The Emperor Who Was Once a Tyrant Returns Chapter 136 : Chapter 136

Chapter : 136

I rembered sothing from the past—how he once suggested that if I killed Desmond for him, he would kill Maximilian for ….

“That sounds plausible, does it not? It is not a bad bargain. If it were , I would accept it. Besides, there is no reason my own full-blooded younger brother, a prince of the empire, should be holding a title ant for the late emperor’s bastard. Think of my dignity, too.”

My brother nodded. For a mont, I wondered if I should accept my half-brother’s old proposal out of spite—but then my brother spoke again, abruptly.

“Of course, as Abamama’s eldest son, Alexander would not spare even the one whom Abamama has confined, if Leontes rely gave the order. He is more capable than Desmond, is he not? He would be able to carry out even a more difficult command.”

He had praised Alexander earlier, saying he had not expected him to truly oppose the Empress—yet he did not ease the pressure on him even slightly.

Did he think I was the sort of cold-blooded monster who would order that bastard to kill the Empress? And yet, if I did not, he would be the one to fly into outrage, shouting that I did not act like his younger brother.

Then, before Alexander could even answer, he asked Desmond instead.

“What do you think, Desmond? Am I not right?”

Desmond could not reply at once. The thought of daringly showing his face at the banquet of the man who had once held a blade to his throat was one thing—facing that man again in reality was another.

“To have accompanied my younger brother… it is good to see that you have finally escaped the wicked influence of that maternal family and are behaving nicely and obediently. But you are standing so far back that it is difficult to see your face. Co closer. Reinhard, why are you not offering Desmond wine? Be kind to a child who has lost his mother.”

As he spoke, my brother summoned him to his side. When Desmond approached like a prisoner being led to the execution ground, my brother smiled and draped an arm over his shoulders—as though he had never intended to kill him. Even though he was still brimming with that intention now.

“Oh, His Highness the First Prince is comforting His Highness Prince Desmond!”

“Though their relationship was poor, he treats his younger brother with compassion after he has lost his mother. As expected of the First Prince—his magnanimity is truly remarkable!”

“His Highness Maximilian is a passionate man! As though they had never fought, he shows brotherly affection with the sa passion.”

“Truly, Her Majesty the Empress did not treat His Highness the First Prince so warmly when he lost his own mother….”

At the First Prince Faction’s flattery, Desmond’s lips trembled. Still, he did not shake off my brother’s hand, and he endured it.

Perhaps he simply could not move at all. I knew that sensation well—I, who had once beco emperor and had been grabbed by the collar by Desmond in front of my retainers.

With my brother’s arm around his shoulders, Desmond looked at with desperate eyes. If he wanted my protection, he should begin by swearing loyalty that would last not once, but for a lifeti.

No matter what people chose to misunderstand, there was no reason I had to follow their mistaken assumptions. When I t his gaze with a cold, unreadable expression, he lowered his eyes.

“It is not a bad offer.”

I turned my gaze away from them and spoke to Alexander. Alexander, who had been staring at Maximilian with a blank face, looked at as well.

“However, unlike your full-blooded younger brother, you have no reason to have your life spared. So I will grant you the title of Duke of Lauderdale after you swear loyalty to . I will beco a fair emperor who properly rewards loyal subjects.”

Not now—when I beca emperor. When the ti ca, if he swore loyalty then. I made my intent unmistakably clear.

Unlike before, I no longer needed to hide my grand ambition of becoming emperor. When there were too many enemies, it was wise to stay quiet and plan for the future. But after toppling one enemy and rising before everyone as a contender for the throne, humility was useless. Worse, it only made one seem inscrutable or lacking confidence—fatal traits for a ruler.

“Ah, then when, exactly, will that ti be? My entire body is itching to beco Your Highness’s sword this very mont.”

Alexander smiled faintly. I had a bad feeling—and then I caught a strong waft of wine. The goblet that had been in my hand vanished. When it reappeared, it was in Alexander’s hand.

It was not easy to snatch a cup from soone else’s grasp—especially one filled with liquid. But the mont I realized what had happened, it was already over. And because it was an attack that did not quite look like one, even defensive magic had not recognized it.

People mistook Michelon for a Sword Master, though he was not one yet, and even he was trendously strong—but he could not have done sothing like that.

‘I need magic to prepare for this.’

Rolf and Michelon, beside , brought their hands to their sword hilts. Alexander did not even glance at them. He simply raised the goblet he had stolen from and drained it in one breath.

It was an insult I had never experienced. Had the man who had been trying so hard to show goodwill finally revealed his true colors? Or had he simply reached the point where he could no longer hide the instability that had haunted him since killing his cousin?

“What do you think you are doing?”

Rolf stepped in front of , blocking my way, and demanded sharply. Michelon was already at Alexander’s side. He kicked away the large Illegitimate Prince Faction knight standing near Alexander as though the man were a doll, sending him sprawling. The knight collapsed without even managing to scream. He had not shattered his knee, had he?

“To steal my younger brother’s cup right before my eyes—do you repay my hospitality in this manner?”

My brother strode forward in anger. Grimiati did as well. Desmond, freed from my brother’s grasp, hid behind .

Alexander was still smiling—almost pleased to be surrounded by killing intent. He did not even try to conceal his desire to let his murderous aura explode and ruin the banquet into a brawl.

“Everyone, do not be angry. Is it not my brother’s birthday banquet?”

I spoke without letting my expression waver. So he was strong in close combat—so what? If I blocked him with a barrier and flung him away with magic, what could he do, Sword Master or not?

“The confined Empress’s bastard has been disrespectful to His Highness Leontes. This is the Count of Petrafis’s chance to show loyalty to Your Highness.”

That was when Grimiati spoke—looking not at , but at Michelon.

When my brother had interrogated Michelon before, the duke had not stepped forward, but I had no doubt he had been behind it. He had done nothing while Michelon was safely a re commoner, but the mont Michelon earned rit and beca a noble, he began provoking him.

Even this ti, it was absurd. Did he truly think Michelon would fall for such shallow tricks?

“My loyalty—whether to a marquis or a duke—I will gladly show you.”

My friend swallowed it whole. Baring his teeth at the duke, he lifted a hand toward the marquis. I barely managed to catch his arm in ti and force it down as I spoke.

“Marquess Steiner rely tasted my wine to show everyone that there was no poison in it. Truly loyal, Marquess. I will not forget your service, and one day I will surely repay you with a reward worthy of it.”

In proper procedure, one first drank an entire cup to prove there was no poison, then took a sip from the next cup as well.

When Grimiati had hosted at a banquet, he had personally demonstrated it that way. Even when poison-detection artifacts were used, formal banquets still followed tradition.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

My brother shattered the frozen silence with his distinctive laughter.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! So you are saying there is poison in my wine. It is so ridiculous I cannot bear it. A marquess reduced to becoming my younger brother’s taster—how delightful. Well done, my younger brother! Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

And then, in his glee, he tried to sling an arm around my shoulders as well. If Rolf had not stood stubbornly in front of and shot Reinhard a sharp look to restrain him, I would have been dragged into my brother’s embrace, against our family’s traditions.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! As expected of His Highness Leontes!”

“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! How elegant Your Highness’s handling of it was!”

“To be insolent to His Highness Leontes of all people—he must have learned nothing from what happened to Her Majesty the Empress!”

“At this point, anyone who says His Highness Leontes is not passionate is simply a fool!”

Everyone laughed along with my brother—except Desmond. No, I was not laughing either. I forced a smile. I had done the work, and I could not let my brother take the popularity for it.

People praised with their words, but if my brother had not laughed first, I doubted they would have followed. The Sword Master’s presence had been that ominous. I needed to cultivate sociability quickly. I had no idea how.

“As expected of Prince Leontes, how could I not show my loyalty of my own accord?”

Polite words, and yet those eyes still burned. I could guess well enough what he ant by treating this way.

“Brother Alexander.”

I did not avert my gaze. I stared him straight in the eyes as I spoke.

“I hope this is not the last mont I call you ‘brother.’ If you wish to speak of the Lauderdale dukedom, co to anyti. Just as I seized my own place, my brother should do the sa. Otherwise, you are not my brother.”

The Sword Master’s murderous aura surged. Michelon and Rolf reached out and shoved backward openly. Yolande and Vincent unfolded defensive magic, crushing aside the First Prince Faction’s barrier and everything else. Even Jero bared his teeth, looking as though he might transform into a wolf at any mont.

But I did not retreat. I rely watched my half-brother’s anger in silence, refusing to miss the truth that finally surfaced—the feelings he had hidden behind that ever-sly face.

‘Will the rising blaze erupt like a volcano, or can it settle itself before then?’

I did not hide the question. A Sword Master could be a weapon that had lost control—just as he had been when he killed his cousin. If so, it was better for him to do it in front of .

-If Your Highness Leontes had been there, things would not have gone that far.

My father, who had co to after losing his son to pour out his grief, had not been wrong. I could handle that weapon.

The Sword Master very nearly exploded. But at the last instant he barely forced it down—and the mont he did, he turned and vanished. Faster than when he had arrived.

Even the Illegitimate Prince Faction did not dare to follow, so terrified of their leader that they could only stand there shaking and gasping for breath. The others were the sa. It was as though the Sword Master’s killing intent pressed down on the very air.

I wanted to create a barrier like that too—one that pinned everyone in place with pressure alone.

“Your Highness, please return now. I will escort you.”

The first to speak was Michelon. What nonsense was that from a banquet fanatic? Usually, when I tried to leave, he begged to stay just a little longer—yet we had barely arrived.

But Rolf, and Yolande, and Jero were already moving as well. They positioned themselves at my sides and behind , with Michelon at the front like a battering ram ready to shove anything aside, determined to leave the banquet hall.

Alexander was Alexander, but why should I be the one to leave like him?

“The banquet is only beginning.”

I said it. Now, smiling ca easily. Whether my half-brother’s insides churned with fury and he tried to take it out on , whether my half-brother demanded protection as though he had entrusted himself to , whether my brother remained consistent as always—none of it could shake .

Most of all, crushing the enemy who had insulted tasted best when it was done before everyone’s eyes. At last, I understood the pleasure of a banquet.

Michelon stared at as though I were insane. It was the sa look he had given Alexander earlier. Rolf, however, calmly took up my words.

“His Highness Leontes has said that the banquet is beginning now.”

Rolf was naturally cheerful and gentle, but he took his duty as my guard too seriously, so at gatherings like this he only answered when spoken to—leading people to mistake him for taciturn. That was why, when he addressed the crowd for the first ti at the banquet, it was more effective than the three banquet fanatics put together.

“As expected of Prince Leontes! I feel positively refreshed!”

“You parried the provocation so calmly—your charisma is overflowing!”

“Ha-ha, of course! May everything be accomplished according to His Highness Leontes’s will!”

Naturally, the three banquet fanatics hurried to echo him and lift the mood. Yolande even put on an indoor fireworks display that required unbelievably precise mana control so the place would not catch fire. The people who had gone pale with fear regained their spirit and burst into cheers.

“His Highness Leontes was truly wonderful!”

“I thought the banquet was going to end right here, but the way you handled it with such princely dignity—how extraordinary!”

“And yet how could Marquess Steiner behave that way? We were having such a fine ti, and then I was terrified. If it had not been His Highness Prince Leontes, I might have fainted.”

“Those who have been saying His Highness Leontes is dull should properly reflect on themselves!”

“Who could have spread such talk? If you do not know, you are simply foolish.”

People surged toward like moths drawn to fla. They had frozen solid, and now they seed desperate to warm themselves in my heat. Look at that—how popular I was. My dazzling sociability.

“Indeed—how proud I am. Well done, my younger brother! To think you drove off that bastard who did not know his place and caused trouble at my banquet—for my sake!”

Do not think you can ride on my popularity just because you are my brother.