8-4 Part 1
The Consumed Emperor and the Monstrous
Cursed Child
- The Red Dragon Palace -
Translator : PolterGlast
Waiting for a burdensome event is a gloomy affair. However,
once it actually begins, it often turns out to be not so bad. Summoned back to
the White Dragon Palace before evening, I put on Georg's
hand-me-down.
"I like the embroidery of the silver Shovel.
Just having this makes it feel like it's mine, not Georg's hand-me-down
anymore."
"Thank goodness; the shovel was Dulin-chan's
idea. More importantly, good luck, Ashley; you can handle this."
"Umm, surely, you'll be able to make up! Dulin
is rooting for you too!"
I'm not fighting with Father or anything. But retorting
about details is annoying, so I stayed silent.
Just then, a knock echoed, and when Aneue's page opened
the door, Jii appeared there.
"Oh, Ashley-sama, what a gallant appearance—ah,
no, His Majesty is calling for you."
"Jii
thinks so too, right! You look cool, Ashley♪"
"You look super stwong!"
I see, I remembered. The name of that story is Cinderella. Right
now, I guess I'm something like Cinderella wearing a magic dress.
"Lead the way, Jii. I can't stand feeling any heavier than this; I want to get
this over with quickly."
"You look sharp, but your impatience hasn't changed. It
can't be helped; it's a little earlier than scheduled, but please come this
way, Ashley-sama."
Following Jii, I
left Atomina's room. Where we are going is a special sector for the
Emperor. Its name is the Red Dragon Palace; this White Dragon Palace
is the one right before it.
Should I say the White Dragon Palace is a place where
only those chosen by the Emperor are allowed to reside?
"Ashley-sama,
leave that Shovel here."
"Understood. ...I can't understand the mind of someone
living in such a suffocating place."
"I beg of you, please choose your words carefully, just
for now..."
"It's a fact. This place is good for nothing."
We proceeded through the corridor and stood before the doors
of the Red Dragon Palace. Even members of the Imperial Family do not
have the right to freely enter beyond these doors.
This is the desperate measure this country chose to prevent
regicide. One could say it created an environment sufficient to estrange parent
and child, producing good-for-nothing sons including myself.
"You are nervous after all... It is alright, Ashley-sama.
No matter what happens, even if the other party
is the Emperor of this country, this oldman will support you."
"I see. Thank you, Jii. My father in heart is you, after all."
"Uguh, cough cough...?! Please stop, Ashley-sama..."
Though Jii let
his face slacken happily, he also showed a troubled complexion, feeling
apologetic to his original lord. Thanks to that sight, my tension dissolved
somewhat.
Thus guided to the Red Dragon Palace, we passed the
audience chamber. The destination is the Emperor's bedchamber. Led to the
deepest part with the strictest security, Jii
stopped in front of a door.
Jii was originally a page here. He turned back to me with a
proprietary air.
"I apologize, Ashley-sama, but I have been ordered to be present as well."
"Rather, it's reassuring to have you here, Jii. Now, let's get this over with."
"Then, please enter, Ashley-sama... Umm, please be strong of
heart..."
"Being told that makes it scarier instead. I've been
prepared for a long time."
Even though the Emperor
himself wasn't on this side of the door, Jii
opened the Emperor's bedchamber politely and respectfully. He gestured for me
to enter first, so I followed and stood by the Emperor's bedside.
"Gh—?! This
is..."
But Jii was
right. Immediately, my eyes widened at the existence lying there. I wasn't
captivated by the reunion. That man's figure was painfully emaciated like a
cypress tree, most of his hair had fallen out, and his skin was dyed pale and
unhealthy.
At the same time, I was convinced. The Grim Reaper
possessing Father can no longer be driven out. I went pale and was speechless
at the worst-case development, far exceeding my expectations.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... It is I. As promised,
I have brought him here."
I understood the meaning of my second brother Julius's
words and actions. The battle for the
next Emperor's seat has already begun. My deranged brothers will be maneuvering
in the dark to assassinate or dethrone the current Crown Prince.
"Oh... You came... for me, Ash... ley..."
The Emperor raised a weak voice. His hair, which had been
the same color as Georg-aniue
and Atomina, had faded and turned completely white. His figure was
painfully wretched to behold; yet, the very Emperor who had shunned me to such
an extent was now clinging to the joy of our reunion.
"Ash... ley... Ash... ley...
My... Ashley..."
I couldn't possibly reply. His words, his appearance,
everything was shocking; a seventeen-year-old kid doesn't know how to deal with
this.
This wasn't the plan. I planned to just meet him and return
to being the Adventurer Shinza of the Imperial Capital. Yet to think
there was no time left...
"This isn't what I heard, Jii... I didn't hear he had deteriorated this much..."
"I apologize, Ashley-sama. But please forget about me for now. Please speak with His
Majesty. Your Majesty, if it is painful, I can speak in your stead..."
The bedridden old man shook his head left and right,
refusing his former page's proposal. His eyes returned to the seventh son, Ashley,
and the sick man inhaled air into his lungs to speak.
"Forgive... me..."
Those were words the Emperor must not say. Hearing words
Father would never say, I doubted my ears, wondering if this was truly Father.
At least the Father I knew was a machine-like man with thin
emotions, who shunned not only conversation but even being in the same place as
me, simply devoting himself to the country.
"I... was wrong..."
"Wrong? Forgive? For what."
My lips spun words on their own. Those words contained an
unconsciously strong rejection.
"Ashley-sama,
please, choose your words... carefully...!"
I was surprised by it myself, but having lost my composure,
I couldn't suppress it. Jii is
right. It's not the way to treat a sick person bedridden with illness.
But I just can't do it. What's impossible is impossible.
"I... ran away... from you... always, ran away...
turned my eyes... away..."
"What do you mean ran away!! Pushing everything a
father should do onto Jii! You
continued to take an attitude you shouldn't take toward a child! And you say
forgive you because you're dying now?! How could I forgive you!!"
"Ugh... I'm sor... ry... I'm sorry, Ashley... I,
I was..."
There was no hero who saved Corin Village
there. I was just a seventeen-year-old brat. I was utterly bewildered by
myself, spouting words unlike me.
This is my true emotion. I simply wanted my real father to love me as his child. That was the true feeling of me, the cursed child of the Imperial Family, raised confined in a tower for so long.
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