Children of the Holy Emperor

The abrupt words from Seongjin left the people from Brittany utterly flustered.

“What are you blabbering now…?”

“Ah, ah. Even if you have a lot of complaints, you should have at least maintained a certain level of decorum when gossiping. Saying that the Marquis is XXX or slandering young master Ravioli as an XXX—these are things too disgraceful to even utter from my own lips.”

“What is this guy spouting off about…?”

It was obviously a bunch of bullsh*t. But then…

What would happen if this lunatic actually goes and blabbers all this to the guards?

The helmet-styled guy quickly put his thoughts together.

A disturbance involving a foreigner. Certainly, to avoid petty squabbles, all details investigated by Delcross’s guards would be relayed to Brittany without exception, including this baseless talk.

And those reports would first reach their employer, Marquis Ravioli.

If the boy outright states that they insulted the royal family, this could escalate into a major diplomatic issue.

Therefore, the Marquis might actually try to prevent the issue from going public. He would claim that the boy falsely accused innocent people, and he wouldn’t hesitate to use his influence and money to support this.

But what if the boy simply claims he heard ‘gossip about the Marquis Ravioli?’

It wouldn’t turn into a diplomatic crisis, and his claims would ironically gain credibility since it could be seen as a minor event that could happen to anyone. The young heir of Ravioli might just send them back to Brittany without hearing their excuses.

And they would have to face a furious Marquis, angry that they had insulted him right in the heart of the empire.

‘No way…’

 The helmet-styled guy looked at the boy in front of him with suspicious eyes.

‘Is he saying that rather than waiting for the Marquis to cover this up, he’d minimize the issue but make sure we get what we deserve? Don’t tell me… Surely not, is it?’

Such a young boy wouldn’t have thought that far, surely.

But looking at that face…

‘His expression…’

A slight twist in his lips, the boy wore an unsettling smile.

—I’m ready to make you all pay, no matter what it takes.

An impending sense of crisis overwhelmed him as if the boy would resort to anything if provoked!

The helmet-styled guy opened his mouth with a slightly trembling voice.

“Do you think the guards will believe such nonsense? Anyone can see that this is an outrageous false accusation!”

“A false accusation…”

Seongjin grinned, pulling up the corners of his mouth into a malevolent smile.

“That’s your claim. But do you have any proof? Can you show evidence to the guards that you didn’t say those things? If you have a third-party here who understands this backwoods Brittany language, bring them out. You XX.”

“Eeeek!”

The faces of the men from Brittany flushed redder than beetroot.

Meanwhile, Seongjin, who was lightly scratching the surface while applying medication, was also going through similar thoughts.

‘I hate to do it, but there’s no other way. Best to keep the details under wraps.’

If he had known from the beginning that they were speaking in Brittany’s language, he would have considered different options rather than confronting them in public.

‘I have the moral high ground. But given that the birthday celebration is soon, it’s in the best interest of both Delcross and Brittany to keep this quiet.’

Brittany wouldn’t publicly admit their knights openly insulted the imperial family. They’re already under a lot of pressure from the empire; admitting to more diplomatic issues wouldn’t be beneficial.

The same goes for Delcross. Publicly filing a complaint with Brittany won’t gain them anything tangible, but the rumor will tarnish the imperial family’s reputation.

‘Also, escalating this with physical violence isn’t a good picture either.’

Causing a ruckus in a civilian restaurant would already be subject to public scrutiny. If the instigator turns out to be the disgraceful prince of the imperial family, it would be a humiliation that could reverberate across the entire continent. 

—”That loser actually drew his sword on a foreigner who visited for the birthday celebration? To think this is called a thousand-year-old kingdom. The level of hospitality is truly remarkable.”

At this point, the question of who was right or wrong in the altercation might be meaningless.

‘I wish they would just draw their swords first. They’re more cautious than I thought…’

Seongjin narrowed his eyes and examined the men with shaven heads in front of him.

In reality, he had been purposely provoking these men while keeping his Aura bound and at a low active level. With their numerical advantage, he thought if he showed even a hint of weakness, they might impulsively attack.

Despite rising as if they were about to charge, they hesitated, gripping their swords but not unsheathing them.

The hesitation stemmed from various practical considerations. Starting a bloody altercation would be a headache for both sides.

In that case,

‘Maybe I should just wait like this and then go to the guard post…’

Seongjin quietly considered his options as he kept an eye on the men from Brittany.

Just then, there was a commotion at the entrance, and a group of armed knights and guards swiftly entered the restaurant.

Considering how quickly they responded, it was an impressively fast deployment.

“Halt right there! This is the Capital’s Guard!”

“Remove your hands from your weapons immediately!”

The presence of the guards was overpowering, and the men from Brittany reluctantly raised their hands. Although they had been stubbornly confronting Seongjin, their faces showed signs of defeat when faced with the Capital’s Guard.

“See? It would’ve been better if you had just apologized in the first place.”

Seongjin also removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and flashed a wry smile at the men.

“I commend you for not drawing your sword to the end. Had you done so, there would have been no excuse for your immediate execution for attempted regicide. But from now on, you should be careful with your words.”

“Regicide, what are you talking—”

“Ah, didn’t you know?”

Seongjin tilted his head and then broke into a rare, bright smile.

“I am precisely the piglet of the Imperial Family you were talking about.”

The faces of the Brittany men went from puzzled to horrified.

* * *

It turned out that the person arrested for causing the disturbance in the restaurant was none other than Prince Seongjin of Morres.

The Capital’s Guard was understandably not pleased.

Regrettably, the knights who were accompanying him were of no help. Maria, who didn’t speak Brittany, was still puzzled about what the issue had been.

“Please cooperate with the investigation, Your Highness. Stop beating around the bush.”

“I’ve been cooperating since the beginning. As I said, it was just a minor misunderstanding.”

“What was the misunderstanding?”

“Do we need to talk about it now that the misunderstanding has been resolved? I can’t go into details since it involves the honor of the Marquis of Ravioli. We merely had a gentlemanly, polite argument.”

“Oh, please, stop the nonsense.”

“But Your Highness, witnesses say you were ready to draw your sword—”

“That’s also a misunderstanding. We were conversing in Brittany, which may have given off the wrong impression. You know how guttural and harsh Brittany can sound, right?”

“Eh?”

“To the untrained ear, it might sound like an elegant language, but it feels like it was specifically designed for cursing.”

“…What?”

The knight writing the report glanced at the Brittanians standing to one side with puzzled expressions.

The Brittanians, too, were individuals who could speak the imperial common language to some extent. Naturally, they understood most of what Seongjin was saying, but they only occasionally blushed, unable to offer much in reply.

This was understandable. They had freely gossiped about the royals in front of the prince of the imperial family. Moreover, they had been in a tense standoff in public view for a while, so they would have had no room to argue even if they were immediately executed for blasphemy.

They were simply anxious that the prince, who was leaving hastily, might blurt out something ridiculous in front of the guards.

A moment later, the person responsible for the detained Brittanian knights hurriedly visited the guard post after hearing the news.

Young heir of Ravioli, Charles.

He looked even younger than a boy representing his family; a small boy younger than Morres himself.

Like the detained knights, the young master had neatly combed hair and was wearing a forehead ribbon. Fortunately, his youthful face naturally had a youthful blush, reducing the discomfort to Seongjin’s eyes.

‘Should I suggest to my father a cultural isolation policy? Or at least a ban on forehead ribbons…’

Upon facing him, Seongjin seriously thought so.

“I sincerely apologize if our knights have committed a great impropriety, Your Highness,” Charles, the marquis’s young heir, paid his respects in the somewhat awkward pronunciation of the imperial common language.

“This is all due to my immaturity. On this joyful day when the birth year celebration is not far away, they made a mistake out of excitement, so I ask for your generous forgiveness.”

“Hmm…”

Seongjin’s eyebrows slightly raised.

He starts off with an apology before even getting into the details?

“Huh? But we haven’t even begun to listen to the circumstances of your lordship’s knights?”

The knight appeared puzzled, but young marquis Charles quietly shook his head.

“An unfortunate incident. Could it not simply be that my ill-informed knights have unwittingly shown disrespect to Your Highness?”

“No, but…”

“I am truly sorry to Your Highness.”

“…”

Seeing a young noble from a fairly reputable foreign noble family speak so humbly, the knight seemed at a loss for words.

It’s even more awkward because the one in question is a child.

In this situation, it becomes uncomfortable to explain the details of who is right or wrong.

“Well. If his lordship Ravioli apologizes to this extent, detaining them further would tarnish our honor. What do you say? Let’s consider this water under the bridge and move on amicably?”

The knight who was drafting the document shot a glaring look as if incredulous.

“How can we just consider this a non-issue when an armed conflict has broken out right in the middle of the imperial city, and there is a formal report about it, Your Highness?”

“It was a misunderstanding, I tell you.”

“What nonsense. There is a restaurant that clearly suffered damage, and there are witnesses who fled in the middle of their meal. How can you say such a thing…?”

Then, Charles, who had been listening from the side, looked at the knight with wide eyes in disbelief.

“Even so, I have already ordered compensation for the restaurant where the incident occurred, more than three times their loss of business. However, there is no one who was ‘actually’ damaged or ‘really’ hurt.”

“What? But…”

Feeling the hesitation from the knight, Seongjin added,

“If you’re hesitant to decide on your own, can you call your superior here? I can personally explain everything in detail to him. If needed, I can even arrange a meeting to report ‘directly’ to my father.”

“…”

The knight’s face turned sour.

He had been bothered by the prince late into the evening, and now he might even have to face the Emperor. Who will his stressed-out superior vent his frustrations on?

“…Alright, let’s consider it water under the bridge…”

“I have no doubt that your decision today will contribute greatly to the friendship between Delcross and Brittany.”

Seongjin patted the knight’s shoulder with a full-faced smile.

As they left the guard post, the sun had almost set, and the surroundings were getting dark.

The streets, once bustling with crowds, had also become somewhat deserted, with carriages and carts moving aimlessly.

‘So much for training today.’

He had tried to save some time for training but what a waste it turned out to be.

As he waited for Maria, who had gone to find a carriage, Seongjin grumbled internally. Charles quietly approached him.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us not to accompany you to the palace, Your Highness?”

“……”

Seongjin silently looked down at the boy.

Charles was looking up at him with an innocent, childlike face.

It was annoying enough to have unnecessary expenditures due to involvement with the notorious prince, but one couldn’t find any emotion other than extreme goodwill on that face.

For that reason, Seongjin thought to himself, 

‘Somehow, he’s a suspicious little guy….’

However, he couldn’t spit in the face of someone approaching him with a smile.

“Today, you’ve done me a favor, Lord Charles.”

Thanks to the boy’s rather mature handling of the situation, a potential big conflict was quietly resolved. Aside from his inscrutable inner thoughts, Seongjin had to admit that he got along quite well with him.

Upon hearing Seongjin’s words, the young marquis Charles jumped up, clapping his hands.

“How outrageous! We should be the ones grateful for Your Highness’s generous treatment.”

“As for being generous…”

“No, I have a fair idea of what kind of rudeness my knights may have shown to Your Highness. When I return, I plan to punish them severely. Please let go of your anger, Your Highness.”

“…”

“Even if they are severely punished for their irreverence, it won’t be satisfying. To show such magnanimity for the sake of diplomatic relations between our nations! I can only feel apologetic to Your Highness.”

Just look at this guy.

He’s subtly polite but obviously afraid of the detailed story leaking from Sungjin’s mouth. He’s even gently placating by promising to punish the involved knights.

It means he already knows what kind of talk his knights usually engage in.

In that case,

Seongjin looked down at Charles and gave him a mocking smile.

“I don’t need an escort to the palace, but if it’s alright with you, your excellency, would you care to converse with me until the carriage arrives?”

“Wow. To speak Brittanian so fluently…!”

Charles’s eyes began to shine even more brightly as he looked up at Seongjin.

Afterward, Seongjin and Charles exchanged light banter in Brittanian.

Their conversation had no major theme. It was just a variety of minor stories about recent trends in Brittany or the wellbeing of the imperial family.

Only the knights, who were huddled behind Charles, tensed up each time Seongjin opened his mouth.

In the midst of it all, it went without saying that their young marquis repeatedly exclaimed in admiration at Seongjin’s proficiency in Brittanian.

“You are truly remarkable, Your Highness! I’ve never seen a foreigner pronounce ‘Arrhc’ so smoothly!”

So what exactly is this ‘Arrhc’ anyway?