Chapter 80

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Emperor's Jealousy
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Jusi instinctively threw herself aside.

Quickly landing on the opposite side from where the chains were flying, Jusi surveyed her surroundings and her jaw dropped.

The walls and floor, pierced by dozens of Ekiel's golden chains, were all hideously shattered, with electricity coursing through them.

The power was immense.

Jusi swallowed hard.

Right now, Ekiel was fighting them in earnest.

*Clank, sizzle, clank, crash—! Crash—!*

The sound of chains coiling, the heat of flashing light, and the roar of them striking Claude.

The noise relentlessly pounded her eardrums.

Jusi had to admit it.

The mana chain attacks Ekiel had used when sparring with her had been him holding back considerably.

“Ekiel!”

Jusi shouted his name, trying to stop him, but Ekiel, clashing with Claude with eyes that seemed to have lost all reason, didn't even pretend to hear her.

It was the same for Claude.

He wasn't an equal match, but Claude was blocking the Emperor's attacks remarkably well.

At first, Claude had been flustered and focused solely on dodging, but now he was defending with his sword aura and even attempting to counterattack.

The ever-present cheerful glint in his eyes had done a complete one-eighty.

His gaze was serious.

Because if he didn't face the Emperor with everything he had, he could die.

While frantically parrying the countless mana chains flying toward him, Claude chanted a magical formula to create a whirlwind.

His target was Ekiel Rilberg.

He intended to ensnare his mana chains with the wind.

But Ekiel saw through Claude's plan in an instant.

A strange light gleamed in his eyes.

He whispered something briefly, and Claude's whirlwind was neutralized, vanishing in a flash.

“Whoa, seriously!”

Claude, who had been fighting seriously, suddenly felt a sense of futility. Acknowledging the difference in their levels, he shouted.

“Your Majesty! What in the world is wrong with you? Isn't this going a bit too far?”

To think he was at a level where he could just nullify an opponent's prepared attack spell.

He might be the same age as him, but the Emperor was a true monster.

But Ekiel, as if Claude's anger meant nothing to him, grew even more furious.

“Are you the one who’s lost his mind?”

Swearing, raging, and even pointing accusingly, the Emperor, so unlike his usual self, was clearly not in his right mind.

Claude shrugged, bewildered.

“What did I do to deserve this?”

*‘How shameless.’*

His attitude only infuriated Ekiel further.

“You thief!”

Ekiel finally raised his voice.

“Excuse me?”

“You are out of your mind. Have you no shame as a citizen of the Rilberg Empire? How could you even think of proposing to such a young child?”

As he spoke, Ekiel grew more agitated, and his eyes became bloodshot.

“Something must be wrong with your head.”

“My head is perfectly fine.”

Claude retorted, barely managing to bat away another chain.

As if reacting to Ekiel's fury, the chains flew with even greater ferocity.

“Is that so? I assure you, because of your thoughtless actions, you will surely die at the hands of the Princess’s insane Golden Tiger brother.”

“The Princess’s brother?”

“Yes.”

Ekiel frowned, recalling the incident at the Penterin Imperial Palace five years ago.

The doting crown prince who cherished his little sister to an excessive degree.

Jusi had only recognized him and shown a little delight.

That insane Golden Tiger beastman crown prince, Ijeten, had attacked him, shooting flames at him.

“Rather than let him kill you, I’ll kill you myself!”

“What?!”

Claude barely managed to block the dozens of golden chains flying at him with the intent to impale, striking them repeatedly with his sword.

Thrown back by the recoil, Claude retreated, gritting his teeth.

His hands were numb and trembling.

*‘Kgh!’*

“You should be grateful to die by my hand! If he finds out you proposed, that man will burn you alive.”

*‘Isn't that the same thing?’*

Claude wanted to retort at the absurdity, but he didn't even have the chance.

It was a one-sided fight.

No, it was more accurate to call it the Emperor's one-sided bullying.

*‘Ah, fuck. I’m going to die!!!’*

Claude screamed internally.

It had been a long time since he'd properly sparred with the Emperor, and in that time, Ekiel had reached a level no one could match.

It was then.

Ekiel's chains shot toward Claude, and unable to dodge in time, one grazed his clothes.

*Schwing!*

Blood seeped from his shoulder, but the wound wasn't deep, so both Claude and Ekiel intended to continue fighting.

But then.

*Fwoosh!*

At that moment, a massive wall of blue flame surged like a wave between Ekiel and Claude.

Both knew whose flame it was, so they stopped their advance and merely turned their heads.

There stood Jusi, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised in fury.

“What in the world are you two doing!”

“This is…”

“I heard what you were saying, too! It’s absolute nonsense, so stop it! Ugh, honestly!”

As Jusi glared daggers at him, Ekiel reluctantly withdrew his mana chains with a sullen expression.

The thunderous lightning that had been shaking the training ground also vanished.

Only then did Claude relax, planting his sword into the ground and leaning on it for support.

He panted, breathing heavily.

Since Claude was more injured and seemed more exhausted than Ekiel, Jusi naturally ran to him.

“Claude, are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m just… a little out of it.”

Claude forced a smile and said little else.

His pride was wounded from being so helplessly defeated by the insurmountable wall that was Emperor Ekiel in front of Jusi.

But Jusi took careful care of Claude.

“You need to get that treated, Claude.”

Having fought and lost to Ekiel thousands of times herself, she knew well the feeling of bitter frustration.

Jusi looked at him with concern and asked again.

“You can use healing magic, right?”

“Yes.”

Jusi watched Claude cast healing magic on his shoulder wound, then instructed a servant to bring him a fresh change of clothes.

Ekiel watched them from five paces away.

*‘Hah….’*

His heart felt like it was cracking apart, stinging and irritated, and he frowned instinctively.

*‘Why am I so spiteful?’*

Is this also what a brother is supposed to feel?

Crown Prince Ijeten, tell me.

Is this how you’re supposed to feel when you have a little sister?

He wanted to be stubborn with Jusi, who was worrying over and tending to Claude.

*Stop fussing over him and look at me.*

*Of course, I’m perfectly fine, but I did all that because I was worried about you.*

*I want to talk to you, too…*

*‘Is this also what a brother feels?’*

Ekiel felt a heavy, unsettled feeling in his stomach.

Moreover, an unidentifiable ball of fire was blazing inside him, tormenting him.

Annoyance surged to the crown of his head, and Ekiel clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“I’m leaving first.”

Ekiel left the two of them behind and walked out of the training ground.

He couldn't bear it any longer.

And it was only much, much later that he would realize this feeling was jealousy.

***

Ten days later.

On a clear afternoon, one day in April.

A banquet celebrating Princess Jusielia’s eighth birthday was held at Stella Palace.

As it was the first official event to reveal Princess Jusielia’s human form, many people were eager to attend.

Therefore, guests were permitted to bring only one companion.

At first, Jusi had been skeptical about holding her own birthday party.

After all, she wasn't a citizen of the Rilberg Empire and was bound to leave eventually.

Meeting the Rilberg nobility was merely a formality.

Back when she was a White Tiger cub who couldn't even humanize, she couldn't properly converse with the nobles who attended her birthday parties.

However, the Rilberg nobles who had attended Jusi's previous birthday parties thought differently.

There were those who wanted to build connections while the Princess was staying in Rilberg. With formal diplomatic ties now established with the Penterin Empire, they harbored ambitions of expanding into the Eastern Continent.

But up until now, the birthday parties had been a formality for the nobles as well. They were significant only in that they showed their faces on the White Tiger Princess’s birthday.

In fact, last year's birthday party had been just like that.

On that day, Jusi, in her White Tiger form, would make a cheerful entrance into the garden of Stella Palace, the party venue, and the guests would offer their congratulations.

Afterward, the children would gather to run and play, while the adults ate the prepared food, and the event would end simply.

However, this year’s birthday banquet for Princess Jusielia was completely different, right from the preparation stage.

Though she was a princess from another empire, she had now succeeded in humanizing and possessed the proper appearance of a princess.

The difference between a White Tiger cub and a young human girl was like heaven and earth.