9-2 At The Imperial Palace

Today I decided to drop by the Empire and visit their dear little Emperor.

My goal was to put a marker on the princes.

Especially on the second prince.

And the moment I teleported in, I ended up looking straight at that bastard second prince’s face.

He was facing his father, the Emperor, who sat on the throne.

“Your Imperial Majesty, when will we invade the Albatross Kingdom?”

You little—.

Right out of the gate, he just had to say that.

It made me want to take their heads right here and now.

This second prince—one look and you could tell his personality was rotten.

Short blond hair, cruel-looking eyes, similarly thin lips, and even his expression.

Exactly the type I hate most.

No question, that was the face of someone everyone disliked.

If our kids saw him, they’d definitely cry.

Maybe that was part of why the first prince had the advantage.

The crown prince at least seemed like he’d be better than this guy, inside and out.

“Don’t rush. There is an order to things. It would be troublesome if that rampaging man showed himself again, wouldn’t it? In fact, you’ve already failed twice. A teleportation mage should have been a useful piece in war. Yet you squandered and lost him disgracefully. A trump card that useful will not be obtained again. The remaining three teleportation mages are raised by other countries.”

I see—so the second prince was the one behind the operations so far.

Even if he failed, he was just a spare prince.

Maybe the House Palmia incident was his doing too.

Alright, today’s schedule was decided: I would stalk this man.

Still, it was a stroke of luck that we crushed one of his teleportation mages.

Just imagining if we’d left that threat alive made my skin crawl.

I knew the terror of teleportation mages firsthand—because I was one.

He wasn’t going to say he had more teleport-capable pawns hidden from the Emperor too, was he?

“Then how shall we proceed?”

“First, crush his nest. They say a rogue S-rank is there now. Recruit him. If that fails, kill him too. And House Orston as well. We also know a Palmia woman is there. Kill them all together.”

“Understood. I shall meet your expectations without fail.”

What a dangerous bunch.

For now, I continued stalking him.

I followed through the palace as an invisible man from behind.

This palace was, well—luxurious, and the taste was actually good.

Normally an empire like this would feel more severe and austere.

Even the city, at a glance, didn’t look like a nation obsessed with territorial expansion.

Aoi-chan hadn’t noticed at all.

Maybe they covered everything by working demi-human slaves to the bone?

I walked while carefully admiring the jars, vases, and their stands one by one—while copying everything as I went.

(That jar was the good stuff.)

Bored, I also enjoyed watching the beautiful female attendants as we passed.

There were plenty of gorgeous noble young ladies too.

Imperial watching was surprisingly fun… I might forget my real purpose.

After we’d walked a while, the second prince stopped.

Huh?

A dignified, noble-looking handsome man was approaching from ahead—could it be…!

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. Good day to you.”

“Sharion. It has been a while.”

It was striking how everyone else hurried away, clearly wanting nothing to do with this.

Th-this was bad.

The Empire didn’t look like it had a long future.

The Bernstein Empire had been formally founded only about two hundred years ago.

It began as a small country, absorbed neighboring states to build its predecessor empire, and eventually came to call itself the Bernstein Empire.

Other nations apparently called it a rabid dog that only waved its military power around, or an upstart gangster state.

Yeah, there wasn’t even a shred of stability in the core.

Maybe all the careful elegance in this palace décor was also a way to resist that bad reputation.

The crown prince carried himself calmly.

Compared to Sharion’s attire—like some elite military officer—the crown prince’s outfit was relatively luxurious, but not gaudy.

It had gold embroidery and the like, yet somehow didn’t feel obnoxious.

So it really came down to how you wore it.

This crown prince was impressive.

He easily passed as emperor material.

Still, it seemed these two utterly hated each other’s fashion sense.

Or rather, they hated each other, period.

Invisible sparks flew between them like a car factory welding zone.

So intense I could almost hallucinate welding spatter scattering across the floor.

No wonder everyone ran to avoid getting caught up.

This was the kind of relationship where brothers could start killing each other any day.

A classic royal-family situation.

Well, for princes, whether you become king or not is everything.

If you lose, the winner might kill you “to prevent plots.”

And if the second prince won, he’d absolutely do it.

A perfect scene that showed just how good the Albatross Royal Family was.

The bystanders looked like they didn’t want to become House Palmia 2.0 either.

The crown prince’s face was handsome too.

He didn’t look cruel, and he was genuinely charming.

If anything, he seemed intelligent.

Hard to believe he was an imperial prince.

And most importantly, his eyes weren’t rotten.

Deep blue eyes that left an impression of intellect.

If I were a woman, I’d pick him without hesitation.

That said, he wasn’t a soft pretty-boy.

His gaze was strong, and you could sense the fighting spirit hidden in his youth.

He’d probably surpass his father in ability to rule.

If I had to choose one to kill between the Emperor and the princes, I wouldn’t hesitate—this would be the one.

The second prince was a worthless small fry, and the old man’s limits were obvious.

If you’re hunting, better to take a young dragon than a full-grown boar.

But if the crown prince didn’t become my enemy, then the story changed.

Anyway, he got a marker too.

That meant today’s quota was met.

They exchanged a brief greeting, threw sparks about a hundred times more intensely, and then separated in silence.

I got curious, so this time I followed the crown prince.

Looks like he was heading back to his office.

The crown prince’s office had good taste.

Modern, yet calm.

The bright wood-grain interior looked like it could pass as a contemporary office in Europe.

The document shelves matched the same theme, giving a fine atmosphere that young high nobles would want for their own workrooms.

I admired this vibe too, but in my case it would definitely end up as messy as Armon’s room.

“My father and Sharion… do they not even know the phrase ‘read the room’? That’s why even the kings and nobles of other nations look at our flag and whisper that it isn’t a lion—it’s a boar!”

Bwahahahaha!

So people said it elsewhere too.

That was good info.

And I captured it properly.

By the way, I’d also attached invisible cameras to the Emperor and Sharion.

With homing functions—retrievable anytime.

Now I could gather information whenever I wanted.

“Still… Marquis Granburst. Just who is he? Why does someone like that suddenly appear in Albatross? That hair and eye color, and that overwhelming power… it reminds me of that country’s founding king. Hah. No way.”

So he thought that too.

Strictly speaking, my hair couldn’t be called pure black.

Paired with my deep-set features, Japanese people often asked, “Are you half?”

I’d even been told, “A foreigner spoke in a Mikawa accent.”

But to foreigners, I was fully within the category of Japanese.

For some reason, even though I got treated like a foreigner back home in Japan, in Canada I was treated completely as Japanese wherever I went.

In America, people sometimes asked if I was Spanish.

Alright then, Your Highness the Imperial Crown Prince.

I’ll be happy to meet those expectations.

After all, a living witness who lived a thousand years and knew the founding king better than anyone gave me the evaluation: “you’re about even with the founding king.”

That made the near future a little more exciting, so for today I decided to quietly take my leave.