SLDS 5

Contrary to expectations, the banquet was held lavishly, and while Empress Elizabeth showed her displeasure, her complaints completely vanished when the emperor praised it greatly.

The separate tea party held at the Peridot Palace was also furnished with a certain degree of splendor. Although only the trash had been invited separately, the nobles did not know this fact.

They were all busy raising their noses in the air, thinking they were receiving special treatment. Not only that, but they were badmouthing the crown prince to no end since he wasn’t there. It made Cecil’s blood boil just listening to it, but he maintained an indifferent expression, pretending not to be interested.

“This cake is delicious.”

He took a bite of the pure white cake. The smooth and sweet custard and the refreshing apricot jam filled his mouth, and he felt his worries lighten a little. Cecil’s lips curled up in satisfaction on their own.

Once he had finished off a slice with ease, Leo, who was standing guard by his side, refilled the half-empty teacup with more hot tea. Although he was young, he was quite quick-witted and affable. Above all, he followed Cecil with pure intentions. It had been so long since Cecil had received such guileless goodwill that he also took a great liking to Leo.

“Thank you. Why don’t you go have some too, Leo? There’s plenty, so you don’t need to be self-conscious.”

“Later. I have to attend to you, Mr. Cecil.”

Perhaps because he had been given the heavy responsibility of a head chamberlain at such a young age, Leo acted as if the sky would fall if he left Cecil’s side. Cecil sent him a nod instead of saying thank you.

“Has everyone heard the story? They say the reason the crown prince survived in the Black Forest is because he received a kiss from a saintess!”

A particularly booming voice came from a table a little distance away. A nobleman was in the middle of a passionate speech, the veins on his neck bulging.

“Is that true? Does a saintess actually exist?”

“I heard that woman was included in the procession on his return this time. From what I hear, she’s not some great beauty, but a shabby country bumpkin.”

“In any case, it seems her power is truly great. My goodness, to think one can receive God’s blessing with a single kiss… Things would get crazy if they were to share a bed.”

“Surely that wench won’t become the crown princess, right?”

“No way! How dare someone with no proper roots covet such a noble position!”

As if on cue, laughter erupted. The vulgar conversation of the nobles who followed the empress had not changed one bit, then or now. Cecil thought he would feel nothing since it was something he had heard once before, but his mood sank uncontrollably.

He finally stood up, holding his teacup. He felt that he would only feel better if he cut into their conversation and gave them a sharp warning. He didn’t care if the nobles spoke ill of him. After all, Cecil had always been famous for being a man who acted recklessly without caring what others thought.

“Are you trying to say that having no proper roots is a tradition in our empire?”

But before he could, a low, clear voice interjected into the conversation. Cecil’s steps were caught along with it. Everyone turned their heads in one direction.

A man in a formal uniform stood there with his arms loosely crossed. His platinum blond hair, as if made from molten sunlight, sparkled dazzlingly.

The moment they spotted the crown prince, the nobles prostrated themselves as if they had committed a deadly sin.

“Your, Your Highness! What brings you here!”

“Is there anywhere in the imperial palace I cannot go?”

An utterly bored tone followed.

The nobles busily watched his expression. In the meantime, Alexis took another step into the garden. Over the noble knight’s uniform, the blazer that only the crown prince could wear cast its characteristic blue light. The longsword engraved with the empire’s crest clattered at his waist.

“The faces I wanted to see were not at the banquet hall. I was wondering where they went, and it turns out they were all gathered here.”

Alexis scanned the faces of the self-important nobles. The smile that spread across his lips twisted into an even colder shape.

“This is supposed to be a gathering to welcome the crown prince’s return, yet to think you were enjoying a separate grand party, I cannot express how disappointed I am.”

“How could that be? Of course, we were celebrating with joyful hearts.”

“We congratulate you on your return, Your Highness!”

Obsequious greetings followed one after another. The nobles were so flustered they could not straighten their backs. Cold sweat now trickled down their slick, greasy faces.

“So, I’d like to hear the rest of the conversation you were having earlier.”

Unlike his relaxed voice, the shing sound of a longsword being drawn scratched at their eardrums chillingly. Alexis aimed the tip of the sword precisely at one person. It was Count Kilt, the one who had first brought up the rumor about Yuria.

“Count, did you just insult His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Wha-what? What do you mean! That is not true! How could I possibly dare!”

Count Kilt waved his hands in denial, horrified. But Alexis, on the contrary, tapped the tip of the count’s chin with the back of his sword.

“I clearly heard you say it with your own mouth just now. Did you not say that something with no proper roots was coveting a noble position? Doesn’t that mean you are insulting both His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress?”

Hiek! Count Kilt let out a bizarre groan in shock. Those who were eavesdropping also held their breath.

Alexis looked down on them as if they were pathetic.

“The fact that Her Majesty the Empress is not of noble birth is known to all citizens of the empire. I understand that you, too, consented to the will of His Majesty the Emperor, who personally raised her to the position of empress.”

Count Kilt’s face turned deathly pale. The words he had spat out were being interpreted in a completely different way than he had intended.

According to Alexis’s words, he had become a person who insulted the imperial family. And for that, he deserved to be executed on the spot.

“That is absolutely not what I meant! Ugh, that, that is.”

The count made eye contact, pleading for help from the surrounding nobles, but not a single one met his gaze.

“You have a long tongue.”

“Y-Your Highness, please give me a chance to explain…!”

“It would be best to cut off what is useless.”

Alexis swung the heavy longsword with ease. He was a man who had returned from subjugating demonic beasts for five long years. When it came to swordsmanship, there was no one in the empire who could match him.

The blade whoosh cut through the air.

Splatter—

Scarlet blood splattered across the pure white tablecloth, the cakes, and the colorful baked sweets, drawing a long line.

Count Kilt, who had been trembling, overwhelmed by Alexis’s presence, did not realize what had just happened to him. A moment later, when the shoulder of his tailcoat was soaked and a searing pain spread, he finally noticed that his left ear was gone.

“Aaaaargh!!”

A scream filled with pain spread throughout the garden. The surrounding nobles’ knees gave way, and they collapsed unsightly.

Even in the midst of it all, they were crawling away to save their own skins. Where had the joyful moments from before gone? Now, like a blood-soaked battlefield, the place was filled only with screams and wails.

“……”

Cecil silently lowered his gaze. He could see an ear sinking, glug glug, into the teacup he held.

This scene was familiar. How could he possibly forget it? A dumbfounded laugh escaped him at the situation repeating exactly as it had in his previous life.

Still, this time he had wanted to create a banquet that wouldn’t harm anyone, but changing the future must be more difficult than he thought. In the end, it had become a mess again.

Cecil let out a small sigh and handed the teacup to Leo.

“Return this to Count Kilt.”

Though I’m not sure he’ll be able to reattach it, an addendum followed. Leo, who had been in a state of shock, unconsciously reached out his hand, but upon seeing the grotesque thing inside, he dropped the teacup. It had probably become even more difficult to reattach now.

Amidst the flying screams, Alexis shook the blood from his sword with a composed face. After sheathing the longsword at his waist again, he turned around. His now expressionless face naturally sought out the master of this palace.

“It’s been a while, Cecil.”

Cecil politely showed him his respects.

“It has been a while, Your Highness. I trust you have been well.”

“You’ve… grown a lot taller. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

For Alexis, it had been a five-year reunion. The Cecil in his memory was last seen at the age of fifteen.

A small child whose head had only reached his chest. A little boy who couldn’t even make proper eye contact because he was always watching others’ reactions.

But the Cecil of now was more than two hands taller than back then and had the appearance of a proper adult.

Cecil slowly raised his gaze to meet Alexis’s. For someone who had just witnessed a cruel punishment before his eyes, he was exceedingly calm.

“You are just the same, Your Highness.”

The face he had longed to see completely filled Cecil’s emerald eyes.

The platinum blond hair that only those of the imperial bloodline could possess, the cool eyes that especially suited looking down on people arrogantly, and the pupils within them that resembled midwinter. Even the distinct line of his lips, which had never once smiled for him.

The twenty-two-year-old crown prince certainly had a slightly youthful appearance. However, the unique, domineering atmosphere he possessed was consistent, regardless of the passage of time.

Perhaps his personality had become even sharper after enduring hardships for five years.

But Cecil knew. The crown prince was, in fact, a person who got lonelier than anyone else, and he became devoted to the people he cherished and the woman he loved.

If only he had shared just a little of that affection with me, I wouldn’t have committed such wicked deeds as I did in my previous life. I would have gladly been on your side, too.

But what good would it do to regret things that had already passed?

For a brief moment, his brow furrowed unknowingly. Unaware of what Alexis was thinking upon seeing it, Cecil was only reproaching himself for his own past mistakes.