I Became the Father of a Degenerate Emperor

Episode 32. It’s in his hands.

Episode 32. It’s in his hands.

Outside the emperor’s bedroom.

Under the blinding sunlight, a crow was sitting on a branch.

The identity of the crow is the Miraak Shade.

He was the Duke of Shade, one of the six wings supporting the Kratus Empire.

She was watching the emperor through a large glass window.

He was sitting beside the bed and giving a sad look to the sleeping empress.

Perhaps the deciphering was successful, the emperor’s expression looked very natural.

In fact, it was the duke who had been following him all night long.

It was because they were concerned that the emperor would be exposed to unexpected dangers in the darkened imperial palace.

Of course he didn’t notice at all.

After a while, the empress woke up, and the emperor spoke to her with a serious expression.

I could tell what he was saying just by looking at the shape of his mouth.

– Actually, I am not a real emperor.

As the Duke expected, it turned out like this in the end.

The emperor said without batting an eye that could be misleading.

Even in memories of the past, and even in oracles.

He was always sincere, so it was taken for granted.

Soon after, the empress whispered to the emperor, and she rushed in passionately and began showering her with kisses.

Thankfully, thanks to her tipping her ahead of time, unnecessary misunderstandings did not appear to have occurred.

‘The timing was right, not to be late.’

Duke Shade jumped and turned around.

Because he had no interest in spying on her affection.

But I couldn’t stop the sudden burst of tears.

It was because the sore wound burst again after a short period of relief.

It was only for a brief moment that the two of them were affectionate.

With just that, the feeling of extreme lack hit my heart, and all that remained in my heart was longing like a bruise.

‘If only I could be there.’

After that, an uncontrollable regret came flooding back. The torrent was so violent that it was impossible to stop it.

‘I shouldn’t have said anything to the empress.’

No one did. It was something I did voluntarily and from the heart.

Nevertheless, she was blinded by her jealousy and regretted it belatedly.

‘Oculus must be delighted.’

I had no choice but to assume that all of this was arranged by the god.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given me such an oracle in the first place.

‘Fixing everything that is broken. That’s what Oculus really wants.’

She raised her head and looked up at the sky.

And she cried out.

Kahah-

To others, it would sound nothing more than an ominous sound, but to the Duke, it was no different from a cry to God.

‘Oculus, where you undo everything, will my love be there too?’

Caw-

‘Probably not.’

Food Duck!

Duke of Shade flew high into the sky.

‘Still, I can’t fold my heart. I will continue what I can. As your insignificant servant.’

The Emperor was to move forward to conquer the Kingdom of Marine.

It wasn’t something I saw in his oracle, but it wasn’t too difficult to guess his intentions.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ordered the subjugation of the Earldom of Lake adjacent to Marinene.

Furthermore, lately, there was even a strange cloud of war hanging over the entire continent.

‘If I don’t move first, I’ll end up being eaten.’

“Kahah-“

As she crossed the blue sky, a platinum-haired boy caught her eye.

‘Eric.’

Because she adored the emperor, she was the one who felt loved even by the princes who resembled him.

The Duke lowered his altitude to take a closer look at Eric.

But today, Eric’s behavior seemed a bit odd.

It was early in the morning, before we had eaten yet. Normally, he would never have time to come out.

‘What the hell is that?’

In Eric’s arms, something wrapped in a cloth was cherished.

He was cautiously heading towards the gymnasium, looking back or looking around him once in a while.

Wherever I went, the younger siblings who were hanging around were nowhere to be seen.

*

Arriving at the gymnasium, Eric cautiously unwrapped the wrapping cloth.

A bow gifted by the emperor was revealed through the torn cloth.

With a feeling of guilt for nothing, he looked back once more.

Fortunately, no one was there.

Shortly after, he muttered softly with an uncomfortable expression.

“I just want to give it a shot as a test. Isn’t that so wrong?”

That reaction came because she was still reluctant to accept the emperor’s gift wholeheartedly.

Sug-

A loving hand caressing the bow. There was a lot of admiration in those eyes.

“The design is kind of cool, but I never really liked it. Never.”

I was just spitting out those words without anyone asking.

Of course, the absurdity of the words was clearly revealed by the belated smile.

In general, children’s minds were so erratic.

All the targets and arrows were prepared in the training ground.

Eric calmly reloaded his arrow after getting away from the target.

Then he carefully pulled the string. Because of his lack of strength, he raised his mana slightly.

Chu Woo-wook-

As the protests are pulled up to the ears, the tension on the bow becomes tight as well.

‘It’s my first time, so it’s very awkward.’

An arrowhead quivering anxiously.

The sharp tip missed the target slightly, but Eric didn’t notice at all. Because this was the first time he had ever shot an arrow.

That’s why he only practiced jugu long spear swordsmanship every day.

‘Shouldn’t it be okay to let go now?’

But Eric couldn’t let go of the demonstration.

“What, what?”

It was because all of the mana suddenly drained from his body.

“No! Mana!”

I was so shocked that I didn’t even have time to think about anything else.

Tung!

All the strength in the body was released, and the protests were naturally placed.

Sass! Pak!

An arrow that flew at great speed.

The arrow, which missed its target quite a long way, was deeply embedded in the wall of the gymnasium.

Push-

It was Eric who collapsed on the floor because his legs were getting weak.

“…… What did you give me?”

The power was so strong that the feathers of the arrows still quivered.

It was normal for arrows to bounce the moment they hit a wall.

“Could it be that you absorbed mana to strengthen your arrows?”

Tears welled up in Eric’s eyes as he looked down at the bow.

“…… Why did you give me such a huge thing?”

I thought the wooden sword I received when I was six would be the last gift I could receive from my father.

“I was thinking of killing myself… ….”

A new kind of guilt had arisen in his mind that he had never harbored before.

Anyway, if you could shoot an arrow like this, it was probably a treasure that was only talked about in legends.

‘A priceless gift.’

The mad emperor he knew would never give him something like this.

So I naturally came to the conclusion that the emperor who gave me this must not have gone mad.

In fact, it was a conclusion that had already been reached unconsciously, but it needed an opportunity to convince stubborn hatred.

“As the mother said, it was all because of the poison.”

In the end, Eric’s eyes became moist.

It was because the troubles I had been struggling to sleep through the night finally melted the hatred and flowed down into tears.

There was no longer any reason to reject the emperor’s heart.

Eric held the bow the emperor had given him with both arms.

After crying enough, Eric looked at the emperor’s bedroom.

If you use the ability of the red eye, you should be able to see the emperor here.

But now his eyes couldn’t see anything.

To be more precise, it was no longer visible.

Because I can’t hold the emperor any longer.

“…… Obama.”

*

“Your Majesty.”

I was sitting in my office right now facing the Prime Minister.

The Chancellor must have been working quite hard in the meantime, his face was darkened and his body was even more emaciated.

I felt apologetic because it was probably due to heavy work.

Nevertheless, I pretended not to know and asked why he had found me.

“So what is the urgency?”

Prime Minister of the Kratus Empire, Henri Carceau.

He was examining my face with a rather surprised expression.

The radical change that happened to me was quite shocking.

He stared blankly at my face for a while, then came to his senses belatedly and hurriedly continued.

“I have received a report that the envoys from the Kingdom of Marine have crossed the border.”

“The Four Sins?”

“Actually, while Your Majesty was away, I was pursuing trade negotiations with them.”

“…… It’s a negotiation It’s the envoys who come for that. If so, isn’t there an urgent problem?”

The chancellor swallowed a dry saliva once and then continued with a stern expression.

“The first prince of Marinene is said to be included in the envoys.”

“Does that matter?”

“It is a very big problem.”

The chancellor made a rather serious expression.

“Tell me in detail what happened.”

“It looks like Marinene will soon invade the Empire.”

His words were completely incomprehensible. In a way, he seemed like a fool.

“An invasion by those who sent the first prince as an envoy for trade negotiations? Does that make sense now?”

“The first prince is in a precarious situation every day. It’s because his second queen is trying to kill him. Her king also fell for her and has long since pulled her first prince from her crown prince.”

“So you mean you sent them here hoping for the death of the first prince?”

The chancellor answered with a confident look.

“I definitely will.”

“Anyway, the leap seems a bit harsh. What on earth are they doing that for?”

“Perhaps because a justification is needed.”

“Justice?”

“The relationship between Kratus and Marinene is a bitter enemy, so if you send the prince to the Empire, you’ll be sure he’ll never let you go back. The mad emperor of the empire who killed the prince who went as a messenger”

After the prime minister spat out the word mad emperor, he paused for a moment and looked at me.

“It’s okay, keep going.”

“That alone is a good reason to start a war from Marinene’s point of view.”

“Then why don’t we send the envoys back now?”

“That is even more dangerous.”

“Why?”

“They are not fools. Perhaps the Assassins are on standby, just in case. In the end, the prince will surely be killed no matter what, and Kratus will take full responsibility for it.”

“…… They are assassins I’m embarrassed. However, since the six wings of the empire are still in existence, wouldn’t it be too difficult to prevent a war?”

“If the opponent is one of the kingdoms of Marine, it will certainly be so. While His Majesty Haona was in Florente, we obtained information that the various kingdoms surrounding the empire were conducting large-scale military exercises.”

“You mean the kingdoms are going to attack in pincers?”

“From the circumstances, it will definitely happen.”

…… Kingdoms unite to defeat the Empire.

According to the original story, this would never happen at this point.

So it was even more difficult to understand.

“If so, what should I do now?”

“There is no answer other than a preemptive strike. Perhaps Marinene is the leader of the coalition, funding huge wars in various kingdoms. So, if you crush only Marinene, she will lose her balance and fall flat. However…….”

“The Empire may not be able to afford that right now.”

The chancellor lowered his eyes with a puzzled expression.

“Yes.”

“Then, now, the survival of the empire will depend on Max.”

The chancellor looked more perplexed than ever.

“Yes?”

*

The northern part of the Kratus Empire, the Duchy of Aegis.

A small village located on the outskirts.

A dull sound resounded in the alley where the night fell.

Puck! Perpuck!

It was unmistakably the sound of someone being assaulted.

“Keep it off!”

Push-

A large man knelt down holding his stomach.

That man is Max Crawford, the commander of the Imperial Knights of the Kratus Empire.

He was on his way to Quinnodon to meet the Dragon Lord on a special order from the emperor.

After running my horse non-stop until late at night, I was just about to stop at a decent inn.

It became a source of trouble for me to go out for a walk after a simple meal to help digest food.

“These bastards…… Won’t you give me that right away?”

Small children surrounded Max.

It was a situation that made me feel ashamed of myself for even kneeling down in front of him.

In front of Max, a girl was making a mischievous expression with her arms crossed.

I think he was about 10 years old.

“If I had put it out in such a nice way, wouldn’t it have been like this? But mister, why are all the weapons you have so grandiose? If you sell it, it will make some money, right?”

“What, are you weak? So me?”

Having been beaten so badly by such a young child that his hands and feet were shaking, Max was speechless even with ten mouths.

Of course, if I could use mana, it wouldn’t be a problem to subdue it.

However, because of the mountain wild flowers she ate in the morning, she still hadn’t accumulated any mana.

In addition, this child was already handling mana freely at an absurd age.

Starting with strengthening her muscles, she punched her body with mana at a fairly high density, and it was painful as if she was being stamped with her hammer.

It was truly an amazing talent. Perhaps, even compared to the bloodline of the royal family, there is no inferiority.

It seems that there is no teacher yet, but it seems like a gemstone that will be reborn as a shining jewel if taught well.

“What is your true identity?”

“What does a weak person like you do knowing that?”

She felt it from a while ago, but this child’s words had a demonic nature that made her speechless with every word.

Soon after, the children rushed in and took Max’s greatsword and Echion.

“Why is this so heavy?”

“Let’s go together.”

Cheolgrug-

The bracken-like hands ran through his arms and quickly took the pocket full of gold coins.

“Then I’ll be thankful for these things? Let’s go guys.”

“Yes!”

The girl started to slowly walk away, leading the other children.

Max struggled to get up from his seat, scratching the back of his head with a frustrated expression.

“Oh really…… If only I could use mana.”

She could still feel the pain all over her body from how many times she had been hit by those tiny fists.

Still, for some reason, it was considered admirable that he had been hit by avoiding vital points.

“…… I wonder why these young kids are acting like bullies. There seems to be something wrong.”

At that moment, mana suddenly began to gather in her body again.

Shuhwaah-

The potency of the Sanyahwa had finally run out.

Because of the rapidly rising mana, every corner of his body was overflowing with energy.

“These young bastards. Dare you steal my weapon? If you get caught, it’s all over!”

Max stood up before he knew it and started running towards the girl in a hurry.

“Hey! There you are, a little boy with no hair! Don’t stand there right now!”