Chapter 87 (2/2)
“Stop!”
“Halt.”
The Arc Royales stopped on their tracks with Yoo-rah’s sharp voice, Mazelan’s desperate cry, and a single word of the Emperor. Seeing this, Isaac smiled and spoke to the Emperor.
“Have a seat. This wine is quite delicious. I guess even the wines here are of greatest quality as expected of the Royal Palace.”
“Halt! The Arc Royale is not to act! This is the Emperor’s order!”
The Arc Royale was ready to jump back in, but the Emperor’s words stopped them once more. They sheathed their blades, but their eyes were still locked onto Isaac, demanding blood. Isaac, on the other hand, cared not about what was happening and sipped at his wine. The servants and maids unnervingly glimpsed at Isaac for his actions while Yoo-rah glared at the Arc Royale menacingly.
The Emperor sighed when hall’s mood turned dangerously murderous so quickly, and he turned to speak at the Arc Royale one more time.
“None of you are to act before I tell you to. Understand?”
“… We understand.”
The Arc Royale gave a firm nod and submitted to the Emperor grudgingly before stepping backward. Yoo-rah and Mazelan let out a sigh of relief. Even the Emperor caught his breath and collapsed onto his seat at the head of the table.
“I finally understand why an insane man is so scary. It was a refres.h.i.+ng experience.”
Was this the gravitas of the Emperor?
Instead of being insulted by Isaac’s rudeness, the Emperor held his empty gla.s.s to Isaac. Isaac smirked at the Emperor’s gracious act and filled his gla.s.s whilst holding the bottle with one. All of the servants waiting at the side lost their balance witnessing the atrocity. The audacity to do so was unheard of – an act which ignored all due respect and formality.
It seemed that one of the Arc Royale’s anger had peaked. The Arc Royale’s face was bright red, and he stared intensely at Isaac with fumes venting out of his nostrils. Isaac noticed his glance, glimpsed at the Arc Royale, and smirked.
“You’re quite lenient.”
“Hm? Huhu. You end up seeing the best and the worst of everyone when you hold the seat as Emperor. It’d be too tiresome to react to everything that happens around me.”
“I guess that’s why that lot would dare to pull their blades out in front of the Emperor. I can’t understand that. Is it because I’m from another world? In our world, unsheathing one’s blade in front of the Emperor was a crime serious enough to eradicate their entire families. Not to mention, they openly ignored your orders the first time. You can’t be too easy on your children, or they’ll end up trying to play with your head later.”
“…”
There was only silence in the Banquet Hall. Even the Emperor seemed shocked at first and could only gulp. He calmed himself by taking one sip of his wine and laughed heartily.
“I do admit they have the tendency to go overboard. That is why we recently began re-educating them. But the Arc Royale are the only subordinates I have whom I can trust my back. I know all of their actions are based on their loyalty to me.”
The Arc Royale kneeled and shouted out, “Glory to the Emperor,” touched by the Emperor’s words. Isaac watched the scene, annoyed, when Mazelan took the seat next to Isaac and muttered into his ears as he nudged Isaac’s side with his elbow.
“I swear you’re the reason I can feel my blood run dry.”
“Hey, you should be getting used to it by now.”
Mazelan could only sigh at Isaac’s playful response. Meanwhile the Emperor gently spoke to Yoo-rah, who was looking sideways with a pout.
“It seems the Queen isn’t too happy.”
“Hmph! I definitely warned you before that you need to readjust the mentality of Arc Royale!”
“You know that isn’t a problem which can be solved overnight. We are making progress little by little.”
“Really? Seems to me that I’ll be dead by the time that’s over too.”
The Arc Royale flinched at Yoo-rah’s cold stare and hung their heads.
“Did you see that? How they were looking at me? How dare they do that when it was me who saved their lives?”
“Haha. I will give them a firm warning.”
Seeing the Emperor was only laughing over the situation, Yoo-rah pointed the tip of her tongue to Isaac instead.
“The same to you too, Isaac. How come you just stayed seated when even I stood up to greet the Emperor? What if the coat I gave you didn’t function properly! Did you really want to die there? And do you know how narrow-minded Arc Royale is? Not to mention how long their petty grudges last! Do you really want the Arc Royale to hinder and intervene in everything you do in the future?”
It seemed Yoo-rah’s nagging wasn’t going to end any time soon, so Isaac raised one hand and stopped her from speaking further.
“Stop, I hate women who talk too much.”
“…W, what does that have to do with me?”
“Oh! To think I get to witness the Queen blus.h.!.+ You really do see everything as you get older.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Haha. There is no meaning behind it.”
“… Hmph!”
After a momentary glare at the Emperor, Yoo-rah snorted and harshly turned her face away, and the Emperor watched it with a fatherly smile. Isaac too watched the scene, confused by the Emperor’s smile. How he was treating the Queen made no sense, as he should be aware the Queen was much older than he was. Mazelan nudged at Isaac’s side once more and whispered.
“You’re a better player than you seem. To think you could silence the Queen with just a sentence. For the first time, I’m starting to respect you.”
It seemed that Mazelan wasn’t being sarcastic, as his eyes held a hint of admiration within. Isaac simply responded with a shrug. The workers of the Royal Palace seemed like they were very experienced, as they quickly began bringing out the food to change the mood of the hall.
The food that came out was truly worthy for the Emperor, with the highest quality ingredients cooked in the most elegant manner. The four silently focused on eating their meals. Once their banquet finished with dessert, a satisfied smile appeared on everyone’s faces.
“Hm, it has been a while since my palate has been sated. Perhaps that is thanks to you?”
“Do you not eat like this normally?”
“Normally I have my meals in a much more plain fas.h.i.+on. These courses are only provided on special occasions.”
“That’s unexpected.”
“The funding reserved for the royal family is very tight. Just paying for the maintenance alone takes everything we have.”
Isaac smirked as the Emperor complained about one thing after another, enjoying the wine which he took to his liking and pointing out how its flavour wrapped around his mouth. The Emperor sent a look to the head butler, who quickly led all of the palace workers out of the Banquet Hall.
“What about those?”
Realising the real reason why he was called here had come, Isaac pointed his chin at the Arc Royale, who remained idle inside. The Arc Royale grit their teeth, and everyone else simply shook his head at Isaac’s continuous taunting.
“Don’t worry about the Arc Royale. They already know most of what I know, having followed me all this time.”
‘Is there not a shred of worry for betrayal?’
n.o.body knows the true intention inside someone else. But the fact that they know confidential information the Emperor deals with meant either he trusted them that much or there was some safety measure that prevented the Arc Royale from ever leaking the information. Isaac placed his bets on the safety measure. It was something that was expected, seeing how they treated confidential information.
Type 3 and 4 invasions weren’t something they could make lightly of. Suddenly, the owner of the body changes whilst retaining the original owner’s knowledge, experience and information. But the fact the Arc Royale knows information that the Emperor acts upon meant they had some sort of failsafe, whatever it was.
“So, Sir Isaac. What do you think of this Empire?”
“It’s a nice place to live, if it weren’t for those who pester you.”
“Right? I think so too. But there are so many around who make our lives miserable.”
The Emperor nodded in agreement and let out a deep sigh.
“You seemed like you were doing fine.”
“This t.i.tle of mine forces me to bluff from time to time. So how much of the Gate did you explain?”
Yoo-rah, who still seemed unsatisfied, responded coldly directly at the Emperor’s eyes.
“I only gave a brief explanation about our side. And even that almost took the entire day.”
“Our side?”
Isaac tilted his head in question. The Emperor sent a look to Mazelan, and it was his turn to speak. Just as he was about to talk however, he had to consider what t.i.tle to address Isaac.
Should he address Isaac casually like how he always had? Or does he need to show some respect? It seemed Isaac wasn’t aware of it, but he had now become one of the main a.s.sociates of the Empire and had the power to influence it however he wished.
Mazelan had witnessed with his eyes what it meant to have the Queen as the guarantor. Already, Kainen had been forcefully locked away and was going through intense interrogation just because there was suspicion that he lent a helping hand on kidnapping of Isaac alone. And even the Director of Surveillance had taken a liking of Isaac.
When you put it that way, Isaac had become more influential than Mazelan, the vice commissioner of the Department of Supplies, himself. When his thoughts reached that point, Mazelan couldn’t help but feel unjustified. How dare Isaac rise above him by playing around all day, when he had to suffer through all the paperwork day in and day out to reach his rank! There was no respect that he deserved!
Having finished his pondering, Mazelan made a few dry coughs and spoke.
“The expeditionary force of your world isn’t the only foe Central faces.”
“There’s more?”
“Other than the Expeditionary Force, there is heaven and h.e.l.l.”
<script>