Ch135 - Volume 6 Final

“I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness. I was so startled that my greeting was delayed. -I greet Your Majesty the Emperor, the Lord of Ardi, Klemann and Nervoge, Ruler of the Neutel and Salpine Rivers, and the Protector of Lex Ardica.”

Ebroin V accepted his bow, his gaze chilling as it lingered on the back of the man’s lowered head. From Hunter’s vantage point, that look resembled nothing so much as a butcher appraising the weight of a lamb just before the slaughter. He swallowed dryly, feeling a sharper sense of peril than when he had stood alone surrounded by a dozen enemies.

“Rise.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“There is muchWewish to discuss with you, and more than a few mattersWemust verify. However,Weare far too weary tonight.”

However, contrary to all the ominous imaginations that occupied his mind, what came out of the Emperor’s mouth was unexpectedly a simple dismissal. At those words, Hunter hastily nodded in relief. He had forced his way into this affair out of nothing more than a stubborn desire to make a fool of Eugène, but now that the atmosphere had grown tense, he was quick to change his stance.

“I gladly obey Your Majesty’s command.”

Fearing that the Emperor might change his mind, Hunter bowed in haste and withdrew. At a glance from the Emperor, Victor too withdrew after him. Soon, only Eugène and the Emperor remained in the room.

Even after dismissing the others and leaving only Eugène behind, Ebroin V did not speak to him. It was as though he had forgotten Eugène’s very presence, his brows knit in deep, brooding thought as he sat in silence. The heavy stillness between them pressed down like a stone, its weight almost tangible. Watching the Emperor’s furrowed brows grow increasingly stern, Eugène spoke at last, his voice tinged with concern.

“Your Majesty.”

“… No, wait. Just for a moment, wait.Wedo not wish to say somethingWewill regret.”

The Emperor gave Eugène, who had spoken without grasping the situation, a stern warning before forcing his temper back under control. He did not wish to direct his anger at Eugène right at this moment. Not because the man was blameless, but because, in his current state of mind, he could not be certain where his fury might end once it began.

“…Do you remember thatWepromised to grant you all the authorityWecould withinOurpower?”

It was only after a long while that Ebroin V finally spoke. Though he had managed, with some effort, to subdue the turmoil within him, the anger had not faded, and his voice came out rough and abrasive, like sandpaper.

“I remember.”

“That authority included the right to mobilize as many men as you deemed necessary, at any time. Were you unaware of that?”

Eugène hesitated for a moment. It would not have been difficult to plead ignorance, to claim he had known nothing of it. But that would have been a lie. Knowing full well that his answer would only provoke the Emperor’s anger, he chose to speak honestly.

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“snwO bnj tft jMd OMP dTw fP?”

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“kaTJ L gTLAd mQYY LafQB L AJLiT Qd GLJ ATT, pTd pfU mLYsTB fS pfUi fmJ LGGfiB QJdf L BTJ fS PUiBTiTiA. rJB pfUi fJYp GfPqLJQfJ mLA L GiQPQJLY mIfAT gTdiLpLY pfU GfUYB Jfd qiTBQGd. riT pfU QJ pfUi iQNId PQJB?”

“It was not a reckless plan. The information I obtained was wrong.”

It was not an excuse, but the truth. Whatever one might say of the man’s character, Hunter’s information had always been reliable. Who could have foreseen such a mistake? But Ebroin V seemed entirely unwilling to take his protest into account.

“Wedo not know what sort of information you obtained or how, but you should have realised it was false the moment you saw the heap of corpses in the sewer. At the very least, you still had a choice before you went up to the mansion.”

The Emperor’s tone remained composed, yet the suppressed emotion beneath that low voice only grew heavier and heavier. It was a vicious cycle; each word he spoke drove his anger further. All the effort he had spent to steady himself now wavered like a tower of cards about to collapse. Even though Eugène kept silent and listened without protest, the Emperor’s fierce rebuke did not cease.

“WhatWegave you was the freedom to live as you pleased, not the freedom to go out and die as you pleased. So what is this? Is this how you choose to repay the trustWeplaced in you?”

When he felt comfortable and close to him, he would simply refer to himself as ‘I.’ But now, in this moment, the Emperor was referring to himself as‘We’.It might have been a small, trivial shift to anyone else, yet Eugène could not help but feel the change sensitively.

That was precisely why he could not remain silent. If he held his tongue, if he offered no excuse and simply endured the rebuke in silence, the moment would pass without incident. No matter how angry the Emperor became, he was not the sort of man to let his temper drive him beyond all restraint. And as Eugène could see for himself, the Emperor was making a tremendous effort to control himself.

But what would come next? And after that? Eugène had no intention of spending the rest of his life bound by invisible chains, free only within the limits the Emperor permitted him.

“I apologize for causing you concern with my careless actions. However, Your Majesty—”

“When your very life is at stake, there is no such thing as a‘However’! ’”

“However, Your Majesty. Forgive my presumption, yet among the freedoms you have granted me, there must also be the freedom to die where I choose, and in the manner I choose. Only when that too is permitted will I truly be free.”

Eugène spoke the words he wished to say, even after the Emperor’s warning.

“What did you just say?”

The Emperor repeated the question, his tone caught between disbelief and outrage at what seemed an absurd piece of sophistry.

But Eugène had not spoken out of defiance alone. He met the Emperor’s eyes with a calm gaze, so calm it bordered on stillness, and asked quietly.

“Then, Your Majesty, do you not mean to send me back to the sea?”

“……”

“Who will stand at the vanguard of the next campaign you have planned?”

The Emperor could not speak and simply stared at Eugène with bloodshot eyes. In that gaze, burning cold like the sun of a sleepless white night, his unguarded astonishment and anger were laid bare. From that expression, Eugène understood at last that the Emperor truly did not wish to send him back to the sea.

“… It does not have to be you, does it?”

Ebroin V confronted the matter he had long avoided, his fist clenched so tightly that it drained his knuckles of color, and replied weakly. It was not a decision to be made on impulse, yet only after speaking did the Emperor realize the truth. The fact that his thoughts had long since been leaning in that direction.

“Your Majesty, did you not have a plan?”

“Not all goes as planned. Even the gods have found that to be true.”

“But if that is the case, Your Majesty, you will achieve only half of what you hope for. If I do not participate in the coming war, most of your plans will come to nothing. Every scheme that relies on my position will fail. Soldiers do not swear loyalty to a commander who keeps himself out of a full-scale war.”

Ebroin V could not be unaware of this truth. That is precisely why he had personally participated in the campaign to raise morale, and even commanded the war himself. Through that, he had earned the loyalty of the entire Imperial Army, and on that foundation, he had pushed through his powerful reform policies.

“I know that Your Majesty intends to reform the Imperial Navy. It was because I shared that ambition that I was initially drawn to you.”

The Emperor’s cause was no longer his alone. Eugène now shared that same vision. Hearing these words, the expression on the Emperor’s face became unbearably grievous. He realized instinctively that his own will alone could not bend Eugène’s determination.

“Your Majesty. My Majesty. Ebroin.”

Eugène closed his eyes, unable to meet that face. He had never once dared to call him by name, yet somehow, the Emperor had already taken root deep within his heart.

“I believe I like Your Majesty more than you might think. Were I given a little more grace, perhaps I might even fall in love. However, Your Majesty. My life is bound to the sea. To a sailor, the sea is not merely fate. It is destiny. And my destiny is no different.”

Even as Eugène spoke, he wondered whether he was exaggerating. However, it did not seem so. He did not know when it had begun, but the words he spoke were not meant merely to soothe the Emperor. They were the unvarnished truth of his heart.

Ebroin V could not tell how this conversation, which had begun with concern for Eugène’s safety, had ended up here. He felt as though he had been swept up into this, though surely such an outcome had not been intended.

He stared silently at the man who stubbornly refused to yield. Eugène’s departure to the sea was not imminent. He was a man resilient to misfortune, so even if he did, it would not mean that calamity would strike him immediately.

But the Emperor wanted to keep him away from all the dangers of the world. He wanted to protect him from the world, even from Eugène himself.

“Then loveUsa little more.”

The Emperor calmly demanded, though the cruel imaginings swirling in his mind made his head spin. He wished to hold Eugène close, to bind his limbs with chains and cover his face with a mask. So that without his permission, Eugène could go nowhere and see no one.

The Imbert Palace was a vast and ancient palace. There was at least one secret room, unused and unknown to anyone. The Emperor imagined imprisoning that stubborn man in such a place. It was a dream impossible to achieve, yet the very thought of it was so sweet it made the tip of his tongue tingle. Especially at a moment like this.

“Let it beUs, not the sea, that becomes your destiny. Let it beUs, not the sea, that your life is bound to.”

But the Emperor firmly barred himself from indulging these dark and corrupt fantasies. Not because he could not, but because he did not wish to. He had no intention of ruining Eugène in any way. He wanted to protect him from the dangers of the world, from Eugène himself, and as well as from himself.

Eugène looked utterly bewildered, clearly never expecting him to demand such a thing. He could not have imagined that the Emperor would make such unreasonable demands, and he could not tell whether his words were a confession or a threat.

But for the Emperor, this was the best course of action. He had to keep Eugène by his side at all costs. If Eugène rejected his persuasion and insisted on leaving, the Emperor himself was not sure how he would react.

For some time now, he had been unable to control himself when it came to Eugène.

<To be continued in Volume 7>