Vol 11 Chapter 2 (2/2)

All he had to do to have an unbroken view over Solon was to open those heavy curtains, but even though he started to get up from the chair, in the end, he stopped still.

After all, to start with, one of his legs still would not walk, and of his two hands, there were only three or four fingers that he could move without difficulty.

Bald-headed and large-bodied, his name was...o...b..ry Bilan.

Formerly, he had been the commander of the Black Armoured Division. A man whose name had been linked with Mephius’ twelve generals, and who had also occupied that position.

But now, not only had he lost that t.i.tle, but he had also been wounded so badly that it was doubtful whether he would ever be able to hold a sword again. Had it been an injury received while fighting an enemy who was out to harm Mephius, then Oubary could have held his head up high and claimed it as a badge of honour, but the one who had injured him had been none other than…

…...

Oubary hurriedly shook his head over what he had been about to think.

Not a single ray of light shone through the curtains.

His surroundings were quiet. There were only a few chamberlains to look after him and the number of his visitors amounted to none.

The place where he was living was not his original residence. The mansion in which he had resided when he was one of the twelve generals had burned down during the time when Oubary had been imprisoned on the charge of having a.s.sa.s.sinated the crown prince.

The origin of the fire was unclear.

It was as though somebody had cursed him with relentless misfortune, yet Oubary continued to live his quiet, his monotonously quiet, existence. Day after day, he spent his time in silence within his room. He had been forbidden from leaving the building anyway, and armed soldiers were constantly keeping watch on it. Even so, it was not to the point of his being forbidden from coming and going from his room; yet he would either be reading a book, eating the meals that the chamberlains brought in without exchanging any personal words with them, or sleeping once the sun had set. His entire life was lived in that one room.

Apart from the fact that the outside was a little noisier, that day too was a day without change for Oubary.

“Lord Oubary, may we enter?”

Sometime after noon, the chamberlains came in and started changing the bed sheets.

Oubary sat watching them without any interest. He looked like a lonely old man at the end of his life, and it was hard to believe that not so long ago, Emperor Guhl had praised him as “a warrior whose daring is equal to that of any commander from the neighbouring countries.”

“Have you heard?” One of the chamberlains pipped up innocently as he was working.

The one he was addressing showed absolutely no response. However, the chamberlain simply wanted to avoid falling into shared silence with this strange occupant who almost seemed to have a.s.similated into the darkness that shrouded the room.

“They say that His Highness the crown prince is finally coming to Solon. I really wonder what kind of words His Majesty will exchange with…”

Casually turning around, he realised that Oubary’s thin lips were curved into a faint smile.

Huh? Thought the chamberlain.

Those heavy shoulders were shaking. No, not just his shoulders – his arms and legs, his cheeks, all were quivering.

“General!” The chamberlain unthinkingly cried out his former t.i.tle.

A stain spread out from beneath Oubary Bilan’s lower half, and started dripping drop by drop from the chair.

Even so, the former general of the Black Armoured Division was still smiling. He continued to smile while his entire body trembled and urinated incontinently.

Gil Mephius had entered Solon.

When he received that report, Guhl Mephius gave one short order.

“Keep him waiting.”

He had him stay in a residence near the centre of Solon which had been prepared beforehand. Gil Mephius was then kept waiting for three days.

Was he deliberately making things difficult to have Gil fully endure the taste of fear and irritation, or did he intend to wait until every single retainer had arrived at the capital – the question was debated both among the n.o.bles and the people.

The emperor and the crown prince.

The father and son who had unleashed b.l.o.o.d.y battles around Birac and Nedain. Who knew what would happen when they met face-to-face. Wanting to witness the scene of what was certain to be a historic moment, there were those who travelled from afar to reach the capital, as well as many who were leaving Solon for a while, fearing that the situation might turn alarming.

Because the emperor had purposely delayed that moment by three days, an oppressive feeling of tension drifted through Solon.

As for what Gil was doing during that time – absolutely nothing worthy of any particular attention. It had been a long time since the crown prince had been in Solon. How much time had pa.s.sed since he had left here, tasked with the duty to defend Apta Fortress? He had once pa.s.sed through Solon without stopping when he had been heading to bring reinforcements to Garbera, then had done the same when he had returned to Apta – a behaviour which had made the emperor look at him askance. Various thoughts must no doubt be flitting through his mind.

Among the n.o.bles and the townspeople of Solon, there were also many who believed that maybe – His Majesty has no intention of meeting the crown prince, and only invited him because he plans to attack him by surprise. It would not have been surprising if Gil himself had shared those misgivings, yet, from start to finish, he seemed to just be calmly watching things unfold.

Then, on the morning of the third day, Guhl Mephius received a visitor in his private study. An old man with dark brown skin who was enveloped only in a plain piece of cloth. Needless to say, he was one of the elders of the Dragon G.o.ds’ faith.

“That Esteemed One has extended an invitation to His Majesty. Please visit the shrine this afternoon.”

“Oh?” With an uninterested expression, Guhl flipped through the pages of a book that he had taken from a shelf. “Have his legs gotten so weak that he can’t leave the shrine anymore?”

“… That Esteemed One has been labouring incessantly to correct the diagram of fate. The likes of us cannot begin to imagine the agony of it.”

“Is that right?”

“The matter concerning Gil Mephius will be settled this morning. After that, he wishes to speak with Your Majesty first-hand.”

“I get it, I get it,” Guhl Mephius answered, his deeply wrinkled face all the while turned away.

After that, he got ready for the audience. He put on a cloak and picked up his crystal-tipped staff in one hand. Then, just as he seemed about to reach for something at his chest, the emperor suddenly summoned the officer of the Imperial Guards who was responsible for guarding him within the palace.

“You called for me, Your Majesty?”

“Take out your gun.”

“Yes?”

Although puzzled, he obeyed the order. The handguns that officers of the Imperial Guards carried with them were personally given to them by the emperor when they took up their duties. Guhl looked at the long-serving gun.

“How long ago was it that I gave you this?”

“Ah… Would it be nearly twenty years?”

“It’s a really old model, huh. If you’d wanted, you could have had it replaced with a new one.”

“It is something that Your Majesty personally bestowed unto me.”

The officer appeared to be in the latter half of his forties.

Guhl did not say anything further and instead started doing something curious. He slid open the gun’s cylinder and took out a single bullet.

The officer did not say anything.

As a young man, he had loved jokes. He and Guhl had even used to laugh about stupid things. He seemed on the verge of making some unfunny joke along the lines of: Your Majesty, you truly are the descendant of the Dragon G.o.ds. Are you going to breakfast on a bullet? Silence reigned however, and amidst it, Guhl took a similarly old-model gun from his breast, and loaded the single bullet into it.

“That’ll be all,” Guhl returned the gun and sent the officer of the Imperial Guards away.

After which, escorted front and rear by several of his guards, he made his way to the audience hall.

The pounding of their feet echoed back from the high, domed ceiling. Pale, flickering light glimmered across it. There were artificial pools on either side of the pa.s.sageway, and the sunlight streaming in from the high windows reflected from their surface.

Statues of the dragons and heroes from Mephius’ founding myths were enshrined one by one along the pools. It was the sight that the emperor saw whenever he walked along the pa.s.sageway leading to the audience hall. In other words, it was a sight that Guhl had grown familiar with over more than thirty years.

Finally, the path came to an end, and a door ornamented in red and gold stood before him. He entered as the official in charge of proclamations announced his arrival.

Far more people than usual were already gathered within the hall. Leading figures and generals in command of all the main fortresses were present. Everyone bowed their heads at the same time.

On every face could be seen the acceptance that, on this day, the future of Mephius would be determined. Even so, there was not the slightest noise or commotion. Only silence ruled.

It looks like…

People exchanged surrept.i.tious glances.

It looks like His Majesty truly does intend to call His Highness before him.

There’s still some uncertainty about whether he will throw him in prison without a ‘by your leave’…

It’s finally starting.

Guhl Mephius sat on the throne. For a while, the old man, who had ruled over Mephius for many long years, lowered his gaze, as though tracing the faint pattern in the marble of the dais, on which stood the throne, with his eyes. He finally raised his eyes. And, as though afraid that those eyes might emit an invisible beam that could pierce through them and read their hearts, all of the courtiers conversely lowered their gazes.

Next to the emperor was Empress Melissa. In that tense hall where one would hesitate to so much as give a single cough, she alone seemed faintly bored. Her expression was exactly the same as when she was watching a farcical side-show that had dragged on for far too long.

Next to Melissa were the two sisters, Ineli and Flora. The older sister, Ineli had personally entreated the emperor to allow the two daughters to sit with their mother, Empress Melissa. Ineli’s back was ramrod straight and her eyes were especially alert, and she looked as though she did not intend to miss a single part of what would happen next. Her younger sister, on the other hand, had her head hunched back into her shoulders, giving the impression that this was painful to her.

And then –

A bronze trumpet was blown.

“His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Gil Mephius – entering!”

Just as when the emperor had entered, the crier called out in a clear voice.

The two guards that stood on either side of it solemnly opened the ma.s.sive doors that stood directly opposite the throne.

The people there narrowed their eyes, as if they had been hit with the fierce light of daybreak s.h.i.+ning over a mountain ridge, as they peered at the young man who walked in from beyond the door.

A short cape over a white silk tunic. A ceremonial longsword at his hip.

When their eyes took in the young man’s appearance, the hushed silence, the almost sacred silence, that had reigned over them suddenly collapsed.

Uwoh.

A sound almost like a moan escaped from someone’s throat.

Look.

That’s… there’s no doubt…

There’s no possible doubt, that’s the crown prince himself.

His Highness Gil Mephius is alive!

The people there seemed to billow like waves cras.h.i.+ng against the cliffs of Zonga.

While the long wave of people ebbed and swayed on either side of him, Gil Mephius walked forward. As far as he seemed to be concerned, that commotion and those emotions were the same as pebbles by the side of the road, and he paid them no attention as he simply walked towards the throne. When he reached the stairs before it, he suddenly knelt.

He waited for the hem of his lightly fluttering cape to settle against his back.

“It has been a long time,” Gil Mephius was the first to speak, “Your Majesty Emperor Guhl Mephius – my father. Having received Your Majesty’s invitation, Crown Prince Gil Mephius is here to see you.”

Part 3

In that moment when Gil knelt and spoke out, a different emotion swept through the hall. It contained a great variety of feelings all jumbled together, but, to summarise it in a few words, there was a sense of being ‘deeply moved’.

Tense as they were from this moment having finally arrived, there, before their eyes, was a young warrior, revived from the very abyss of death to stand against the emperor – the feelings that they were witnessing a scene from a heroic legend welled up within them.

There were many, also, who were reminded of the person that, not even a month ago, had knelt in the same place. A very young girl, who could still almost be called a child. Even though she trembled almost imperceptibly, in front of Emperor Guhl, whom all the retainers feared, the girl had stood her ground from beginning to end.

When the figures of the girl in their memories and the young man before their eyes closely overlapped, many of the officers and n.o.bles there were unable to hold down the emotions that welled up within them.

Perhaps it was a sign of the future.

Then –

“It’s good that you’ve come,’ said Guhl, unperturbed by the intense emotions that had engulfed the hall.

Having reached this point, Guhl Mephius was not going to take any more of his time to negotiate or to play cat and mouse with his opponent.

“When I sent you to Apta, I did not think that you would be away from the capital for so long. That was not my intention. Too many things have happened. Some were unavoidable, but there are some that I do not understand. The same is no doubt true for the many retainers gathered here.”

“Yes,” the man who had once been a gladiator and who had been made to kill for the amus.e.m.e.nt of the ma.s.ses, a.s.sumed the expression of a crown prince and answered.

“It was because I had chosen you to defend Apta that I had you leave Solon. It was clear that Taúlia’s lord, Ax, was awaiting his chance to take aim at our territory. And, in actual fact, I heard you fought him twice in Apta. The final outcome was that although you did not lose Apta, you arrogantly, and without permission, decided to form an alliance with the western Taúlia. Not only that, but immediately afterwards, and also without permission, you sent reinforcements to Garbera. Even though I had Ineli go as a messenger to warn you that you were not to do so. First, let me hear your explanation with regards to these two matters.”

The emperor had fired the first shot.

His head very slightly lowered, Orba answered in a firm voice.

“To start with, Apta is not a fortress that can be defended with only a small military force. When the first battle occurred, we did not have time to request aid from Solon and, I am ashamed to admit, we had fallen into a predicament from which we were rescued by the Garberan troops which had been about to pull out of there. However, it was not difficult to guess that Ax was likely to attack again without wasting any time, so I pulled our troops far back and deliberately lured him to Apta. Because of the fierce fighting, the fortress suffered partial destruction, however, we were able to deal Ax a serious blow. To avoid further mutual damage, we agreed to pull back our soldiers. And on that occasion, I came to an unusual understanding with Ax Bazgan.”

Orba took his time and answered at a relaxed pace. He continued –

“Around that time, I too heard the information that war was probably about to break out between Garbera and Ende. Garbera is, needless to say, the birthplace of my future wife, Vileena Owell, and thus a country with which we have formed an alliance. I also owed them a favour for helping me in Apta. Your Majesty, you were convinced that the conflict would not escalate, and you held the conviction that we should not recklessly take part and needlessly risk fanning the flames of war, so you sent Ineli with a message to ‘not send reinforcements’, however…”

At that point, Orba glanced up towards the princess for a moment. In actual fact, Ineli had deliberately delayed conveying the message to the crown prince. Of course, not only would emphasising that fact now simply sound like an excuse, also, and more importantly, even if he had received the message, Orba would not even have considered cancelling the reinforcements to Garbera.

In the instant that their eyes met, Ineli visibly stiffened, but Orba immediately returned his gaze to the emperor’s face.

“I too had already partic.i.p.ated in some battles. I was convinced that if Ende saw that Mephius intended to honour the alliance, they would definitely pull back before the opening of hostilities. Although I cannot claim to have Your Majesty’s discerning eye, and although I now blush at my youthful recklessness, at the time, I believed it to be the best policy in order to protect the ‘cause’ that was our alliance with Garbera. I am of course young and inexperienced, but I had intended to fully accept the consequences. I am merely one of Your Majesty’s retainers; there was no way for me to excuse my crime of having disobeyed the orders that I had received from you, so I had intended to simply remain in Apta until you had formally handed down your verdict.”

As...o...b.. spoke, none of the retainers uttered a sound. He sensed that their silence was not only due to fear of Emperor Guhl, but that it also stemmed from the intent of evaluating the next ruler.

While Orba was talking, Guhl did not brusquely interrupt him, nor condemn without listening to what he had to say.

What Guhl wanted above all else was a direct confrontation. In place of swords, guns, s.h.i.+elds and battle formations, it was words that flew between the two, and that were arrayed around them. The emperor and Crown Prince were meeting on the premise that they would need to fight fairly.

Therefore, this too was war.

A single slip of the tongue would be the same as offering the enemy a chance to attack. Being at a loss for a single word was equivalent to losing an officer able to command a thousand men. And whoever ran out of words would be the one whose fate would have run its course.

This was the final fight that Orba had to overcome in order to raise himself up to the position of emperor of an entire country – he who had originally been a person whose birth and death would not be recorded in history, and whose life would only have been remembered by those who lived in his area, only to soon fade even from their memories. And it was a fight without swords or strategy, one in which he needed to prove to his only opponent, his “father”, that he was the real person, despite being an impostor.

Observing that the crown prince had finished talking for the time being, the emperor raised his eyebrows.

“Indeed, I immediately sent a messenger to Apta to invite you to come before the throne in Solon so that I could hear what you had to say. That much certainly happened. Yet shortly after having returned to Apta, my son was shot and lost from this world – that is what I heard. And in fact, I sent search parties to Apta, yet none were able to find Crown Prince Gil Mephius.”

“…”

“The grief I experienced then was shared by all of Mephius’ people. Yet now, you are here kneeling before me.”

From beneath his heavy eyelids, Guhl Mephius glared at the one who used the same name and had the same appearance as his son.

“Why did you deliberately feign your own death and deceive not only the retainers and the people, but even I, your own father?”

“Yes,” Orba once more lowered his head.

Princess Vileena had once asked him the same sort of question.

You who were supposed to have died in Apta, what have you been doing until now and what led you to return? Well? Please do tell.

That time, the muzzle of a gun had been gleaming right before Orba’s eyes.

And this time too, an invisible gun, blade, and guillotine were flickering from behind the emperor. Even as he grew tenser, Orba started to narrate “circ.u.mstances” which closely resembled those he had previously explained to the princess.

While he had been inspecting the territory, he had learned that the commander of the Black Armoured Division, Oubary Bilan, had in the past attacked villages in Apta’s vicinity.

While he was pursuing investigations, Oubary once more moved his troops to attack one of the villages by the border. Gil had caught wind of it just before it happened but, as he did not have time to gather his soldiers to hold Oubary back, he had no choice but to lay a trap in the village and to repel him by force.

“We just barely managed to defeat Oubary. However, when I was interrogating the captured soldiers from the Black Armoured Division, they claimed that he had planned to a.s.sa.s.sinate me and to make it look as though the west had done it. Well, from the start, his aim when attacking the village was to pretend that Taúlia was responsible and to once more re-ignite a war against them. Not only that, but they hinted that Oubary was not the only one involved in the plot.”

While he was imperturbably laying out these new “facts”, the retainers’ expressions revealed in turn surprise and confusion.

“Oh? So who was the one conspiring with Oubary?” Guhl asked, snorting through his moustache. “Among all the people here, is that person present?” Orba briefly swept his gaze around his surroundings. For a moment, the hall was enveloped in a different kind of nervousness than earlier.

“Well, it seems that the rank and file soldiers were not given the name. Which is why I had no choice but to be very cautious. There was someone in Mephius who, unknown not only to myself but also to Your Majesty, was scheming war with other countries. And who was even willing to secretly kill me, a member of the imperial family, to accomplish that. I believed that it might develop into a plot equal to the rebellion that Zaat Quark had been scheming.”

“…”

“I should probably have immediately rushed to Solon with that information. However, and although you may laugh at my shallow and inexperienced way of thinking, I had only just defied one of Your Majesty’s orders. I was worried that if I were to then nonchalantly return to Solon, Your Majesty would find my words difficult to believe. Would I not instead be giving that heinous person, who was connected to Oubary, a chance to conceal the truth? On the other hand, if Your Majesty ordered me to return to Solon, and I once again disobeyed you, I was sure to forfeit even more of your trust.”

Everyone there was could understand the implicit meaning behind Gil’s words.

Orba did not need to look around the hall for them to be able to guess the ident.i.ty of the “someone” who had plotted to invade the west.

Emperor Guhl Mephius.

Obviously, Orba himself was perfectly aware that what he was saying was not the actual truth. However, it was not hard to imagine that the emperor had long had designs on the west, and he had in fact been going to put them into effect after Gil Mephius had faked his own death in Apta.

And at the end of the day, it was a fact that the emperor had dispatched armed forces against Taúlia. No matter how much of his authority he used, that was one truth that Guhl could not erase.

“If I, the only one who knew truth, was placed under restraint in punishment for my crimes, that person might once more target my life, and I was afraid that might cause the country to take a wrong turn, and plunge it into a war with the west that neither the people nor the retainers wanted. Moreover, I myself had only just entered into an alliance with Sir Ax; just as with Garbera, I could not fail to uphold it. Therefore, I decided that, for the time being, I would pretend to have been shot by Oubary’s men, leave Mephius, and rapidly inform the west of what was going on.”

“So, in other words, while we were crushed with grief at receiving the news of the crown prince’s death, you were doing nothing less than making preparations in Taúlia to ambush our fine soldiers?”

“It was a bitter decision to have to make. The alliance with the west had certainly been made on my judgement alone, but, when I left Solon, Your Majesty had done me the honour of saying that you left the matter of Taúlia entirely to me. Both sides had suffered considerable losses during the fighting, but we had fought fairly and I had afterwards sworn friends.h.i.+p with its ruler, Ax Bazgan. I could not allow some ambitious person to trample that underfoot with their schemes.”

“…”

Unlike the kneeling Crown Prince, from whose back energy seemed to be rising like smoke, Emperor Guhl for some reason seemed to find this swift exchange of words troublesome. From an outside perspective, it looked as though he needed to muster all of his strength to open his mouth.

“In that case, it would have been best if, immediately after defending Taúlia, you had personally come to Solon and talked to me directly. Why did you feel the need to deliberately announce yourself in Apta and fight the troops which I sent there?”

“Your Majesty, would you have been prepared to listen to what I had to say?”

“If a son who was believed dead was to reappear, any father would listen.”

“No,” Orba flatly declared. As the people around them gasped, he continued, “How could I possibly believe that Your Majesty would be willing to lend me your ears when you had only just failed in your invasion of Taúlia? You might have arbitrarily decided that I was the product of evil western sorcery, or a body-double set up by someone who intended to rebel, and had me secretly executed.”

Guhl growled something. He was just about to break out into shouting but then gave up on the idea, or perhaps he realised that doing so would have been a mistake.

Orba could tell that those hostile to him were losing vitality. He could smell the mood that was drifting through the hall. He sensed instinctively that here and now, he should unsheathe the invisible sword at his waist and thrust with it. Unconsciously, he firmly straightened his waist and moved his knees forward.

“Just now, I said that it was a bitter decision. It was agonising to be the one to divide the country, but in order to ensure peace as quickly as possible, not only in the west but also in Mephius, I had to harden my heart and grasp a sword. And in fact, was it not only after I had announced myself at the risk of my own life, and slipped through blades and storms of bullets to take Birac and Nedain, that Your Majesty finally felt inclined to listen to me like this?”

“So you’re saying that you killed our country’s soldiers simply to prove yourself?”

“Repeating myself.”

Compared to the emperor, whose words somewhat gave the impression of prey being driven into a corner, everything that Gil said were almost tangibly full of vigour.

“… Is all that I can do, Father. I have already stated this several times, but it was unbearable for me to kill Mephian warriors. When I swung my sword, the soldiers whose helmets cracked open beneath it might have been the parents or the brothers of those gathered here. The soldiers whose b.r.e.a.s.t.s were pierced by my bullets might have babies who are even now crying pitifully in the towns and villages of these domains, or aged grandparents. No matter how uprightly my life is from now, the wounds caused by this war, both to Mephius and to myself, will not be easily healed. Which is why…”

Gil Mephius raised his head.

“Which is why, Your Majesty, please heed my words. So that these wounds that Mephius bears will not be in vain. So that no more young blood need be spilled in this fight. Your Majesty, having taken Nedain, I am far from being at a disadvantage, so why is it that you nevertheless asked me to come before your presence? Why is it that you are having me exchange words with you, Your Majesty, in front of all the commanders and lords gathered here?”

Why? – Guhl no longer spoke.

As though wanting to use that silence as a foothold to leap even further, Orba’s tone grew firmer.

“I have heard that Allion is moving to invade Ende. And that a request for reinforcements has come from Ende. Your Majesty, please give me the order. With your permission, I will immediately organise a military force and will show you how I put a stop to Allion’s ambitions.”

Within the hall, finally unable to contain their agitation, the retainers exchanged glances. They had heard the news of Allion’s invasion. The great power in the east. All of them naturally feared that it planned to gain a foothold in Ende, from where it would bring its warhorses to the centre of the continent.

Even while receiving a princess from Garbera as a wife for his son, the emperor had been manoeuvring to draw closer to Ende. He might, therefore, have been expected to immediately respond to the appeal for help, but there was a reason why Mephius was unable to simply send soldiers. And that reason was the matter concerning Gil Mephius.

And now, Gil himself was offering to lead reinforcements to Ende. Moreover, in order to do so, he had chosen to leave an advantageous encampment and had come to Solon, which was the same as handing himself to his opponents.

How did the people there see Gil Mephius now? As a peerless hero or as a fool unmatched in all of History? Whatever the case, having seen him like this first-hand, his name and figure certainly loomed much larger than before in the mind of the commanders and n.o.bles there.

It was indeed because of the fact of Allion’s invasion that Orba had come to kneel before Emperor Guhl even at the risk of his own life. At the same time – and just as he had once said to Pas.h.i.+r – this was also something that he saw as a bright ray of hope.

Allion had become a common enemy for both Guhl and Gil. Therefore, he had made use of it. Orba had, in a manner of speaking, prepared a “way out” for the emperor.

If things turned into a life-or-death battle, the emperor would inevitably strike down with all his might. Solon would be turned into a sea of flames. As Pas.h.i.+r had pointed out, he might also once again take measures to dispose of Orba in secret.

And so, he had deliberately avoided the issue of victory and defeat.

He judged that if Gil Mephius did not display an att.i.tude of being desperate for victory, the emperor would weigh the situation and take that “way out”, resigning himself for the time being to sending Gil to Ende, which was certain to have a considerable effect on the retainers.

“Your Majesty, your decision, please.”

It looked as though the colourless, odourless smoke rising from Gil Mephius’ back would soon engulf the pitiable old man before spreading its dominion to every corner of the hall.

“Indeed,” Emperor Guhl Mephius blinked his heavy-lidded eyes.

A moment pa.s.sed.

With that pause in their exchange of words, Guhl’s tone of voice suddenly softened.

“It’s true that you have a valid point. As a father, I was enraptured as I listened. I believe it was good that I summoned you and that we talked face-to-face like this. When I first heard the messenger, I wondered what kind of fool it was who was pretending to be my son, but, indeed, that look of yours is worthy of the crown prince of Mephius, and you have a proud soul. I can see why Rogue, Odyne, and the others joined your side.”

Oh – The co

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