Chapter 178
Sebas was the one who greeted me when I returned to the Imperial capital.
"Welcome home."
"Yeah. I'm back."
As usual, I removed the silver mask, took off the black robe, and changed my clothes.
When I was done, I collapsed into a chair and leaned my weight against it, as if to say I was tired.
"You look exhausted."
"Yeah, I'm tired. For one thing, I haven't recovered much of the magic power I expended in the battle against the Spirit Turtle, and negotiations are mentally exhausting on top of that."
"Negotiations?"
"Yeah. I negotiated with Gordon to free Sonia. Her family, who had been held hostage, too. Elder Egor is guarding them now."
"That is excellent news. One person we needed to be wary of in Prince Gordon's faction is no longer a concern."
I nodded once at Sebas's words.
After seeing what happened in the battle against the Spirit Turtle, I couldn't imagine Sonia devising strategies for Gordon's sake. Even so, with hostages in play, anything could have happened.
At worst, Kevin might even have appeared if Sonia remained a hostage. In that sense, this whole affair was quite significant.
"I also secured a favor from Elder Egor, so it was not a bad deal."
"It also relieved one of your emotional burdens. Wouldn't that make it a significant gain as well?"
I gave Sebas a wry smile.
Apparently, it was impossible to hide anything from this butler.
"Well, yes. Saving Sonia was a big deal. I feel as if I've set down one of the burdens on my heart."
"She wasn't someone we had many chances to help, so it couldn't be helped. If possible, I would have liked to bring her into our faction."
"It's become widely known that Sonia was Gordon's strategist. Even if she wanted to join us, we couldn't accept her right away. People would make a fuss."
"That is true. Especially with Lord Vin involved."
"Yeah. People are already complaining that we brought Vin in as our strategist. If we also brought the enemy's strategist into our faction, our forces could split in two. We don't have time for that."
The ceremony for Father's twenty-fifth anniversary of his accession to the throne would begin soon.
Delegations from every country would gather, and a major festival would likely be held in the Imperial capital.
At that time, we, the Emperor's children, would be tasked with entertaining dignitaries from every country.
The Empire was one of the three great powers on the continent, but it was not overwhelmingly dominant. There were two others.
One was the Perlan Kingdom to the west, and the other was the Sokal Empire to the east.
The Empire was generally considered a head above the others in terms of size and military strength, but if it picked a fight with one of them and the conflict dragged on, the other could attack it from behind. Because of that geography, the Empire had always acted while maintaining a balance of power.
We would be responsible for entertaining representatives of those two countries. Erik was certain to handle one of them. The question was who would handle the other.
By the time the ceremony began, Father would call Gordon back. Would he assign Gordon to host the other country, or would he assign Leo? That would make the current ranking in the struggle for the throne clear.
If things proceeded normally, Leo would be assigned the role, but even that could be jeopardized if a scandal occurred.
Precisely because it was almost certain as long as he did not make a blunder, I saved Sonia in exchange for information that would hinder Gordon.
If I held Gordon back, he would not be able to participate in the ceremony. Then, since he was absent, Leo might be regarded as his replacement. That would not do.
"We need to show the foreign dignitaries that Leo ranks above Gordon. We have to make it known that Leo has risen to second place in the struggle for the throne, and this is a good opportunity to establish ties with dignitaries from every country."
"At long last, it seems."
"It's still a long way to go. Our goal is the top—the imperial throne. Leo wouldn't be letting his guard down, either. After all, the greatest rival is sitting above him."
"Indeed. In the end, Prince Erik remains unscathed."
"Not merely unscathed. Supporters of Zandra and Gordon are gradually drifting to Erik. It is probably easier to defect to Erik than to us, whom they have already opposed. No matter what struggles we wage, Erik's position as the largest faction is unshakable. He knew that too, which was why he did nothing."
"You mean remaining inactive strengthens his faction?"
"Yes, and it also means he doesn't incur Father's displeasure. Zandra and Gordon wanted to become Emperor. Father could see that plainly, so he was hard on both of them. Erik is different. He shows no ambition for the imperial throne. That's because he takes it for granted that he will become Emperor. Father likes both that confidence and Erik's broad perspective, which considers what will happen after he takes the throne."
Erik was still the leading candidate. The other two had become somewhat reckless because, with Erik above them, they could not become Emperor without taking extreme measures.
Even so.
"Sebas... do you think those three have changed?"
"Compared with when His Highness the Crown Prince was alive?"
"Yeah."
"Yes. Very much."
"I see... Sonia's adoptive father told me that something was strange about this struggle for the throne. Do you think so too?"
"A struggle for the throne certainly occurs once every fifty years. The Emperors throughout history have initiated one before they themselves grow old."
"That's right. If things get too far out of control, the Emperor has to stop them."
"Yes. There are many surviving records of past struggles, and I remember the previous one myself. Judging from that, this one is... strange."
I fell silent for a moment at Sebas's words.
That made three of us. During the previous struggle for the throne, Sebas had been an active assassin in his prime. Naturally, he must have obtained detailed information about the struggle. Since Sebas was saying this, it differed considerably from the previous one, at the very least.
"What is strange about it?"
"Actions that cause harm to the Empire are rare. Unless they were completely cornered, both Princess Zandra and Prince Gordon tried to start, or become involved in, a civil war despite still maintaining their factions. And Prince Erik is merely watching from the sidelines. Once he becomes Emperor, the Empire will be his. Causing damage to the country would be tantamount to strangling himself. Yes, something is strange."
"As long as they maintain their factions, a reversal is possible. You're right; it is unnatural."
It would be a bit much to say they were simply fools.
That theory would mean they had suddenly become fools.
At least while the Crown Prince was alive, both Zandra and Gordon had been respected members of the imperial family.
"This issue may run deeper than I thought."
"Even so, what we need to do remains unchanged."
"That's right. If the three of them have undergone some strange change, then all the more reason we can't let them become Emperor. For my sake and my family's."
"Shouldn't you say for the sake of the Empire?"
"That's Leo's job to worry about."
Sebas gave me a troubled smile.
As we were having this conversation, I heard a knock.
When I told them to come in, Fine entered the room. Christa and Rita were behind her.
"Excuse me."
"What is it? That's quite a crowd today."
"I had to turn them away earlier because you were working."
Sebas smoothly came to my defense.
As I nodded in understanding, I approached Christa, who had come over, and patted her head.
"Sorry, Christa. About earlier."
"No... Big Brother, you were busy, so Fine played with me."
"I see. Sorry, Fine."
"No, I wasn't the one playing with her."
Fine said this and cast a sympathetic glance at Rita.
Sieg was limp in Rita's arms.
Apparently, he had been made into a plaything rather than a playmate.
He must have only just returned to the Imperial capital on a fast horse with Linfia, separately from Leo. Poor guy.
"Oh, right. Big Brother, watch this."
With that, Christa approached Rita.
I sensed something ominous, but Sieg did not react. Apparently, he was dazed.
Christa took hold of Sieg's head, while Rita took hold of his feet.
Then they slowly began pulling him in opposite directions.
"Stretchy, stretchy... stretchiiiing..."
Sieg repeated the words like someone muttering in his sleep.
Had he finally snapped?
But when they had stretched him to a certain point, perhaps because his consciousness returned, he suddenly spoke.
"You're stretching me too far! It hurts!!"
"Amazing, right, Al-bro?! Sieg can stretch sooo far!!"
"Sieg... very flexible."
"What a strange game. Where did you come up with it?"
"Sieg tried to peek under a woman's skirt... and Linfia stopped him. Then she told us about a game like this."
"I see. Go ahead and do it some more."
"No way! You're pulling me too hard! Let gooo!!"
Sieg desperately shook his body, as if refusing to become a plaything for two children.
Although he rocked up and down, he could not escape their hands.
His ridiculous appearance made me laugh, but Sieg noticed and flew into a rage.
"Don't laugh at me!! Kid! They're children under your protection, so do something about them!!"
"I see. Sorry about that."
While apologizing, I increased the weight of the collar.
Unable to support Sieg when he suddenly became so heavy, Christa and Rita let go.
With a thud, Sieg fell to the floor.
"I saved you."
"Couldn't you have saved me in a more sensible way?! You may have forgotten, but I'm an S-rank adventurer, you know!!"
After declaring this, Sieg froze up for some reason.
Then he clapped his hands as if he had just remembered something.
"That's right! I was an S-rank adventurer...!"
He'd forgotten?
How completely he'd gotten used to that form.
"Hey! Kid! What happened to your promise to return me to my original form!!"
"Don't act so high and mighty when you forgot about it. I'll talk to Silver about it when the opportunity arises. Until then, be patient."
"Don't screw with me! It's true that girls fawn over me in this form, and with my viewpoint down here, I get to enjoy all sorts of things. It's nothing but benefits!"
"Then what's the problem? Stay like that for a while."
"But I can't have fun with girls! I want to have some fun with a girl already!!"
"Something fun?"
"He's talking nonsense. Don't worry about it."
"Aaaaaahhh!! I'm sinking into the floorrrrr!!!!"
As punishment for saying something inappropriate in front of the children, I made the collar considerably heavier.
Christa and Rita worriedly poked Sieg, but he got angry even at that. Neither of them seemed bothered, though, so he was completely their plaything.
"The tea is ready."
"I want some too!!!!"
When he tried to crawl toward Fine, I increased the weight even further.
He really didn't know when to give up. If I didn't bring it up for a while, he would probably forget again that he was an S-rank adventurer.
I decided to leave him alone until he forgot.
Thinking that, I drank my tea.