Chapter 251: Questions and Answers

Good thing I plowed fast...

Muen couldn’t help a faint surge of relief in his chest—like an old boar that had barged into the vegetable patch, ravaged a head of cabbage all night, and somehow hadn’t been beaten to death for it.

No matter what, if Celicia still hated him the way she used to, then after last night, he might really have become, just as Aldrich III said, a wronged spirit in that proud princess’s hands.

What Muen still couldn’t understand, though, was...

Why was it that His Majesty, who had watched the whole matter with cold eyes from beginning to end without doing a thing... was so certain of the outcome?

Wasn’t he afraid the engagement between himself and Celicia might truly go awry?

By all logic, he ought to very much want this engagement to be concluded successfully—after all, he needed the Campbell family, or rather the name Campbell, to help him counterbalance those rotten noble factions.

Hard to fathom...

Muen stole a careful glance at this Emperor. The supreme ruler of the Empire was right in front of him, yet seemed shrouded in mist.

Even now, Muen still couldn’t quite grasp the purpose of this summons.

Surely it wasn’t because His Majesty was lonely in the deep palace and had dragged him here for a chat...

...

While Muen’s mind was bubbling with guesses, Aldrich III suddenly shed his drowsy state and rose from the wide sofa.

“Campbell brat, come with me.”

He turned and walked toward the other end of the room.

Muen silently followed behind.

Just when he thought Aldrich III was going to show him something special—or bring him to see someone—Muen’s vision suddenly brightened.

They had stepped outside, onto a balcony.

Through the balustrade carved like white jade with intricate patterns, the sun setting over the vast western plains set ten thousand acres of cloud ablaze, draping the towering city in majestic crimson light.

From here, high above, one could overlook half of Belrand.

Aldrich III rested his hand upon the white-jade railing. Light could not reach the depths of his eyes as he gazed upon the great city beneath his feet.

“Muen Campbell, standing here now—standing at the highest place in this city—what do you see?” he asked suddenly.

“What do I see?”

Muen froze.

He was just about to ponder the deeper meaning when Aldrich’s voice sounded again at his ear.

“Answer me now.”

The voice carried boundless authority, and seemed to wrap a special force around it. Muen’s thoughts were thrown into disorder, and he blurted out instinctively:

“The sunset is beautiful.”

“...And what else?”

“And... the rivers flowing beneath the sunset are beautiful too. They remind me of a scene one could never forget for a lifetime.”

A smile traced Muen’s lips, his gaze gentle.

“...”

Aldrich III glanced at him, the corner of his brow twitching. He patted the railing.

“I told you to look at this city.”

“The city...”

Muen lowered his head and looked down upon Belrand.

In eyes like still lakes, half the city was reflected. From this vantage, it felt as if nothing could escape his sight.

What a marvelous feeling—everything within view, everything so small, like ants beneath his feet.

His expression grew solemn.

“There...”

“There?”

“On that street...”

Muen pointed in a direction, his face deadly serious.

Aldrich III even tilted his own head, seriously following Muen’s finger toward the famed Queen’s Avenue.

“What about that street?”

“On that street...”

Muen drew a deep breath, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

“That girl in the short skirt—her chest is huge, and her thighs are so white!”

“...”

In the silence that followed, a crisp crack sounded in his hand. Aldrich III withdrew the hand he’d set on the railing, ignored the web of fractures spreading across it, then turned back to carefully size up the blond youth again.

Muen jolted back to himself and inwardly screamed oh no.

What the hell kind of fit did I just throw—how did I say the tru— say something so disrespectful right in front of His Majesty?

What do I do—will the Emperor punish me for lèse-majesté?

Or rat me out to Celicia so she can come kick my ass again?

Just as Muen fretted, Aldrich III suddenly laughed.

“Ha—haha... ‘Huge chest, white thighs’? That’s the first time I’ve heard it put that way.”

It was the first time Muen discerned unmistakable mirth—impossible to fake—on that mist-shrouded man.

His brow lifted, just like Celicia’s, like an unsheathed sword.

It felt as if the whole world trembled with the man’s booming laughter.

“Muen Campbell, you’re far more interesting than I expected.”

“Huh?”

Muen wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

“I don’t know what Your Majesty means.”

“Even in this palace, I’ve heard plenty about you,” Aldrich III paused. “Not very flattering things...”

“Rumors. Just people smearing me! Your Majesty, please don’t believe them lightly!” Muen glared, eyes wide.

As for the former him, fine—but the current him had nothing to do with those so-called disgraceful deeds.

“Yet just recently, someone came to complain here, saying you relied on being a duke’s son to do as you pleased at the academy—things indecent and unbefitting to a noble... like streaking, for instance.”

“Pff—”

Muen nearly spat old blood.

What the hell—how does a tiny matter like that make it all the way to the palace!

Your Majesty, are you really this bored?

“There were also items about casually bullying other noble youths, a debauched private life, a dozen girls at once—no need to list them all. In short, the sort of talk one’s ears grow numb to.”

Aldrich III spoke as if casually:

“But not long ago, I heard a different story—that you mended your ways at the academy, began to study in earnest, and your conduct started to match that of a true duke’s son, as if you’d become a different person.”

“...Bearing my family... my parents’ heavy hopes, one ought to try a little, no?” Muen smiled.

“Hehe—really?”

Aldrich III neither affirmed nor denied, and continued:

“For a person to change so suddenly, of course I’d be curious. So I called you in—wanted to see with my own eyes whether the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) rumors were true or false.”

“...And what has Your Majesty seen?”

“...”

Aldrich III looked back and gave a faint smile.

“You guess.”

Pft...

Your Majesty, must you be this mischievous!

That sudden mischief from Aldrich III left Muen with a breath stuck in his chest, neither up nor down—utterly uncomfortable.

But a flash of clarity crossed his heart.

His Majesty... is testing me?

Or rather—testing the Campbell family?

“Muen Campbell, I’ll ask you one last question.”

Aldrich III no longer looked down upon the city beneath their feet. He lifted his head to face the setting sun.

“In the future—what do you want?”

“The future?”

“That’s right.”

Aldrich said:

“Right now, you’re a duke’s son and the princess’s fiancé. You have noble status, money you can’t spend, power at your fingertips...

“It’s easy to imagine how bright the future before you is.

“And when you step into that bright future—when you possess what ordinary people could not obtain in a lifetime—not even one in ten thousand—then, what will you want?”

“I...”

Muen hesitated.

What do you want in the future? It really was the hardest question in the world to answer.

Because no one could say what their future self would be.

But for Muen, the answer had long been decided.

Thus, in the gentle glow of the setting sun, he scratched his cheek, a shy note like a child reciting his dream to a parent, and said softly:

“I want to... live happily.”

That’s right.

Live happily.

After crossing into this world and going through so much—after facing so much, and brushing past death again and again—that goal had never changed in the slightest.

He was the yellow-haired villain of the story.

He was watched by Evil Gods, hated by fate.

But he still wanted to live.

And happily.

So simple.

“Is that so?”

But Aldrich III suddenly turned back, looking at him with pity.

“For you, that truly is the hardest thing in the world to obtain.”