The Spoiler of the Future

A strange ceiling came into view.

A strange ceiling? I blinked my eyes open slowly. I saw a luxurious velvet canopy. Beyond it, the ceiling was densely packed with a mural titled “Dragon and Man,” almost to the point of dizziness. It was the ceiling I saw every night before falling asleep and every morning upon waking. Why did I think it was strange? I exhaled the lingering drowsiness with a yawn and sat up. My head felt foggy from such a deep sleep.

“Have you awakened?”

I heard the voice of the Head Chamberlain. I rubbed my eyes and replied.

“Yes. It looks dark outside.”

“You woke up two hours earlier than usual. Please, sleep a bit more.”

Should I? I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them. Hmm. I didn’t think I could fall back asleep.

I climbed out of bed and slipped my feet into the neatly placed slippers.

These slippers, lined with soft ermine fur, were a gift from First Princess Sierra. Instead of tying a needlework handkerchief to a knight’s sword, my tomboy princess—who once dashed out with her own bow—caught three ermines and offered two to me. She told me that for the next hunting competition, she wanted to receive a handkerchief embroidered by her brother.

She was such a prim little princess when she was young; I wondered what change of heart turned her into such a gallant leader. Since she grew up healthy and bright, it was fine by me, but it was annoying to hear the nobles buzzing about what would happen if the First Princess couldn’t get married. I am her family, so why are they making a fuss? I intended to let Sierra live however she wanted.

I walked across the vast room toward the window. Beyond the large glass, I saw the sky just beginning to catch the light. As I opened the window, a cool breeze rushed in. I ran a hand through my messy hair to push it back.

“It’s fine. I have a lot to do today anyway, so this is actually better.”

“Then I shall bring the basin for your wash.”

I didn’t answer and simply stared out the window. Short trees and flowers, a plaza paved with marble, and a fountain spraying water in the center. It looked small from here, but it was actually quite grand. It was large enough for about fifty children to run around and play. After watching the water flow from the fountain for a moment, I moved my gaze along the long road. I saw the walls of the Imperial Castle, and beyond them, the sleeping city.

Out of all the bedrooms, I like this one the best. You can see the entire Imperial Capital clearly through the window.

It gives me a sense of vigilance to think that my decisions can turn the life of someone living out there from heaven to hell, or hell to heaven. Vigilance. That is very important to me. Numbers on a paper are too easy, and sentences written professionally are too light. I must always be tense and careful. Kallios, the Emperor of the Empire of Caprejena… Huh?

Kallios Capre Rotenmeyer. Kallios was the young Duke who became the Margrave of the West after the previous head of the Rotenmeyer family passed away.

I am the Emperor. Kaian Capre Arneb-s. The one who received the strongest blessing since the Founding Emperor Kaian, the one expected to lead the empire’s revival—to the point of being named “Kaian”—the beloved of the Dragon God…

I closed my eyes while looking at my endlessly sprawling empire. I breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, repeating the process.

I opened my eyes and turned my head. The Head Chamberlain, Count Windberg, personally brought the wash water. I looked at the gold basin on the table and sighed.

“What a ridiculous dream.”

I knew the illusions of the ruin showed a world of “what ifs,” but honestly, this was a bit much.

“Oh… you figured it out already?”

I approached the table and was about to dip my hands in the water when I stopped. A tattered cloth was wrapped around my right hand. It was a messy piece of fabric with loose threads from being torn in a hurry. It was the one Lamier had wrapped for me personally.

“Wasn’t this world created specifically for that purpose?”

An Emperor who looks down at his country every morning and vows to be a wise ruler? It was a truly absurd setting. The implanted memories scattered, and the original “me” became clear. I am Kaian Capre Arneb-s. I was the First Prince of the Empire, and now I am the Emperor’s brother and the Grand Duke of the Kaian Duchy.

“No way. My trials are always perfect.”

Count Windberg—no, the “Guardian of the Forgotten Ruin”—soaked a towel and began to wipe my face. I was about to say it wasn’t necessary, but the towel, which was definitely snow-white, turned black after just wiping my cheek.

The appearance of Count Windberg, who had been an elegant middle-aged man, began to change slowly. The gray hair tied in a bun became short red hair, and the height that didn’t reach my shoulder grew to match mine. Even so, the touch wiping my face remained steady and kind. Like someone who had spent ten years washing others.

It felt like a good match for someone like me, who had lived for ten years receiving the care of others.

“But, why were you staying out there instead of coming in?”

The mischievous-looking beauty asked. I opened only one eye. She was wearing a very tender smile, but…

“Is it starting already?”

“My goodness.”

Tsking, the Guardian pressed down on my closed eyelid.

“Who told you?”

I didn’t answer and just laughed. She looked dissatisfied, but she didn’t stop washing my face.

Thanks to being washed and treated well, I was glowing again.

The dragon lies in the present and dreams of the future. Thus, the dragon sleeps deeply and does not wake easily.

This is the sentence written at the beginning of every book dealing with the founding history of Caprejena. The people of this world believed the dragon’s body formed the present, and the dragon’s dreams determined the future.

I don’t know about the former, but the latter is true to some extent.

Countless possibilities are born in the dragon’s dream. Only one of them becomes reality.

The rest are all buried here, in the forgotten ruin.

…Or so they say. This wasn’t something I originally knew; the Guardian of the ruin told me.

[That is why this place is called the Tomb of Dreams.]

“I see.”

I replied without much soul, leaning back against the chair cushion. As expected of the Emperor’s throne, the large and beautiful chair was quite comfortable. But no matter how good a chair is, it isn’t as comfortable as a bed. It meant that sitting for a long time would still make me restless.

I straightened the crown that had slipped forward. Ah. I feel like I’m going to yawn. While I held my mouth shut to resist it, the Guardian laughed heartily. My expression while holding back the yawn must have been funny. Good grief, really… I leaned my chin on one hand and looked down.

An old man with a goatee, who seemed both familiar and like a stranger, was pouring out words. It had been twenty minutes. To think I have to listen to nagging for twenty minutes when this isn’t even a paid lecture. Being an Emperor is a tough job. After picking out a few words like “Imperial Family,” “Marriage,” and “Heir,” I waved my hand.

“Your Majesty!”

The goatee man called out to me in a very desperate voice.

“Your Majesty is already thirty years of age. Your reign is stable, so please prepare for the future.”

The other men standing behind him shouted in one voice. Please prepare. Please prepare. Prepare for what? It’s just someone else’s dream anyway.

“Do the rest in writing. I’m leaving.”

I stood up. My body was stiff and I wanted to stretch, but it felt a bit awkward to do so in front of the officials shouting “Your Majesty!” I left the room with quick steps.

“Why is it this?”

[Do you not like it?]

A question returned instead of an answer. I kept my mouth shut.

The Tomb of Dreams shows the person who enters one of the possibilities that never bloomed. The happiest, most brilliant possibility that they always held in their heart with regret.

The original Lamier Weaver dreamed of the day his father went off to war. Viscount Weaver, wearing old armor and a worn sword at his waist, going to fight the monster swarm from the Northwest… the day he saw his father for the last time.

Lamier Weaver saved his father and the fief. Nothing special happened after that. Lamier stayed by the side of his father as he went to war, and after inheriting the title of Viscount Weaver, he led the way in protecting the fief. It was a peaceful life.

It would have been nice if it ended there.

Lamier, who married the daughter of a neighboring Baron and lived a simple life with two children, was killed by Kallios.

Literally, “Sudden Kallios.” A sudden Kallios atmosphere.

In the moment he died, Lamier thought of the things he had bypassed. The head of the neighboring Viscount, who had suggested stopping the tyrant’s massacre, was still hanging on the walls of the capital. The friend with whom he had shared useful and pleasant conversations about magic had burned to death. The tyrant had blocked the gates of the friend’s castle and set it on fire. The friend’s daughter, who barely escaped, had sobbed, asking if he had ever smelled thousands of people burning. She died too. The sickness of her heart seemed deeper than the burns on her limbs.

Lamier, who had decided to live as a mere Viscount, died as a mere Viscount. The simple life in a poor border fief had no choice but to be swept away as ash by the tyrant’s massive flames.

In the darkness—containing nothing, yet full of countless possibilities—Lamier wailed. The first cry was due to the lingering feelings of the dream, and the following cries were out of pity for his own life that would be ruined no matter what. At that moment, a voice spoke.

[How do you wish to live?]

Lamier thought for a long time before answering, and he was given the gift he needed most to achieve it.

I walked down the long corridor and arrived at the office. I sighed while looking through the piled documents. Lamier had always regretted sending his father off like that. So, I can understand why he had such a dream.

But as for me.

[Are you upset because the thing you desired so much is just a dream that will vanish when you wake?]

Aphelion. I saw a name that had already disappeared from my world.

To live within a possibility one does not possess and answer three questions from the Guardian.

That was the trial of the ruin. I had held back until now because I didn’t want to lose my chance by answering the lighthearted questions carelessly, but I felt like I had to do it this time.

“I don’t want to be the Emperor.”

What I wanted was a long life without illness, not the throne.

Kaian might have wanted it. Time in the spire flowed slowly, and reading books or meeting the occasional visitor wasn’t enough to fill it. Even those few pastimes couldn’t be done when a fever rose. Just as I did, Kaian must have thought many things during all those hours alone. Among the unrealistic assumptions starting with “If my body were healthy,” there might have been an Emperor loved and respected by all.

“This isn’t my trial.”

But it wasn’t me.

I didn’t want a position where I had to sit in a big chair for over twenty minutes every day and listen to people tell me to get married. Really. I hated hearing nagging twice a year so much that I used work as an excuse every holiday to hide in an internet cafe. And I’m supposed to do that every day?

I felt like I’d been scammed. I thought I would dream of being healthy and going out to play with my kids. If Arneb-s weren’t the Imperial family but some peaceful noble family, it would have been more perfect. But the reality is an Emperor. I took off the heavy crown. The only thing I liked was the strong body that could swing a sword like a stick.

An attendant came in and presented a silver tray with a luxurious envelope. I immediately opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

– Will you spare some time for dinner? If you have a lady to accompany you, I shall yield.

the elegant handwriting was unfamiliar. Ten-year-old Sierra’s handwriting was round and cute. Did her handwriting grow as she grew? I stared at the paper, which was closer to a note than a letter, and then nodded. The attendant bowed politely and left.

Actually, there is one more thing I like.

If I am thirty, Sierra is seventeen and Kallios is twenty-seven. It means I can see what my kids look like grown up. I am a spoiler addict, to the point where I read books from the ending and won’t watch a movie if I don’t know the ending. So, spoilers for my kids’ futures are very welcome.

Since I’ll be having dinner with Sierra, should I have lunch with Kallios? Among the implanted memories, there was also information about Kallios’s location. Since the Dukedom belonged to the family, it was inherited in the fief, but the military power given to the Margrave had to be permitted by the Emperor. Kallios was in the capital to receive that.

I should do everything while I’m at it. I immediately wrote a letter calling for Kallios and sent it with the attendant.

[Child. What are you so excited about?]

I didn’t expect to receive this as the second question. I didn’t answer and just laughed.