🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 04 …
The streets were completely empty.
“Why is there no one here?”
“…Well. I don’t know either.”
Jehel let out a sigh.
By the time they raced down the main road and arrived before the Imperial Palace at the center of the capital, they finally understood where all the capital’s people had disappeared to.
The closer they got, the louder the roar of the crowd became.
Everyone had gathered in the plaza before the Imperial Palace, creating utter chaos regardless of age or gender.
“Explain yourselves! What in the world happened?!”
“Where is the Tower Master?!”
“Why has the barrier disappeared?!”
“Your Majesty! What exactly has happened?!”
Under the guidance of soldiers, Kanis’s group hurriedly entered the Imperial Palace through the rear gate.
The palace, said to have been remodeled from an ancient fortress, bore deep traces of time.
“The carriage step is high, so be careful.”
Michael, who stepped down first, held out his hand toward Kanis.
He looked so composed that the expression Kanis had seen earlier felt almost like a lie.
Whatever Michael was feeling wasn’t Kanis’s concern, but…
Kanis’s small hand rested atop Michael’s.
“Michael!”
Just as Kanis was stepping down, the Emperor came rushing toward them from afar.
Behind him trailed attendants and Imperial guards in a long line like linked sausages.
“Michael, what in the world is the meaning of this?! T-The news that the Tower Master is dead… that was false, wasn’t it?”
“He is dead.”
“W-What?”
The chief attendant grabbed the Emperor’s arm and immediately began scolding him.
“Your Majesty, you must steady yourself. If you collapse again, your health will truly be at risk. First, take a deep breath…”
Meanwhile, Michael answered with absolute certainty, his tone flat and unwavering.
“Tower Master Kanis Riventi is dead. Therefore, do not search for him any longer.”
“……”
The Emperor grabbed Michael’s shoulder.
“You…!”
“But surely you cannot relay that fact to the people outside exactly as it is.”
“D-Do you mean… you have some good solution?”
Michael glanced briefly at Kanis.
What? Me?
Seeing Kanis frown, Michael turned away again.
“Let us discuss it inside. I will follow shortly, so please go ahead first.”
“…You had better be able to explain everything. Understood?”
After snapping that out, the Emperor turned away, his energy already failing him again.
Three attendants had to support him as he left.
Michael bent down on one knee in front of Kanis.
“Kanna.”
“You said earlier Kanis absolutely wasn’t dead…”
Michael shook his head.
“The Imperial family needs this opportunity to come to its senses.”
“……”
Kanis let out a sigh.
“So what do you need me to do?”
“I dragged you here by force.”
Michael gave a faint smile.
Then he reached out and stroked Kanis’s head.
It was a gentle touch.
“If they learn who you are, the Imperial family will likely try to use you. And knowing that, I still brought you to the Imperial Palace. So I won’t make excuses.”
“……”
“But I swear this to you. I will protect you so that the Imperial family cannot lay even a fingertip on you. And when the time comes, I’ll make sure you can return.”
“……”
“So… will you help me?”
He bent himself down further, meeting Kanis at eye level.
Ever since becoming the size of a little snot-nosed child, Kanis had grown used to constantly looking up at everyone.
Only then did he suddenly realize—
Michael had always met his eyes like this whenever they spoke.
Michael placed a hand on his knee and bowed his head.
“Even if it’s only one last time… I want to see the Tower Master again.”
Kanis furrowed his brow.
Why go this far?
“Why do you want to see him that badly?”
“……”
“Do you have some urgent business with him?”
Michael lifted his head, turning Kanis’s words over in his mind, then gave a bitter smile and shook it.
“No. Just seeing him is enough.”
Kanis couldn’t understand.
If there wasn’t even any business, then why?
Why did he want to see him?
Still, it wasn’t exactly difficult.
They had originally crossed paths once or twice a year anyway.
“Instead, I have a condition.”
“Name anything.”
“While I’m staying in the Imperial Palace, you agree to grant all my demands within reason.”
Michael grinned.
“Fine. Done.”
If what Michael currently imagined were the sort of things a six-year-old child might want, then he was probably going to face something rather bewildering very soon.
Kanis had no intention of warning him in advance.
Now he had secured a proxy, and on top of that, a safe shelter in the Imperial Palace where he could live in luxury for free.
Once his body returned, showing his face to Michael once wouldn’t be difficult at all.
Feeling rather refreshed, Kanis smiled back at Michael.
“Alright then, shall we?”
“Mm?”
Kanis was abruptly lifted by both armpits.
“Hey, where are we going? Aren’t we meeting the Emperor?”
“I’m going to do whatever I want anyway, so why waste time?”
Michael strode forward without hesitation.
A terrible premonition struck, and Kanis grabbed Michael’s shoulder, squirming.
“Hey, I can walk too, you know?”
“It’s my own consideration so your short legs don’t suffer.”
“If this is consideration, then bringing me to the Imperial Palace must also count as protection.”
“You understand well. No need to be grateful.”
Kanis imagined jabbing both of Michael’s eyes with his fingers.
And then imagined Michael screaming “Agh!” and rolling across the floor.
You could call it Kanis’s personal form of mind control to keep himself from using magic out of sheer rage.
Right now, these people assumed that “Kanna,” who looked exactly like the Tower Master, was not the Tower Master himself because he was an ordinary child who couldn’t use magic.
So he absolutely could not let them discover that he could use magic.
In any case, his mana reserves weren’t significant right now, and it was better to conserve what little he had for emergencies.
Besides, revealing oneself as a mage at such a young age was generally not recommended—
Right then, Kanis’s hair fluttered in the wind.
The midday sunlight poured down.
The deafening roar of the crowd filled his ears.
Kanis’s eyes flew open.
Still tucked securely in Michael’s arms, Kanis found himself standing on a terrace overlooking the massive crowd gathered in the plaza below.
That terrace.
The very one where the Imperial family appeared during major celebrations.
Leaning close to Michael’s ear, Kanis shouted urgently,
“Hey! What are you trying to do?!”
Michael ignored him and walked all the way to the terrace’s edge.
“It’s His Highness the Crown Prince!”
“What exactly happened?!”
“Where is the Tower Master, Your Highness?!”
“Are we going to be alright like this?!”
Michael raised his free hand, and the chaotic crowd instantly fell silent.
“First, I deeply regret that everyone has suffered harm due to a misunderstanding between the Tower Master and myself.”
A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?
“This child is the Tower Master’s hidden child…”
Kanis forced a smile at the countless gazes turning toward him.
Though from below, people likely only saw a strangely twitching face.
When I turn back to normal later… how exactly am I supposed to explain this?
Oblivious to Kanis’s profound internal crisis, the crowd erupted into murmurs again.
People shouted that they looked exactly alike, that they couldn’t believe the Tower Master had a child, and demanded to know what would happen now.
“I say this with certainty: the Tower Master is safe and sound. This incident occurred because he hid himself due to a misunderstanding with me, and the barrier too shall soon return.”
At that moment, someone in the crowd shouted:
“What kind of misunderstanding do you mean?! Did the Imperial family make unreasonable demands of the Tower Master?!”
“What I can explain to you ends here.”
Michael’s voice rang out clearly.
“This child’s father is me.”
For one single moment, the entire crowd fell into deathly silence.
Naturally, for Kanis, who was hearing this firsthand, it was like being struck by lightning from a clear sky.
What?
“Surely you are listening, Kanis! I was entirely in the wrong, so please just return!”
Michael placed a hand over his chest, his brows tilting as if in solemn sincerity.
“Our daughter Kanna is with me, safe and sound, so do not worry.”
This,
What kind of absolute bullshit is this????
“But Your Highness! A child?! Didn’t the Tower Master reject Your Highness’s proposal?!”
“Marriage proposal and this are separate matters.”
Then the one who had asked nodded in understanding.
“Mm. I suppose one might dislike marriage.”
What?
“If you have anything to say to me, come find me anytime, Kanis. I shall be waiting.”
With one final smile that clearly hid ulterior motives, Michael turned and left.
The terrace doors shut, cutting off the buzzing roar of the crowd like a knife.
Kanis barely held onto his fading sanity long enough to ask:
“How the hell are you my father? Do you want to die?”
Ignoring the murderous intent radiating from his arms, Michael replied:
“I was inspired by that innkeeper’s misunderstanding earlier. Wasn’t it rather effective?”
Kanis grabbed Michael by the collar and shouted:
“Effective? What exactly was effective?! Explain it to me! What part of that was effective?!”
Whether Kanis raged or not, Michael merely hummed lightly to himself before asking:
“How angry do you think he’ll be?”
“What?”
“Don’t you think he’ll be angry enough to appear before me immediately and demand an explanation?”
