Chapter 65
“Prince Varca, your request for an audience has been granted. Please prepare yourself, and I will be back by sunset,” the residence officer of the Swallow Residence said to Pahell. Pahell scurried up from his chair and summoned Phillion.
“Get us ready right now and run the bath.”
All of a sudden, his request was granted. Pahell clenched his fists.
‘This is it. This is my chance.’
His chest heaved. Nerves and excitement almost made him nauseous.
The man who ruled over the city of Hamel, the empire, and even the world. The title ‘Ruler of the World’ was not an overstatement. The sun god Lou was absolute, but the emperor was right under him.
‘Dammit, I feel like I’m going to throw up.’
Pahell’s fate was going to be decided by this audience. He submerged his body into the bath that Phillion had prepared. He brought his face below the surface, closed his eyes, then opened them again.
“My prince, you must receive an answer for your request for asylum as well as prove your rightful claim to the throne...”
Pahell picked his head up from the water.
“You don’t have to tell me all that. Don’t go on like an old man.”
“I must be becoming a nag,” Phillion nodded with a smile.
“Do you think Urich had something to do with our request being granted out of nowhere?”
“That is most likely the case. Urich performed outstandingly with the crest of Porcana on his back. I wouldn’t be surprised if he caught the attention of the emperor.”
“That’s Urich. He never disappoints.”
Pahell grinned bitterly. He could only feel indebted to Urich.
“He is a warrior of extraordinary caliber. He is not someone whose story will finish as a mere mercenary leader.”
Phillion thought highly of Urich. Urich was not only strong, but he was intelligent, and he knew the meaning of honor and integrity and upheld them himself.
‘He will be an extraordinary man.’
Anyone who had seen Urich throughout his life said the same. Whether it was the shaman who had watched Urich grow up or his brothers from the tribe, they all knew that Urich was something special.
Splash.
Pahell stretched his arms slightly and struck the water lightly. He looked at his own arms which had picked up quite a bit of muscle. But despite all the recent training, his body was far from that of a fighter.
“What is the emperor like?”
The name of the current and third emperor was Yanchinus Hamelon, which meant ‘Yanchinus the owner of Hamel,’ similar to how Aneu Porcana meant the ‘Son of Porcana.’
“The emperor is popular with people, intelligent but capricious... and said to be a womanizer. At least, this is what is known to the public. It could very well be a political rumor made up for publicity.”
Each of the emperors was a legendary figure. The first emperor, Sharkaman, built his empire by subjugating the surrounding kingdom within the span of a single generation, and the second emperor Garangius conquered the north and south while consolidating his empire.
After the two previous emperors, it was no wonder the public wanted to know what the third emperor, Yanchinus, had in his mind.
‘The Subjugation of the Remaining Barbarians.’
Pahell muttered. It was one of Yanchinus’ most significant policies to assimilate the barbarians through civilization’s influence. As a result, quite a large number of barbarians had been brought into the ways of civilization. Over the last decade, the public’s antipathy toward barbarians has diminished rapidly as well.
‘I’ve spread the rumor that Urich and I are quite close.’
That was what Pahell was going for. The empire was pro-barbarian. There was a good chance that he would be intrigued by the friendship between a barbarian and a royalty.
‘Did it work, then?’
Pahell swept back his wet hair. His blue eyes were vibrant and deep. They were one of the two traits of the royal family of Porcana: Blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Good, I’m ready.”
Pahell helped himself up as water dripped off his body. The servants rushed in to dry him.
The sun slowly set, and Pahell, bathed and dressed in clean clothes, waited for the residence official. After the sun had set, the official came to Pahell.
“Where are we going?”
“We are going to the Palace of White Night, also known as the Palace of Ten Pleasures,” the official smiled, and Pahell fell silent for a moment.
“It doesn’t sound like an appropriate place for an audience.”
“This audience was not on the schedule. There is no reason for His Majesty to alter his schedule just for a prince of a small kingdom,” the official said blatantly. Pahell held back a rising tide of insults.
“I kid, of course, Prince Varca. I was just trying to lift the mood a little. His Majesty often proceeds with his audience in the Palace of White Night, and he even offers his women to guests of honor.”
The official let out a low chuckle.
“That was a bad joke, official.”
Pahell swallowed hard. The Palace of Ten Pleasures was visible from quite a distance. One just had to look for the palace that was as bright as day even in the darkest hour of the night. It was a palace where darkness never came even at night, hence the name Palace of White Night.
Creak.
The gates of the Palace of White Night opened, and the soldiers standing on either side of the gate didn’t budge. Instead, they moved only their eyes to inspect Pahell and the official. It was in these details that the Imperial discipline was evident.
“Incense?”
Incense burners dotted the palace. As the smoke drifted from them, they released a thick scent.
“Please follow me, Prince Varca.”
The official said as he walked ahead. The intermittent laughter of women was heard from left and right, and their smooth shadows were visible through the thin curtains. Their thick bodily scent mingled with the scent of the incense, creating a strange and unique smell that Pahell had never smelled anywhere else before.
“Please pay your respect to the Ruler of the World, Your Majesty Yanchinus Hamelon.”
The official said to Pahell. His eyes were pointed toward the bed that was five steps up the stairs. Beyond the drape that hung from the ceiling sat Yanchinus with women by his side, caressing his body.
“Ahh, you’re here.”
“I meet the emperor,” Pahell said as he bowed deeply.
“Sit here, Prince Varca. Official, leave us be,” Yanchinus said as he patted down a pile of cushions and pillows. The women around him giggled.
‘The smell of women.’
Pahell sat on the edge of the bed. The bodily odor that was mixed with human body heat felt very close. The women were practically half-naked.
‘The priests would be terrified if they saw this.’
Pahell was a faithful, devout follower of Solarism. A place of desire like this was foreign to him, and he suddenly longed for the clear sea back home.
“Do any of them fit your type?”
Yanchinus asked Pahell as he tilted his head with a grin.
“There’s something we should discuss first...”
“If you don’t like women, are you into men?”
Yanchinus laughed as he slapped his knee, and his women followed suit. Pahell’s face turned red.
“That’s not what I meant, Your Majesty, the reason why I requested your audience is...”
“I know, you don’t have to explain all that to me,” Yanchinus cut Pahell off once again.
‘I’m getting no respect from the emperor.’
‘Driven into exile by your own uncle and seeking asylum at fifteen,’ Yanchinus thought to himself as he looked at Pahell.
He had heard all he needed to hear. When he first received Pahell’s request for an audience, he had pushed it far down his priority list.
“I heard that that uncle of yours who is trying to steal your throne is Duke Harmatti. What would you do if he had already reached out to me and convinced me of his rightful claim to the throne?”
“That traitor has no legitimate claim to the throne!”
“That’s true, but only if you, the rightful heir, is alive.”
Yanchinus raised his arm. The women who had been flirting with Pahell suddenly drew a dagger from underneath the cushions and pillows.
“What is the meaning of this!”
Pahell was shocked. The women put the dagger against his neck while Yanchinus stared at Pahell with a grin on his face.
“If you die, Duke Harmatti will take the throne. From what I’ve heard, he’s not a bad politician at all, and he has the support of many nobles in Porcana. He’ll probably do a good job ruling the kingdom smoothly in your place. He’s only forty, so he’ll still have a decade left in him as long as I stay quiet about how he got the throne.”
Pahell’s face turned pale.
‘Is this how it ends? Has my uncle already reached the emperor?’
Pahell suddenly realized and regretted his complacency, although a bit too late. He naively thought that everything would work out as long as he reached the empire. Now that he thought about it, it was never guaranteed that the empire was going to be on his side.
“Your joke is going too far, Your Majesty,” Pahell said with trembling lips. Yanchinus shook his head.
“Say your last words, prince. You will go down in history as the fool who came to the empire to claim your throne and died a shameful death while chasing pleasures with women.”
Yanchinus slowly clenched his open hand. With his cue, the blade of the dagger pressed harder against Pahell’s neck. The women holding the blade whispered his death in their high-pitched voices.
“In exchange for my life, I ask that you ensure the safety of the knights who served me... and reward the mercenaries and their leader Urich generously for the work they have done for me. They are capable men who deserve better than to be under someone like me. If you grant me this one last request, I will return to Lou without any resentment or curse.”
Pahell recited his prayer. It was hard to be brave in the face of death. His legs felt like noodles.
‘Oh, Lou, please give me the courage to accept death, so that I may not become ugly in the face of death.’
Pahell wanted to fall to his knees and beg for his life, but he didn’t. He had learned courage on his journey to the empire.
‘What would Urich do in this situation?’
Pahell asked himself. If it were Urich, he probably would have concluded his life with a smile on his face.
Pahell forced the corners of his mouth to curl up into a smile. One must be able to laugh at the edge of life and death—keep his determination strong despite staring at the face of death.
‘That is what it means to be noble.’
Pahell shut his eyes.
Yanchinus clapped.
“I think my joke went a bit too far, Prince Varca.”
At Yanchinus’ signal, the women hid the dagger back under the pillows and shuffled backward and scattered.
“Huff, huff.”
Pahell opened his eyes and gasped for air, still nervously, as he bent over. His heart was thumping out of his chest. He had just walked the line between life and death.
“Here, drink some cold water. There is no poison, so don’t worry about that, haha.”
The emperor took a sip out of the cup first before handing it over to Pahell. Pahell gulped down the cold water and calmed his beating chest.
‘I’m alive.’
Sweat poured down Pahell’s face. The bath that he took right before the audience was meaningless.
“You enjoy your jokes,” Pahell’s words were tinged with displeasure. He couldn’t hide it even if he tried.
“That’s what happens when you have everything you could possibly have in the world. It takes a lot for me to feel something. I’ve had everything I’ve ever wanted since I was born, so you’ll have to forgive me if my jokes are a bit rough and over the line from time to time.”
Yanchinus spoke such arrogant words with unbelievable ease. But no one could deny his words, not even the Pope who was supposed to be the representative of the almighty sun god Lou, who bowed his head in the presence of the emperor. There wasn’t a single force in the world that could stand in the way of the all-powerful emperor.
Pahell cleared his throat and looked Yanchinus straight in his eyes.
“Please officially grant my request for asylum and help me claim my throne, Your Majesty.”
Yanchinus cupped Pahell’s cheeks in his palms as he stared at him with fiery eyes.
“At fifteen, you are old enough to hold your own and defend your throne! If I helped a prince who couldn’t even manage that to become king of the kingdom, do you think he could rule it properly? Even if he did, how does that benefit me? Whoever becomes king of Porcana is of no concern to me. Whoever it is that takes that throne, as long as he continues to pay tribute to the empire, that’s all that matters to me! Does the Porcana Kingdom worry about who becomes the ruler of each of the counties? That’s what the throne of Porcana means to me.”
Yanchinus burst out laughing as he unleashed his words on Pahell.
“If the rightful heir does not take the throne, it will set a bad precedent.”
This was Pahell’s only point of argument.
“I don’t care about that! I have the invincible Order of Imperial Steel as my left hand and the indomitable Sun Warriors as my right, not to mention the proud imperial army at my feet lifting me up! Enough of this nonsense, if I spoon-feed the throne to the prince who can’t even grasp it for himself, what benefit will you return to me?”
The emperor’s frenzied roar crushed Pahell’s spirit.
‘This man is a wolf.’
Yanchinus was an emperor who poured his power into the revelation of academia, and he even implemented a cultural policy for the barbarians. But the emperor that Pahell met was a man of war who was equipped with both intelligence and wildness. After all, he was the heir of the first two emperors who had built this empire with power. There was no way that their successor would be meek.
“I will grant your request for asylum! You can stay here like a defeated dog, scavenging for food I throw you, but, Prince Varca, if you want my help becoming king, then bring me a fitting gift. I will give you three days. We will dine together, and you may bring your friend, that barbarian mercenary leader.”
Yanchinus summoned the women again. Pahell shuffled backward as he kept his eyes on the emperor.
“I will see you in three days, Your Majesty.”
“You may take any of these women if there is one that you like. I know that the royal bloodline of Porcana is known for its beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. If you sow your seed and a girl is born who takes after you, I will make her my concubine.”
Pahell suppressed his urge to gag. The power that had left the hands of a priest was pure debauchery. Yanchinus chased his desires as if he had forgotten all of the teachings of the sun god.
“Also, take my gift from the official. It is my gift to you for surviving the Palace of White Night. Gifts are supposed to be both given and received! Remember my words!”
With those words, only a harsh groan remained in the room as the man and women tangled like animals.
Pahell, who bowed his head in acknowledgment, stepped out of the Palace of White Night.
“His Majesty said that he left me a gift.”
The official was waiting by the entrance. He took out a gold-trimmed box and opened it.
“A precious treasure from the frozen lands of the north. Its value is immeasurable.”
The official said to Pahell. What he pulled out of the box was a palm-sized statue chiseled from green jade, something that Pahell had never seen before. It was of a snake with a marble in its mouth. For a snake, it seemed quite brave.
“A snake?”
Pahell muttered.
“Not exactly. It’s called a dragon,” the residence official replied.
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