Soon, my eyes met the Emperor’s, who was looking at me with interest.
According to imperial etiquette, those of lower status do not greet those of higher status first. I quietly waited for the Emperor’s greeting.
A moment later, the Emperor’s firmly closed mouth opened.
“Kyle Winfred.”
“I greet the sun of the Empire.”
“Yes, when was the last time I saw your face in the palace? My memory is already fading.”
“It was eight years ago, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor rested his chin on his hand with an ordinary expression. “I heard you broke off your engagement with the young lady of the Yustia family recently.”
“That is correct.”
“Do you know how many business deals were tied to the marriage talks between Winfred and Yustia?”
Business. The topic I had been waiting for. I bowed my head with an indescribable expression.
“I deeply feel the weight of my responsibility.”
The Emperor, the ruler of this land and guardian of the Empire. I had to somehow make an impression on the Emperor no matter what. Only then would I be granted free access to the palace, giving me a chance to seize the Holy Relic.
At that moment, the Emperor’s lips twisted. “Among them were businesses that received imperial investment funds.”
His eyes were stained with weariness and irritation. That kind of look was troublesome. To freely come and go from the palace as if it were my own home, the Emperor’s unconditional favor was absolutely necessary.
The method was simple. As a possessor, act like a possessor; as a regressor, act like a regressor. I just needed to utilize future information. And now, while Rudine was briefly away, was the perfect opportunity.
“I know a way to compensate for the losses.”
The Emperor’s eyes widened slightly. He immediately gestured for me to speak.
“The imperial losses are losses caused solely by me, after all.”
“You know it well.”
“As a member of the Winfred family, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for it.”
I fumbled inside my jacket and pulled something out. “Compensation for the losses, and consolation money for all the chain reactions caused by the business delays.”
A single check fluttered in my right hand. “Winfred will compensate in full.”
A blank check. Literally, a check with no amount written on it. Generally, a blank check has an upper limit on the amount. However, in this world, the content of a blank check was slightly different.
The family head’s seal. And imperial notarization. A blank check that could only be issued when these two conditions were met literally had no upper limit on the amount. That was why blank checks were generally not issued. Unless some ‘special incident’ occurred.
‘Yeah, not my problem.’
Though it was a blank check torn from the Holy Blood, it was clearly a blank check imprinted with the Winfred seal and imperial notarization. In other words, with just this one piece of paper, I could squeeze Winfred dry to the maximum.
“…What did you say?”
The Emperor’s surprised face wavered. I added calmly with a faint smile.
“It is Winfred’s loyalty offered to the imperial family.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Of course.”
Winfred was the core force of the noble faction. That meant they were like a thorn in the imperial family’s side. However, as the guardian family of the northern continent, they couldn’t impose sanctions without justification. Knowing this, Winfred had also been cautious for a long time.
But now the story was different. If Winfred’s arbitrary actions caused clear losses, and with that justification, a blank check bearing the Winfred seal fell into the imperial family’s hands?
‘Essentially, they’ve got them by the leash.’
Since it wasn’t my money anyway, there was nothing to lose. After all, showing off with someone else’s money was the most thrilling thing, wasn’t it?
“Hah, hahaha.”
The Emperor let out a hollow laugh with a dazed face. Soon, a smile bloomed on his face. It was the face of someone who had received financial treatment.
It still wasn’t enough. The imperial family wasn’t so easy that a single blank check would be enough to make an impression. Above all, there was another reason why I was handing over the blank check to the imperial family.
I carefully opened my mouth. “By chance, I’ve heard an outline of the business the imperial family invested in. It was research for the permanent improvement of alopecia.”
“……You know it well.”
Alopecia. In other words, hair loss. The phenomenon of hair gradually falling out.
I glanced at the Emperor’s crown with a side glance. At first glance it looked plentiful, but that was a wig.
Getting on the Emperor’s good side was simple. It was just.
“I know the cure for alopecia.”