2 - Never Let Go of a Black-Haired Dad

Episode 02. Regression (2)

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"Your Majesty, did you cough?" It’s a lovely day today.”

As I stirred and showed signs of waking, the maids rushed over to attend to me.

It was my habit to drink a bowl of cold water to clear my head in the morning, so I naturally took the water bowl and took a sip, only to spit it out with a retching sound.

“Crazy! Trying to poison me!”

Who is it! Which audacious bastard dared to think of feeding me poison!

So eager to die, were they!

I was so angry that I shouted in a lisp, and the sound of knees hitting the floor echoed from all around.

Strange. I gave the kids knee pads so they wouldn't hurt their joints when they knelt, since they did it so often.

Why does it sound like raw bones hitting the floor?

“Forgive my impertinence, Your Majesty, but you must take the antidote to relieve the paralysis quickly!”

“Your Majesty, you may be angry because of that vixen, but you must take your medicine!”

“I have prepared candy, Your Majesty. Your Majesty’s favorite strawberry-flavored candy! Please cleanse your palate with this.”

Huh? Poison? Not dismemberment?

Come to think of it, a long time ago, one of the brainless women who passed by me, trusting only in the Emperor's favor, had given me a paralytic.

The woman was later beheaded, but for about two years, the paralysis of my tongue didn't go away, and I had to live speaking like a fool.

“Helbatro.”

“Yes, my name is Emily from today, Your Majesty.”

“What day is it today?”

“It is the 3rd of November, Your Majesty.”

“The year?”

“It is the year 8173 of the Narak calendar.”

Exactly 16 years before the day I was dismembered. It was certainly as Kismalos said.

I didn't think it was a dream... but I wish it had been.

If all that is true, then I have to raise Kismalos's divine status to the level of a high-ranking god by the time I turn twenty-one.

And this is just a hypothesis, but the enforcement of that default may be the act of me being dismembered itself. In other words, if I'm unlucky, I may have to repeat the act of dying and coming back to life on the day of my execution forever.

I looked down at my stubby hands and feet once more.

My hands are small, and my feet are small. What can I do with this small body?

More than that, if it's 16 years ago, was I five years old?

“Hwaaa……. Five yearth old.”

“That is correct, Your Majesty. You are five years old this year!”

“You are so clever!”

Yes, I know I'm clever, so that's enough.

I raised my short arms to silence the maids and hastily ordered what was urgent right now.

“I will take the medicine!”

“You are wise, Your Majesty!”

“I will bring new medicine at once!”

“You are fit to be a great ruler, Your Majesty! The future of the Empire is bright with Your Majesty's majesty!”

Yes. The Empire was destroyed once, but it is true that I am wise.

In the first place, in a world where divine power and divine status are everything, the fact that the brainless one and I died so easily meant that our family had reached the end of its lifespan.

It is absurd that the high divine status plummeted in just one generation.

Come to think of it, Kismalos said he was trapped or something.

Restoring divine status is one thing, but preventing the disappearance of the family god also seemed to be something I had to do. I need to pay the balance later and get him out of the Da Capo, but if he disappears, it's all for nothing.

But even now, I can't feel any divine power at all...

'He's not already been captured somewhere, is he?'

Or did he use all his divine power to turn back time, so his presence isn't felt?

Anyway, I know the situation, so I can't be flustered, but I was a little gleeful thinking about how the brainless one would be feeling lost and empty, having lost his divine power without knowing why.

“Good.”

I decided.

To restore Kismalos's divine status, I need to increase the number of people who follow me.

Just as Naekseon, who owns the continent's leading casino chain, gains divine status as he accumulates money, and the god of the neighboring country, Media, becomes greater as he curses and is cursed, Kismalos's power increases in proportion to the number of talented people he possesses.

But I am a powerless five-year-old. There was only so much I could do.

And Kismalos said this, didn't he? His divine status shines brighter the more recklessly I live and the more of a human trash I become.

“Then, let’s live recklessly.”

To say that divine status shines brighter the more recklessly I live means that the more I live like trash, the more people will stick around to take care of me.

Excellent talent is directly linked to divine power.

Now that things have come to this, I should just play as much as I can before I die.

With that thought, I drank the antidote coolly and covered myself with the blanket again. To wake up in the morning and go back to sleep, I couldn't have imagined it in my previous life.

You should have told me that it's better to live recklessly beforehand.

If you had, I would have lived like trash like the Emperor from birth.

✦ ✦ ✦

I woke up when the sun was high in the sky and counted the patterns on the ceiling, unable to find anything to do.

My name is Visnahel Rorowi Kismalos.

I am five years old, an age that wouldn't hurt even if I put you in my eyes. Yesterday, I was dismembered, and from today, I decided to live recklessly.

But I had no experience living recklessly, so I couldn't figure out what to do.

Just a week ago, I was taking energy drinks and refunding the things my brainless lover bought. There's no way I have that authority now that I'm five years old.

What did I do a long, long time ago...?

Around the age of five, I mean... I think I studied first.

“That’s right.”

I, who have decided to live recklessly, do not study. So I have to fire the teachers first.

Should I go to the Imperial Steward in times like these?

“Hey, you!”

At my call, Emily and the other maids came in. I declared that I would go to the Steward's office. The maids said they would prepare the washing water right away, but I solemnly refused.

“I don’t wanna wash!”

I, who have decided to live recklessly, do not wash my face in the morning.

How delinquent is that.

To go outside without grooming myself, I had never done that before.

✦ ✦ ✦

I let down my proud platinum blonde hair, roughly removed the sleep from my eyes, which were like pink diamonds, and led the way with Emily.

I don't know where the Imperial Steward is holed up, but if I walk, Emily will tell me to go this way or that way.

As I kept walking, I got tired near the inner courtyard of the Imperial Palace. So I was about to suggest taking a short break, but I saw the magnificent 'thing' in front of me.

No, that is! Isn't that what I dreamed of in the old days!

“Jackpot! Elephant slide!”

I really wanted to ride this, but I couldn't because I had to maintain my dignity!

I screamed and ran to the slide. There were eyes watching in the Imperial Palace day and night, and I really couldn't ride it even once because I was conscious of those eyes. The only direct descendant of the Imperial Family should not do such undignified things.

But now that I've decided to live recklessly, I can ride it. This was all for the sake of restoring Kismalos's divine status.

“Your Majesty, it’s dangerous!”

“Your Majesty! There are many eyes watching!”

It's okay. I've only heard rumors, but people who live recklessly don't care about the eyes of those around them.

This slide wasn't just a simple slide, it was a long slide 5 meters high. I've only heard rumors about this too, but it was said that you could enjoy a lot of thrills.

“Whoosh!”

Oh, I'm sliding.

I raised my hands and shouted as I felt my body sliding down. The wind is very refreshing.

I gained momentum and couldn't stop at the end, so I rolled around on the floor, but I wasn't seriously injured.

“That was so fun!”

Exciting, I want to ride again.

I'm not working or studying, and I was wondering what to do today, but it would be fun to just ride this all day.

I climbed onto the elephant slide and went swoosh down. I was doing that only a dozen times when something the size of a chestnut rolled over.

“Hey!”

What, this brat. How dare you speak informally to me?

“Get off! My dad bought that for me!”

“Dad?”

“You’re dead! My dad is the Emperor!”

Ah, no wonder. I thought you were stupid, but you're the brainless one's child.