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Of course, it was a lie that nothing had happened.
The Emperor, who should have been omnipotent within that world of the mind, had discovered that he wasn’t so almighty in front of Eugene. The Emperor had desperately tried to escape, but once he had been caught within Eugene’s grasp, escape was impossible. To put up some kind of resistance, he had proceeded to attack Eugene, but no matter what type of attack was thrown at Eugene, it disappeared the moment it touched him.
The same went for any attempts at defense. Whether it was thickly constructed walls or a barrier covering his entire body, they vanished without any effect the moment Eugene’s fist touched them.
In the end, the Emperor was left with no choice but to be beaten into a pulp by Eugene. From Eugene’s point of view, the beating wasn’t all that severe, but for someone born into the royal family and ascended to the throne, a beating was something alien that he had never experienced in his life.
‘What a cowardly bastard,’ Eugene thought with a sneer.
Whenever Eugene boxed him around the ears, the Emperor would screech so loud it was like he was trying to rip apart his own throat, and after Eugene struck him with his fist a few times, the Emperor screamed like it was the end of the world.
After beating the Emperor like this for quite some time, Eugene ordered the Emperor to get down on his knees. The not-so-omnipotent Emperor immediately knelt down as instructed.
As the Emperor of Kiehl, Straut the Second was by no means a fool. He had just been subjected to a long-lasting beating in this world of consciousness. Though, in fact, it hadn’t really been all that bad, but to the Emperor, after that series of painful assaults, it had felt like his mind was on the verge of collapse.
So should he seek revenge?
It wasn’t like he didn’t have the means to do so. He might be powerless in this world of the mind, but in reality, Straut the Second was still the Emperor of Kiehl. With such power, there were many methods that he could use to attempt his revenge.
So what if Eugene Lionheart hadn’t committed any crime? Was there truly anyone in this world who didn’t have some dirt on them tucked away somewhere? And in the first place, even without any proof, leveraging the charges of treason and lese-majesty would be enough to turn the entire Lionheart clan into traitors.
However, there was no way that he could do that. As the Emperor, Straut the Second, could feel it in his bones that it would be impossible to do so.
This was because of Eugene Lionheart’s true identity.
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The Stupid Hamel — one of the heroes from three hundred years ago.
Seeing how Eugene had managed to keep it a secret for so long, it didn’t seem like Eugene had any intention of revealing the truth to the world, but… if his entire clan were to be charged as traitors and were about to be executed by the Empire, he would definitely be forced to reveal his true identity to deal with the situation.
‘No, he doesn’t even need to do that,’ the Emperor realized now as he stared at Eugene while swallowing back a gulp.
…He still couldn’t dare to look Eugene in the eye.
It was bizarre. His real-life body wasn’t the one that had been so beaten up, but just by looking into those golden eyes, the Emperor felt his whole body was wracked with pain.
The Emperor thought fearfully, ‘Even without revealing his true identity to everyone… I’m sure there are enough people who already know the truth.’
The Wise Sienna and the Brave Molon.
Those two must be aware that Eugene Lionheart was their old friend.
After all, wasn’t that the case back at the Knight March? The Brave Molon, who had suddenly reappeared, had stuck close to Eugene Lionheart’s side while showing off their friendship. There was also how the Wise Sienna, who had returned from her long seclusion, had left Aroth and settled down at the Lionheart estate….
Neither the Emperor nor Kiehl could afford to force Eugene and the Lionheart clan into being declared traitors. The moment they did so, those two monster-like individuals who were beyond the Empire’s capability to handle would become their enemies. The opinions of all the other countries neighboring the empire, no, even the opinions of the citizens of the Empire itself, would be unsympathetic to the Emperor’s resulting plight.
“Haaah…,” the Emperor let out a long sigh and shook his head.
His initial intention had been to investigate the thoughts hidden within Eugene’s heart, and if he felt that Eugene was a threat, the Emperor would have placed shackles on him.
He had managed to peer into Eugene’s heart like he had planned, but now… he would have preferred to have remained ignorant. The various secrets that he had learned were now burdening the Emperor and causing him fear. In the end, this meant that a war with Helmuth and its Demon Kings would inevitably be declared within this era.
“Is it alright if I go back on my own?” Eugene spoke up.
The De’Arc brothers were still lying collapsed at his feet.
In fact, the two of them had already come back to their senses. However, due to their embarrassment and shame at being trounced, they dared not get up and silently pretended to still be unconscious. Their shattered limbs ached, but they still felt that remaining prone like this was better than struggling to get to their feet where the Emperor could see them.
Aware of this, Eugene commented, “After all, with those kinds of wounds, it’s important for these two to receive treatment quickly. If I stay sitting here, these twin Captains will have to keep on enduring their pain, you know?”
Karian and Derry still maintained their silence.
“Not only can you not fight, you can’t even pretend to be unconscious convincingly,” Eugene mocked with a snort.
Even faced with such a provocation, the twins refused to show any reaction and kept their mouths shut.
“Very well then…,” the Emperor eventually spoke up after sighing deeply. “Lord… Eugene… Lionheart. It would be best for you to return home now.”
“It has been a pleasant conversation,” Eugene said with a smile as he rose from his seat.
After all, it was true that they had had an actual conversation following the beating that Eugene had given the Emperor.
Though the conversation hadn’t covered anything too important.
Eugene had just told Straut what to do from now on.
Don’t say anything unnecessary, and try to behave more tactfully no matter what happens.
And instead of pointlessly trying to pick a fight with Eugene, just don’t pay him or his actions any attention.
This wasn’t just a one-sided demand on Eugene’s part, as in return for doing all that, Eugene also promised to be careful not to damage the Emperor or the Empire’s reputation from now on. For example, whenever he did something in the future, especially if he got caught up in some unsavory incident outside the Empire… in such rare cases, he had promised to give the Emperor a heads-up.
Although he felt like Eugene was going too far in saying such things to the Emperor of the Kiehl Empire, the Emperor still gratefully gave his agreement.
Closing his weary and depressed eyes, the Emperor said, “Lord Alchester, please guide Lord Eugene to the exit.”
“What about you, Your Majesty?” Alchester asked in a worried tone.
The Emperor began, “We will—”
Before he could finish, Eugene suggested, “You appear to be very tired, so why don’t we head out together, Your Majesty?”
“We… We will…. Very well, We shall do so,” after some hesitation, the Emperor gave in and rose from his chair.
Finding it difficult to understand this perplexing situation, Alchester checked the Emperor’s expression.
‘What on earth happened in there?’ Alchester thought to himself curiously but didn’t voice the question out loud.
Tactfully keeping one's silence according to the situation was an essential virtue all royal guards must possess. So Alchester quietly kept his lips shut as he moved to support the Emperor.
“Allow me to assist you as well,” Eugene offered as he grabbed one of the arms of the staggering Emperor.
The moment his arm was grasped, the Emperor tried to twist his body free in terror, but Eugene held on tightly to the Emperor’s arm, refusing to let go as if he had been expecting this struggle.
“Are you alright?” Eugene asked calmly.
The Emperor stammered, “W-We are fine.”
“In that case, let’s head on out,” Eugene said with a smile.
In his heart, the Emperor wanted to order Eugene to let go of him, but… the words just wouldn’t come out. In the end, the Emperor left the room, supported on both sides by Alchester and Eugene.
It was just as Eugene had guessed. This room was in a basement deep beneath a tower a short distance from the Imperial Palace itself.
“Your Majesty!”
Dozens of royal guards were waiting on the surface as Eugene arrived on the ground floor. They were probably the knights the Emperor had arranged to guard this location before entering the room.
‘There’s no way he’ll dare to give them the order to capture me at this point, right?’ Eugene thought as he shot a glance at the Emperor.
At that moment, Eugene and the Emperor’s eyes met.
Eugene silently cursed, ‘This son of a bitch.’
The Emperor seemed to have the same thought right as Eugene was feeling paranoid. Eugene secretly pinched the arm he was holding on to support the Emperor. When he did so, the Emperor’s whole body trembled in fear once more.
“We…. We are alright. Everyone should back away. We are merely receiving assistance because We are feeling slightly tired,” the Emperor quickly reassured his knights before turning to look at Eugene. “Sir Eugene. T-today’s conversation was delightful. Oh, that’s right. Sir Eboldt. You have a close relationship with Sir Eugene, don’t you? In that case, please escort Lord Eugene to the gates.”
Among the knights stationed outside the tower was the Captain of the Fourth Division, the one who had been defeated by Eugene during the previous friendly match. His name was Eboldt Magius. He appeared extremely flustered to be suddenly picked out of the crowd for this duty by the Emperor, but since it was the Emperor’s will, he merely bowed his head without showing any resistance.
“I hope you have a peaceful night, Your Majesty,” Eugene said in farewell. “Well then… I will come over to see you again tomorrow, along with Lady Sienna.”
The Emperor flinched, “Al-alright.”
Eugene released the Emperor’s arm. After taking a few steps back, he got down onto one knee and bowed his head deeply. What had happened in the room earlier and what was going on now were two entirely different matters, and since there were so many eyes looking at them, Eugene was forced to show sufficient politeness.
‘This abominable… monster…,’ the Emperor silently cursed.
Why hadn’t that room’s powers worked on Eugene? Was it because of his Lionheart blood? Or because he was the Stupid Hamel? There was no way to tell. The Emperor didn’t want to keep thinking about it either. So stiffening his trembling expression, the Emperor turned and left.
The sound of footsteps receded into the distance as the knights guarding their surroundings also withdrew along with the Emperor. It was only then that Eugene raised his head and looked up.
Beneath this tower, whose door had been locked tight, lay a room left behind by Vermouth that was similar to the Darkroom in the basement of the Lionheart estate.
‘I thought there’d be something else,’ Eugene thought regretfully.
Even though he had secretly hoped for it, a phantom of Vermouth hadn’t appeared like it had in the Darkroom.
‘Was it because I was together with the Emperor? If I head in there alone next time, will something appear…?’
Although he had this thought, Eugene didn’t get his hopes up. The Darkroom at the estate was different from the Emperor’s room here. What reason could there be to leave two separate phantoms behind? Like the Emperor had said, this room was a gift Vermouth had bestowed upon the Kiehl Empire.
Eugene could even guess what Vermouth’s reasons for doing so were. Vermouth had been planning for Eugene or, rather, Hamel’s reincarnation. This meant that he knew, approximately three hundred years after Hamel’s death, Eugene would be reincarnated as a member of the Lionheart clan, one of Vermouth’s descendants.
The Lionheart clan would need to survive for that long to ensure this would happen. By gifting this room to the Imperial Family, Vermouth must have guaranteed an oath of loyalty that guaranteed the Lionheart clan would never become an enemy of the Kiehl Empire.
‘Although it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to find anything, I should bring Sienna here with me tomorrow to check,’ Eugene decided as he turned away from the tower.
“It’s been a long time, Lord Eboldt,” Eugene politely greeted the knight.
“That’s right… it’s been so long,” Eboldt responded with a wry smile as he nodded at Eugene.
Eboldt sensed the faint smell of blood coming from Eugene’s body, and he noticed that some blood had spattered onto Eugene’s sleeve.
Noticing his gaze, Eugene reassured him, “Ah, there’s no need to pay any attention to that. It’s not my blood.”
Eboldt asked hesitantly, “If it’s not your blood, then…?”
“It’s the blood of the Lords De’Arc,” Eugene readily admitted. “Really now, those two seemed to have quite a lot of grievances with me… but I have neatly put an end to them with this duel.”
Eboldt was shocked, “It can’t be; did you actually kill them?”
Eugene defended himself, “Hey as if I would do something like that. Even if it was a serious duel, how could I kill a royal guard right before His Majesty’s eyes? I just beat them up in moderation, while making sure to put on an entertaining show for the Emperor.”
Shaking his head in pity, Eugene began walking off.
So what Eugene meant to say was that a duel with the Captains of the First and Second Divisions of the White Dragon Knights was just at the level of being a sideshow?
“Ha… haha,” Eboldt, who had been left standing there, staring blankly into space, belatedly came to his senses and let out a depressed laugh.
* * *
Since Eugene had been summoned by the Emperor out of the blue and suddenly escorted to the Palace, it was only natural that Gilead and the other family members were worried about Eugene.
“It wasn’t anything big,” Eugene reassured him.
Eugene only managed to get his family, who had come looking for him with worried expressions on their faces, to withdraw after repeating those words over and over again. But the real problem wasn’t with his family members.
“How can the Emperor of the Kiehl Empire be so narrow-minded?”
“Even the Pope of Yuras wouldn’t dare to oppress us in such a way.”
After hearing the whole story from Eugene, Kristina and Anise took turns venting their rage.
“That damn bastard,” Sienna cursed; with her staff pulled out of storage and held tightly in her hands, it looked as if Sienna might storm over to Kiehl’s Imperial Palace at any moment.
“Why are you still like this even though you’ve gotten older?” Eugene asked in exasperation as he hastily pulled the staff out of Sienna’s hands.
Although he hadn’t given it much thought before saying those words… Sienna’s eyes widened in shock as she turned to look at Eugene.
“You…! Did you just call me old to my face!” Sienna cried out with a heartbroken expression.
Anise and Kristina were immediately aware of what kind of position they should take in this situation.
“Hamel, your words are going way too far.”
“No matter how old Lady Sienna may be, if you were to say it so bluntly, of course, it would hurt her greatly, Sir Eugene.”
The two of them pretended to be on Sienna’s side even as they stabbed the dagger deeper into her chest. Sienna staggered slightly before plopping down into a chair with Mer’s support.
Mer tried to defend Sienna, “Physical age isn’t important. What’s really important is your mental—”
Anise cut her short, “Ah, but of course, you would think that. Mer, you’re just saying something like that because you’ve also been around for the past two hundred years.”
Mer was taken aback, “N-not at all. I really was created based on Lady Sienna’s childhood, so even though I’ve been in existence for two hundred years, my mental age is actually—”
Anise interrupted again, “That’s quite the convenient setting you’ve established for yourself. Isn’t that right, Kristina?”
“Yes, Lady Anise. Though, as a twenty-three-year-old, I’m afraid I don’t know much about such topics,” Kristina replied with a smile.
Anise, who had been preparing to take another turn at going on the offensive, faltered and froze up instead. She realized that the dagger hidden behind Kristina’s clever wordplay was not only targeting Sienna and Mer but herself as well.
There was an ominous silence in the room as they felt like they were all walking on thin ice.
Eugene, who had been keeping his mouth shut, spoke up after a few moments of glancing around the room, “In any case, Sienna, you should also accompany me to the Imperial Palace tomorrow—”
Sienna, who had been drooping in her seat, perked up and asked, “Are we going to topple the Imperial Palace?”
Within his cloak, Wynnyd hummed and Tempest roused himself to ask, [Hamel, have you finally decided to become the Emperor yourself?]
When was it again? While saying that he would need troops for their expedition to the north, Tempest had once asked Eugene if he would be willing to become the Emperor himself.
“Stop with the bullshit,” Eugene denied with a snort.
Naturally, Eugene had no intention of becoming the Emperor, and he had no intention of toppling the Imperial Palace either.
To enter the Lionheart’s Darkroom, one needed to be of the Lionheart bloodline.
But as for that underground room beneath the tower near the palace, while only the Emperor’s will could activate the power there, anyone could enter the room itself.
“Don’t set your expectations too high,” Sienna said as she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “Even three hundred years ago, it was impossible for me to see through Vermouth’s magic. Though I later attempted to do some research on it in Aroth, even then, I still couldn’t get any results. So now, even after getting my chest pierced through by Vermouth, I still don’t know the true nature of the magic that he used to do so.”
Eugene said, “But we’re assuming it’s ancient magic, right?”
“That’s just one of the possibilities we’re left with since we're unable to identify its true origins. As I’ve said earlier, many mysterious things exist about the Ancient Era. That era was in such a distant past that even the myths haven’t been able to fully transmit what happened back then…. Not even the dragons can tell us what that era was like,” Sienna grumbled in a low voice as she glanced at Kristina. “What we know is that it was an era where myths and legends walked the earth. The era when the God of Light himself was physically manifested.”
“Our Lord has given us no answers either,” Anise contributed.
“If that’s the case, then the only ones who would be able to tell us for sure what happened in that era… would be the Demon Kings,” Sienna surmised.
Eugene changed the subject, “So, are you coming with me tomorrow?”
“I suppose I should go,” Sienna said as she pouted her lips. “Even if there aren’t any results, I should at least try to find something, right? You never know. If we dig deep enough, we might just find a secret left by Vermouth.”
Sienna wasn’t being serious when she said this. Like Eugene, Sienna didn’t really expect that Vermouth would have left any messages for them in that room next to the Palace.
Vermouth… didn’t seem to want his former comrades to come looking for him.