The Emperor Who Was Once a Tyrant Returns Chapter 132 : Chapter 132

Chapter . 132

As soon as Reinhard ca in and greeted , he went straight to the point.

“Prince Maximilian said he would only open Prince Leontes’s gift first, and only after that would he open everyone else’s gifts. So everyone is waiting.”

“Oh dear, even Royal Father’s gift?”

“It has not arrived yet. His Majesty the Emperor’s gift arrives at noon.”

“I am a filial son, so I should send my gift after Royal Father’s so it gets opened right after his.”

“Then are you saying you will not co before then?”

“Well, my older brother is always lying sprawled out, and when I look at him, my own back starts to ache. I do not want to do sothing bad for my health at night.”

“The more often you lie down, the healthier your back becos. In any case, if Your Highness Leontes cos late, then His Highness Desmond will co late as well.”

Whether he did or not, what was it to ?

“As you know, Prince Desmond believes that until he follows Prince Leontes’s orders, Your Highness will guarantee his survival. So I understand why he follows only you.”

“It is a thoroughly wrong thought from start to finish.”

“I agree as well, Your Highness Leontes. Then I will be going now. Prince Desmond’s old attendant is hiding in the corridor to spy on , and I would feel sorry to make him wait too long.”

After Reinhard left, I said to everyone,

“Let’s all just sleep. I am not going now. Tell Maximilian and Desmond to wait until noon.”

It was ti to correct people’s misconceptions.

“Yes, Your Highness!”

But the only one who answered properly was faithful Vincent.

“What? I spent a whole month just to barely finish the outfit I’m going to wear to Maximilian’s banquet, so what are you talking about! Everyone is expecting my dazzling entrance, and if I don’t go, how disappointed will they be! Ever since I beca a count, I have never missed a banquet even once. If I skip a banquet this big, everyone will definitely find it suspicious!”

After war and gold, the dragon had also co to love clothes and banquets, and he exploded in anger.

Dragons originally slept atop piles of gold, so he insisted there was no problem if he wore gold around himself.

“Then you all go ahead first—”

“A friend is supposed to watch you when you’re doing so well at a feast like this! How could you be so disloyal!”

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t go at all, I’m saying we should go at noon, not now—”

“The outfit for dayti is different! This outfit was made with the the of the sun that lights up the night, so it shines the most under crystal chandeliers and lighting artifacts! Under sunlight, I’m wearing sothing else! And for the record, your outfit is like that too! Your nightti outfit is Part 1, and your dayti outfit is Part 2!”

I could not even ask the bastard friend who decided that all by himself without consulting when I was supposed to sleep. Aside from , my brothers could party for about three days without closing their eyes.

The fact that my one and only friend matched tastes with my brothers better than with was infuriating, and Yolande quickly jumped in too.

“My robe was also made with the the of the queen of the moonlit night. If I show up in that outfit first, before the clothes I’ll wear in the dayti, it won’t match front and back. And I’m the only one who can show people how beautiful comfortable clothes can be too, unlike a dress. Also, I need to watch how the First Prince Faction mages use magic at the banquet, so I can properly assess their capabilities.”

“Just admit that my brother’s banquet is fun.”

“It was so obvious that I simply did not bother to say it. When it cos to magic, watching soone else’s magic is the most fun.”

Even Yolande, who would not have even ntioned such things before the regression, was insisting too. It must have been the banquet-obsessed symptoms she caught from Michelon.

“I have people I arranged to et there. They are all people who provide valuable information. In a place where everyone in court will be gathered, I can pursue natural etings, but if not, I might draw suspicion.”

When Jero, whose nickna was the Pied Piper because he knew so many people, spoke grimly, Rolf nodded as well.

“If Your Highness sits confidently at the banquet in splendid attire, everyone looks up at you and praises how outstanding you are until their mouths go dry. It is very pleasant to hear. It restores my motivation for the grueling work of training Your Highness’s knights.”

“Your motivation really does not need to exist anymore—”

“If Your Highness doesn’t go, then who am I supposed to hear banquet stories from?”

Nanette asked with her eyes wide and round. Because no one but told her banquet stories.

In truth, I had forbidden it. Everyone got so excited that they stopped distinguishing between what should and should not be said, rambling about who was dating whom, who broke up, and so on.

Instead, I told her stories I had made up to match a child’s eye level. Especially the lesson that even if you had been dancing with a man, you had to abandon him and return before midnight, or else the man, frantic like a child, would co looking for you.

-Of course, it would be even better if you ca back before ten.

-It would be even better if you ca back before nine, right? I go to sleep around then too.

-Just as expected of our Nanette! You are smart!

Those three insisted that Nanette needed to hear so of the social world’s characteristic stories too, in preparation for when she would talk with other noblewon later.

When I asked them back if they were even that good at those conversations themselves, despite not having heard them long ago either, none of them could refute it.

“Oppa will do it!”

“Jero oppa too!”

Before Yolande could step in as well, I said,

“Let’s go.”

“You should have said so earlier.”

“Haha, you gave permission!”

“Oh, I’m so happy!”

“Haha, as expected of our kind Prince!”

“I will escort you, Your Highness.”

Only Vincent looked disappointed, but even though he disliked banquets, he liked watching his wife enjoy them, so he followed along.

“Have a good ti, everyone!”

“Have sweet dreams, Nanette!”

“Sleep while thinking about oppa, not about His Highness.”

“I’ll think about all my oppas, so don’t worry!”

I left after changing Nanette into her nightclothes and entrusting her to Harald as she saw us off.

However, it was not long after we started heading to my brother that Desmond latched onto us.

“Brother.”

“Desmond.”

The lofty presence the Third Prince once had was gone now. The only attendants following him were his old servant and two n: Sir Edward’s successor as his guard knight, and one more.

Most of his confidants had been from the Lauderdale family and the Empress Faction. Almost everyone had followed him to Mount Petrafis.

Only an old servant who had remained behind due to age, and a knight who had been too ill to follow, were left, and they were now guarding his side.

There had been civil officials who did not follow him then, but the mont the Empress was confined, they all fled. So even approached claiming they would reveal Desmond’s secrets. When I held up the Crystal of Truth, they ran too.

And Goldmund as well. He said that since he was already tied to through the Lasilex matter, it would not look strange for him to step forward as my person this ti, but he refused on his own.

-At a ti like this, I can earn more of Prince Desmond’s trust.

To , it seed he felt pressure to produce visible results while the other factions of princes were achieving great rit. But what he said was also true, so I agreed. I had also heard that Desmond was delighted and raised his pay afterward.

Even so, the fact that a commoner like him could not attend my brother’s banquet as Desmond’s attendant suggested that Desmond’s pride was still high.

‘He ca wearing the sa clothes again.’

Desmond’s attendants had been famous even among nobles for their flamboyant dress, but that glory had vanished long ago. Even though Desmond himself was wearing new clothes, it was far more modest than before.

And even if noble attendants had remained, it would have been difficult to support those with lavish spending.

He was pouring most of his funds, not only the territory’s inco but nearly everything, into replenishing the knights and mages he had lost.

“If you are going to our eldest brother’s coming-of-age banquet, then let’s go together.”

“I don’t mind, but why are you going? Are you going to show everyone a face that says, I am enduring this humiliation for now, but soday I will seize a chance and take revenge? Everyone already knows, so there is no need to bother.”

I asked because I was genuinely curious, and Desmond’s cheeks reddened.

“…So did you think I would not even attend eldest brother’s coming-of-age, and would instead stay flattened in the back, hiding? Would that satisfy you, brother?”

“You are stuck to my side like glue, aren’t you?”

“…Because you let , brother.”

“What did you say?”

“If you truly hated it, you would refuse my request to go together, but whether it’s curiosity or so other reason, you keep attached for now. You don’t shove away, do you. And for , I’m in a position where I have to cling even to opportunities like this.”

A sharp light flashed in Desmond’s eyes, then vanished.

“What I an is, why are you insisting on attending eldest brother’s banquet even if it ans clinging to ? That is what I am asking.”

The dead duke had told everything, down to how terrified Desmond had been when my brother tried to kill him.

Then Desmond’s mouth tilted upward, and he looked straight at as he said,

“Why? Is it strange because if you were , you would have done that, but I am not like you?”

At that, Michelon and Jero glared at Desmond. Yolande alone stayed expressionless, but the tip of her staff glittered. She had made a hole in the hem of Desmond’s cloak, and the technique was so subtle that I would not have noticed if not for the ripple of mana.

“It is not.”

Rolf said calmly.

“What did you say, Sir Rolf?”

Desmond glared at him. I corrected him.

“He is Baron Graf, Desmond. You already forgot. You are the youngest here, yet your mory is the worst. When I was your age, I never did that. Neither did they.”

“…I did not forget… Fine, Baron, what did you say?”

“Prince Leontes said he would not do that. What you are doing now ans it is only Prince Desmond.”

Rolf answered gently, without anger. I nodded in satisfaction.

“My knight kindly explained it to you, so you understand now, don’t you?”

“…Have they watched you for a long ti, brother, or have I watched you for a long ti?”

“Of course they have. What does it matter if you stared at my face for a long ti? You never even spoke with , never ate with . If you count ti like that, theirs is far longer.”

“…That is only what you think, brother. Even back then, I observed you from afar and listened to every report about you. From childhood, I never let my guard down about you. Ever since I played with you at first without knowing you were my brother, and then learned I had been deceived.”

From his standpoint, it made sense he would think of that incident that way. Ever since the nanny scolded the brother I first t, she never even brought up Desmond again. And I, too, did not want to say it had been because of the nanny.

“So because you watched , you think you know ?”

“Of course! Back then, you were always sniffling and shut up inside. Desperately wishing that if you stayed still, no one would bother you. Your attendants now can’t even imagine you like that. But if you did that in court, it would only be like calling a flock of crows by announcing there is a fresh corpse here. That is what happened to you, and I will never do that. In the end, didn’t you rise up and run around everywhere diligently, and gather the power you have now? At tis like this, watching the mood and staying flattened does not help at all.”

Desmond’s face as he said that was resolute.

But I could guess the thoughts he did not say.