episode_0130

The deepest part of the imperial palace.

There, Maev knelt respectfully before his ‘father’ who was welcoming him warmly.

“I’m here, Abamama. How are you feeling?”

“Hehe, I’m fine. Thanks for worrying about me.”

Padishah smiles happily as she looks at her daughter who asks her sincere well-being.

However, seeing him like this, Maeb spoke again with concern.

“I heard that you have been having a hard time moving around lately. Please don’t overwork yourself and always take care of your health.”

“Yes, I have to be careful because my daughter is worried. But Maev, as you know, this father is the monarch of this country. As the father of tens of millions of people, I can’t afford to be lazy even for a moment, right?”

“Abama mama..”

Padishah speaks in a voice that simultaneously conveys kindness and a sense of responsibility as a monarch.

At this, Princess Maeb still looked at him with a worried expression, and Padishah spoke to his daughter with a slightly expectant voice as if trying to change the mood.

“Okay, let’s stop this story here.. Let’s hear who the guest my daughter brought is.”

“Ah.. yes, Abamama.”

With those words, Maev rose from her seat, her expression slightly relaxed, and she looked at Zeros, who was still bowing down behind her, as she spoke.

“This man is… the one I’ve posted about a few times before. The one who is said to be the butler of the Dragona Duke’s household.”

“My name is Zeros Raymond. I greet you, Padishah Mehmet the Magnificent, the sovereign of the great empire.”

Zeros responds with a tone of bewilderment at Maev’s somewhat sudden introduction.

To be honest, he hadn’t anticipated this situation until just before he entered the entrance, and he was extremely nervous about the moment he was in.

‘What on earth is going on? At this point, I’m meeting Padishah Mehmet? Why is something happening during the school trip that even Elios from the original has never experienced?’

Padishah Mehmet, who was only mentioned in the original work as a setting, but whose presence alone was evident.

Zeros could roughly estimate his status from the fact that not only Duke Radu, who had sworn allegiance to him, but even Duchess Rosetta remembered and tried to keep her loyalty to Padishah until the end of the work.

Above all, although he was not directly involved, the conflicts and various incidents that occurred between the Empire and the Duchy were in fact related to the existence of the Padishah.

In some ways, Zeros was feeling an enormous burden at the fact that he had to face a being that was like a true final boss who had not even appeared in the work.

‘I knew he was a pretty scary character based on the original description… If I make one mistake here, my balls could fly off.’

With that thought in mind, Zeros lowered his head as much as possible and tried his best not to offend him.

Then, Padishah’s voice began to be heard in Zeros’ ears.

“Haha.. You don’t have to be so nervous. Did you say Zeros? Raise your head.”

“ㄴ..Yes, Your Majesty!”

Zeros immediately raised his head at Padishah’s command and looked at his face.

In his eyes, he could see Padishah’s appearance giving off a much gentler feeling than he had thought, but he still couldn’t let his guard down.

“Yes.. As I heard, you have a very likeable face. I heard that my daughter, despite being the Duke’s butler, truly favors you.. Now that I think about it, I can understand why.”

“Abama too..”

“… .”

Princess Maeb blushes slightly at Padishah’s words.

Meanwhile, Zeros was hesitating as he watched Padishah say something that was truly difficult for him to answer, and honestly, he was quite surprised by the current situation.

‘What should I say… It feels a bit different from what I expected.’

It was a Padishah that I thought would give me a feeling of power, danger, and strictness.

But now, looking at the Padishah before his eyes, Zeros began to feel that he was a rather finite person.

It’s like… the impression of a chairman of a large corporation smiling warmly while watching his daughter dating a commoner.

While thinking that, Zeros was looking at the two people who were smiling happily while standing between him.

“Well, since you have a guest, how about we have a quick cup of tea? I told you to get ready, so he will be here soon.”

“Yes, okay, Abamama.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

As soon as the emperor’s order was given, the tea table began to be prepared.

It’s called a tea table, but in reality, it’s filled with tea that I’ve never heard of before and tea that has a mysterious aroma.

A table almost worthy of a meal was set before Zeros, Maev, and Padishah, and the three sat down together and began to talk in a more comfortable manner.

“So, is everything going well at the Academy?”

“Yes, Abamama. The students follow what I say well, and it’s quite fun to discover and teach talented children among them.”

“Yeah.. That’s great, honestly, when I first heard you were going to be a teacher I was quite surprised, but I’m glad you’re happy with your life now.”

A Padishah speaking with sincerity.

Princess Maeb then spoke in a voice that was unusual for her normally confident self, with a hint of apology in it.

“I’m sorry, Abamama.. I’m sorry for causing you trouble because of this.”

“No, that’s not true. As I told you before, you should live the life you want to live, just like you’ve always done. No matter what you become or where you are, if you’re happy in it, that’s enough for me.”

“Abama mama..”

The old father’s heartfelt words.

At this, Princess Maeb felt slightly moved and bowed slightly, and while looking at her daughter, Padishah spoke in a quiet yet gentle voice.

“Didn’t I tell you? You are my daughter and the princess of this empire. Unlike your brothers, you don’t have to live a suffocating life tied to power and the obligation of succession. Just live as you have always done… freely, like a bird that is not tied down to anything. ”

“..Yes..Abama..I will do that.”

“Yes, the tea is getting cold. Come on, drink it. It is a rare item from the far East, so I am sure it will suit your taste.”

As Princess Maeb listened to Padishah’s words, she felt a weight lifted from her heart.

Meanwhile, looking at them like this, Zeros began to feel the discomfort he had been feeling all along growing stronger.

‘Padisha Mehmet… He’s a much better person than I thought. But that makes me feel even more sorry. If things go as planned, I wonder how much longer he’ll be able to live…’

Padishah, an old man who you can tell with your own eyes that he doesn’t have much time left to live.

He reorganized the foundation of the empire, acquired vast territories, and even at this moment, he is strengthening the empire with his old body… but despite this, he is still an ordinary human being.

Unlike witches and sorcerers who have talent for magical powers and can artificially extend their lifespan, ordinary humans cannot expect to live more than 100 years even if they live a long time.

and..

The events that Zeros experienced with Melissa during this trip could be said to be directly related to the lifespan of this Padishah.

An experiment to artificially grant magical talents to ordinary humans.

That’s…

It was the true identity of an experiment secretly led by Vizier Saladin in order to prevent the impending death of the Padishah.

In the process, thousands of young boys and girls were sacrificed, and in fact, the experiment was finally completed six years later, just before the Padishah’s lifespan ended, but was ultimately thwarted by Elios.

‘And. Because of this incident, the slim possibility of that 6 years later has completely disappeared. If I had made a different choice, the result might have been different, but…’

As he thinks like that, Zeros begins to feel a strange sense of guilt towards the two people in front of him.

at that time..

“Zeros Ball.”

Looking at him like that, Padishah spoke in a calm voice.