There were quite a few days before the visit to the Levaith Duchy. In the anti, I had taken another leave to visit a certain soone... Diana to be exact.
She had locked herself in the palace, with no signs of returning to the academy for the assignnt.
It had to be noted that every day a student takes a leave from the academy... it results in the deduction of scores from their academic evaluation.
The academy does grant so holidays for genuine reasons, but those too have their limits.
And Diana had clearly crossed the limit.
No.
That wasn’t quite right.
Diana still had a day or two left before the academy would start punishing her on the grounds of indiscipline.
So... I had a day to make her return to the academy.
This ti, knowing that the headmaster was already aware of my reason, I had decided to use the official teleportation channels of the academy.
And within a few monts, I was now standing in the capital city of the Veltran Empire.
Not quite.
I had already reached the grand Veltran Palace that stood with all its majesty before .
Guards lined every corner of the palace as I walked through its vicinity.
Though I didn’t have any official letter of permission to enter the palace... I wasn’t stopped by any of the guards.
And why would they even stop ?
The Frosts had always enjoyed a different kind of privilege, and that ant I was allowed to enjoy the sa benefits irrespective of the fact whether I was still a mber of the house or not.
At the end of the day, I still had Frost in my na.
Though that wasn’t the only reason.
My entry into the capital city should have already been known to the emperor. And if despite that, I wasn’t stopped anywhere, it ant only one thing—
The emperor had permitted to et his daughter.
That was good, or else I would have been required to use other thods to enter the palace.
thods that I didn’t enjoy using...
The mont I stepped through the massive gates, a woman in the maid’s uniform approached before slightly bowing her head.
"You have been summoned by His Majesty, Sir Kael."
Sir, huh.
I simply nodded my head at her words as the maid motioned for to follow her.
Though I only wanted to et Diana... having to et her father wasn’t that bad of a thing.
I knew Mair Veltra wouldn’t have much of a good opinion about . Still... he should have already known that his daughter had once again shifted to being on good terms with .
After all, every piece of news at Namda reached the ears of the emperor for sure, especially if they were related to his daughter... soone whom he always doted upon.
The walk wasn’t long, as within so minutes I had already reached the room where the emperor was going to et .
The maid simply bowed her head while motioning for to enter.
I felt a slight tensing of my nerves at the thought of eting the emperor.
Was I nervous to talk to him?
No.
But I indeed felt the need to be a little cautious.
It may have been my instincts warning , but there was no need for them to act up.
Even without the warning, I knew just how scheming an emperor could be.
Any slip-up on my part could prove disastrous for .
After all, every emperor, no matter which empire or era, had always been born through blood and chaos.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door, though I felt a little resistance while doing it.
Why were the doors so heavy?
I had to apply so more strength to open the door, though I stopped myself from using any mana.
It wasn’t like I doubted Alfred’s capabilities, but Emperor Mair was in a league of his own.
"You sure were lost in so deep thoughts."
The mont I entered the room, a comnt followed, making look to my right, only to find the emperor sitting on a sofa with two cups of coffee placed before him.
The light breeze of wind through the nearby window amplified the presence of his silver hair, coupled with those grey eyes... a combination that was known to be a signature look of the mbers of House Veltra.
"Greetings."
I gave a small smile while uttering the words, though I made no effort to bow.
I wasn’t here to show my subservience, nor was I here to earn a favour from him.
It was the emperor who wanted to et , not the other way around.
"Hm? You have beco quite polite since the last ti I had seen you."
The emperor spoke while crossing his legs and looking at with those knowing eyes... as if he knew everything about the instant I had stepped into his palace.
"People grow with ti."
My reply was short as I walked towards the sofa placed opposite the emperor.
"Do they? Though I can’t deny your growth... the exact words would be that you have adapted with ti."
Just as I made myself comfortable on the sofa, the emperor smiled at while uttering the words.
"May I know the reason for summoning to et you?"
My question was t with silence, though the emperor gestured his hand towards the cup placed before .
Haa...
Lifting it, I took the first sip before looking at the emperor.
The emperor, on his part, had turned his head to the right, looking out of the window, lost in his own thoughts.
"Diana still loves you."
"..."
Well... it wasn’t like I was ignorant of the fact.
Haa...
Though the possibility of the emperor talking about this had crossed my mind, I had just hoped that he wouldn’t make things awkward for himself. After all, my answers had never been the most polite ones.
"Was that a question?"
Still... I wanted to be as diplomatic as I could.
No matter the past between the emperor and the original Kael... I couldn’t act based on those events.
After all, I wasn’t Kael, so there was no need to maintain his way of communicating with people.
Keeping distance from others and being foolishly aggressive were two entirely separate things.
"Maybe."
A short reply.
Fair enough.
"How is Syma faring after the recent attacks?"
Haa...
"Isn’t it rude to dig into the personal lives of other people?"
Though I knew that such things couldn’t be hidden for long... still, I had to play my part.
The emperor didn’t reply imdiately as he took a sip from his cup before nodding his head.
"It is, but... such a grand entrance speech, followed by a massive transfer of credits from the Syma Royal Branch to Namda—"
"..."
"You should have already expected people like us to eventually find out about it. After all, how would a kid with no backing from his house even provide such a large sum? Though I must say, that move was a good one."
The praise didn’t land well with , though I restrained myself from showing any emotions on my face.
"Still... what is your exact relationship with them? Are you close to their founder?"
"..."
"Or is the secret even deeper than that?"
People like the emperor always had the tendency to question others without expecting any sort of reply.
After all, silence was an answer on its own.
Still, the subconscious expressions that an individual makes while listening to such questions were the main factor that helped these... old schers get their answers with almost zero effort.
But—
I wasn’t soone who could be deciphered this easily.
"Your Majesty should just write a story of his own. It would sell for a lot, seeing the level of your ability to imagine and create things out of thin air."
Silence.
"Hahaha... Honestly, I would be lying if I said that the thought had never crossed my mind."
The emperor’s laugh felt pretty natural to ... though I knew how good he was at controlling his emotions.
Maybe... the laugh was ant to lower my guard?
Or maybe—
Hm?
Why was I being paranoid?
It didn’t really matter what objectives the emperor wanted to achieve under the disguise of this eting.
I was confident enough that he was just trying to play with .
After all, the emperor would never try anything to harm the child of his dear friend, would he?
"So... how is the leadership of Syma planning to combat their current situation?"
The atmosphere felt a little heavy, as the emperor had a serious expression on his face.
But—
"You could just schedule a eting with them... or is it that you are scared of being rejected?"
"..."
I felt the air coil around my neck as breathing beca a little difficult.
But... that was the extent of the change in the atmosphere.
Honestly, such tricks couldn’t pressure at all, and the emperor should have already known that.
"Tell ... why have you co here?"
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