The Foolish Mad Emperor (1)
Rattle… rattle…
Inside the carriage heading back to the Melrn Count's mansion. An utterly unforeseen catastrophe had unfolded, but thanks to Emilia's heroics, everything had been safely resolved, and the Melrn Count was now making a beeline for home.
The spacious, opulent carriage befitting a noble contained only two people: the Melrn Count and Emilia.
…Correction. Mona was there too, but she was exhausted from expending so much energy and was resting in the shadows. For some reason, slipping into the Melrn Count's shadow seemed the best way for her to recover her strength.
It must be because he'd consumed the Maou's Egg Fragment. There was no way in hell he wanted to believe that damned demon was showing any consideration for the current Melrn Count by stepping aside.
“……”
Emilia lay with her head on the Melrn Count's lap, fast asleep from exhaustion. He'd draped his jacket over her body, and he gently stroked her magnificent golden locks with his fingers.
Deep in slumber, Emilia was oblivious to it all.
The Melrn Count's gaze upon her was soft now—nothing like the madness usually gleaming in his eyes.
But. But. But.
Even if the Melrn Count's demeanor seemed unusually gentle and pliable for once, one had to understand that his inner thoughts were bubbling like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
And the reason for his fury? It all traced back to the culprit: the emperor.
It wasn't just because he'd suddenly unleashed the Death Knight with zero warning—though that was certainly one of the sparks igniting his rage. The decisive blow had come from the emperor's words after everything was over.
The Black Knight, the Death Knight, the Demon King's loyal servant—no matter the epithet, that terrifying knight had ultimately fallen to the Hero, Emilia Edenberts.
His wyrmling had tried to trade its life for the annihilation of the imperial palace and the village below, but it too had been stopped cold.
A complete victory.
Emilia's performance had been so overwhelming that the word felt entirely apt, but that didn't mean there were zero casualties.
A portion of the palace—the symbol of imperial authority—had crumbled under the assault, and there were no small number of deaths among the nobles, servants, and renowned knights.
The empire, built on the power of the Hero's Blessing. An empire that had trampled foreign lands with unmatched might for generations. Could there ever have been an incident that left such a scar?
This was a tragedy worthy of being passed down through the ages in the Romancia Empire. But honestly, the Melrn Count couldn't care less.
His sole concern was Emilia.
He only wanted to praise her for fulfilling her duty as the Hero.
So as he held her close, eager to slip away from the scene, he hadn't even noticed the emperor returning to the banquet hall.
One moment, he was simply there.
And soon after, the nobles who'd evacuated en masse came swarming back in.
——No, wait, no.
To be precise: the nobles who'd evacuated with the emperor.
“Ahh, how truly tragic. What a lamentable affair! For such an unseemly incident to befall our glorious empire! Precious lives have been lost. So heartbreaking, so utterly deplorable…!”
He spoke of sorrow and grief, but his voice and manner rang utterly false.
An exaggerated tone, like he was performing in a play. A ridiculous, farcical spectacle, like some backwater farce.
But it seemed the Melrn Count was the only one who felt that way.
『Your Highness… sob…!』
『How could this happen…!! Waaah…!』
The surviving nobles and knights—ragged and spent—along with the newcomers, united in sniffling sobs as they mourned the dead.
They all absorbed the emperor's words with profound reverence, as if his grief were contagious, plunging instantly into sorrow.
Deep, deep, so very deep. An unnatural depth, a weighty sorrow beyond reason.
They couldn't have fully grasped the situation yet, nor identified all the dead.
Yet they wept as if they'd lost cherished family to some cruel injustice.
‘…The golden eyes bestowed upon the imperial bloodline hold special power, or so they say.’
His firstborn, Mine Romancia, had awakened to extraordinary wisdom and brilliance thanks to that golden-eyed magic.
Likewise, her father, Emperor Karik Romancia, reaped the benefits of that same power.
The phenomenon unfolding now was surely its doing.
As proof, the Melrn Count—the only one maintaining composure here—could sense the faint magic permeating the air around them.
And with it, a compulsion pressing on him too: ‘Be sad right now.’
“Ahh, ahh, you poor sacrificed souls! Noble nobles of the realm, the empire shall never, ever forget you!”
“This sorrow! This pain! We shall never…!”
The emperor scanned the devastated banquet hall, tears streaming as he made his declaration.
With it, the emotions of those around shifted palpably—from sorrow to gratitude and awe.
……It made him want to vomit.
But the Melrn Count wasn't so immature as to let his feelings show over something this trivial.
Craddling Emilia, he mimicked the expressions of those around him, swept up in the farce.
I fully agree with Your Highness. Precisely so. As if proclaiming it aloud.
But even he couldn't keep his face from stiffening at the emperor's next words.
“However, however, nobles and commoners alike—everyone in this empire must know a certain truth.”
“An evil servant of the Demon King spilled the innocent blood of our empire.”
“That knight's dark wyrm sought to make rivers of the blood of our innocent people!”
“But, but our Hero protected us all!”
“This empire has a Hero! The Edenberts family, blood of heroes, endures!!”
Rooooaaarrrrr!!!
The emperor's words ignited a euphoric roar that shook the banquet hall.
All eyes turned toward them—toward the battered, limp Emilia in the Melrn Count's arms.
Some among them had witnessed the Hero's power firsthand. They regarded her with firm trust or eyes laced with calculations.
Others leered with lust at her disheveled state, her dust- and ash-streaked beauty undimmed.
But their gazes soon shifted with the emperor's continuing words.
“Hope of the empire! Guardian who will protect this empire to the end!”
“Emilia Edenberts, who proved her bloodline's vitality to us all here—I, Emperor Karik Launtum Romancia, commend you.”
And furthermore, the emperor pressed on.
“An important bloodline of this empire nearly vanished years ago in an attack by scoundrels.”
“Thus.”
“To prevent such a thing from happening again, to ensure we never lose the hope of this empire and humanity.”
“I intend to welcome the last remaining Hero's bloodline into the imperial family.”
“Even if she is yet an immature maiden.”
“I, Karik Romancia, bestow my grace upon her, accepting her into the glorious imperial house… and vow to safeguard her lineage for generations.”
“Does anyone here object?!”
——Absurd nonsense.
He nearly shouted it right there in front of everyone.
But as the Melrn Count barely mustered his reason to swallow the words, the ruined banquet hall filled with resounding praise and acclaim.
All agreed the king's command was just; they must remember they had a Hero.
The profound sorrow that had seemed to crush souls flipped in an instant to festive cheers of joy and ecstasy.
……Even amid the cheers and adulation of the masses, Emilia simply slept soundly.
Crunch…
The Melrn Count, who'd been stroking Emilia's hair, suddenly clenched his teeth so hard they might shatter.
Calm down. Calm down.
No matter what that mad emperor says, it means nothing. Don't let that idiot's words sway you.
It's fine. Calm, calm. Calmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalmcalm…!
“Master, the horses are spooked. You might want to calm down a bit?”
Before he knew it, the carriage was shaking violently.
From the shadow at his feet, Mona cautiously poked just her head out, glancing warily his way.
She'd been utterly shameless no matter how harshly he'd treated her before, but now she was treading lightly, minding his mood.
“……I'm perfectly composed. What are you talking about?”
“No, the horses are terrified right now… The coachman's sweating bullets trying to soothe them.”
She added that they might flip over at this rate.
Grimacing, the Melrn Count first cast a spell on Emilia, gently levitating her into the air.
The intricate incantation would let her sleep as peacefully as a babe in a cradle.
The ominous magic surging with his rage was quelled with Mona's help.
It seemed the power from the Maou's Egg Fragment had gone berserk.
His emotions had swung wildly, and above all, his deep communion with the Demon King's memories moments ago hadn't helped.
“Hoooh…”
Once he'd reined in and suppressed the Demon King's magic, his mind felt notably calmer.