Emperor Kaikilia – 1

‘……No, they’re not completely identical. It’s more like, if you just glance at them, you might mistake them for sisters or mother and daughter.’

At first, I thought she looked exactly like Aurora, as if she was a spitting image, but there were distinctly different aspects.

The woman who had just walked out of the pillar of light had sharper eyes, longer hair, a colder impression, was taller, and had a more superior physique.

Yes, she was exactly like an adult Aurora.

‘Since they’re relatives, for now…… it probably won’t be an issue even if they look so similar.’

Actually, considering that both appearances came from the NPC Appearance Retouching Mod, it’s highly likely that the Emperor’s modeling was taken and slightly immaturely retouched to be used as Aurora’s modeling.

It wasn’t that they looked alike because they were relatives; it was that they were set to look alike because they were relatives. Even if it seemed similar at first glance, it was distinctly different.

“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”

“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”

I shrewdly followed Aurora’s words and actions. In games, when a conversation started, the protagonist character would automatically assume a posture or it would just pass even if you did nothing, but it wouldn’t be like that here.

“Raise your heads.”

‘Her voice is similar too.’

Even her voice resembled Aurora’s, but again, the other’s felt more mature.

I raised my head. Only after looking directly at her, not just peeking from the corner of my eye, could I truly take in her appearance.

Her jet-black hair, like the deepest darkness, cascaded long down her back, ending below her hips. It was black hair that felt like it could swallow even light itself.

Her bangs were neatly parted, revealing the forehead above her left eye. Her golden eyes, closer to the color of pure gold than mere gold, held no emotion.

The entirely black uniform was embroidered with the Emperor’s emblem, and its neckline was quite deeply cut, exposing her ample bosom. Lingerie underwear was faintly visible between the uniform and her bare skin.

The underwear was also black.

The uniform’s collar and material were stiff beyond compare, yet the thighs revealed between the black garter belt wrapped around them and the skirt clinging tightly to her hips seemed incredibly soft.

The uniform’s skirt was incredibly short. It clung tightly to her thighs and hips, not only revealing the lines of her body but also seeming as if it would show the underwear inside with just a slight change in angle.

No, perhaps it was already showing the black lingerie underwear inside, and I just wasn’t perceiving it due to the angle.

Her emotionless golden eyes turned towards Aurora. Aurora’s equally golden eyes, in turn, were directed at the Emperor.

“You must not have been doing well, Aurora, having been tormented by the one who used to be my older brother.”

“That’s right. You know well, Kaikilia Aunt-nim.”

“You once harbored ambitions to claim that position. It seems you have succeeded.”

“I did not succeed by my own strength. If I had been alone, I would surely have been subjugated by that thing. From beginning to end, it was the power of one person, and I merely opened my mouth to receive what fell.”

A conversation that made me doubt my ears for a moment was heard, but I decided to just let it be. Whatever the content, it was awkward for an outsider to interfere when relatives were exchanging greetings.

Even so, for the first conversation to be about not doing well because of being tormented by the lord. Did she know about it and just leave it be?

“I received a dispatch. That idiotic thing tried to summon a demon, and so you killed it, did you?”

“We could not kill it. To kill a demon, one needs spells or weapons imbued with divinity, and we had neither.”

“It’s bound to die soon anyway, so whether it lived or died now is irrelevant. Is the full story of the incident exactly as written in the dispatch?”

“Yes. There are no differences.”

“Hmm, so there are no differences, you say…….”

Kaikilia crossed her arms beneath her chest, accentuating her bosom, and tapped her forearm with her finger, lost in thought.

Perhaps due to the mod, whenever she crossed her arms, it always accentuated her chest like that. Not only Rije, who had breasts the size of her head, but even Erica, whose size was far from hers, did the same.

Suddenly, her head turned towards me.

The moment her emotionless golden eyes turned to me, goosebumps erupted all over my back. Cold sweat beaded on my skin, and my entire body felt chilled.

‘Wow, this is no joke.’

There were testimonies from NPCs in the game that when one directly faced the Emperor, it felt as if their entire body was stripped bare, and the very essence of their inner thoughts was pierced through.

Since there was no way for the player to experience that feeling, I just took it for granted, but facing it in reality like this, I keenly felt that it was absolutely no exaggeration or lie.

It truly felt as if all my inner thoughts were being completely seen through. An unknown chill and ominous feeling spread tinglingly from my spine throughout my entire body.

“Are you that new knight?”

“That’s right, Your Majesty.”

“You were the one who helped Aurora ascend to the position of lord, so they said.”

“Even if I had run wild by her side, would she have succeeded if her own abilities weren’t outstanding?”

Kaikilia again closed her mouth and stared intently at me. Cold sweat beaded on my back. At this rate, I wonder if I’ll be able to react properly to the event that’s about to unfold.

“They also said you were the one who discovered the book imbued with a demon.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“The dispatch stated that after capturing an iron-clad horse and the iron-clad knight riding it, a book imbued with a demon appeared. Is that also true?”

“As Your Majesty stated, that is also true.”

I didn’t say anything completely false.

Because I beat the headless iron-clad cavalryman, got the seal-release key it dropped, unsealed the dungeon, entered the dungeon, and obtained that book. It’s just that the intermediate steps were slightly omitted.

“And you said you took that book to the one who used to be my older brother to discuss a solution.”

“Yes.”

“But that thing couldn’t overcome its greed and recklessly touched it to summon a demon, causing this disaster, so they say.”

“That’s right.”

As this pointless question-and-answer continued, a slight sense of unease crept in.

There was no dialogue in the game where she went through each detail of the dispatch and interrogated the player about what had happened. She just went straight into the basement as if she didn’t even have time for conversation.

Kaikilia walked slowly, one step at a time, closing the distance between us. With each step that narrowed the distance, the pressure squeezing my heart also seemed to intensify.

Even though her feet were clearly stepping on grass, I felt as if I could hear heavy footsteps.

The distance, which had been narrowing very slowly in sync with her strides, stopped only after the space between the two of us had shrunk to about three or four paces.

“How long has it been since you joined the Knights?”

“It has been about two weeks.”

“Two weeks, two weeks, you say…….”

Kaikilia tapped her forearm again, lost in thought. Then, she looked at me with an even more inorganic and chilling gaze.

“Then, are you saying that even after such a long time, you failed to grasp the fact that the one who used to be my older brother is nothing but trash?”

‘Oh, fuck.’

Seeing Kaikilia ask the very same thing Iris had pointed out, I quietly cursed under my breath. This was a situation I had never experienced in the game.

In the game, she would just go straight down to the basement, deal with the demon, briefly ask what happened, lightly trigger an event with the protagonist, collect the lord’s corpse, and return to the imperial palace.

If I hadn’t thought about and prepared for such a situation just in case, my surprise would undoubtedly have shown on my face. What would have happened after that was obvious without even seeing it.

I glanced at Aurora. Aurora also had a visibly flustered expression.

‘Aurora’s fine. She’s behind me anyway, so I can’t see her expression. The important thing is me. If I show any sign of panic or agitation, it’s over.’

The die was cast, and there was no turning back. So, come what may, I had to push through to the end.

“I failed to grasp it.”

“You failed to grasp it?”

Her eyes narrowed. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of my mouth.

“Yes. The Knight Commander-nim- that lord-“

“It is ‘that thing’.”

“Pardon?”

“I told you to refer to it as ‘that thing’. By imperial law, it is no longer a human being. Why would you call something that is not human by a title of office that only humans can hold?”

Come to think of it, I remembered that Kaikilia had also consistently referred to that lord as ‘the one who used to be my older brother’. I quickly bowed my head and changed my words.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. That was a slip of the tongue. I was well aware that the Knight Commander-nim cursed that thing as a good-for-nothing scoundrel, but precisely because of that, I thought it was necessary to discuss it with that thing. Given its personality, if we had tried to resolve the demon-related matter internally within the Knights without saying anything…… I believed it might use that as an excuse to pick a fight, so I acted accordingly.”

“Hmm, yes. You thought it might pick a fight, you say…….”

Kaikilia vaguely trailed off her words. And then, she took another step forward. Now, the distance between Kaikilia and me was less than an arm’s length.

From the opposite side, Aurora was seen stomping her feet in distress, not knowing what to do. She probably never imagined Kaikilia would interrogate her so deeply.

That was true for me as well. Although I didn’t show it outwardly, cold sweat trickled down inside.

Aurora thought it would pass easily because she had met Kaikilia directly, and I thought it would pass easily because I had knowledge from the game.

Both of us had confidence based on some grounds, but at this moment, it could only be seen as mistaken.

“Are you talking about this kind of fault-finding?”

‘……!’

The moment I saw a halo of light forming in Kaikilia’s hand, I raised my blood-stained sword. There wasn’t even enough time to draw the sword from its scabbard. The moment I tried to, it would already be too late.

Here, the key was to react as quickly as possible, by any means necessary. I brought the blood-stained sword, scabbard and all, to the side of my neck. The moment I did, a powerful impact struck.

-Chaaae-aeng!!!!!!

“Aunt-nim?!”

“Hoo?”

Aurora’s voice, close to a gasp of horror, was heard, and simultaneously, Kaikilia’s voice, expressing a small admiration as if she hadn’t imagined I would react, was heard.

My body was immediately flung backward.

I dug my sword into the ground to brace myself, but I was still pushed back much further. It was only after I had moved at least twenty paces from my original spot that I was finally able to stop.

I shook my tingling hand and relaxed my stance. The trace of my sword digging into the ground to slow my momentum was etched in a long line in the garden soil. The surrounding grass was all churned up.

‘Wow, I almost couldn’t react.’

Hoo, I sighed in relief inwardly. Having been flustered by Kaikilia acting so differently from my expectations, I almost died without being able to react properly.

If I had been even a little slower in blocking the sword, or if I had tried to draw the sword to block instead of blocking with the scabbard, my neck would have been severed, so it was truly a close call.

“It seems the achievements you claimed were not mere boasts.”

Her voice sounded as if it contained a hint of satisfaction. I raised my head and faced Kaikilia.

In Kaikilia’s right hand, as she slightly raised the corner of her lips while looking at me, was a holy sword emitting a light as bright and divine as the sun in the sky.