“I brought delicacies from land and sea to score points, so why are you just looking at them?”
Deus, who came out after washing up, sat in front of the dining table while shaking his hair. Even looking at the splendid food laid out enough to break the table legs, I had no appetite. In my view, the reason Ash’s body was weak seemed to be partly because he was born with a small stomach.
Since possessing this body, I’d never wanted to eat anything to the point of overeating.
Deus, who had been looking at me strangely as I remained indifferent even with expensive food in front of me, pushed the steak plate in front of him toward me. I shook my head with a listless expression.
“I have no appetite, you eat it.”
“Are you hurt because Kiss said such things?”
I hesitated and raised my head at the out-of-the-blue story. Deus, with an expression I couldn’t read, was looking at me with his chin propped up. I pushed away the plate he persistently offered and frowned.
“Why are you suddenly bringing up Kiss here?”
“You asked me to kill Kiss, but now that you’ve heard such words, you must feel hurt.”
“……”
“You’re such a child.”
Deus, who chuckled and brought the plate back to his side, cut the steak. Though he probably never learned properly, his knife work was neater than expected. Perhaps thinking I wasn’t eating because it was bothersome to cut, he stabbed a piece of meat he’d cut up with a fork and held it out. I swatted away Deus’s persistent hand.
“I said I’m not eating.”
“Even if love fails, you have to eat. It doesn’t seem like you’ve been experiencing unrequited love for just a day or two.”
“……What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means eat, before I stick a wine bottle in your asshole and turn you into beef bourguignon.”
At the specific and clear threat, I eventually accepted the meat Deus offered. It was a wonderful taste that made me embarrassed for having staged a sit-in saying I wouldn’t eat. At the rich taste of the steak melting on my tongue, my heart that had been tense for unknown reasons loosened a bit.
Only after confirming I was eating did Deus, who had been taking care of his own meal, ask a question in a casual tone.
“So, what do you plan to do with that lazy body that just starves itself when it has no appetite?”
“……”
“Tell me why you absolutely must summon the Primordial Evil.”
“I’m terminally ill.”
Deus’s hand cutting the steak froze. I continued speaking as calmly as possible.
“And my condition is getting worse and worse. The doctor said I wouldn’t even live a full year.”
“……”
“There’s not even a way to cure the disease, so the only way I can live is to beg for my life from the Primordial Evil who grants wishes.”
Although it was information I’d have to disclose anyway to cooperate with Deus, I somehow became tense. I glanced furtively to examine Deus’s complexion. Deus, who had been quietly looking at me, smiled brightly.
“This is serious. I missed the timing to be sad. Sorry, I’m bad at that kind of acting.”
“You don’t need to act, melodrama doesn’t suit you in the first place.”
“Still, terminally ill—that’s a bit troublesome. Even I don’t have a hobby of fucking corpses.”
Deus, who had been letting out a groan, put down the knife he was holding and tapped the table as if pondering something. He seemed to be considering whether to accept my proposal or refuse saying it was bothersome.
How much time had passed? Deus, whose troubled look had disappeared from his face as if he’d finished calculating, opened his mouth.
“Alright, it’s not difficult. It was also a time when appropriate achievements were needed anyway.”
“Then……”
“But I don’t need you on that journey.”
My lips parted slightly at Deus’s attitude of speaking definitively. Deus, who was spinning the knife in the air, continued speaking as if it were obvious.
“Ash would rather be a hindrance. Isn’t that right? You don’t have any particularly great abilities, you don’t have stamina like beastmen. Your magical power isn’t strong either.”
Several daggers flew into my chest. It was sadder because there were no words I could refute. In that vast library of knowledge, wasn’t there a book teaching how to speak indirectly?
“I’ll gather the Summoning Seals by myself and summon the Primordial Evil, then ask it to cure your disease. Then you can cure your disease without doing anything.”
“……”
“So don’t step forward.”
I tried to say something but closed my mouth. I didn’t want to admit it, but Deus was right. Unlike Kiss or Deus, Ash had no particular abilities. He didn’t have special powers either. Then not getting in the way and staying quiet would be the most helpful thing. I broke the silence and opened my mouth.
“Alright, I’ll do that.”
* * *
After finishing the meal, Deus went to find the training grounds. In the Void, he’d lived for the fun of hunting monsters and modifying sows, but he couldn’t do such things here so he seemed quite frustrated.
While Deus was at the training grounds, I wrote a letter to Lucius informing him I was still fine for now.
[To Father.]
My hand froze after writing just one sentence. I had no idea what content people usually wrote when writing letters to their parents. In the first place, it was questionable whether Lucius, who was busy running the family, would even check letters.
Just as I was unable to write sentences easily, I turned my head at the sound of knocking on the door.
“Lord Ash, please excuse me for a moment.”
Behind the Head Butler who bowed his head, several servants busily carried something. When I looked wondering what it was, they were books. The butler, who read the bewilderment reflected on my face, added an explanation.
“I will convey Lord Kilius’s message. At the upcoming Empress’s Birthday Celebration, His Highness the Crown Prince will officially appear in public for the first time, but currently His Highness is inexperienced in etiquette. He asked me to tell you that a process is needed to refine His Highness’s words and actions to match the standards of the court.”
“……Etiquette?”
“That’s correct. All those books are a list of etiquette that His Highness the Crown Prince must learn.”
My face turned pale at the unimaginable development. Teaching Deus…… etiquette? I felt like it would be faster to teach calculus to a monkey. To me who had fallen into despair, the Head Butler spoke.
“There’s no need to worry. The imperial palace directly dispatched a tutor. Lord Ash was told that you just need to assist so that His Highness the Crown Prince can concentrate on the lessons.”
“Where is Lord Kilius now?”
“He said he would be away for a while preparing for the upcoming birthday celebration.”
He’s incredibly good at avoiding troublesome work. Still, since there was a professionally dispatched tutor, just as I was thinking I just needed to supervise like a Daechi-dong parent, an ear-splitting scream echoed from the garden direction.
At the sudden ominous feeling, I hastily checked outside the window.
“Murderer, there’s a murderer……!”
A middle-aged woman who had sat down on the ground in a way that didn’t match her elegant appearance pointed somewhere. The moment I turned my gaze following her fingertips, my body froze.
For some reason covered in blood all over his body, Deus was holding a saw in one hand and a bat-shaped monster in the other while looking down at the woman with a chilling expression. The woman, who had been foaming at the mouth in fright, eventually ran away in utter panic. The Head Butler laughed awkwardly.
“Oh my, the tutor seems to have misunderstood something.”
“I think she saw it as it was……”
The tutor they’d bothered to invite ran away, and Deus’s gaze, who had been standing in a daze for a moment, landed on a bird flying around nearby. Deus, who had been intently watching the flying bird, suddenly caught the bird. I shouted toward Deus who was about to put the live bird in his mouth without hesitation.
“Don’t!”
Deus, who flinched at my voice, furtively looked around. After pouting for only a moment at my glaring action with wide eyes, I finally stroked my heart after seeing Deus release the bird he’d caught.
If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have definitely chewed and eaten the live bird raw. The Head Butler, who had been watching me panting in shock with an interested look, carefully spoke up.
“How curious.”
“What is?”
“I think this is the first time I’ve seen His Highness the Crown Prince listen to another person’s words.”
The Head Butler let out an exclamation as if he couldn’t believe it. In the midst of that, Deus, whose eyes met mine, slightly bit his lips and winked one eye. I withdrew my gaze with a disgusted expression and asked.
“Exactly how many days are left until Her Majesty the Empress’s Birthday Celebration?”
“Approximately 3 weeks remain.”
“3 weeks……”
I sighed and looked toward the etiquette books piled like a mountain. The Empress’s birthday celebration episode was one of the episodes where Kiss greatly distinguished himself in the original work. My head turned quickly.
‘Kiss receives passionate support from some nobles after drawing attention at the birthday celebration. Those nobles become the force that most actively leads the usurpation of imperial power during Kiss’s coup d’état.’
Since I’d resolved to make Deus emperor instead of Kiss for survival, I also needed appropriate countermeasures. After carefully organizing my thoughts, I came to a conclusion.
‘So the one who draws attention at this birthday celebration must be Deus, not Kiss.’
I sighed looking at Deus covered in blood. Although his current appearance suited a tyrant rather than a sage king, there was still time left so it was worth trying.
‘Alright, let’s do it.’
The highest difficulty level prince maker.
