Chapter 65

Chapter 65

“Prince Varca, your request for an audience has been granted. Please prepare yourself, and I will be back by sunset,” the residence officer of the Swallow Residence said to Pahell. Pahell scurried up from his chair and summoned Phillion.

“Get us ready right now and run the bath.”

All of a sudden, his request was granted. Pahell clenched his fists.

‘This is it. This is my chance.’

His chest heaved. Nerves and excitement almost made him nauseous.

The man who ruled over the city of Hamel, the empire, and even the world. The title ‘Ruler of the World’ was not an overstatement. The sun god Lou was absolute, but the emperor was right under him.

‘Dammit, I feel like I’m going to throw up.’

Pahell’s fate was going to be decided by this audience. He submerged his body into the bath that Phillion had prepared. He brought his face below the surface, closed his eyes, then opened them again.

“My prince, you must receive an answer for your request for asylum as well as prove your rightful claim to the throne...”

Pahell picked his head up from the water.

“You don’t have to tell me all that. Don’t go on like an old man.”

“I must be becoming a nag,” Phillion nodded with a smile.

“Do you think Urich had something to do with our request being granted out of nowhere?”

“That is most likely the case. Urich performed outstandingly with the crest of Porcana on his back. I wouldn’t be surprised if he caught the attention of the emperor.”

“That’s Urich. He never disappoints.”

Pahell grinned bitterly. He could only feel indebted to Urich.

“He is a warrior of extraordinary caliber. He is not someone whose story will finish as a mere mercenary leader.”

Phillion thought highly of Urich. Urich was not only strong, but he was intelligent, and he knew the meaning of honor and integrity and upheld them himself.

‘He will be an extraordinary man.’

Anyone who had seen Urich throughout his life said the same. Whether it was the shaman who had watched Urich grow up or his brothers from the tribe, they all knew that Urich was something special.

Splash.

Pahell stretched his arms slightly and struck the water lightly. He looked at his own arms which had picked up quite a bit of muscle. But despite all the recent training, his body was far from that of a fighter.

“What is the emperor like?”

The name of the current and third emperor was Yanchinus Hamelon, which meant ‘Yanchinus the owner of Hamel,’ similar to how Aneu Porcana meant the ‘Son of Porcana.’

“The emperor is popular with people, intelligent but capricious... and said to be a womanizer. At least, this is what is known to the public. It could very well be a political rumor made up for publicity.”

Each of the emperors was a legendary figure. The first emperor, Sharkaman, built his empire by subjugating the surrounding kingdom within the span of a single generation, and the second emperor Garangius conquered the north and south while consolidating his empire.

After the two previous emperors, it was no wonder the public wanted to know what the third emperor, Yanchinus, had in his mind.

‘The Subjugation of the Remaining Barbarians.’

Pahell muttered. It was one of Yanchinus’ most significant policies to assimilate the barbarians through civilization’s influence. As a result, quite a large number of barbarians had been brought into the ways of civilization. Over the last decade, the public’s antipathy toward barbarians has diminished rapidly as well.

‘I’ve spread the rumor that Urich and I are quite close.’

That was what Pahell was going for. The empire was pro-barbarian. There was a good chance that he would be intrigued by the friendship between a barbarian and a royalty.

‘Did it work, then?’

Pahell swept back his wet hair. His blue eyes were vibrant and deep. They were one of the two traits of the royal family of Porcana: Blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Good, I’m ready.”

Pahell helped himself up as water dripped off his body. The servants rushed in to dry him.

The sun slowly set, and Pahell, bathed and dressed in clean clothes, waited for the residence official. After the sun had set, the official came to Pahell.

“Where are we going?”

“We are going to the Palace of White Night, also known as the Palace of Ten Pleasures,” the official smiled, and Pahell fell silent for a moment.

“It doesn’t sound like an appropriate place for an audience.”

“This audience was not on the schedule. There is no reason for His Majesty to alter his schedule just for a prince of a small kingdom,” the official said blatantly. Pahell held back a rising tide of insults.

“I kid, of course, Prince Varca. I was just trying to lift the mood a little. His Majesty often proceeds with his audience in the Palace of White Night, and he even offers his women to guests of honor.”

The official let out a low chuckle.

“That was a bad joke, official.”

‘What would Urich do in this situation?’

Pahell asked himself. If it were Urich, he probably would have concluded his life with a smile on his face.

Pahell forced the corners of his mouth to curl up into a smile. One must be able to laugh at the edge of life and death—keep his determination strong despite staring at the face of death.

‘That is what it means to be noble.’

Pahell shut his eyes.

Yanchinus clapped.

“I think my joke went a bit too far, Prince Varca.”

At Yanchinus’ signal, the women hid the dagger back under the pillows and shuffled backward and scattered.

“Huff, huff.”

Pahell opened his eyes and gasped for air, still nervously, as he bent over. His heart was thumping out of his chest. He had just walked the line between life and death.

“Here, drink some cold water. There is no poison, so don’t worry about that, haha.”

The emperor took a sip out of the cup first before handing it over to Pahell. Pahell gulped down the cold water and calmed his beating chest.

‘I’m alive.’

Sweat poured down Pahell’s face. The bath that he took right before the audience was meaningless.

“You enjoy your jokes,” Pahell’s words were tinged with displeasure. He couldn’t hide it even if he tried.

“That’s what happens when you have everything you could possibly have in the world. It takes a lot for me to feel something. I’ve had everything I’ve ever wanted since I was born, so you’ll have to forgive me if my jokes are a bit rough and over the line from time to time.”

Yanchinus spoke such arrogant words with unbelievable ease. But no one could deny his words, not even the Pope who was supposed to be the representative of the almighty sun god Lou, who bowed his head in the presence of the emperor. There wasn’t a single force in the world that could stand in the way of the all-powerful emperor.

Pahell cleared his throat and looked Yanchinus straight in his eyes.

“Please officially grant my request for asylum and help me claim my throne, Your Majesty.”

Yanchinus cupped Pahell’s cheeks in his palms as he stared at him with fiery eyes.

“At fifteen, you are old enough to hold your own and defend your throne! If I helped a prince who couldn’t even manage that to become king of the kingdom, do you think he could rule it properly? Even if he did, how does that benefit me? Whoever becomes king of Porcana is of no concern to me. Whoever it is that takes that throne, as long as he continues to pay tribute to the empire, that’s all that matters to me! Does the Porcana Kingdom worry about who becomes the ruler of each of the counties? That’s what the throne of Porcana means to me.”

Yanchinus burst out laughing as he unleashed his words on Pahell.

“If the rightful heir does not take the throne, it will set a bad precedent.”

This was Pahell’s only point of argument.

“I don’t care about that! I have the invincible Order of Imperial Steel as my left hand and the indomitable Sun Warriors as my right, not to mention the proud imperial army at my feet lifting me up! Enough of this nonsense, if I spoon-feed the throne to the prince who can’t even grasp it for himself, what benefit will you return to me?”

The emperor’s frenzied roar crushed Pahell’s spirit.

‘This man is a wolf.’

Yanchinus was an emperor who poured his power into the revelation of academia, and he even implemented a cultural policy for the barbarians. But the emperor that Pahell met was a man of war who was equipped with both intelligence and wildness. After all, he was the heir of the first two emperors who had built this empire with power. There was no way that their successor would be meek.

“I will grant your request for asylum! You can stay here like a defeated dog, scavenging for food I throw you, but, Prince Varca, if you want my help becoming king, then bring me a fitting gift. I will give you three days. We will dine together, and you may bring your friend, that barbarian mercenary leader.”

Yanchinus summoned the women again. Pahell shuffled backward as he kept his eyes on the emperor.

“I will see you in three days, Your Majesty.”

“You may take any of these women if there is one that you like. I know that the royal bloodline of Porcana is known for its beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. If you sow your seed and a girl is born who takes after you, I will make her my concubine.”

Pahell suppressed his urge to gag. The power that had left the hands of a priest was pure debauchery. Yanchinus chased his desires as if he had forgotten all of the teachings of the sun god.

“Also, take my gift from the official. It is my gift to you for surviving the Palace of White Night. Gifts are supposed to be both given and received! Remember my words!”

With those words, only a harsh groan remained in the room as the man and women tangled like animals.

Pahell, who bowed his head in acknowledgment, stepped out of the Palace of White Night.

“His Majesty said that he left me a gift.”

The official was waiting by the entrance. He took out a gold-trimmed box and opened it.

“A precious treasure from the frozen lands of the north. Its value is immeasurable.”

The official said to Pahell. What he pulled out of the box was a palm-sized statue chiseled from green jade, something that Pahell had never seen before. It was of a snake with a marble in its mouth. For a snake, it seemed quite brave.

“A snake?”

Pahell muttered.

“Not exactly. It’s called a dragon,” the residence official replied.