Chapter 118
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Scene 118: Private Audience
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Silence fell.
The words that came out of my mouth couldn't even be described as simply insolent.
For a count bearing the title of Count to dare ask the Emperor if they were afraid was something that simply could not happen.
However, it was fine for me.
Only Tristan Ruelverta could do it.
Because he was the only man in this room who could be arrogant.
"You... you insolent fool!"
The first to react to my words laced with 'Pride' was, as expected, one of the knights from the Emperor's Imperial Guard.
A knight who looked full of youthful vigor pointed his sword at me and shouted.
"No matter how great you think you are, how dare you spout such nonsense to His Majesty!"
"I'm pretty great. Very."
"Urk?!"
Clang.
The young Imperial Guard knight's sword fell to the floor beneath his feet.
"Hot...?!"
The knight wore an expression of utter bewilderment. Fresh black ash was rising in faint smoke from his hand.
Helga said with a beaming smile.
"Didn't I tell you earlier? If you take even one more step from there, I'll turn you into powder right on the spot."
I, who knew Helga's abilities, could tell.
The intense heat from her lightning had completely burned through the man's sword hilt.
Yet the fact that the man hadn't been electrocuted to death was probably because she'd successfully controlled her power.
Ever since receiving my eyes, she'd reached a near-perfect level in handling mana.
"But I'm magnanimous, so I'll let it slide this once."
"Shut your mouth! How dare you threaten!"
"You shut your mouth. Jurai."
A low voice devoid of emotion rang out. The one who cut off the man's words was the Imperial Guard captain, Marco.
"His Majesty is in the middle of a conversation. This is no place for the likes of you to interrupt."
"C-Captain...."
Marco stood by the screen, looking down impassively at his subordinate.
The young knight called Jurai stepped back with a frustrated stomp.
Silence resumed.
The ministers and knights awaited the Emperor's next words.
No one could tell what expression the Emperor wore, hidden behind the screen.
However, her silence was anything but light.
I could tell.
The Emperor was suppressing her anger right now.
Because, as one who possessed 'Wrath,' I could feel the deep fury she harbored.
At last, the Emperor's voice rang out.
"Arrogant cur."
It was a voice chilling enough to make one's skin crawl.
Yet no one could have predicted her next words.
"Very well. I grant the Count's request for a private audience."
"Your Majesty?!"
The gazes of the ministers and Imperial Guard turned toward the screen.
"I shall hear you out. To dare provoke me like that...."
Though hidden behind the screen, showing only her silhouette, I felt as if the Emperor was staring straight at me.
"If you've come begging for a private audience with some trivial nonsense, your life ends today."
The Emperor spat the words in a cold tone. It was no empty threat.
She possessed the 'ability' to kill me if she so desired.
I answered calmly.
"Do as you wish."
"Hmph. Let's see how long your confidence lasts. Everyone except the Count, leave the room."
Only then did the ministers snap to their senses and cry out.
"Y-Your Majesty?! You can't do that!"
"It's impossible! Too dangerous!"
"I don't want to hear it. Marco, send them all out."
I saw Marco glance back at the Emperor through the screen.
A time shorter than a heartbeat.
In that brief moment, it seemed Marco realized there was no bending the Emperor's will, and he spoke.
"...Understood, Your Majesty."
Marco left the Emperor's side and descended toward where I stood.
"Captain...!"
"Quiet. It's His Majesty's decision. Everyone leaves this room, no exceptions."
The Imperial Guard knights, duty-bound to protect the Emperor, found it hard to move, but with their captain leading the way out, they had no choice.
The bloodthirsty Imperial Guard finally sheathed their swords.
Only then did Helga and Blanche relax their guards.
"Count... "
"Don't worry and wait outside."
"...Yes."
As Helga obediently left, she kept glancing back at me anxiously until she exited the audience chamber.
The ministers and knights filed out of the audience chamber. And just before the doors closed, my eyes met Blanche's.
Her worried gaze vanished between the doors.
The audience chamber, once filled with people, now held only me and the Emperor.
I had finally secured a private audience with the Empire's Emperor.
The Emperor spoke first.
"Did you ask if I feared you?"
Her silhouette rose from the throne.
"In turn, I want to ask you, Tristan. Aren't you afraid of death?"
"I am."
After possessing the doomed villain Tristan, how many brushes with death had I survived?
Each time, I'd thrashed desperately to escape the jaws of death.
"I fear death."
But what I feared more than my own doom was....
This world I loved so dearly walking the path to destruction once again.
I stared at the Emperor beyond the screen.
Lucy Meikahel, who had ascended the throne at a young age after her predecessors died early.
In some ways, she was a character with much in common with Tristan.
Because they'd seized power at a young age, they were surrounded by those eyeing their throne.
And their responses to that were similar as well.
Tristan, who mercilessly assassinated opposition. Lucy, who executed all who rebelled against her.
The two powerhouses had walked paths stained with blood.
And the two bearers of harsh fates clashed in the original story.
The conclusion was Lucy's demise.
True to form as the villain, Tristan succeeded in making the Emperor his puppet without dirtying his own hands.
So I thought.
There's no way I couldn't overwhelm the Emperor whom the original Tristan overwhelmed.
With a truly ridiculous sentiment, I said to her,
"But you aren't afraid."
Rustle.
The screen separating us slowly lifted upward.
"Your words are contradictory."
What appeared first was the hem of a black dress.
From there, the frilled black dress gradually came into view.
"Since you fear death, you should fear me."
A slender waist, followed by full breasts, and finally, her face emerged.
No, more precisely, a face covered by a silver deer's mask.
Red eyes peered at me from behind the mask.
The Emperor known as the Cruel Empress, Lucy Meikahel, spoke in a dignified voice.
"I am death itself."
I wondered if there could be a more fitting metaphor.
She was the game's sole wielder of instant-death magic, after all.
Character Profile.
Name: Lucy Meikahel.
Age: 17.
Occupation: Emperor of the Meikahel Empire.
Traits: Instant Kill (), Vital Life (), Two-Faced ().
Click.
Lucy Meikahel approached me.
"Count. With your information network, you must already know about the magic I possess. That one spell from me means certain death for you."
Yes. That statement was no bluff.
One spell from her, and anyone would meet their end without fail.
Her trait, Instant Kill (), was a cheat ability that guaranteed death to its target.
Even I was no exception.
A twitch of her finger, and I'd meet my ruin.
Lucy said to me with a scoff.
"So I have no fear. Especially not of a man like you, drunk on arrogance and oblivious to the value of your own life."
The red eyes within the mask curved like a crescent moon.
She was letting me know who held the upper hand.
However, I merely slowly shook my head.
"You're lying."
"Does my Instant Kill () magic seem like a lie?"
"No. That's true enough. Your magic can undoubtedly kill me."
A cheat-grade spell that could slay even a mountain-like dragon or a demon lord of immense power without fail. Yet I didn't back down.
Because I knew the 'flaw' in the instant-death magic.
"But that's exactly why you can't kill me for sure."
"What...?"
"Because you're afraid. Death terrifies you too."
I looked down at her mockingly and said,
"If you kill me with that magic, you'll die as well."
This was the instant-death magic's weakness.
The moment she used the instant-death spell, she would die too.
It was a magic usable only once, at the cost of her own life.
Pierced to the core, Lucy didn't seem as flustered as I'd expected.
No, rather, she deliberately maintained her composure.
In a slightly stiff tone, she said,
"Hmph... If you know that much, you must also know I could take you down with me in a fit of rage. If you keep running your mouth recklessly."
"You're still lying."
Lucy couldn't continue.
Her alluring hand, clad in black nylon gloves reaching to the elbows. I'd seized her wrist.
"...?!"
"Don't hide your fear. If you want to talk with me, you have to be honest."
Startled by the sudden grab, Lucy tried to shake off my hand.
But I didn't let go.
"You...! Release me this instant!"
"If you're truly unafraid, then remove that mask and show me your face."
"Are you... insulting me?! If you don't let go right now, I'll call the Imperial Guard!"
"No. You won't do that."
Careful not to touch her body, I whispered softly in her ear.
"Right, Luna?"
"...!"
In that moment, I didn't miss the eyes behind the mask wavering.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"There's one student whose name isn't in the school records."
!..
...
Her agitation transmitted through my hand.
"How strange, isn't it? A student not in the records is attending school openly."
"Let go...."
"Above all, I first thought the 'name' was wrong. Because 'that child' isn't Luna."
Our faces were close enough to touch.
To her, avoiding my cold gaze, I said,
"She's Lucy. And... you're Luna."
I removed the mask covering the Emperor's face.
"Do you feel like being honest now? Luna Meikahel."