Anyway, the Day Passes - 1
In the most noble place in the Empire, humans and animals coexisted in a curious spectacle. Curious as it was, no less a personage than the Emperor himself had dismissed the matter with a simple, "It's a nuisance, but we must be careful," so there was nothing for it. The Imperial Palace had no choice but to transform into an eco-friendly habitat living in harmony with nature.
It was only natural, really. A newly crowned Emperor could hardly cast out the animals raised by the Retired Emperor. An Emperor was bound to uphold even the distant wills of his ancestors—how much more the living creatures of a still-living Retired Emperor? They had to be cherished and tended like natural treasures.
It might be bothersome, even irksome, but what could one do? If the office of Emperor had been inherited by blood, then honoring one's predecessors was only proper.
The problem was that those pets were included in that lavish respect—
No need for me to worry about it.
It was the Emperor's headache, not mine. As long as I didn't visit the Imperial Palace, I would never have to encounter the Retired Emperor's own Town Musicians of Bremen.
Of course, as the Crown Princess's godfather and a minister-designate, I couldn't cut off my visits entirely—but surely today's sort of incident wouldn't erupt every time I came. The Imperial Knights would do their best for the sake of their own mental health, at least.
Still, it was genuinely strange. What on earth had happened for a chicken to escape? Even a farmyard chicken wouldn't get out if you locked the door properly.
Did they feed it some kind of elixir?
For a moment I pictured a chicken wrapping mana around its beak and smashing a padlock. If it was a mana-using chicken, an escape would almost be respectable.
"Ah, come to think of it, Count. Might you spare me a little time?"
And just as I was imagining that chicken pecking a cow with its mana-wreathed beak, the Emperor spoke up casually.
"I prepared something, knowing you would be here today. Since you've come all this way, I would like you to join me."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I shall do so."
It was a command dressed as a request, so I nodded. How could I refuse something that amounted to, "You've got nothing left to do today, so come work with me a bit before you go"? He wasn't bothering me while I was busy, and he had prepared it to match my visit for the succession report of my title—making refusal even more awkward.
"Glad to hear it. The Duke of Victory said he wouldn't have time until the New Year otherwise, and I am busy at the New Year myself. I was quite worried you might say it was difficult."
A chill ran down my spine at the Emperor's words. This wasn't a two-person job—the Duke of Victory was involved as well?
What is this?
If it had been just the two of us, I would have assumed the usual offloading of chores—but anything involving a duke was no ordinary matter. And if it involved the Duke of Victory, all the more so.
I was uneasy. Lately the Duke of Victory had become a ghost of the Supreme Command, keeping a low profile as the Emperor's father-in-law so as not to draw unnecessary attention. If even he was carving out time to move, the matter was frightening enough to make me dread what it could be.
"...Your Majesty, forgive my presumption, but may I ask what it is Your Majesty would have this servant do?"
After a brief turn of thought, I carefully opened my mouth. With nothing to go on, asking the man himself was the surest course.
Thankfully, even at my question the Emperor's expression remained perfectly serene. It did not seem to be something that needed to be handled in secret, or a matter that would require a grand production—
"I mean to pay my respects to the great elder of the Imperial Family. You need only come along and bow your head."
?
"Properly, I should have gone as soon as I ascended the throne, but he had recently given blood and was sleeping. I could hardly dare wake him, so only now am I going."
The Emperor laughed softly, but I could not.
A great elder of the Imperial Family, recently having given blood and now sleeping—the words were a little abrupt, but I knew at once who he meant.
The Dragon Lord.
Certain. He was speaking of the Dragon Lord, the child of the Great Emperor Eimanka. The Imperial Family's direct line had been shattered, and a collateral branch had taken the throne. In such a house, the only figure who could be called a great elder was the Dragon Lord.
Damn it.
A string of curses rose to the tip of my tongue and only just subsided.
Was he really allowed to announce a visit to the Dragon Lord this casually? Shouldn't one prepare properly, bring gifts, and so on?
Of course, if it were like Penelia's case—simply going to draw blood—one could go with nothing but one's body. But an Emperor's visit was the descendant of the Great Emperor paying respects to a great elder. Naturally, a more thorough and splendid procession ought to be prepared.
"He dislikes fuss," the Emperor said with a quiet laugh, as if reading my thoughts.
If the man himself disliked it, there was nothing to be done...
An unusually modest procession for an imperial outing made its way toward the cave where the Dragon Lord resided. The cave sat in rather rugged terrain; going in force would only have been inconvenient.
"Wait here, my lords."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Even so, the Imperial Knights who had come as escort were left waiting at the cave mouth. The only ones who entered were myself, the Emperor, and the Duke of Victory.
So this is how it ends up.
My chest grew tight. I knew that successive Emperors went to pay their respects to the Dragon Lord right after the coronation. I also knew they went with only a handful of most trusted retainers. The Retired Emperor had gone with the former Minister of Palace Affairs—to be "a subject who has seen the Dragon Lord alongside the Emperor" was a symbol of trust and favor.
And now I, too, had been counted among those subjects. I had expected it from the moment I became the Crown Princess's godfather, yet it left a faintly bitter taste. In the eyes of the Imperial Family's great elder, I was now the Emperor's favorite plaything.
"You have come?"
Pushing the bitterness aside and going deeper into the cave, a sudden, resonant voice rolled through the dark.
"You came while I was briefly asleep. Forgive me for not welcoming you properly."
Then something vast emerged from the darkness.
Oh.
Golden scales that shone brilliantly even in the dark, and violet eyes looking down upon us. Anyone could see this was the child of the Great Emperor, the current Dragon Lord.
"The fault is ours for coming unannounced. Please, withdraw such words," the Emperor answered, bowing his head with deep formality while I was still staring at the Dragon Lord's form.
It was a rare sight one might not see twice in a lifetime. That beneath the heavens there existed a being before whom an Emperor must lower himself. Even a Pope was, at most, the Emperor's equal—never one who stood above him.
"Do not say so. You are the head of the Livnoman line, who carries on Father's will, and the Emperor of the Empire. If I treat you lightly, Father will be greatly displeased."
The Dragon Lord gently shook his head at the Emperor's words. Gently from his perspective, that is—from ours, it felt as though a vast building were swaying from side to side.
"But Corvus—is that child well?"
"Yes. He remains in good health."
"That child endured much hardship for the Empire. He has earned the right to a peaceful life now."
He slowly swayed his tail, as if relieved to hear that the Retired Emperor was still sound.
Even from the Dragon Lord's perspective, the decades of hardship the Retired Emperor had marched through must have been a sorrowful thing.
"Gilbert, was it? How old are you now?"
"I am Eimanka XVII."
"Already that far along. It feels as though the Tenth only just ascended."
I felt a little sorry for the reminiscing Dragon Lord, but the remark that came out was thoroughly elderly. Eimanka X was a figure who only appeared in history textbooks. Could he not name someone a little more relatable?
"...Ah, I have gone off on another useless tangent."
Still, he seemed aware that he was telling old stories, which was a relief.
"So. You are the children who will support this one."
Freed from reminiscence, the Dragon Lord's gaze turned at last to me and the Duke of Victory. Having spoken enough with the Emperor, his interest was shifting our way.
"Yes. We are so honored," the Duke of Victory answered with formal courtesy. I bowed my head after him, and a brief silence settled.
"White child. Is that sword by any chance my claw?"
"It is so. It is a treasure His Majesty graciously bestowed upon this humble servant."
At the Dragon Lord's question, the Duke of Victory bowed even lower.
A sword forged from a dragon's claw was a treasure worthy of being a national heirloom, not merely a ducal one. That the Duke of Victory could possess such a thing was thanks only to the Dragon Lord, who had given his own claw to a human.
"With that sword, cut down the enemies of the Imperial Family and the Empire. Then I shall have nothing more to wish for."
"I shall take it to heart."
At the Duke's immediate answer, a soft laugh rolled out. He seemed pleased at the thought of his own claw defending the Imperial Family.
...Though I would have thought it a little strange to see someone carefully craft and carry around your own claw. Maybe dragons just had different sensibilities from humans—
"Hmm?"
The laughter stopped abruptly.
"Black child. I do not know human ages well—but you seem especially young."
I flinched hard at that. I had the "youngest ever" label plastered all over me, but was I that exceptional even in the eyes of a Dragon Lord who had lived three hundred years? Had there been no one among the retainers of past Emperors who was anything like me?
Come on—surely there had been at least one man in his mid-to-late twenties?
"He is still young, but his ability is by no means lacking. He is also the Crown Princess's godfather, and as such is virtually a pillar of the Imperial Family."
"Oh-ho."
The Emperor provided covering fire in place of my speechless self, but I was not grateful.
That bastard—there was a faint laugh mixed into his voice.
"Then I shall be able to see the black child again next time as well."
At those words, I wept in my heart.
When I closed my eyes for a brief rest and woke again, I received word that Gilbert had gone to pay his respects to the Lord.
It was a late visit compared to the usual custom of going right after the coronation, but months meant nothing to that one. He would not particularly mind.
So Gilbert would listen to a few kind words and come back. There was nothing for me to worry about.
"He nearly ran all the way to the Empress's Palace?"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Retired Emperor."
...What I needed to worry about right now was not Gilbert, but this overflowing ball of energy.
At the report from Sir Roman—who had stepped down as Captain of the Imperial Knights to take charge of my escort—I briefly closed my eyes. The creature held in my hand, blinking up at me, had nearly caused a major incident.
Escaping while I slept was bad enough, but it had chosen to bolt toward the Empress's Palace of all places. A beast had nearly entered the place where the still very young Crown Princess resided.
"Quite the surplus of energy."
"It is this servant's failure to manage him properly. Please put me to death."
"No one was hurt—what responsibility is there to speak of? Besides, I know your loyalty well, so do not say such things."
Watching Sir Roman bow even lower, I rummaged around the chicken's neck. I had attached name tags to these fellows for just such cases.
This one.
At last I found the name tag buried in the feathers.
Nugget.
One of the hardworking egg-layers, along with Fried and Oven.
I had let my guard down because he was quiet at feeding time. I would have to watch him carefully from now on.