Published: July 3, 2025
Today, I am posting two chapters.
At noon, I posted "0182 Interlude."
I recommend reading that one first.
In the emperor's office located in the Imperial Castle of Markdorf, the imperial capital of the Debuhi Empire.
Two individuals were invited into the room.
One was a regular visitor to this room, Count Hans Kirchhoff, the regent.
The other was a young man visiting for the first time. Anyone could see he was tense and stiff.
"Oh, you've come. This will be over quickly. Sit there and wait."
The master of the room, Emperor Rupert the Sixth, continued to sign documents at his desk while urging the two who entered to sit and wait.
That said, they could not just sit down freely.
Even Hans, being a regular, stood waiting in front of the chair.
The extremely tense young man also stood beside him, waiting.
"I told you that you could sit."
Rupert approached the two with a slight smile.
At the same time, three cups of coffee were brought in by the chamberlain.
Once Rupert sat on the sofa, the two finally took a seat across from him, right as the coffee was served.
"This is Blue Mountain coffee that arrived yesterday from Twilight Land. Kona from our kingdom is good, but this is quite something as well."
Saying so, Rupert reached for his cup, took a moment to enjoy the aroma, and sipped it.
Seeing this, the two also reached for their cups and brought them to their lips.
The fragrance of coffee filled the air, and a mellow time flowed.
The day before.
On that day, Lorenz Kush was in a state of confusion from the morning.
The previous evening, he had been called into Count Hans Kirchhoff's office and was informed.
"Tomorrow, you will go to see his majesty the emperor. Speak your thoughts."
"Wait, directly to his majesty…?"
"Yes. His majesty asked for you to be summoned. He said he wanted to explain something to you. Be careful not to offend him."
Lorenz couldn't say, "That's impossible…"
He wanted to say it from the bottom of his heart.
No, he wanted to scream from the depths of his being.
"That's impossible. Please allow me to submit it in writing."
However, everything that was conveyed was a fait accompli.
Instead of saying "That's impossible," Lorenz screamed within himself.
"How did it come to this?"
The general image that the subjects of the Empire had of Emperor Rupert the Sixth was one of 'awe.'
This was partly due to his ruthless purging and forfeiture of many nobles in the country since his ascension in his twenties, as well as the annexation of small states existing in the western and northern regions of the Empire.
Furthermore, for the high-ranking officials and ministers working in the imperial capital, they had directly faced the 'damage' of being reprimanded, making them targets of 'awe' even more than the general subjects.
Of course, since those reprimands were not unreasonable, capable vassals like Hans were not included in that category…
To have such an 'awe-inspiring' figure sitting right in front of him, and to be the one to report to him.
It was true that he had asked Count Hans Kirchhoff to submit it to his majesty the emperor, but… that was in writing, and he had no intention of speaking to the supreme being directly…
"Now, Lorenz."
"Y-Yes!"
In front of Lorenz, who was visibly tense, Rupert smiled wryly.
"I thought that if you had a cup of coffee, you might ease your tension a bit… but I must have overestimated it."
Turning to Hans, Rupert said kindly.
"Your majesty is indeed feared…"
Hans replied, shaking his head and also smiling wryly.
"Fear, huh. It's an image necessary for the emperor, but it can be a hassle in situations like this. Alright, Lorenz, I promise you this. No matter what you say here, I will not punish you for it."
"Y-Yes. I…"
Nothing changed.
"Hans, that didn't work. Lorenz is still tense."
"It seems so."
There was nothing that could be done about this… Hans's expression spoke that truth.
At this point, Rupert decided to cut to the chase.
"Alright, Lorenz. Didn't you come here out of concern for the people?"
That one sentence brought Lorenz back to his usual state.