“Isn’t it impossible? There’s nothing you can do about it, right?”
After having dinner and taking a bath in Marquis Veil’s castle—soon to be the castle of the Emperor—Rave who perched himself on Jill’s head said so, while also giving directions.
There was no one else. Hadith didn’t appear at dinner, as such, Jill decided to eat the peach mousse alone. They couldn’t just trust the servants of Marquis Veil, nor the people in the residential area of the castle—after all, they were all paid by the previous castle lord.
Because her room was located on the fifth floor, she needed Rave’s navigation to reach her room.
“Even if he’s hurt, it rarely shows on his face. Despite so, that idiot is still the Emperor. He may often act sweet with you, but he also has that side. However, since you’re more familiar with the former, seeing the latter must be unusual for you?”
“I agree… I wish he could be more honest with himself, though.”
She thought he would be more angry or upset, but he showed no signs of such.
“I was also surprised he could make such a menacing face and deliver those brutal threats…”
“Honestly, that’s but a childish cruelty. He did that to keep from ending up with politics of fear.”
“Nevertheless, I still don’t think that inflicting unnecessary pain on other people is good. Saying something he doesn’t actually mean—if he keeps doing so, eventually, he’ll be numbed by it and become insensitive to both himself and others… it will be harmful to His Majesty.”
Then, finally, he would become a tyrant.
He would become senseless—so senseless to the point he could calmly initiate a massacre.
“I get your point. Certainly, that guy rarely involves himself with others, and when something actually happen, he tends to just accept everything—it’s extreme. Despite that, there’s also a part of him that believes that if he manages to dispel the curse, everyone would accept him. In earnest, he believes that he could make hundreds of friends someday.”
“I, it’s good to have a pure side, but, talking about him, this is bad, isn’t it…?”
“Exactly, this is bad. However, there are a lot of other terrible things that have happened to him. The curse isn’t entirely to be blamed for them …for example, the thing involving his mother. He kept blaming himself for it, but I acted as if I hadn’t heard anything.”
Because Rave had turned his eyes away from such thing, who knew, it might lead to Hadith’s utter breakdown one day.
Despite so, Jill couldn’t condemn Rave’s approach. Because it allowed Hadith to still retain some hope.
“Then, maybe… he should aim to be a cute Emperor? That way, people might want to approach him more.”
“’Cute Emperor’, how? Should we attach a ribbon to his head and make him distribute candies to everyone? …it might suit him.”
“Like, how about making him show his weakness? His delicate health might fit under that category, but he’s still outstanding despite that. If he shows a little gap instead of building a wall, people might find him more relatable. After all, an Emperor doesn’t need to be flawless to be considered an excellent ruler.”
Despite Marquis Veil’s provocation, Hadith didn’t let his emotions affect his merciful decision. He also showed mercy to the abandoned peons. Not only that, he also remembered the soldiers’ names, which boosted the soldiers’ morale.
“When he was obviously hurt like that, but still retained a beautiful façade—seeing that only made me want to hit him. By doing so, I wanted to let him know that it’s okay to cry. That he should cry if he wants to cry. Hmm… imagining an adult man sobbing—that makes me want to hit him too?”
“Huh, so if he doesn’t cry you would hit him, and if he does, you would still hit him? That’s just cruel, oi.”
Because of Rave’s critique, Jill rephrased her words.
“Then he should at least not put up such façade when he’s in front of me. It makes me want to hit him, after all—because it feels like he’s just running away.”
“Eeh!? So that’s how it is—!? Little Miss, could it be, you’ve fallen for Hadith—!?”
“Because what you plan to do feels the same as teasing someone you like just to get their attention.”
“Don’t treat me like a child. There’s no way such a ridiculous thing is true.”
“Well, Little Miss, no matter how I look at you, you’re definitely a child…”
Is that so? Jill cleared her throat to tell Rave off.
“As of now, I have no plan to further my relationship with His Majesty.”
“Yes, but only for now. Is it because of the age issue? After some years, that wouldn’t be a problem anymore, right?”
“That’s not the problem! Besides, we are only engaged to each other because each of us has our own aim!”
“I don’t really understand what Little Miss is rambling about, after all, I’m a Dragon God?”
“As I thought, Gods and humans have different values…”
“…well, whatever, it’s up to Hadith, anyway. Ah, it’s here—Little Miss’ room.”
The innermost part of the hallway was finally visible. The walk felt long due to her short limbs. It appeared to be a spacious room—the doorknob was a bit too high, though…
She reached up, put her hand on the doorknob, and used a bit of magic to open the heavy door.
“He’s here. Good luck, you’re familiar with how the First Night usually goes, right?”
“… Eh—!? No way, His Majesty the Emperor is inside—!?”
“Yes, if you are familiar with how it works, then all is good. Even if your relationship is in name only, you’re still a couple—you should just give up. Don’t worry about the security issues.”
“Please wait for a moment!! I’m still not—“
As Jill tried to appeal to Rave in panic, she saw a large canopied bed in the center of the room.
Her attention shifted to the figure that was lying face down on the bed. His upper body was loosely hanging off the bed.
“…His Majesty?”
“I… I drank too much…”
“No way, you, did you drink wine—!? Little Miss, water!! We need water!!”
“R, right away!”
Thus, the scene suddenly became a battlefield of trying to rescue the Emperor, whom was showing symptoms of being poisoned from having taking only a single sip of wine.