Ardal flipped quickly through the pile of documents, took out a bundle, flipped through a few pages, took out a pen, edited the details on the spot, and sighed...
"Haa... Three royal porcelains..."
He crossed out the number of royal porcelains and added three, then grumbled as he put the report back in its place.
It was the same in the conference room, and now he couldn't believe he was breaking precious ceramics while doing it.
Although the Emperor called himself a tyrant, he also set his own boundaries and acted accordingly, but these days it was a bit strange.
As things continued to unfold that the Emperor he knew would not have done, the questions had began to come out one after another, mixed with the dissatisfaction that had rapidly built up recently.
"Your Majesty, do you know what's strange these days? During this important period, whenever you get a chance, you become dazed, and at other times, you become overly sensitive, and when I feel like you're looking at something and check, I find that you're just looking at empty space. It's like..."
Ardal's actions stopped.
In the strange silence, his pupils widened and his hands, suspended in mid-air, trembled.
He turned his head and looked at the Emperor. The Emperor remained silent, not sure if he was asking him to say something or if he was just going to remain ignorant until he found out the correct answer.
"...Like you were seeing something there."
"..."
Ardal became convinced as there was no answer. And where did it come from?
"I guess you didn't call the congressman."
Guilt disguised as responsibility.
"Yes."
"Ha..."
He forgot that it was rude and touched his forehead.
Ardal could not understand the Emperor. Eduardo Desert was the most inexplicable of all the people he knew.
He pondered over the words, which did not suit the Emperor, who did everything flawlessly, including battles, paperwork, and even daily life, and then laughed bitterly. He, too, was ultimately human.
"Can you tell the difference?"
"Until now."
"Yes, you definitely should. The moment His Majesty loses his ability to discern and swings his sword at an ally, the Emperor will be replaced."
This meant that he would personally take the lead in replacing the Emperor.
Even though the Emperor clearly understood what he meant, he did not say anything. Because he knew that for Ardal, the top priority was the 'Empire'.
Wouldn't it be good to have at least one person like this among those who are filled with greed?
"Does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Princess know?"
"The crown prince knows."
"Then there is a high possibility that Her Majesty the Princess knows. Have you ever been asked to get a medical examination? ...No"
Of course he had. He needed to change the question.
"Your Majesty, are you still not willing to be examined?"
"No. More than that, Prime Minister."
The Emperor firmly changed the subject, as if he did not want to talk about him any more. Ardal, who was about to say something, closed his mouth at the next words. Precisely because of the Emperor's actions of pointing to a certain place on the map.
"As you know by participating in the meeting, the next opponent for the war has been decided to be the Kingdom of Srahan. I plan to attack this area first, so I have a document listing the characteristics of this area..."
"Are you serious?"
The expression disappeared from Ardal's face.
The Emperor, who had stopped speaking, raised his head.
Their eyes met in silence.
The gorgeous golden eyes, like those of a wild beast, were filled with strong will as always and were burning intensely, using his own soul as a sacrifice.
Ardal, who had been looking at him in silence, slowly opened his mouth to dispel the silence.
"You're not in a good condition."
"Isn't that the realm of the mind and not the realm of the body?"
"The mind tends to have an effect on the body."
Like other nobles, Ardal was not happy about this war.
Even if it was the same as the Ireon Kingdom, there was no need to mess with other kingdoms and make a mess. Of course, since the Emperor's goal was to conquer the continent, he would not care about such things...
But more than anything, he did not like the reason why the Emperor set the goal of conquering the continent. So, when it was confirmed that the Emperor's condition was not good, he was secretly hoping that, if not canceling the plan, he would at least postpone the war.
"So the Prime Minister is telling me to upset the plan that has already been discussed?"
"...But."
He knew that it would be disrespectful to the nobles who participated in the meeting.
But still.
"This is crazy."
A hard voice came out.
The Emperor played a significant role in the power of the Empire.
Was it for no reason that the Emperor was the implicit first hero of the Empire? The Emperor was the strongest among those who possessed a hero's fragment.
He, who held a key role both as a commander and as a general, was not in good condition, but he was going to force a war.
War was a dangerous thing where if something went wrong, the lives of countless people could end in an instant.
What would happen if the Emperor's condition worsened and he was unable to discern between right and wrong and gave wrong orders or even swung his sword without distinction?
"I know."
"But why...!"
"Well..."
His golden eyes quietly lowered as if he was lost in thought.
The eyelashes were long and created a shadow.
The Emperor, who was silently looking at the broken shards of pottery on the floor, soon raised the corners of his mouth and looked at the Prime Minister.
"Does a crazy person need a reason to do something crazy?"
Bang!
The Emperor, who was looking at the chancellor's face expressionlessly with his teeth clenched as if he would explode at any moment, asked softly.
"What is this, Prime Minister?"
"If you're going to go crazy, go crazy in a nice way, and if you want to die, go somewhere quiet and die instead of sacrificing the innocent citizens of the Empire! If you want to beat yourself up, don't move the Empire and cut yourself with a knife!!"
It eventually exploded. There was coldness in the Emperor's eyes, but Ardal seemed not to be afraid and burst into anger without hesitation, pouring out the words he had been holding back until now.
He was angry because he knew what the Emperor's purpose was and because he cared for the Empire more than anyone else.
"Your Majesty probably knows that the soldiers who perish in war are also citizens of the Empire. So why are you pushing for war? If you fulfill your responsibilities after death, that's it! Why are you ruling out the option of not going to war at all? Why must the people of the Eempire be sacrificed and the Empire exploited for your personal purposes! Why on earth!!"
"Prime Minister."
"Responsibility is good. It is something that every human being deserves to bear. But..."
But why did he think that the Emperor's first priority was 'responsibility'? No. The Emperor prioritized responsibility, but it was not the first thing.
If the Emperor really considered responsibility as the top priority...
"Do you think responsibility for something else is more important to you than the people and the Empire?"
Because he would have prioritized the Empire and its people more than his responsibility for his dead brothers and sisters.
The first thing for him is... guilt.
Should we say that responsibility lies in second place without first place? In the first place, 'guilt' was a type of thing that cannot even be included in the list.
The Emperor gave priority to guilt, which he called responsibility.
In the end, he too was just a weak human being swayed by guilt.
"Prime Minister."
"..."
Ardal did not answer.
The Emperor, who was just watching him in silence as he was breathing extremely hard, soon spoke slowly, as if he was thinking over each word.
"What did I say?"
"... Yes."
In the end, the story turned around and concluded like this.
The meaning of those words was 'I will not neglect the Empire because it is the Empire.' He didn't know if it meant 'So don't worry' or just 'Shut up and do as you're told, because I am the Emperor', but either way, the conclusion was one in the same.
Move according to the Emperor's will.
Ardal, who was quietly glaring at the Emperor, searched through the files stored in the bookshelf, took out one of them, placed it on the desk, and swiped it.
"...I have already prepared it. The characteristics of the area mentioned by His Majesty."
"..."
"Do you think I've only seen Your Majesty for a day or two? I had some expectations."
What decision will he make and what route will you take if he went to war?
'The burden is the empire.'
If someone other than Eduardo Desert had said these words, Ardal would have left without mercy even if the other person was the person who took him away.
Usually, the person who said this was an unanswerable tyrant who would be remembered in history for a long time, and there was no way such a tyrant could rule the country properly.
But Eduardo Desert...
"Whatever you do, do as you please. Anyway, I'm not good enough to stop Your Majesty..."
As long as he didn't abandon the empire, Ardal would turn a blind eye.
He quietly swallowed his words. The Emperor, who was flipping through documents, raised his head and made eye contact, as if he knew what he was thinking.
'...Okay.'
He knew. If he let go of the empire, he would no longer be the Emperor.
Ardal looked the Emperor in the eyes and then quietly averted his gaze.
There was a heavy silence.
On this day, the Empire declared war on another kingdom on the border, and several kingdoms, who had been suspicious of the Empire's continued attempts to wage war even though the other kingdom had clearly done nothing major, seemed to realize something and quickly entered a wartime mode.
It was a moment that predicted a bloody storm would blow across the continent.
***
Currently, there were four official heroes in the Empire.
Three heroes who appeared against the backdrop of the Eight Year War, and a fourth hero who was recognized as a hero for his additional achievements afterwards.
The three heroes of the Eight Year War were those who appeared countless times and were called heroes, but eventually died and were forgotten, and they survived until the end and preserved their name.
As such, their contributions were significant. At the beginning of the war, the first hero rose to the position of Commander-in-Chief based on the Emperor's strong support and led the battle. The second hero distinguished himself from the beginning of the war, cutting down enemies without hesitation and building a mountain with corpses. The third hero took the lead from the beginning and middle of the war, showing his true cruelty by not leaving behind a single unharmed body.
Stigma Primero was the second hero among them.
"The Kingdom of Ireon has already surrendered?"
"Yes."
"If that was the case, I don't know why you provoked me. You bastards."
Disgust flashed in the eyes of the man, who was wearing cool clothes that were a bit far from imperial attire.
It was an inevitable reaction for someone who hated weak things.
He lowered his crossed legs as if he didn't want to waste his attention on the losers who he had already finished processing.
He turned the bloody sword he was roughly holding upside down and slashed it down, then placed both hands on it and rested his chin on it. A soft voice continued.
"So, why did His Majesty call me?"
"He told us to prepare for war."
"War? The war is not over yet... No way."
The man's eyes widened.
Although he was surprised, he twisted his lips for a moment as if he was convinced of something.
"Khaa."
"..."
"Khahahaha!!"
A refreshing sound of laughter spread across the sky.
The man who had been laughing for a long time touched his lips with a still smiling face.
"As expected of His Majesty."
At last.
Stigma let out a few more laughs while muttering inaudibly to himself.
It was expected that the Emperor would not end the war like that. His movements during the Eight Year War seemed to have the conquest of the continent in mind.
The Emperor's move to conquer the continent itself was not something he was happy about. Stigma was happy about the fact that he could participate in the war.
To be precise, that he was able to make contributions.
'This time.'
In return for his merits, he will ask for the extinction of his family.
Just like that guy back then.