“Your Majesty. As an imperial prince, how could I overlook disrespectful words spouted in front of all the vassals? To let it pass would mean the Claist imperial family can be disrespected, so during this period when Eos Castle is overflowing with visitors, I had to tighten discipline even more.”
Royster moved his lips smoothly as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“So as the First Prince, I tried to punish the knight of Tildyen. However, the 12th Prince said he was the master and would take the punishment instead. Anya even pointed his sword at me, his own brother!”
Royster had to take a deep breath mid-speech to control his anger. His eyeballs glistened bright red.
“Is this true?”
The Emperor asked Anya to confirm the truth. Royster’s words were superficially correct, but he had completely omitted the truth about having provided the cause himself.
“…Yes, Your Majesty, but…!”
The Emperor cut off Anya’s words and dismissed them coldly.
“Anya, you speak after Royster has finished. Continue.”
Royster glared fiercely at Evernight standing to one side as he continued speaking.
“Moreover, when Lord Evernight appeared and expressed anger about his consort being punished, he did this to my wrist! When Sir Raniel tried to stop him, that mere knight of Tildyen dared point his sword at the palace guard commander.”
As Royster said, his wrist was already bruised black, looking exactly as if it had rotted away. This time the Emperor gestured with his chin at Anya. Anya began telling a completely different story with a pale face. Though nervous, he conveyed his position clearly in a definite tone.
When Anya’s story ended, the Emperor let out a small sigh.
“You two are telling completely different stories. Raniel and the knight of Tildyen serve different masters, so they cannot be neutral. What should I do?”
The Emperor stroked his thick beard and swept the crowd with cold eyes.
“Royster, what do you want?”
Anya looked at Royster with anxious eyes. As expected, the Emperor was on Royster’s side, not his. Royster answered with a triumphant expression.
“Please punish the Tildyen couple who dared to injure the body of an imperial prince.”
Royster’s tunic was stained with blood and a mess, and his right wrist was dead black. Even with the help of imperial healers, it would take quite some time to fully recover. His demand was reasonable to grant. However, the Emperor turned around with a face that had quickly grown bored.
“Royster, are you telling me to whip them in the middle of the plaza? That child is also imperial family—if I punish Anya, it contradicts your claim that this incident was caused by lowering the authority of the imperial family.”
Soon the Emperor turned away from Royster like someone who wanted to escape this place quickly. The vassals parted to both sides like the sea splitting.
“This is enough. Lord Evernight, you also properly discipline your wife and household.”
“Yes, I will gladly comply.”
Evernight placed his hand on his left chest and responded to the Emperor’s conclusion. The Emperor tried to walk out while clicking his tongue as if fed up, but Royster didn’t easily back down.
“Your Majesty, then at least behead that insolent knight of Tildyen so no one will ever dare defy the authority of the imperial family again!”
Royster shouted at the Emperor’s back. Anya felt his heart sink. He looked urgently at Evernight, but he couldn’t read any intention from Evernight’s expressionless face. Anya blamed himself. Wasn’t it because he was a half-wit that things around him always became a mess? The deep self-loathing he thought had disappeared instantly covered his entire body.
The Emperor stopped walking and turned around.
“We need a third party’s perspective. Montrose, you speak. What should I do?”
Montrose touched his chin as if troubled by the sudden call. The situation was turning quite serious. Montrose didn’t particularly like that arrogant Duke of Tildyen who was of commoner origin, but if an imperial duke received punishment for offending a prince’s mood, it would be no different from creating a precedent that would bind them in the future.
“Let’s consider the results, Your Majesty. The mistress of Tildyen suffered serious wounds on her back, and Prince Royster also suffered serious injury to his wrist. In the end, they each inflicted damage once, so doesn’t that make them even? So I think discussing further punishment would be too one-sided.”
At Montrose’s answer, Royster frowned as if displeased. Then Usolin added his opinion in a grave, robust voice.
“However, the First Prince and Tildyen’s mistress have different statuses, so even if they suffered equally fatal injuries, they can never be considered the same.”
His words made sense, so Montrose didn’t add any further comments. It wasn’t his business anyway.
“Father, if we let this pass, everyone will look down on the imperial family.”
The address changed from ‘Your Majesty’ to ‘Father.’ Royster actively appealed to the fact that he was his son.
“If punishing them is difficult, you should at least punish the knight of Tildyen and show the dignity of the imperial family to everyone here.”
Indeed, as he said, far too many people had witnessed this situation. And Luksus Claist found it very troublesome when small rumors moving around the palace like mice grew and eventually scratched his authority.
“So both sides agree that the cause of this incident was originally that young knight of Tildyen.”
At the Emperor’s calm words, a light of victory soon flashed in Royster’s dark eyes.
“Your Majesty! He, he did nothing wrong.”
Anya sprang up from his seat and ran to Luksus. Then he bowed his head before him. Below the Emperor’s feet, a lean back with blood dripping down could be seen. Montrose hastily covered his mouth and turned his head to the side.
“A knight would naturally try to protect his, his master, wouldn’t he? He was only faithful to his duty. How is that wrong, wrong? If there’s fault, it’s the fault of Brother Royster who couldn’t show mercy despite being the First Prince, and my fault for not handling it wisely as the mi-mistress.”
Luksus bent his knees to meet Anya’s eye level. It was the first time seeing his father this close. For the first time in his life, Anya begged his father for mercy. For the first and last time, he looked at his father so desperately. The Emperor quietly raised his hand and stroked Anya’s hair. Unlike the benevolent gesture, his expression was cold as ice.
“Child, seeing your brother so enraged, it seems your knight wasn’t entirely without fault. Sometimes one must resist with silence. Teaching that lesson would also be a virtue as a mistress.”
And the Emperor, no longer wanting to be the judge of this fight, stood up from his seat without regret. He was about to pronounce sentence on Sisou when Evernight approached Anya’s side and paid respects to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, the debt you owe me from before—I want to collect it now.”
The Emperor’s brow furrowed sharply. He hadn’t expected Evernight to make that request now. The Emperor let out a small sigh as if displeased.
“Sir, I too have something called a father’s dignity. Use that debt for Tildyen’s development.”
“I intend to use it for Tildyen’s development.”
Anya looked up at her husband in a daze. Under the blazing southern sun, the man with black hair characteristic of northerners, pale skin for a knight, and blue eyes resembling a demon was imprinted in Anya’s eyes more intensely than anyone else.
“I will enter the hunting festival and equestrian tournament. Instead, if I win, please bury this matter along with the red earring.”
His subdued voice seemed to have some magic in it, creating deep ripples in Anya’s heart at this very moment.
Montrose and Usolin exchanged secret glances. It turned into this? Those were their faces. Whether Evernight intended it or not, from Tildyen’s position, he had gained justification to obtain the red earring without being cautious. Either way, it was a profitable deal.
The Emperor bent over for a moment and burst into hearty laughter.
“Good. I will accept your proposal. However, let me have my son participate as well.”
When the Emperor suddenly pointed at Anya, one of Evernight’s eyebrows shot up in displeasure.
“It will be good experience for your consort as well. He is a mistress and already an excellent knight, is he not? In fact, I had been curious about this child’s swordsmanship.”
The Emperor recalled the letters he had received from Tildyen. The half-wit youngest son he had forgotten about had won an honor duel and uses magic. Luksus vaguely recalled a prophecy that had been passed down for hundreds of years.
“This hunting festival and equestrian tournament will be more exciting than ever. This is what my birthday celebration should be.”
As he said this, he showed a thick smile on his face for the first time in a while.
“Father, this cannot be!”
Royster protested urgently. Luksus glanced at the red earring on Royster’s ear with a displeased face and turned away. He no longer wanted to engage in a war of words.
“Royster, if you’re that aggrieved, you enter the tournament too. Go and trample your brother or slash Duke Evernight to death—I won’t say anything then.”
As the Emperor moved his steps, Sisou silently knelt and paid respects to the Emperor.
“Then everyone go get treatment now. Duke, I’ll send a healer to the eastern palace.”
The Emperor moved his somewhat tired steps, saying he was getting old and quickly tired of everything. Behind him, Montrose, Usolin, and the vassals followed in a line.
Silence descended on the empty training ground. Soon after, Royster also left the training ground with a scream-like shout.
“I’m getting excited at the thought of seeing the Duke’s swordsmanship that’s said to be like a demon—I won’t be able to sleep.”
Below the helmet, Raniel’s lips twisted up crookedly. When even the man as huge as a mountain disappeared, only Anya, Sisou, and Evernight remained in the training ground.
“Stand up.”
Evernight grasped Anya’s forearm and lifted him up. Even in the slightest breeze, his back skin burned hot.
“Buppu.”
When Evernight called Buppu’s name, only then did the chamberlain hastily pick up Evernight’s cloak with a face smeared with tears and snot and wrap it around Anya’s shoulders.
“Shall I call a carriage, my lord?”
“No, I’ll take him. We’ll arrive at the palace in 10 minutes. You take measures so a healer can arrive at the palace within 10 minutes as well.”
“Commander, I…”
Sisou looked at Evernight’s expression with a thoroughly dispirited face.
“Go find Riario. He’ll be with Hakseos.”
Then Evernight brought two fingers together to his mouth and whistled. Soon, with the sound of vigorous hoofbeats, his war horse came running.
