The Emperor's Invitation (Part 2)
Father and Rachel met again?
When? How? Why? Had Rachel somehow incurred his father's wrath during that encounter in the garden? If the opponent was his father, the Emperor, there was nothing Edwin could do to protect her. A tremor seized Edwin's lower lip.
"...You are always so easily frightened."
At the Emperor's low murmur, Edwin snapped his head up. His father was studying him with an intensely analytical gaze, watching every minute twitch of his expression.
"Tell me, what is it that makes you so terrified?"
What made him terrified? Edwin's eyes wavered. To the young prince, every single stone, shadow, and person within the Ventrum Imperial Palace was a source of terror. This is a place where you can lose everything, even if you do absolutely nothing. In fact, Edwin had already lived through the agonizing grief of losing the person who had been his entire world.
"Are you afraid of the Second Consort?"
At the mention of Helena, Edwin's shoulders flinched.
"Or are you afraid of me, who sees everything yet chooses only to look on?"
Edwin lowered his gaze, his dark eyelashes trembling faintly. It would be a lie to say he was not afraid. His father was the sovereign ruler of this empire, yet it was precisely because of his cold indifference that Edwin had suffered endlessly throughout his childhood.
"As you well know, I ascended the throne by slaying my own brothers and sisters." The Emperor idly swirled the golden chalice in his hand before continuing in a quiet, measured cadence. "No one acknowledged my claim at the time, but I believed that I alone was capable of leading this empire."
A profound, bottomless chill settled into the Emperor's eyes.
"Even now, I do not regret what happened that day. My siblings were nothing more than livestock feeding off imperial blood." His voice fell as cold as winter frost. "If anyone poses a threat to this empire, I will cut them down without hesitation, even if they share my own flesh and blood. That was all I did then."
The Emperor spoke with chilling finality, sounding as though he would not hesitate to reenact that bloody purge this very hour if circumstances demanded it.
"Conversely, if someone proves advantageous to the empire, I am more than willing to turn my gaze back upon those I once cast aside."
The young prince caught his breath. Across the tense air of the office, the gazes of father and son locked in heavy silence.
"That is all I have to say to you." Having stared deeply into Edwin's eyes for what felt like an eternity, the Emperor pushed back his chair and rose to his feet. "Tomorrow morning, an Imperial Family Breakfast Gathering will be held. You will attend."
"The breakfast gathering? But I..."
The breakfast gathering was an irregular formal assembly reserved strictly for direct members of the imperial family. Though ostensibly nothing more than a shared morning meal, Edwin had not set foot in that hall for several years.
"It is an imperial decree." The Emperor cut him off before Edwin could stammer out an excuse. "It reflects poorly on the crown for you to be perpetually absent from family meals. I will not repeat myself."
"...Yes, Imperial Father."
Edwin bowed his head deeply, his mind spinning, before a sudden realization pierced through his panic. Squeezing out the very last drop of courage left in his chest, he called after the retreating sovereign.
"F-Father!"
"What is it?"
"Wh-what about Emilia?"
Emilia had never once properly met her father. In Edwin's desperate heart, he longed to seize this rare opportunity to introduce his sweet, innocent little sister to the man who had sired them.
"Emilia?" Hearing the name, the Emperor's brow furrowed faintly, as though trying to pull up a long-forgotten memory. "Ah. You mean your sister."
Not my daughter, but your sister. It was a designation devoid of the slightest hint of warmth. Edwin bit his lip hard, looking up at the towering sovereign.
"Is that child not far too young to attend an imperial gathering?"
"Ah... Y-Yes, that is true."
"Then I shall see you tomorrow morning."
Without another word, the Emperor swept out of the office. The Duke who had been standing guard outside glanced through the cracked doorway, offering Edwin a brief, inscrutable look before falling into step behind his master.
"...Huh?"
Left entirely alone in the cavernous office, Edwin sat frozen on his chair, blinking vacantly. What in the world had just transpired? Father... personally ordered me to attend the breakfast gathering...?
Edwin's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Leaping to his feet, the young prince bolted from the room and sprinted out of the building.
"Your Highness? Did your audience with His Majesty go well... Your Highness?"
"Your Highness! Where are you going?! Aren't you going to finish your training?!"
The knights shouted after him from the training grounds in sheer bewilderment, but Edwin dashed past the barracks without looking back. A tempest of indescribable emotions churned across his flushed face.
"Please do not worry yourself so excessively."
Despite my encouraging words, the grim tension across Edwin's pale face showed no signs of easing. Having returned to our palace yesterday pale as a sheet, the boy had spilled every single word exchanged between him and the Emperor. The bottom line was simple: he was commanded to attend this morning's Imperial Family Breakfast Gathering.
"That's right, Your Highness! Please don't fret so much," Catherine chimed in with an affectionate smile as she carefully adjusted his ornate royal doublet, stepping in for me since my own dressing skills were utterly abysmal. "It's not as though they're going to devour you alive!"
Unfortunately, her cheerful jest did nothing to soothe his frayed nerves.
"What if they demand to know why I even showed up?" Edwin turned toward me with a face on the verge of tears. "Um... Rachel, can't you come with me?"
"I am told attendants and servants are strictly forbidden from entering the dining hall. Even if I escorted you to the threshold, it would make little difference."
"Still..." Edwin muttered despondently, wringing his hands. "I just don't understand why Father is suddenly doing this."
I, on the other hand, understood perfectly well. The boy he had written off as entirely hopeless had persevered through an entire month of brutal knightly training without breaking; naturally, the Emperor's curiosity had been piqued.
"Oh, right! Rachel!" The previously sulking boy suddenly raised his voice, his eyes snapping open. "You met Father again, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Good heavens, Nanny! You had an audience with His Imperial Majesty?!" Catherine gasped, both of them instantly turning their wide, agitated eyes onto me.
This exact hysterical fuss was the precise reason I hadn't bothered mentioning it in the first place.
"Yes. I met him on the very first day Your Highness began training with the imperial knights," I answered offhandedly, acting as if it were the most mundane occurrence in the world.
Edwin stared at me in disbelief. "Father was really there on that day?"
"I was quite surprised myself. I had no idea the sovereign of an entire empire would wander around without a single royal guard."
"Sir Jerome once mentioned that Father's martial prowess is equal to his own. He probably doesn't need an escort."
Now that was a rather fascinating tidbit. Had I known the Emperor was that formidable back then, I might have tried crossing swords with him before my past life ended.
"No, wait, that's not what matters right now!" Edwin blurted out, flustered. "Rachel, you told Father that I wanted to grow stronger, didn't you?!"
"Because it was the truth."
Edwin's cheeks flushed crimson down to his collar. "Even if it is, telling Father something like that...!"
"His Majesty seemed quite pleased by it, actually," I replied smoothly with an unbothered shrug. "He remarked that it was admirable to see Your Highness putting in genuine effort to change."
Well, the Emperor had said something vaguely along those lines, so it wasn't an outright lie.
Edwin's eyes went round. "Really? Truly?"
"Indeed. He also stated that he would keep an eye on your progress from now on."
"Then..."
"It means His Majesty's summons was by no means an impulsive whim."
"Is that... so...?" A long, trembling sigh of relief slipped past Edwin's lips.
"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! That is wonderful news, Your Highness!" Catherine beamed, practically vibrating with excitement. But despite our reassurance, a lingering shadow still clouded Edwin's brow.
"What troubles you now?" I asked.
"...I'm still scared."
"Of what?"
The boy's expression darkened noticeably. "...The others won't see it that way."
By 'the others,' he undoubtedly meant the Second Consort Helena—and, of course, that insufferable second prince. Seeing his shoulders sag, I offered a calm reminder.
"Do not worry yourself, Your Highness."
"How can I not worry? You don't know what it's like for me..." Edwin's voice trailed off, unable to bring himself to voice the humiliating, contemptuous treatment he had endured within the imperial court for years.
"Your Highness."
"Yes?"
"I can state with absolute certainty that you are wasting your energy on entirely pointless anxieties."
"Wh-why are my worries pointless...?"
Looking at his thoroughly bewildered expression, I bared my teeth in a sharp, reassuring grin.
"Because at today's breakfast gathering, nobody will pay you the slightest bit of attention anyway. So run along and eat in peace."
We arrived at the grand Emperor's Palace. Since Edwin possessed no personal knightly escort, Catherine and I had accompanied him this far. Beyond the grand foyer, however, all attendants were barred from proceeding. Left with no other choice, Edwin braced his shoulders and followed an imperial chamberlain upstairs toward the banquet hall alone.
"Why did you have to go and say something so cruel?" Catherine asked, turning to me after watching Edwin's small back vanish around the marble staircase. "Honestly, Nanny, you can be so terribly wicked sometimes!"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Telling him that no one would pay him any attention! Didn't you see the look on his face?!"
"I did not."
"You are completely insensitive when it comes to these things! The poor prince looked like he was about to burst into tears as he walked up those stairs!"
"I merely stated the objective truth."
A grand breakfast gathering where the entire imperial family converged under one roof. In truth, my old assassin's instincts whispered that it would be delightfully entertaining to slip into the shadows and eavesdrop on the spectacle, but I held myself back. If I pull a stunt like that, I might suffer the sheer misfortune of running into the Emperor again, just like last time. Carelessness was the quickest route to an early grave, no matter the era.
"What do you mean, 'the objective truth'? That makes no sense..."
Seeing Catherine's pouting, uncomprehending face, I gave a light shrug. "The senior royals will be far too occupied trading barbed pleasantries and probing one another's political standing to spare even a single glance at His Highness."
"What?! Doesn't that make it even worse?! Prince Edwin will be sitting there entirely on edge, all by himself...!"
"Have some faith in him. Unlike in the past, His Highness has grown far more resilient."
Even if only for a few desperate moments, Edwin was a boy who had stood his ground and crossed steel directly against a demonic creature. Why on earth would someone who faced down a magic beast cower before mere humans? Once a person survived mortal terror, other worldly frights tended to dull by comparison—much like hardened mercenaries who grew unshakable after surviving the horrors of the front lines.
"Nanny, at times like this, you really are far too cold-hearted..."
Just as Catherine was furrowing her brow in dramatic indignation, a palace servant approached us with a courteous bow.
"Pardon me. Are you the attendants serving the Third Imperial Prince?"
"We are."
"A morning meal for the imperial attendants has been prepared on the first floor. May I guide you to the dining chamber?"
"Let us go, Catherine."
"Ah! Wait! Nanny!" Catherine let out a flustered squawk, but quickly scampered after my brisk stride. "Wait for me!"
Considering this was the central palace of the Emperor himself, I wondered what sort of lavish imperial delicacies awaited us. Tossing all worries regarding Edwin entirely to the back of my mind, I cheerfully followed the servant toward the breakfast spread.