The Future of the Empire

The ball I attended today was not particularly formal.

Wait, that sounds a bit odd. It makes it seem like our Sierra made her debut at some lackluster party.

Since it is an Imperial Ball, it is obviously not subpar. It is simply that the atmosphere is light because the purpose is a gathering place for young people and a sort of pre-festival for the ten-day Harvest Festival.

Even though Sierra is the only princess of the Imperial Family, it is difficult to hold a debutante ball at the main Harvest Festival gala. Great nobles flock to the parties starting five days from now. At that time, the main topics will be policies and interests rather than trivial stories about which family’s lady is pretty or which young master caused a scene at the Academy. A nine-year-old princess’s debutante ball would be a bit out of place in such a setting.

Regardless, the protagonist of today’s ball is Sierra. My princess, dressed magnificently, shines brightly even among people much larger than herself. I cannot hear what she is saying from this distance, but I am sure she is doing a stellar job. Kallios is by her side as well.

As for me?

I am quite free.

There are many people watching me, but no one approaches.

I expected this, but experiencing it in person is a bit bittersweet. I smiled at a nameless noble who turned his head away after making eye contact with me, and I placed my empty drink glass on a passing servant’s tray.

If they had absolute loyalty to the Imperial Family—something one might call faith—they would treat me like a miracle and revere me. However, such people are extremely rare in this era. The reason is simple.

Caprese-na is a country that was founded over 500 years ago. It has been over 100 years since both internal and external peace was established. The blessing of the Dragon God is a plausible founding myth, but its expiration date has passed. It no longer holds sway.

What moves the current nobility is not myth, but the practical interests of their houses.

Reducing taxes, raising more private soldiers, expanding territories.

And grooming the next Emperor to their liking.

To them, the speaking and moving “Kaian Capre Arneb-s” has no value. The reason those b*stards—no, those nobles—belittle Kallios every day and bring up my name is not because they want me to be the Crown Prince.

They want Kallios to become powerless.

They want him to give up on thinking for himself and achieving anything, hoping he will become a puppet in their hands.

It is truly… truly absurd.

Do they think they won’t be blamed when the heads on their shoulders fly off for doing such things?

That fellow is no ordinary person; he is the main villain who will (probably) become the last Emperor of Caprese-na. Having read hundreds of fantasy novels, I am certain that our Kallios will pluck the heads of those noble scoundrels like bean sprouts before he ever dies at the hand of a protagonist.

Thinking about it is somewhat satisfying. Still, since it is the country where our Sierra will live, he cannot become a tyrant. Kallios, you should coax and soothe those d*mned fools while sucking them dry to the bone. If you must kill them, let it be from overwork. There is nothing more miserable than dying while working.

The piercing gazes are uncomfortable, and I dislike the air, which has become nauseating due to the mixture of all sorts of expensive scents. I should go get some fresh air. Fortunately, a nearby terrace was empty. After checking once more toward my siblings, who were now invisible behind a crowd of people, I stepped onto the terrace and drew the curtain.

The sun was setting. I sighed while looking at the reddening sky.

I often made half-joking complaints about why I possessed such a body… but the position of Kaian Capre Arneb-s was actually quite a good spot to live as if one didn’t exist before departing.

A life of quietly withering away while living inside a narrow but affluent spire.

It was so good that I felt sorry comparing it to my miserable past life. No worries about making a living and no anxiety about the future—it is paradise. It is a bit of a shame that my lifespan is short, but it is a life I gained as a bonus anyway.

However, it was not easy to just let go and spend my final (?) years in peace.

It bothered me that a mere ten-year-old child walked around with an expressionless face. When I was ten, I went around breaking all the jars in the neighborhood and got my b*tt whipped by my grandmother until it was red. With a broom. …Of course, I was a bit unusual, but that is what ten-year-olds are supposed to be like. They cause trouble as they please, laugh excitedly, cry, and throw tantrums. But that fellow did not. He acted as if he had known the world was not on his side since he was in his mother’s womb.

Is that all? Before I could even get used to the expressionless boy, I had to watch a thirteen-year-old kid kneel while holding a sword as big as his own body. What he said was even more absurd. He would protect me with his life? It was ridiculous nonsense. Thirteen is an age to be protected, not to protect something. The fact that the target he wanted to protect was me, and that I would be safe until the day I died, was not important. I simply hated that the young child spoke of giving up his life with his own mouth.

And what about the infant who lost her mother right after being born? That child learned how to hold back tears before she learned to speak. It broke my heart to see her just smiling brightly even when her diaper was wet or when it was past time for her to be fed. ‘Don’t do that. Your brother will love you no matter what you do.’ I whispered into the ear of the child who couldn’t even understand words for a long time.

Truly… it is a great spot to spend time as if vacationing in a luxury villa.

But I want you two to be less unhappy.

With a sense of obligation similar to buying a tumbler that one might only use a few times to reduce the use of disposables, I felt uncomfortable. To the point where I felt a little… just a little resentful toward the God who let me get to know you.

My chest felt a sharp ache. It was a bearable pain, but since accumulating fire energy was of no use, I gripped the ruby hanging from my neck.

Charrk. The sound of the curtain being pulled back rang out.

“Brother.”

“Yes.”

“The wind is cold.”

“Yes.”

I slowly turned around. Kallios handed me a glass filled with a drink. I took it by grasping the upper part of the handle. The insensitivity of giving a cold drink while talking about a cold wind felt so much like him that I let out a laugh.

“Is it time to leave?”

“There is still some time.”

“Then why are you here already?”

I have no need to get involved with the nobles, so I had slipped away, but it was different for him, the future Emperor. Whether he likes it or not, he has to go along with them. It would be better to go and build connections or find weaknesses.

His gaze passed over me and reached the sky. I thought they were just dried roses, but seeing them like this, they also seemed to resemble the sunset at dusk. Red eyes shimmering with the Dragon God’s blessing.

“I wonder.”

An unexpected answer came back. For someone who usually ignores questions when he has nothing to say, a “I wonder” was quite something.

I watched his face, which was cast in deep shadows due to the setting sun, and opened my mouth. It wasn’t for any special reason; I just felt like I had to say something.

“I heard you hate everyone in the world.”

Kallios slowly tilted his head to the side and looked at me.

“So I said that probably wasn’t true.”

His golden eyelashes, dyed red by the sunset, fluttered. Kallios is truly like a doll even when he blinks. Beautiful, but devoid of life. I wonder if it would feel different if he smiled?

“What about you, Brother?”

“Hmm?”

I missed the flow of the conversation (not that there was much of one) because I was imagining his smiling face. What about me? I experienced a brief buffering moment. It was Kallios who resolved the long lag.

“Do you not hate it, Brother?”

It was an incredibly edgy question, but coming from that beautiful, emotionless face, it somehow seemed plausible. I gained the useless realization that a face doesn’t just complete one’s fashion.

“Why would I hate it?”

I answered a question with a question, but the meaning should have been sufficiently conveyed. I do not hate it. “Everyone in the world” is too many people to hate blindly. The only ones who could hate all of that would be… the original Kaian, whose entire known world was the spire, or a grand-scale main villain like Kallios Capre Arneb-s.

“Hand.”

At Kallios’s words, I held out my left hand without thinking.

“Ah.”

Why did I give it to him? I felt embarrassed for reaching out immediately after he said “hand” and tried to withdraw it, but he was faster. He naturally pulled and took hold of my hand, then took something out of his pocket. It was a gold ring embedded with a ruby the size of a thumbnail.

He touched my index and middle fingers as if measuring their thickness, and then promptly slipped the ring onto my index finger. The ring was lukewarm, unlike typical metal. Just like the Breath of Capre.

Ah. This is also an artifact to suppress the Dragon Blood.

“Keep wearing it.”

I nodded at Kallios’s request and then pulled my hand away.

The ring spun because it was too large, but it was better than being tight. After stroking the ruby with my thumb, I grumbled only to myself.

‘Hey. Thanks for the ring, but save this kind of service for your girlfriend.’

‘I was flustered for a moment.’

Regardless of my thoughts. Kallios, who didn’t care at all about how his brother felt, simply turned away. Since I would see him soon anyway, instead of seeing him off, I stretched out my left arm and looked at my hand. The large-stoned ring on my hand, which was thin from illness, looked a bit ridiculous.

“I feel the same way.”

“Hmm?”

I looked up from the ring. Kallios had walked out of the terrace.

That fellow.

He just said that he doesn’t hate it either, right?

After killing some time on the terrace in a good mood, I returned to the ballroom just as the magical stone lanterns in the garden began to light up. Since quite a bit of time had passed since the start of the ball, the number of people had decreased significantly. There were more people gathered in conversation than those dancing.

I could see Kallios immediately, but Sierra was nowhere to be found, buried somewhere in the crowd.

She is still so small. She made her debut too early. She could have done it next year, or even the year after.

I thought about looking for her but decided against it. If she lacked the talent, she wouldn’t have been able to set foot in the social circle no matter how much she threw a tantrum. I’m sure she is doing fine. Let’s ask her about it on the way back. While the princess acting like a demure lady was cute, I still prefer the chattering princess. I hope she has a lot of fun and tells me all about it.

Still, feeling a lingering attachment, I looked around and made eye contact with Kallios, who was in conversation with some young masters. He came straight toward me. I gave a small smirk and approached him.

“Have you been having fun?”

After glancing at my left hand to check the ring, he explained the group he had been talking to.

This fellow. Getting straight to the point without pleasantries is concise and nice, but couldn’t you at least pretend to be kind when there are eyes everywhere? You’re too business-like…

Anyway, young masters from the northwest and the Apellion delegation.

So you were hanging out with traitors?

Tsk. Clicking my tongue, I approached the group he had been mingling with. I had intended to praise Kallios in front of those self-important fools who think neutrality is fairness and give him a few followers. But it looks like I’m about to engage in a battle of nerves I never asked for.

As Kallios and I approached, one of the men in the group offered a greeting.

“I greet His Highness, the First Prince.”

The way he showed his respect with exaggerated gestures didn’t make him seem favorable toward me. The same went for the others following his lead. Are those three with stiff necks the Apellion delegation?

Introductions followed the greeting. The first one to greet me was the eldest son of the Northwestern Margrave, and the next were the sons of a Baron and a Viscount from nearby. They are all said to be students at the Imperial Academy. Was the level of the Academy originally this low? Even if academic intelligence and social skills are different, their attitude is too much.

The ones with stiff necks were indeed from the delegation. They exaggerated, saying it was an honor to meet “that prince” with the harsh pronunciation characteristic of Apellion…

If it had been a private setting, I would have wanted to hit them; they were that obnoxious.

Anyway, after finishing the pleasantries that looked harmonious on the surface but were f*cking terrible underneath, the “conversation they were having” before I joined continued. The topic was the republican system, which is the identity of Apellion.

“I heard Apellion establishes its national leader through voting?”

“He is not called a national leader, but a Prime Minister. And the selection method is indeed voting.”

The conversation was between a second son of some Baron and an Apellion fellow, but their gazes kept drifting toward me. I listened without reacting for now. I wanted to see how far they would go.