The Emperor Who Was Once a Tyrant Returns Chapter 137 : Chapter 137

Chapter : 137

Maximilian was genuinely delighted. He was not close to , and he disliked it when others grew close to as well. In particular, he had taken the alliance between Alexander and as nothing more than a younger brother’s defiance ant to insult him, so when the two of us clashed right in front of his eyes, he could not have been happier.

“Of course, I would not have let that bastard harm you at my banquet. But you knew that, which is why you endured so steadfastly, did you not?”

As the banquet continued in renewed high spirits, my brother said that to .

“Even so, would you have been faster than a Sword Master? More than anything, you were watching closely to see how I handled it. To see whether it t your standards.”

“How could I not? You are my younger brother and the First Prince of this country. Do you expect a lower standard than that?”

“Of course not. I only ask that you keep in mind this as well—my standards for you, my brother and the First Prince, are not lower than yours. They are higher.”

Because they were the standards of a future emperor.

“Ha-ha. On my birthday, my younger brother is showering with affection!”

Of course, a sincere warning did not reach a brother who had lost his mind like this—when that was the real birthday present.

“Shall you open your gifts now, Your Highness Maximilian?”

At that mont, Duke Grimiati suggested it to him.

“Of course, Granduncle.”

My brother strode to the center of the bed—no, the stage. People crowded around him. But Grimiati remained at my side.

“Your Highness Leontes truly does not fear the Sword Master. It is remarkable.”

He might not know I was a mage, but he may have sensed that my power was far from ordinary.

“Why should I fear him when I do not fear my own full brother, nor you?”

What would it matter if he knew? The first to notice would simply be the first to die.

“Ha-ha, our Prince Leontes is truly bold.”

Did you hear that, Michelon? Yolande? Jero? Even my enemy flattered with pleasant words—what were you all doing?

…Of course, they were loyal subjects who offered advice that beca my flesh and blood, even when I did not want to hear it in the mont.

“As Your Highness said, you improved your relationships with your brothers on your own, without the help of either or His Highness Maximilian.”

“So what is the point? Do not speak at length. I do not like your voice.”

I did not like his face either, but surely he had noticed that much.

“Now is the opportunity. His Highness Maximilian has co of age, and Your Highness is pulling ahead, overwhelming that woman’s sons. This is the perfect mont to form a flawless alliance. If you miss it, it is an opportunity that will never co again. It is an arrangent made by Her Majesty the late Empress in heaven for the sake of you two brothers—so that you may strike down that woman’s sons.”

As though, if I did not take their hand, I would be unfilial to my mother. And Grimiati seed like the sort who would truly believe it.

“If it is an alliance, my brother should propose it himself. Why is a duke doing it? Is this not the perfect mont to make it clear who the head of the First Prince Faction is?”

“I do not an to mock Your Highness in the slightest. It is simply that His Highness Maximilian believes that an alliance with his full-blooded younger brother is already ford, for all practical purposes.”

He was not wrong. If he did not think so, he would not be my brother.

“So if he formally proposes it to and I refuse, he is worried his fragile heart might suffer a shock.”

Unlike , he had not been tempered by hardship.

“You and I can quietly adjust certain conditions in advance. If it displeases Your Highness to negotiate with , your granduncle, rather than with your brother, then Your Highness may also put forward soone else to negotiate on your behalf.”

“I will think about it.”

Just as I answered, my brother turned this way and called for .

“My younger brother! Should you not be the first to give a gift to , your elder brother?”

When I thought about it, in the past he had given gifts on my birthday as well. It was simply that he always gave what he liked. He once gave a warhorse even though I had never learned to ride.

-Do not keep sniffling and collapsing like a weakling. Start training as a knight already!

A warhorse was trained to be fierce so it would not flee the battlefield. So of them kicked and bit even other horses, and if the rider displeased them, they would throw him off. My nanny was so horrified she would not let go near it.

But I often slipped away from my busy nanny’s eyes to visit. The horse I nad Leon after myself would tap my crown with its nose and chew at my hair with its big teeth, playing with sweetly.

When I managed to climb onto its back despite knowing nothing of riding, it would amble along, or trot without going too fast. Leon had the most beautiful hair—no, mane—in the world after my nanny’s, and I even braided it sotis in place of her hair when she was too busy.

‘I had to sell him when my nanny fell ill.’

I did not regret it. With that money I bought my nanny expensive dicines and food that were not offered to commoners, and I made sure she received a proper funeral so she would not be buried in the paupers’ graveyard without even a gravestone.

Still, I often thought of Leon, craning his long neck to look back at as he was led away by the rchant who bought him.

-Which matters more to you, your brother or your nanny? You dared sell my gift?

After that, I never received another gift from him, but Leon had been the best birthday present I ever had.

“I will gladly do so.”

I took sothing from my pocket and placed it before my brother. When Yolande flicked her staff, it began to grow larger and larger.

“Oh, heavens!”

“What is all of this?”

“You startled !”

I listened with pleasure to the crowd’s exclamations.

My gift was a bed. Made of gold and adorned with jewels, the bed was stuffed with valuable ostrich and peacock feathers, making it luxuriously soft. My brother’s mouth split into a grin from ear to ear.

“It is a bed artifact. It has Weight-lightening Magic on it, so it is very light.”

I lifted the bed with one hand, raised it into the air, then set it down again—partly to show off my strength to the fools who thought I was frail. Magic was muscle, you idiots. And muscle without any loss at that.

“It also has Shrinking Magic on it, so when you are not lying on it, you can shrink it and store it away.”

“My goodness, I have never seen such a large artifact with two spells on it!”

“It is extravagance itself!”

The crowd marveled, and my brother nearly died of joy.

“As expected of my younger brother! You have given a useful, convenient gift. You complained every ti I lay down, yet you give a bed that suits my tastes!”

Yes—keep lying down. Keep it up until people cannot tell whether Armatia’s First Prince is a man or an invertebrate. That was why I gave it to you.

My brother did not notice my delicate conspiracy to awaken people from their illusions about him and expose what he truly was, so he was happy.

“Now it is my turn to give a gift.”

Then Desmond stepped forward. Everyone looked at him. Of course, he had not lost his territory or his wealth, but he could no longer rely on a rich maternal family. I understood why he wanted to show off even more because of that, but….

“Oh, you are giving a gift? How I look forward to it. But your circumstances are pitiful, so you need not strain yourself.”

Whether my brother smiled languidly or not, Desmond gave an order to an attendant. A mont later, he reappeared with four servants—he had been out of sight briefly.

“No, that is…!”

“Surely not!”

“But truly…!”

The crowd’s murmurs grew louder.

What Desmond presented was a golden egg. It looked exactly like a dragon egg and was just as large, so at first glance it was indistinguishable.

“Is it truly a dragon egg?”

“I have never seen one before!”

For a mont, people were mistaken and thrilled—but soon they realized it was a fake.

If it were real, Desmond would never have offered it.

“Eldest brother, will you accept my gift?”

He asked my brother, as though acknowledging that my brother was worthy of having a dragon egg.

Of course, no one was fooled. Desmond was simply trying to please my brother as well, the way he sought my protection. He ant to endure a brief humiliation in order to survive.

‘A thod like that never helped, did it? As you and your mother taught .’

Well. He would have to learn by suffering through it himself if he wanted to survive.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

My brother threw back his head and laughed. Even knowing Desmond’s intent, he was pleased to receive flattery in front of everyone.

“I am pleased, Desmond. It is an excellent gift.”

My brother’s eyes blazed with greed.

“Here. You should crack it with this.”

Desmond held out a silver axe. Since one should not gift a blade to the birthday celebrant, even the axe head was silver. He could have simply used a hamr.

“It would be a sha to break it. Is it not your heart, offering a dragon egg?”

“Then will you store it as it is?”

“How could I ignore your sincerity? Indeed, I am curious what will co out of this dragon egg.”

Saying that, my brother took the silver axe and struck down. The golden egg split with a sharp crack, and gold coins poured out from inside.

“Ha-ha! My younger brother has promised a dragon egg—and the wealth and glory that will co from it!”

Laughing, my brother scooped up the gold coins and scattered them to the jesters, musicians, and prostitutes at the banquet. They crawled across the floor, scrambling greedily to gather them.

The nobles laughed as they watched. It was amusent only the upper class could enjoy. It infuriated that this childish stunt was more popular than my clever gift. Fine, then. Popularity in this rotten country ant nothing. It was not my sociability that was the problem.

“Congratulations, Maxim. To receive such loyalty—Armatia’s First Prince has a bright future ahead.”

Grimiati bowed respectfully to my brother, neatly ignoring the fact that Desmond had not actually sworn any oath of loyalty.

“Ha-ha-ha! Indeed!”

Michelon stepped forward, laughing as he chid in. For so ti now he had been unable to endure how ridiculous it all was—the imperial bloodlines of Armatia, exchanging gifts with an egg that was already broken, even making a fake for the sake of it.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! I thought Prince Desmond had sworn loyalty to His Highness Leontes, but it is the opposite, is it not? As Duke Grimiati said, his true intent was to swear loyalty to His Highness the First Prince—how astonishing!”

“Oh! Indeed!”

“The Count of Petrafis is right!”

The First Prince Faction imdiately voiced agreent, and our side did the sa. We were used to following Michelon as though he were a vanguard. Jero caught on at once.

“That is right! I, too, was completely deceived. I thought Prince Desmond ant to pledge loyalty to our Prince Leontes! Truly, your stratagem is remarkable, Prince Desmond!”

“Indeed. We all believed we were joining Prince Desmond’s side, so we were all fooled. We can only apologize to His Highness Leontes.”

As Jero spoke quickly, Giuliano nodded. Desmond clenched his teeth and said,

“…I rely wished to give my eldest brother a gift—”

“Please do not be too disappointed, Your Highness Leontes. Now that Prince Desmond has made his position clear, he will never co again seeking Your Highness’s protection.”

At that mont, Rolf opened his mouth. Sohow, the very act of him speaking made people startle and pay even more attention. And his words were the finishing blow.

“If Cerber—no, Baron Graf speaks like that….”

“He was walking a tightrope between the two, and he has chosen a side.”

“It looks as though he tried to attach himself to His Highness Leontes and was rejected. That is why he flattened himself before His Highness the First Prince.”

“Honestly, His Highness Leontes does not need His Highness Desmond right now. He has authority to give orders at least once, and more than anything, His Highness Desmond no longer has the power he used to. He is practically baggage.”

“So he cast him out because he was botherso and useless?”

“And seizing the mont, he dumped him onto His Highness the First Prince.”

“Oh dear, how unfortunate!”

Before our faction even had to act, everyone—regardless of faction—chattered excitedly.

“It is truly lovely! The two of them, so similar, becoming one faction!”

When Yolande whispered that to the noblewon, they all burst into laughter. Desmond, who was said to be so arrogant he even disregarded his full brother, and Maximilian, who had indeed disregarded his full brother, were both so arrogant that it was impossible to decide which imperial was worse. Maximilian was at least the First Prince, but many nobles resented Desmond for being unbearably arrogant despite his imperfect bloodline. Even the forr Empress Faction did.

-Baroness, you do not look well. Are you all right? If there is anything I can do, please tell .

-Sob… I cannot sleep even a wink these days. Everyone is treating with such contempt! If you think about it, I am a victim too!

-My goodness. Tell . I may not be of great help, but I would like to listen, at least.

-Yes. If you listen, then His Highness Leontes will understand my grievance too!

In particular, Yolande was approaching won of the Empress Faction who had survived because they were not of the Lauderdale family, yet still had nowhere to stand at court, and she was organizing an informal faction: the Anti-Desmond Faction.