Proposal

Because her gaze was fixed on me too blatantly, I instinctively looked around.

If anyone were to see this sight right now, they couldn’t help but notice that Kaikilia was watching me.

However, fortunately, everyone except me had already been kneeling on one knee and bowing their heads towards the throne. It seemed unlikely that anyone had noticed our appearance.

Kaikilia’s golden eyes curved gracefully like a crescent moon. As always, they were eyes that sent shivers down one’s spine.

Those eyes were filled with abundant affection and interest towards me. I tried my best to deflect her gaze, then approached behind Erica, knelt on one knee, and bowed my head towards the throne.

“Raise your head.”

Less than a second after I bowed my head, the command to raise it was given. I raised my head. It was a clearly intentional command, meant to prevent me from bowing my head to her.

Kaikilia, who had returned from being a woman with intense interest in one man to the sharp and overbearing Emperor of the Aeternum Empire, rested her chin on one hand and opened her mouth in an indifferent voice.

“Do you know why We have summoned you?”

“I don’t know! I am sorry! Your Majesty!”

To the formal question that was always thrown when standing before Kaikilia, the voice of the Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight Knights echoed loudly.

“We also do not know. I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

Aurora also replied calmly. It was a formal question, and a formal apology. No one here thought they could give the correct answer to that question.

The one who asked the question also wore an expression that seemed to say, “I knew it would be like this.” Kaikilia, resting her elbows on the armrests of the throne and propping her chin on the back of her hand, looked at Aurora with an indifferent face.

Aurora’s body trembled slightly as she received the gaze.

“Haven’t you been acting quite audacious lately, Aurora?”

“…….”

Aurora bowed her head deeply, unable to give any answer.

“When did We tell you to avert your gaze?”

As soon as that happened, a chilling warning came back. Her bowed head quickly returned to its original position.

“Tell Us yourself, with your own mouth, what you were doing.”

“……I was attempting to reinstate the Silver Dawn Knights.”

“You know well. We shall praise you.”

Aurora’s body twitched visibly, enough to be seen even from behind. The same was true for the four Knight Commanders in front of me, and the former Silver Dawn Knights positioned at the very back of the Golden Twilight Knights.

Silence continued. If Kaikilia didn’t open her mouth, who would dare to speak? No one in this place was foolish enough to do such a stupid thing.

“…….”

Proportionate to the lengthening silence in the central hall, Aurora’s trembling gradually grew.

Silence was far, far from being a word with a good meaning. Especially true in a situation where the Emperor had just thrown out a question as if cross-examining.

“Delta.”

Kaikilia, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke. I quickly replied.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What are your thoughts?”

“……Pardon?”

“Do you think We should restore the Silver Dawn Knights’ positions?”

For a moment, I wondered why that person was acting like that. It was a question why she was asking me that. Kaikilia didn’t seem like the type to ask for others’ opinions when making decisions.

After a moment of bewilderment, I hardened my resolve. Whatever was happening, this was an opportunity to revive the Silver Dawn Knights. The reason Kaikilia was acting like this could be thought about later.

“That’s right.”

The Knight Commanders’ bodies subtly twitched. They seemed extremely tense. Because their treatment would be decided by what answer the Emperor gave there.

Kaikilia, still propping her chin, stared intently at me, then turned her eyes to Aurora and let out a small laugh.

“Since We have lightened your burden, thank Delta, Aurora.”

“…….”

Upon hearing those words, Aurora’s shoulders subtly relaxed. It seemed as if her tension had completely dissipated. Until just now, she must have been fretting, wondering if she had perhaps offended the Emperor.

“We will accept your opinion. We shall reinstate the Silver Dawn Knights.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

The Knight Commanders bowed their heads with slightly trembling voices. Kaikilia, barely acknowledging their thanks, flicked her left hand.

The women who had been kneeling in the very back row of the Golden Twilight Knights, dressed in white sleeveless tops and black dolphin shorts, all rose from their places and approached me.

And, centering themselves around me, they formed ranks on both sides and knelt on one knee towards the throne. Their heads bowed deeply. Now, they could once again be called the Silver Dawn Knights.

“Our words are not yet finished.”

The slightly chaotic atmosphere immediately settled. Her golden pupils turned towards me again. Suddenly, an ominous premonition flashed through my mind.

“Delta.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As expected, ominous premonitions never missed their mark. This time too, without fail, words calling my name burst from Kaikilia’s mouth. I wondered what she was trying to do now.

But, the words that followed far exceeded my expectations.

“We shall give you half of the Golden Twilight Knights. From now on, you will not be a new knight of the Silver Dawn Knights, but the Knight Commander of a newly established knight order.”

“Your Majesty! What in the-!”

The golden armor, almost screaming in shock, raised its head. The shock seemed so immense that it froze in that very posture, without even a twitch.

It was understandable. Not only had the Silver Dawn Knights, which they had painstakingly torn apart, been reunited, but now, conversely, the Golden Twilight Knights were about to be torn apart.

“…….”

I looked up at Kaikilia, dumbfounded. She’s giving me what? Half of the Golden Twilight Knights?

‘……Is this also a ripple effect of the twisted story?’

It would be foolish to hope that the original story or events would proceed as they were now, but something like this certainly didn’t happen. If it were the player becoming the Knight Commander of another knight order, that might be different.

And what exactly would I do sitting in that position?

If it’s early-game bosses, they might be able to handle them reasonably well. But even if it’s just a mid-game boss, ordinary knights would be swept away in an instant, even if they all attacked together.

No matter how much they were strengthened by Dark Lord Mode, the boss’s stat increase was several or even tens of times that of ordinary trash mobs. The fundamental stat difference between field mobs and bosses couldn’t be resolved.

They might be able to easily take down ordinary enemies like themselves, but in that case, it would be much easier and simpler to just take the Knight Commanders.

‘Nothing will really change.’

If I were to continue as I had been, dealing with truly dangerous foes with help and handling the rest myself, leveling up appropriately, then even becoming a Knight Commander wouldn’t change anything in the end.

“Are you raising your voice at Our decision?”

Kaikilia uttered a chilling voice and glared, her eyes wide. Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere, the golden armor quickly bowed its head.

“Ah, no! Your Majesty! How dare a wretch like me-!”

Kaikilia’s face returned to normal after confirming that the Knight Commander was prostrate on the floor. A voice much colder than before followed.

“You must have heard the rumors circulating in the Imperial Palace now. Speak. Immediately.”

At that sharp, chilling voice, the fellow froze for a moment, then stammered out a reply.

“It’s a rumor that when there was a dragon attack, there was someone who confronted the dragon and repelled it…… And the one who repelled the dragon was…… that, new knight-“

“He is a Knight Commander. Have you truly not come to your senses yet?”

“……It’s a rumor that he is, a Knight Commander. Your Majesty.”

Seeing her immediately rush to correct him as soon as he tried to call me a new knight, it seemed she had no intention of retracting her decision whatsoever. My vision blurred slightly.

“That’s right. That knight confronted the dragon alone and made it retreat, they say.”

A long, slender finger tapped the armrest of the throne. The thought, “No way,” came to mind. I somehow felt like I knew what she would say next.

“That rumor is true. We saw it clearly with Our own two eyes.”

Every single gaze, filled with astonishment, turned towards me.

Since it was a rumor that had spread throughout the entire Imperial Palace, they couldn’t have not heard it. And while the truth was ambiguous, the Emperor herself had directly confirmed it as true. It was a perfectly understandable reaction.

‘No, more than that, she saw it clearly?’

Didn’t she faint after hearing the roar and then come to her senses?

Since I didn’t know when Kaikilia had woken up, it was difficult for me to simply disbelieve her words.

‘Where should I start explaining?’

That guy had tried to read my memories, then babbled that he understood them however he pleased, and then left. So, to Kaikilia, did it look like I had confronted the dragon and defeated it?

I had no idea where to even begin clearing up the misunderstanding. Though it was questionable if it could be cleared up at all.

“B-but, Your Majesty-“

The shock must have been truly immense, as the fellow was stammering, trying to refute something.

“You, too, committed the same act. What is wrong? Do you wish for even that half to be torn to shreds and nothing left?”

“……No, Your Majesty.”

Of course, it was an action that wouldn’t work at all. The golden helmet bowed deeply downwards. From his perspective, it must have been like a bolt from the blue, but I didn’t particularly feel sorry for him.

Because, just as Kaikilia said, he was receiving the full karma for his own past actions.

In fact, with half of his members remaining, one could even say the damage was less compared to the Silver Dawn Knights. Moreover, he wasn’t exiled to the empire’s frontier with that wicked lord.

“Come closer, Delta.”

Without even paying attention to the completely despondent Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight Knights, Kaikilia called me.

I obediently walked right up to her. Taking the last time’s memory as a lesson, this time I knelt a little closer from the start. The corners of Kaikilia’s lips lifted slightly.

“We have a proposal for you.”

A proposal, she says. It was an utterly ominous resonance. It might be called a proposal, but in reality, it could be a command no different from one. Kaikilia was more than capable of doing so.

“What is it, Your Majesty.”

But since I couldn’t show my feelings, I raised my head and met her eyes. Kaikilia bent forward. Her upper chest and cleavage were clearly visible through the opening of her uniform.

Her thumb and forefinger grasped my chin. My face was tilted slightly upwards, and the distance between us narrowed as if she were about to kiss me. I felt her sweet breath on my lips.

“We shall give you the position of Our direct knight. Leading your knight order, do you not wish to become Ours?”