Chapter 23: Royal Capital: Femme Fatale

Three months passed in a flash.

Although he was subjected to deafening scolding every day of his training and had to drag his sore body back to the room after a day of hard training, Xiao Yun did benefit a lot from the three months of following Kairusha.

(This man of the grassland, who was more chivalrous than a knight, not only promised to send troops to help us in the future, but also taught me all the knowledge he knew without reservation.)

(Saladin, hailed as the greatest knight of Arabia by the Crusaders, was probably no more than this...)

"ah--"

The moment he was distracted, Xiao Yun's sword was knocked away by Kairusha again, and his body was about to fall off the horse.

"careful!"

"--Know!"

While answering, Xiao Yun gripped the reins tightly in his hands, used his left foot still in the stirrup as a support point, pressed the ground with his right foot, and quickly got back on the horse's back in a posture similar to a somersault by a kite.

"call--"

Xiao Yun steadied himself, let out a breath, and prepared to be scolded.

Kairusha said gently, "It's been a big improvement."

"I--"

"You must try your best to overcome the habit of daydreaming. On the battlefield, any carelessness could cost you your life."

"I know."

"...Yaris actually gets distracted quite often too. But he's smarter than most people in this world, so even if he gets distracted in the middle of a conversation, the person he's talking to usually doesn't notice."

"But I can tell."

"I don't know what he's thinking all day, why he's always mumbling things I can't understand... and I can only feel more and more strongly that his soul is heading for another world that I can never understand or reach... It's the same with you... Of course, your situation is obviously better than his. At least what you say is still within my understanding..."

Kairusha sighed.

"So, even though I've always lived a simple, straightforward, and honest life, after spending so much time with you brothers, I've actually become just like those magicians who shroud themselves in darkness and fog, curious about what exactly this five-thousand-year-old sacred family is."

(I also wonder what exactly the Holy Family is?)

"So I decided—"

Kairusha took out a scroll and threw it to Xiao Yun.

"I'll be leaving in three days. The scroll contains everything I can think of that you need to learn."

"Won't you stay a little longer?"

"cannot."

Kairusha said, "Edmund's patience with me is almost at its limit."

"ah?"

Xiao Yun was surprised.

In the past three months, Kairusha came to Silver Moon Palace and the Royal Academy almost every day to teach him. He thought this was approved by Edmund.

He told Kairusha his idea.

Kairusha laughed. "Edmund is so eager to separate Yaris and me from each other, how could he possibly agree?"

"Then these three months—"

"It was in exchange for Yaris helping him persuade the other great nobles to allow Ulysses to succeed Alfred as Prime Minister of the Empire, but it was only for three months, no more."

(ah?)

Xiao Yun was not surprised that Yaris had concealed something from Kairusha, but——

(Marina didn't even tell Kairusha that Ulysses was Yaris's man?)

(They are not...)

"...We can't break up with him for the time being, so I'll leave before his patience reaches its limit."

Kairusha suddenly sighed at this moment, just like he had sighed countless times in the four years since he and Yaris met.

"In fact, in my opinion, whether it is Edmund or Yaris, if they were born on the grassland, they would be much happier than they are now."

"People on the grasslands have always been simple and straightforward. What's the big deal about something from God? If you like it, go after it. If you can't catch it, snatch it and hide it in your tent. If you can't snatch it, die in battle."

"We're not like you who enjoy organizing a bunch of bizarre rituals, turning living people into walking statues, subject to your own fantasies. We circle around them every day, staring at them with disgust. We ourselves are bound by these self-made rules, becoming increasingly twisted, and even losing the ability to tell the truth. Yet you call this civilization."

"I don't know how far your painstakingly built civilization will ultimately go, but the Eternal Empire, recognized as the source of all existing civilizations on Planet Ella, was indeed destroyed by divine punishment six thousand years ago. In other words, civilization collapsed."

“Perhaps, the so-called civilization created by life with countless rules and rituals is a fleeting accident, while the barbarism and birth, aging, sickness and death that follow the laws of nature are truly eternal.”

(This person…this person actually…)

Xiao Yun was shocked.

But on second thought, I felt it was natural.

How could Kairusha, who is considered a good friend by such a proud man as Yaris, be a rough and rude warrior with an empty head?

…

…

Guangming Palace is preparing a banquet.

A gilded basket was piled high with fresh fruit. A nymph statue held a water vase aloft, cascading with pure white flowers. In the center of the colorful fountain, composed of seasonal flowers, the capital's most beloved goddess of love spread her lifelike wings, ready to bless the world at any moment...

However, even though every corner of the hall was filled with pleasant fragrance, the young emperor was still not satisfied and believed that the banquet should have more and more luxurious decorations.

"What I want is a luxurious banquet that won't be surpassed for at least ten years!"

"But the money—"

"Don't talk to me about money."

Edmund interrupted Lias impatiently: "If it was Ulysses standing here, he would never make me unhappy!"

"But……"

"Ulysses is about to become the first civilian Prime Minister in the history of the Empire, and yet you, the son of the Interior Minister, can't even do the work of an ordinary courtier!"

"I'm sorry, I..."

Lias lowered his head.

At this time, gorgeous black appeared in the hall decorated with flowers.

In other words, it was not until the Yaris brothers appeared in front of the public wearing black that the court ladies who were keen on dressing themselves in white, red and gold discovered that black, which was always associated with depression, sadness and seriousness, could also be so gorgeous and lively, as beautiful as a flower.

The ladies-in-waiting and attendants were troubled by the two attractively dressed people, and when they looked at the gloomy emperor in the dull purple robe, they suddenly found it unacceptable.

Edmund knew very well what the ladies-in-waiting and attendants were thinking at the moment, but he acted as if he didn't care. He opened his arms to welcome his two cousins, and after a brief greeting, he squinted his eyes to look at them.

"...It's actually Monglis clothing."

“I like to change my style occasionally.”

Yaris smiled softly, and with his white, fragrant hand, he flicked the gold tassel necklace that was wrapped around his headscarf as an ornament. "Preparing for the banquet?"

"Kairusha had a quarrel with his mistress in the capital and decided to return to Menglis early. I held a banquet to send him off and introduce him to his new mistress."

"mistress?"

Yaris showed innocent surprise.

"How many men in the world have never embraced a woman other than their wife? Besides, Kairusha is so tall and strong, women all want to be his little mare and be gently whipped by his whip."

Edmund was smug—an expression that made the shadows under his eyes even darker.

"...Karusha's mistress in the capital was a femme fatale skilled in toying with emotions, captivating Eagle's heart. She preferred the palace of the capital to the tents of the grasslands and refused to return to Menglis with Kairusha. Obsessed with love and self-degradation, Kairusha had no choice but to come to the capital every year, paying the exorbitant bills for her extravagant lifestyle in exchange for a pitiful number of sexual encounters."

(Such a vulgar and obscene face-to-face sex...)

Xiao Yun secretly complained.

Yaris smiled without any gloom: "So Kairusha likes this type."

“…Men who fall into paranoia often don’t realize they’re heading down the wrong path.”

"For this scheming, treacherous woman who wantonly plays with men's innocence and tramples on their dignity, I suggest completely ignoring her beauty and methods, locking her up in a high tower, and whipping her daily until she kneels at a man's feet out of fear or dies!"

Edmund was absorbed in his own description, and his pale, sunken cheeks flushed with excitement.

"If my mistress dares to defy my dignity, I will make her spend the rest of her life in the tower!"

"The whip is used to gain fear, not love."

Yaris said softly, "No matter what, you can never get true love through coercion."

"To me, the extreme fear of being cautious and flattering is no different from love."

"—No wonder there are rumors that you are a tyrant."

Yaris sighed helplessly again.

Edmund turned his head away in dissatisfaction, and only smiled again when he saw a shadow in the corner of the hall.

Ulysses, who had obtained the qualification of a high-level magician three months ago, was wearing a black cloak and standing next to a water pitcher filled with flowers. His short stature almost blended into the shadow of the water pitcher.

"Ulysses, when did you come here?"

"After learning that my brother Lias once again angered you with his foolish remarks—"

Ulysses stepped out of the shadows and knelt on one knee on the smooth marble.

"Lias is a lucky guy, he has such a capable adoptive brother..."

Edmund muttered softly, motioning for Ulysses to stand up.

Ulysses stood respectfully behind Edmund, with his hands clasped and his head lowered, like a lifeless black mist.

Edmund squinted his eyes at Lucien, who was wearing a minstrel's three-cornered hat beside Jarris.

"You are about to receive your academic certificate from the Royal Academy. According to the agreement with Yaris, I should grant you the title of nobility. But I - suddenly want to experience the feeling of breaking my promise!"

(…I have a sentence that I don’t know whether I should say or not!)

Xiao Yun tried hard to suppress his anger and looked at Yaris, whose face was as delicate as a sculpture and even his eyebrows were motionless.

"reason?"

“There is no suitable land.”

"Terra on the other side of Maga is a good fit."

"You want to get Lake Lilia?!"

Edmund was furious.

Twenty-two years ago, the previous emperor had gifted the city of Maga to the Holy Family as a birth gift for Yaris. If he granted the city of Terra to Lucien at Yaris's request, Lake Lilia, sandwiched between the two cities, would become the private property of the Holy Family.

Lake Lilia is the largest and most important lake in the southern part of the empire, feeding millions of people in the surrounding area.