Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – When I Grow Up~I Want To Be Like You~~

Editor: SleepyMango123

Proofreader: Lore

The bright sun was shining down on the earth. A light wind passed by, sparkling across the crescent-shaped pool, drawing the fragrance of the lavender lotus flowers that were blooming amongst green leaves that dispersed into the wind.

The breeze with a sweet smell playfully encircled the huge circular stone pillars, and then blew into the hall. The spacious high platform was covered with a soft and cooling silk cloth. The snow-white cloth hung down from the edge of the high platform, and the corners embroidered with gold silk laid on the bluestone floor.

The King of Aaron Landis sat on the high platform with one foot curled up, and the other fell from the edge of the high platform and stepped on the ground. He wore the same simple and neat clothes that were seen at first sight. Apart from the brown leather wristbands with gold patterns on his wrists, he had no other accessories on his body.

He propped his cheek with one hand, tilted his head, and looked at the King’s Brother who was sitting cross-legged beside him. His thick eyebrows raised slightly, and his expression looked extremely happy.

His family brother’s attention was not on him, but on the little brown furball rolling around in front of him.

The little cub was holding a piece of half-baked meat with its two claws, struggling to bite it. Although it worked very hard, its small baby teeth were not sharp enough and it held the piece of meat, struggling to tear it apart. After chewing for a while, a small piece was gnawed off.

From Garlan’s point of view, he felt that the little lion hugging the mass of meat was rolling and playing around.

“Nergal.”

After a while, he stared at the little cub and said softly.

King Camos, who was watching him and the little lion, raised his mouth.

“Really? This is the name you’re giving it.” He asked, “You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Nergal1, the patron saint2 of destruction and war…” Camos smiled. “It seems that you have high expectations for this little guy.”

“Because… its father is powerful, it should also…”

Garlan answered vaguely.

He thought, after all, this was the fearsome lion on the battlefield following you to the southern and northern wars, how could it not have a majestic name?

Otherwise, in the future, when you need a big lion to fight on the battlefield, Brother Camos, you will shout out in front of everyone-

‘Mimi, go!’

‘Mimi, bite him!’

‘Mimi, come with me!’

…

…

He suddenly had an urge to name this little cub, Mimi.

Shaking his head to get rid of the silly thoughts in his mind, Garlan looked down at the little furball in front of him who was still struggling with the meat. Why did it feel so useless?

Thinking like this, he couldn’t help poking the little fluffy head with his fingers. The baby lion who was poked on the top of his head, put down the piece of meat that he was trying to gnaw, raised his head to look at him, then threw the piece of meat aside. It rolled its body, facing the sky with its limbs facing up, and directed it at Garlan showing his chubby belly. Its small eyes looked at Garlan brightly and then he whimpered.

Rub me, rub me~~

Garlan, “…”

I think you should be called Mimi…

Camos naturally didn’t know what Garlan was thinking at the moment. If he knew, his nerves, which were as big as him, might have made the corner of his mouth twitch once or twice, and then deprived the child the right to name the cub.

The sound of footsteps sounded from outside. It became louder and louder, indicating someone was approaching.

The priest of Shamash, holding a sceptre, walked up the steps and into the hall. He stood before the high platform and bowed his head to salute King Camos from below.

“King Camos, the decree will be issued to all parts of the country tomorrow.” He said, his face calm, “Please affix the imperial seal.”

After speaking, Ziemuer stepped forward. He held a rectangular cyan stone tray in both hands. The stone tray was filled with snow-white soft mud. The surface of the white mud had sunken lines, which consisted of characters neatly arranged in rows.

The language of the scripture was beautiful and gorgeous. The entire meaning was that King Camos had chosen a younger brother and would now announce it to the whole country.

The white clay in the bluestone plate was still moist and soft at the moment. Camos read the text on the white clay from beginning to end to confirm that it was correct, then took off the gold ring on his middle finger. The ring face was carved with green malachite. It was a small imperial seal with delicate lines and special characters.

He pressed it down on the soft white mud, leaving a clear pattern on it.

The original plan was to announce two King’s Brothers.

However, King Camos decided not to enthrone Heimos after knowing his background, and only made Garlan the King’s younger brother.

Heimos’ grandmother had a direct royal bloodline and he naturally inherited this bloodline.

In other words, if King Camos did not have Garlan, Heimos, who was a direct descendant of the royal family, would naturally have the right to succeed the throne.

Regardless of Garlan’s bloodline, even the so-called collateral royal bloodlines were already very thin, which meant they were basically a dozen generations away. Without the title of King’s Brother, he would never have the right to inherit the throne.

Therefore, King Camos would only enthrone Garlan as a brother, to ensure his succession to the throne was higher than that of Heimos.

Heimos, who had a direct claim to the throne, would be allowed to live in the palace. Everyone would call him prince and he would have all the privileges of being a prince.

However, only on the premise that both Camos and Garlan died, would Heimos then be eligible to inherit the throne.

After King Camos placed the imperial seal, Ziemuer handed the bluestone slab to his subordinates who followed him. His servants bowed and retreated. They would send this bluestone slab to the firing place. After baking, the white clay would harden and become extremely smooth porcelain. The characters and patterns on it would also be completely set and could not be changed. With golden threads outlining the characters, the original version would be left in the imperial palace.

This way, there was no need to worry about the King’s will being altered by people with ulterior motives.

At the same time, using this form of imperial decree could also make the King’s order more unique and sacred.

“And one more thing,”

The subordinates who escorted the proclamation left, while Ziemuer stood in place and spoke with a blank expression on his face.

“Please appoint a mentor for the two princes as soon as possible.”

Prince Garlan.

Prince Heimos.

These two princes were the brothers of King Camos and direct descendants of the royal family. They now possessed temporary succession to the throne.

However, this was only temporary. Seeing King Camos’ situation, they need to grow up as soon as possible.

Camos stroked his stubble chin.

“You’re considered as one,” he said without hesitation. “How about it? Ziemuer, which one do you want to teach?”

“It is your decision, King Camos.”

“What if I let you choose?”

“…” The Shamash priest was silent for a moment, and then calmly replied, “I’ll choose to teach Prince Heimos.”

The tone of his answer was very steady, without the slightest tremor. Even if the other prince he didn’t choose were there, his answer was still decisive.

The blond child, who was rubbing the lion’s soft belly, paused for a second and then continued to rub it, but it was a little heavier. Nergal, who was lying on the ground with its limbs upside down, whimpered slightly, tilted his head and looked at him.

Garlan exchanged looks with the small bean-sized eyes for a moment, stretched out his hands and picked up the little cub. He put it in his arms and stroked its fluffy little head.

Although he had guessed the ending, his chest turned cold uncontrollably when Ziemuer said those words.

Fortunately, this warm and fluffy little guy eased the coldness in his chest.

No wonder.

From the beginning, Ziemuer wanted to choose Heimos.

It turned out that from the beginning, this person was not willing to teach him.

So, no wonder, no wonder this person could abandon him after more than eight years. After all, that was Ziemuer’s first choice.

…

It has nothing to do with me.

Garlan stroked the little cub in his arms. Nergal laid in his arms and rubbed his chest with his head tilted.

This so-called King’s Brother; this so-called prince of Aaron Landis, I won’t be holding on to it for long.

He was very stubborn and unyielding. Now that he had made a decision, he would walk this path to the end.

If he said he didn’t want the throne, he wouldn’t want it.

Therefore, Ziemuer could choose whoever he liked, he didn’t care at all.

King Camos looked down at the Shamash priest, who looked back at him calmly and then glanced at Garlan, who didn’t seem to have heard the exchange with Ziemuer while playing with the little cub. The corners of his lips raised slightly.

“Garlan, you should go to take a nap for a while.” He smiled and touched Garlan’s head and said, “Children who don’t sleep much, won’t be able to grow taller in the future oh~”

After he said that, he raised his hand and waved to signal for a guard to take the little King Brother to the side bedroom next to him for a nap.

The child raised his head, and the big golden eyes glanced at him without saying anything. He obediently put down the little lion in his arms, re-stuffed the chewed and mutilated piece of meat into the claws of the little lion, got up and followed the maid who served him.

After Garlan left, Camos raised his hand again to signal the maid, guards, and servants who were waiting for him to retreat. In this way, only he and Ziemuer were left in this room.

“You choose… Uh, who was that?… Uh, he seems to be called, He, He… He what?”

King Camos pondered for a while before he remembered the black-haired boy’s name.

“…Prince Heimos.”

Ziemuer choked for a moment and then answered.

“Oh, I got it.”

Camos said, waving his hand.

“Ziemuer, I appoint you to be Garlan’s mentor.”

He said decisively.

After thinking about it, he added a few more words.

“I’ll leave Garlan with you. Take good care of him. No scolding or hitting is allowed. Reprimanding is also not allowed. In short, you are not allowed to bully him.”

Ziemuer, “…”

Since you forced the appointment, what’s the point of letting me choose just now?

Besides, let’s not talk about beatings or scolding, even reprimanding is not allowed, how can I teach him?

Although he thought with dissatisfaction, his face was still calm as he bowed his head slightly in salute.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

He calmly accepted King Camos’s assignment.

King Camos sat on the high platform and looked down at him, pressing one hand on the knee of his left leg, with a playful smile in his eyes.

“Are you scolding me in your heart?”

“…”

Saying ‘yes’ was disrespectful to the king.

To say “No” was to lie to the King, which was also disrespectful.

This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org

So Ziemuer chose to remain silent.

Camos chuckled loudly.

“Do you think I’m making things difficult for you?”

Ziemuer pondered for a moment, and then answered.

“Prince Garlan is very weak.”

He said very bluntly, the words hitting the nail on the head, without the slightest euphemism or cover-up.

“He can’t carry the future of Aaron Landis.”

Camos was still laughing.

“Ziemuer, don’t you think this sentence is familiar?”

“…”

“‘Prince Camos! How can you carry the future of Aaron Landis as you are right now!” Camos, who had become the King of Aaron Landis and was loved by all its people, used a weird voice to imitate Ziemuer. “Since young, I have heard this sentence from you no less than ten times. You always felt that I was not a qualified prince.”

He said, “What about now?”

He smiled faintly and said, “Do you think I am a qualified King?”

Ziemuer leaned over, kneeled, holding the sceptre in one hand and laying it on the ground, with the other hand in his heart.

“You are the well-deserved King of Aaron Landis.”

He replied decisively, from the heart.

“Yes, I think so, too. No one can do a better job than me.”

Camos said in a natural tone.

He didn’t need to be humble. He had saved Aaron Landis. That was his responsibility and his pride.

“So, Ziemuer, don’t jump to conclusions.”

He said that, suddenly the topic changed, and he pointed to the little lion who was still struggling with the flesh using his unsharpened teeth.

The little cub Nergal, who was holding a piece of meat, rolled around looking dumb.

Camos was delighted.

“Look. How is this little guy? Doesn’t he look silly?”

Ziemuer, “?”

He looked at the cub that wasn’t yet one month old and wondered why King Camos mentioned it suddenly.

“Look, isn’t it cute? Just like my King Brother, they are equally adorable, right?”

King Camos asked as he stretched out his hand, grabbed little Nergal with a big hand and held it in his hand.

The little cub, who was gnawing on a piece of meat was suddenly caught by the person it hated the most, became angry. With a small mouth, it showed its small fangs and bit the fingers that were grabbing it.

Camos smiled and allowed the cub to bite. His fingers were already full of cocoons3 and had thick skin. Nergal’s small fangs which gnawed on his fingers for a long time, didn’t bite through them and only managed to smear his fingers with drool.

“It is true that he is cute, but he looks weak, right?”

The man’s eyes narrowed slightly to form a thin gap, and a terrible pressure suddenly radiated from his whole body, and his hand gripped the cub tightly.

“Look. It’s so weak and small, I can squeeze it to death with little effort.”

Ziemuer stood below and watched quietly. He simply observed and said nothing.

The little cub screamed when he was clutched. He clearly felt pain and uncomfortable, but he just wailed, and continued to bite the finger that was holding him, even scratching and biting fiercely.

That was because Nergal was a beast… No, it should be said that that was the fierceness that he was born with as the future King of beasts and also, his pride.

King Camos smiled, loosened his hold, and let go of Little Nergal.

The little furball that was put down turned over and stood up without fleeing or being afraid, just stood there and roared viciously at Camos.

“Those little things that can only be pets by nature, as long as they see me, they will turn around and flee in fright. Once they are approached by me, they will tremble with fear…”

Camos continued, “But this little guy, even if he got caught, he bit me fiercely.”

“Even if he looks like a weak little guy now, he will become a terrifying lion in the future.”

“Indeed, that child does look very weak now. To us, he is so fragile that we can pinch him to death with one hand.”

King Camos smiled as he said that and his sitting posture looked very lazy. But even if he just sat there quietly, he was like a brown lion lying lazily on the ground, with an invisible deterrent.

He squinted and smiled and there was some kind of enthusiastic light flashing in his golden-brown eyes.

“Even if he is such a weak child now, maybe in the future he can become a lion that can roar in every direction…”

He paused.

“So, Ziemuer, can you be a little bit patient?”

He continued, “After all, that is the only little guy in this world who has defeated the invincible King Camos.”

Ziemuer, who had been silent for a long time, frowned upon hearing this.

“…defeated?”

He asked questioningly.

Did something he didn’t know happen? When and where?

King Camos, “…”

An accidental slip of the tongue…4

He quickly changed the subject.

“In short, it is decided.”

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand willfully and drove the priest away.

“You can withdraw now.”

As the mighty King Camos, it was impossible to let others know about that embarrassing thing. It was a secret to be kept for life.

…

However, our mighty King Camos didn’t know that not long after, the priest asked his new disciple directly. Yes, it was the well-behaved (?) little brother who answered whatever he asked. When Ziemuer got the answer, it made him want to hit someone.

The author has something to say:

When I grow up, I want to be like you~~

So what do you think of the possibility that Garlan will become a powerful lion king like King Camos when he grows up? hhhhhh

1

Mesopotamian god of death, war, and destruction. https://www.worldhistory.org/Nergal/

2

The protecting or guiding saint of a person or place.

3

Due to long-term labour, a layer of hard dead flesh appears on the hands and feet.

4

Something that is said by mistake