Ch.4646. Like Father, Like Son

The meal time, which had become difficult due to Celia’s trolling, finally came to an end.

Actually, it almost didn’t end, but surprisingly, the Emperor stepped in to mediate.

I was a bit surprised since I hadn’t expected him to intervene personally, but after hearing what he said, I could roughly understand why.

“Sigh… Yes, it’s quite irritating that it’s always been that way, but let’s move past it for now. I didn’t invite you here with good intentions either.”

So, he admitted that he had included me in this gathering specifically to make me uncomfortable.

How spiteful. But in the end, I got to eat delicious food, so it worked out well for me.

But… why did he feel the need to reveal that himself? He could have just let it slide.

“I heard about what happened at the knights’ order. They say you had a good match with Sir Lux.”

Ah, so that’s what this is about.

It seemed the Emperor was concerned about my sparring match with the knight earlier today.

Although he called it a “good match,” he probably heard it described in terms that favored me more.

Whatever the case, it seemed certain that I had caught the Emperor’s attention.

And the name he mentioned was someone I knew as well.

‘So that person was Lux.’

I realized it as soon as I heard the name. The knight I had faced was no ordinary person.

I hadn’t recognized him immediately since his face didn’t appear in the game, but the name Lux was unmistakable.

A man who served as the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard and eventually took the position of commander during the final battle.

He probably wasn’t as powerful yet as he would be in the game… but the fact that he was being mentioned like this made it clear that he was already a recognized figure at this point.

So I showed them me fighting someone like that.

I figured it would catch some attention, but this is beyond what I expected.

‘I should have recognized him when he unleashed that golden sword energy that’s supposedly difficult to master.’

It was my mistake to casually dismiss him, thinking the Imperial Knights just had many talented individuals.

“…A match with Sir Lux?”

“Brother. Did we touch something we shouldn’t have?”

“W-we haven’t done anything yet. We can still explain ourselves.”

The three men who had been trying to criticize me earlier reacted this strongly.

Ah, come to think of it, isn’t Lux the one training these three right now? That explains their reaction.

“Honestly. My brothers have no backbone, which is a serious problem.”

Celia just kept complaining, oblivious to her brothers’ predicament.

But… it’s actually unavoidable.

Her brothers resembled the Emperor to an astonishing degree.

From their appearance to their talents, they were so identical to the Emperor that they could be called his clones, and because their combat abilities followed the Emperor’s pattern, they were never exceptionally skilled.

That’s why they didn’t even make an appearance in the final chapter.

They were only shown standing in the corner of Celia’s illustration with worried expressions, which says it all.

Celia, who inherited her mother’s talents, continued to complain without understanding their frustration, which seemed to hit a nerve as the eldest suddenly stood up.

Then he boldly pointed his dinner knife at me.

“I can’t just sit here while Celia talks like that.”

“Brother! What are you trying to do?!”

“My brothers, there are times when a man must fight even knowing he will lose.”

His words sound cool… but given the situation and the fact that he’s holding a dinner knife, it doesn’t look impressive at all.

The surprising thing was that neither the Emperor nor the Empress seemed inclined to stop the Crown Prince’s antics.

They just shook their heads as if thinking, “There he goes again.”

“Sigh… Really. How can the Crown Prince behave like this in front of guests?”

Even Celia didn’t seem particularly interested in stopping him.

Is this really what he’s like normally? This is the Crown Prince who will inherit the Emperor’s position?

Is this country going to be okay? Well, I suppose since he’s the Emperor’s clone, he’ll manage somehow…

“Ludion. He’s not usually like this in front of others, but it seems he’s taken quite a liking to you. Please humor him a bit.”

In the end, Celia spoke as if she had given up.

No wonder she always seemed to let my antics slide—she was used to strange behavior.

Whatever the case, dealing with that knife was the priority now.

As I mentioned, his skills probably aren’t exceptional, but having graduated from the academy long ago, he must have considerable stats.

Of course, even those stats wouldn’t be extraordinarily high since he resembles the Emperor… but they would still be overwhelming compared to mine.

So I couldn’t just take a hit to save his face.

‘Let’s see…’

My position wasn’t good for avoiding the Crown Prince’s approaching knife.

I could dodge if necessary, but that would likely result in kicking the table in front of me.

Since the plates and utensils hadn’t been cleared yet, kicking the table would create a mess.

So I had no choice but to raise the fork I had been fiddling with.

And… I used it to meet the Crown Prince’s rushing dinner knife technique.

“Take this!”

Special characteristic of dagger techniques: All motions can be parried when swung recklessly without combos.

Special characteristic of forks: Parrying function available.

*Twong-*

As a result, I was able to send the Crown Prince flying with a fork parry.

It was fortunate that I was holding a fork; if it had been a knife, I would have inevitably flipped the entire table.

“Aaaaargh!”

But the momentum of the flying Crown Prince looked concerning.

He was flying too far, perhaps because I parried with a fork.

I don’t know if it was a bug, but in the game, forks were classified as blunt weapons.

Blunt weapon parries are characterized by strong knockback.

Maybe that’s why. The Crown Prince, deflected by my fork, showed no signs of stopping.

‘This is getting out of hand.’

I didn’t intend to go this far.

At this rate, it would look like I was showing off my strength to teach the royal family a lesson.

But… what happened?

The Crown Prince suddenly stopped just before hitting the wall.

What’s going on? Was the Crown Prince actually hiding his strength?

While I was thinking such foolish thoughts, I heard Celia’s quiet voice.

“…This is so stupid.”

That wasn’t directed at me. It seemed Celia had caught him with magic.

“Celia. So you can do that now too?”

“I learned it watching Mom do it earlier today.”

“You learned just by watching? That’s my daughter.”

“It’s nothing special.”

After preventing the accident, Celia exchanged a few words with the Empress, then slowly lowered the Crown Prince, whom she had been levitating, to the floor.

He returned awkwardly to his seat with an embarrassed shuffle.

“…Brother. That was quite undignified.”

“I know, so keep quiet.”

“Still, your spirit was admirable.”

“I said keep quiet.”

“Yes, understood.”

The second prince failed at consoling him, and an awkward silence fell.

That silence continued until the imperial servants finished clearing the table after the meal.

Afterward, the Emperor carefully broke the silence.

“Seeing it in person is even more impressive. I couldn’t tell at all what you did.”

“I didn’t intend to show off.”

“Would you consider working for the imperial family after graduating from the academy?”

That’s quite a direct approach. Blinking… well, I guess the Emperor doesn’t need to use turn signals.

‘The imperial family…’

I hadn’t really thought about what to do after graduating from the academy.

But… working for the imperial family didn’t particularly appeal to me.

Of course, being affiliated with the imperial family would be considered a successful life.

I could gain both money and honor.

But my stats are in such a sorry state. If I came in relying on combat ability, I’d be assigned to the knights’ order, and that would surely cause all sorts of problems.

Dodging and parrying are suitable for my survival, but they’re flawed techniques when it comes to stepping forward to save others.

“I’m honored by your offer, but I…”

“What are you worried about, Father? Even if he doesn’t work here, he’ll come whenever I ask for help. Right?”

I was about to politely decline when Celia suddenly interrupted with those words.

I wanted to ask why she was deciding things on her own… but thinking about it again, it did seem likely, so I couldn’t deny it.

But… that must have looked like I was trying to score points, because the Emperor said something strange.

“No matter how much you try to impress, I won’t hand over Celia.”

“D-Dad! What are you suddenly saying?! It’s not like that, so don’t misunderstand!!”

Celia was so flustered by the Emperor’s absurd statement that she seemed to forget to use the formal address.

“Celia! Don’t be fooled! All men are wolves!”

“You’re a man too, Dad!”

Looking at this, the Emperor and Crown Prince really are alike. The way they suddenly overreact when it comes to Celia clearly shows they’re father and son.

“Goodness. This is getting chaotic. It seems there’s nothing more to discuss, so let’s wrap this up.”

The situation finally calmed down only after the Empress ended the gathering with those words, and I was able to leave the place.

///

The Rubetia Imperial Palace. This was one of the places you rarely got to visit even in the game.

In fact, following the standard route, you only enter the imperial palace exactly 3 times.

And those are all near the end of the game, once after each major accomplishment.

That’s why there was no way to know about the palace’s internal structure, potential problems lurking within, or hidden secrets.

Of course, that’s the case for the standard route.

Another route… specifically, the path of the master thief who targets even the imperial palace, allows unlimited entry.

The moment you take the thief’s path, a hardcore difficulty begins where everything goes wrong if you’re caught, but even that was just another form of enjoyment, so I had tried it multiple times to uncover the palace’s secrets.

So, honestly, I could pride myself on knowing more about the imperial palace than anyone.

Even more than the Emperor who rules this place.

And… one of the biggest secrets hidden in the palace starts from the guest room.

Yes, the room I’ve been given now.

“Then, be sure to tell me when you’ve finished reading it.”

“Sure.”

*Creeak-*

*Thud.*

I place the “Journey of the Stars” series that Celia brought me on the desk beside me.

For now, I need to check something else, so reading will have to wait.

I gently push aside one of the bookshelves in the guest room and find the hidden button behind it.

I don’t know the principle behind it, but it’s intangible and impossible to find just by looking.

An invisible, intangible button. You just have to believe it’s there and press it.

It doesn’t activate immediately either; you have to hold it for about 2 minutes… so it’s understandable that no one has found it.

*Click-*

*Whoooom-*

“Wow, this actually works.”

Soon the hidden button activates, and a large hole appears where the button was.

It wasn’t some hidden space. If it were, it would have been found and looted long ago.

This was something like a portal processed by some magical means. If I had to compare it, it would be similar to a Rift.

“I just opened it to check if it was real, but…”

Now that it’s actually open, I feel a strong urge to enter.

It’s a situation no man could resist. A secret space has opened—how could I not go in?

Grrrr I can’t resist! Let’s go in and see what happens!