Chapter 6
“You’re quick on the uptake, but you lack any sense.”
The man let out a scoff at Oliver’s words.
“I told you not to dare utter that name.”
Though he was smiling, the aura emanating from his body was utterly ferocious.
Thanks to that, the Imperial Palace official standing before them was drenched in cold sweat.
They had been standing in front of the Imperial Palace’s main gate without any intention of entering, just chatting idly, which left the official in a difficult position.
But he couldn’t raise any objections to the man before him.
He was merely a lowly official, while the man was the king of a nation.
The Western Hegemon, the Wolf King, the Rebel Sovereign, the Sword Emperor, and so on.
Dozens of epithets preceded the man’s name.
And there was no one on the continent unaware of those dozens of titles.
“…My apologies.”
Meanwhile, only after receiving his adjutant’s apology did the man withdraw his murderous intent.
He then flashed a gentle smile at the sweating Imperial Palace official.
“We’ve kept you waiting a long time. You may announce us now.”
Only upon hearing the man call to him did the official snap back to his senses.
“I-I’m sorry. I’ll announce you right away.”
The half-bald Imperial Palace official soon shouted in a loud voice.
“His Highness Kaiden Ram, King of the Adamant Kingdom, has arrived—!”
The young king who had destroyed the great power of the west, the Lionel Kingdom, and swallowed up dozens of surrounding nations whole.
The man, the founding king of the new Adamant Kingdom, ‘Kaiden Ram,’ strode into the Imperial Palace with unmatched confidence.
Following behind him were his adjutant Oliver and dozens of knights clad head to toe in black armor.
It was a sight like a pack of black wolves entering the premises.
“I pay my respects to His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of the Ventrum Empire.”
His voice was courteous but not fawning.
Emperor Kabelius III looked down at the man kneeling on one knee before him.
‘The founding king of the Adamant Kingdom, Kaiden Ram.’
The man before him was currently the most famous person on the continent.
People’s interest in the young king who had toppled what seemed like the eternal power of the Lionel Kingdom and declared himself ruler of the west burned hotter than ever.
“You must have had a long journey. The Empire sincerely welcomes the King of Adamant.”
At the emperor’s light gesture, Kaiden slowly rose to his feet.
With a faint smile, he responded to the emperor’s words.
“I am grateful for the invitation myself. My knight order and I were exhausted from subjugating a horde of magic beasts nearby, but thanks to Your Majesty inviting us to the Imperial Palace, we could rest comfortably.”
The knight order of the new Adamant Kingdom, led by Kaiden, was renowned as experts in magic beast subjugation.
Composed not only of exceptional swordsmen but also survival strategists who knew magic beast ecology inside and out, the order even took requests from other nations.
Just like today.
“No need for thanks. It’s only natural hospitality for those who undertake the Empire’s requests without sparing any effort.”
The emperor smiled down at Kaiden, who gazed up at him from below the dais.
“So, how many days do you plan to stay?”
“About a week at most.”
“Oh, you should stay longer, but I can’t very well keep a king of a nation here at my whim.”
“My apologies.”
Kaiden bared his teeth in a grin.
“During the upcoming National Foundation Festival, I’ll make every effort to stay as long as possible, even if Your Majesty tells me to get lost right away.”
His unreserved word choice startled the court officials in the audience chamber.
The rumors were true, it seemed—that a rootless lowborn had swung a sword to seize the throne.
“Hahahaha!”
But the emperor burst into loud laughter, clearly pleased by his unpretentious speech and demeanor.
“Very well. You must be tired today, so you’re dismissed.”
“I am grateful for Your Imperial Majesty’s grace.”
Kaiden placed one hand over his heart and bowed his head slightly.
It was an impeccably perfect courtly gesture, hard to believe from the same man who had just spoken of being told to “get lost.”
“Ahh, I already want to go back to Adamant.”
To stay in another country’s imperial palace for a whole week.
Oliver, knight of Adamant and Kaiden’s adjutant, stretched grandly.
“Still, I was surprised the emperor was more welcoming toward us than expected. I thought he’d at least give us a hard time once about our lack of legitimacy or roots.”
“Anyone else, maybe, but the emperor can’t question my legitimacy.”
“Ah, right.”
Oliver scratched his temple as if he’d forgotten.
“The emperor’s the youngest son of the previous emperor, isn’t he? I forgot he climbed to the throne after getting rid of all his siblings.”
“Even so, he’s of the late emperor’s blood. He may lack legitimacy in some eyes, but he still thinks I have no roots either.”
Recalling that smooth face showing no hint of contempt turned Oliver’s stomach.
Kaiden rested his hand on his sword hilt and strode forward without hesitation.
With the tall man taking wide steps, it was a struggle for Oliver to keep pace beside him.
“By the way, my lord, do you really think that woman is alive?”
It had been over a decade since they’d met just once.
Moreover, the woman Kaiden was searching for was no longer of this world.
“In my opinion…”
Oliver lowered his voice with a troubled expression.
“It seems that crazy black mage must have tricked you.”
Black magic to resurrect the dead?
No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.
“And even if she was resurrected, how do you plan to find her? They said she could come back in a completely different form.”
“Resurrected people bear a mark. We just need to find that.”
“You mean that damned Ouroboros mark? We can’t exactly search every woman in the world for that snake-shaped mark.”
Oliver sighed in exasperation and scratched the back of his head vigorously.
“And have you already forgotten what happened in the kingdom the moment word spread that Your Highness was looking for a woman with that mark on her body?”
The young, handsome, and powerful king of Adamant was unmarried.
Among the nobles desperate to secure a place at the king’s side, many didn’t hesitate to tattoo the Ouroboros on their daughters’ bodies.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Kaiden replied as if he couldn’t care less.
“I’d recognize the real one at a glance anyway.”
Lying in bed, Edwin couldn’t fall asleep easily.
The prince tossed and turned, recalling the day’s events.
“Strange.”
Today had truly been a strange day.
‘Why did she help me?’
He frowned as he thought of his nanny.
The new nanny who had arrived a fortnight ago seemed gentle in appearance, but she was utterly indifferent.
Until yesterday, whether he played pranks or acted out, she had only given him disinterested looks.
It was as if she were gazing at someone without a soul.
“…It’s really strange.”
The person who had retrieved the bracelet stolen by Gail’s gang was no one other than that nanny.
Edwin looked at the bracelet loosely hanging on his wrist.
Made of fake pearls and fake rubies, it was cheap junk not even worth selling on the street.
He had lost it momentarily after falling for Gail’s gang’s tricks, but to Edwin, it was more precious than anything.
Because his nanny Emma, who had left it to him, had made it so.
—Your Highness, don’t cry. I truly loved your smiles.
Edwin recalled Emma’s final words.
—No matter how hard or sad things get, you mustn’t lose your smile. That way, you can smile to your heart’s content when you’re truly happy.
As if it were truly the end, she had placed the bracelet in the prince’s hand and gripped it tightly.
—I’ll leave my final wish to you, Your Highness…
Though his vision had blurred with tears and he couldn’t see clearly, Emma had definitely been smiling.
—You must be happy. Edwin, Your Highness.
Must be happy, she said.
Why did adults always leave behind such hard-to-keep promises before departing?
Edwin thought of his late mother.
His mother, the Third Imperial Consort Edis, had been extremely frail.
In Edwin’s memories, his mother Edis was always lying in bed.
Because of that, they’d had very little time to build a mother-son bond.
Moreover, Edis had been utterly indifferent toward her son Edwin.
As a young child, he had cried endlessly from that neglect.
If Emma hadn’t filled the void left by his mother, he might have cried forever.
Perhaps that was why.
When his mother passed away right after giving birth to his little sister, Edwin hadn’t felt that sad.
He had only pitied his sister, who would grow up without knowing her mother’s face.
But when the one woman in the world who had been truly on his side left behind nothing but a fleeting promise and a bracelet, he had cried for three days straight.
Because it had felt real.
The realization that she, who had always stayed by his side, was now beyond his reach.
‘Emma was an idiot.’
Edwin bit his lip.
He knew well that he could never be happy—and shouldn’t be.
A powerless prince with a claim to the throne was unwelcome anywhere.
So he had assumed the new nanny would hate him too.
Who would want to take the position of nanny to a prince hated by all?
In fact, until now, she hadn’t shown him the slightest interest.
‘But today was different.’
She had swiftly subdued the insulting Gail gang and even threatened them.
It was something even Emma, who had cherished him alone, had never done.
“…Really strange.”
Edwin pulled the blanket over his head completely.
The ticklish feeling deep in his chest was utterly unfamiliar, but as he drifted off, he thought it wasn’t so bad.
