Ch.14No one can stop me.

# Chapter 14: No One Can Stop Me

Of course, being released only meant the end of the “torture” session.

“Do you know how hard it is to personally educate you when I’m already exhausted from daily imperial duties?”

“I think if it’s too hard, you could just not do it.”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing at all!”

The Emperor, disheveled and sitting with his legs crossed—a sight one would never see outside this room.

Artraia, Riel, and I were sitting on the sofa, sipping tea brought by the head attendant.

“You dare question what I, the Emperor, am doing?”

“Oh, Your Majesty, please forgive this humble servant!”

“Minister, that really sounds completely soulless.”

“Shh.”

Along with our duties, we engaged in this kind of casual banter.

“Sigh… anyway.”

Artraia’s slender jawline was beaded with sweat, suggesting the recent “torture” session had consumed quite a bit of his energy.

He had even unbuttoned his shirt more than two buttons, indicating that even the palace’s perfect climate control system couldn’t cool his heat.

On top of that, he had removed the thin cardigan he’d been wearing draped over the back of the large sofa like some back-alley thug…

To an outsider, it might have looked like he was trying to cool down from extreme anger.

Perhaps Riel thought the same.

“Minister, why don’t you just get on your knees and apologize to end this?”

She whispered this so-called advice into my ear.

Of course, I simply pressed my forehead and pushed her away, as if hitting a skip button on her suggestion.

‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’

Besides, the Emperor wasn’t actually angry at all.

[Event: The Emperor’s Sulking]

[The Emperor who tried to create a new faction with you as its totem.]

[But you blocked that approach from the beginning and returned alone, causing the Emperor to become irritated.]

[However, that aside, you did perform your duties better than the Emperor expected.]

[Therefore, under the pretext of punishment, the Emperor decided to personally give you a full-body massage, knowing you must be tired from your recent business trip and voyage.]

[He even received formal training from the palace’s exclusive masseur for this purpose.]

[But because you arrived earlier than expected, he had to give the massage without completing all his training.]

[The Emperor is embarrassed that he couldn’t respond perfectly as an emperor and that he couldn’t give you the best massage possible.]

‘Thanks for the detailed explanation, status window.’

The status window was forcibly injecting into my eyes a complete interpretation with annotations about the Emperor’s current situation.

‘Seriously, why is he sulking like a child in this situation…?’

If he had a small, childlike body like Riel, I might understand.

But for someone who’s robust everywhere except his stomach, waist, and limbs, it seemed a bit much.

‘Wah, I’m baby Emperor, please comfort me.’

Still, if I left this unaddressed, it might cause other problems later.

I sighed inwardly, then deliberately exaggerated rolling my shoulders and twisting my waist as I spoke.

“Oh, by the way, my tired body feels completely refreshed now!”

“…”

“As expected of Your Majesty, to both punish and reward at the same time. Amazing… host!”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

When I responded like this, Artraia turned his head away stubbornly.

Seeing this, Riel whispered in my ear again in a small voice.

“What are you doing, Minister?”

“What? Why?”

“You speak with absolutely no soul in your voice and then act like that?”

I had no response to Riel’s words.

“You’re called the face of diplomacy, and this is how you act?”

Being bombarded with cold, hard facts as if I were a robot, what could I say?

Instinctively, I turned my gaze away from Riel’s factual assault…

*Tap tap*

“Riel, look at that.”

“Anyway… oh.”

At the end of my diverted gaze, I could see the Emperor’s ears had turned bright red.

Seeing this, Riel’s expression changed curiously once again.

—

And so, in that complex and subtle atmosphere, we returned to the Executive Palace by Artraia’s order of expulsion as he tried to maintain his composure.

The next day, an official document from the imperial palace arrived at the Executive Minister’s office.

“Look at this, Riel! We finally did it!”

“…I never thought someone who refused all wealth, glory, and power would be so happy about a mere extended vacation.”

As I was doing a happy dance, I could hear Riel’s cutting remarks from the side.

Of course, I was able to resolve this through a very deep and dignified explanation and conversation.

“Tsk tsk, still having no awareness of human mental fatigue—that’s your limitation.”

“Isn’t that discriminatory against mechanical species?”

“Yes, our empire doesn’t cultivate egalitarianism.”

“You meat sack.”

“You tin can.”

And so, with this dignified conversation between the Imperial Minister, Duke, and the highest-performance humanoid, we began packing the necessary luggage.

“But Minister, you don’t have a mansion and this place is your home. When you say vacation, you’re not planning to go to the imperial palace, are you?”

“Riel, what are you talking about?”

Hearing Riel say something so terrible, I felt the need to correct her misguided values.

“Remember, Riel, I have my own place to enjoy my vacation.”

“Hmm.”

Seeing her unconvinced expression, I showed her a picture of a magnificent villa on my terminal.

“The empire’s best resort, Planet Amauros in the Gaia system.”

“Oh.”

“I bought a villa there, so I can rest anytime during these extended vacations.”

“Wow… that’s impressive.”

Finally seeming to understand human greatness, Riel opened her eyes wide in surprise and continued.

“To buy a place ten years ago for a vacation that happens maybe once every five years, and never even getting to go there once.”

“…”

Although her last words left an indelible wound in my heart, this too was part of the entertainment.

*Click!*

“Anyway, preparations complete!”

“I’ll have the luggage sent ahead to the high officials’ ship at the spaceport.”

We finally completed our preparations for the journey to enjoy a pleasant vacation.

Just as we were about to open the office door with our luggage piled high like heroes about to enter the Demon King’s castle—

*Slam!*

“Ah, you haven’t left yet, Minister?”

Deputy Minister Alimus suddenly opened the door and entered, and I expressed my delight at seeing him.

“It’s been a while, Alimus. Is work going well?”

“Yes, there haven’t been any issues with the purge unit for a while…”

Although Alimus also looked tired, he seemed genuinely happy, so I patted his shoulder.

“Good, you’ve really been working hard.”

“Not at all, you work much harder, Minister.”

After exchanging these light pleasantries, I gestured to Riel, who was pulling a large backpack and carrier, and left the office.

Or rather, I tried to leave.

“…Alimus? Sorry, but could you step aside?”

If only our deputy minister had moved away from the entrance.

“…”

“Alimus?”

“…”

“Come on, I really don’t like this kind of joke.”

“Minister.”

But the moment I heard the words flowing from Alimus’s mouth.

“That expression! That expression!”

“Minister.”

“That tone! No! Stop!”

I threw down all the luggage I had packed and tried my best to prevent the desperate words about to come from Alimus’s mouth.

But…

“Your vacation has been canceled.”

“Nooooo!!!”

With my weak bureaucrat’s body, I couldn’t block Alimus’s graceful evasion.

“Minister, why don’t you just give up and sell that villa?”

“Ugh, my god.”

Unable to enjoy “My Heart-Fluttering Vacation Story—Reunion with My Lovely Villa,” I spoke to Alimus with a heart full of anger.

“What on earth is happening that you’re recapturing me right after I received my vacation?”

“To be precise, all heads of economic and diplomatic departments, including you, Minister, have been summoned to the imperial palace.”

But upon hearing those words, I could only tilt my head in confusion.

‘There shouldn’t be any issues for me to handle, so why is Artraia calling for me too?’

Moreover, if it were an economic issue, there hadn’t been any bad news recently, including the Tallianium incident or economic situations with neighboring countries.

‘If there were such problems, I would have been contacted before they fully emerged.’

Therefore, not knowing what was happening, I decided to return to the imperial palace first, as Alimus suggested.

With the determination to not let whoever ruined my vacation get away with it.

—

And upon entering the imperial palace, I had to stuff my fist into my mouth to suppress my wailing when I learned the cause.

“This official document just arrived from the Trade Union delegation…”

“What on earth is this…?”

“Heh heh heh.”

An enormous casino bill amounting to nearly the empire’s annual budget appeared before our eyes.

And it bore the clear seal of the late Emperor.