Chapter 127: Chapter 127
The crude truth would never be forgotten by Orland.
Not only did his duty to transmit the secret restrain him from doing so, but the devilish cruelty scourged on the victim and his Father’s severe tone as he revealed the secret, had caused a big impression on him who thought of Fenrir as a tamed beastly deity Royals had acquired.
Hence, Marianne’s Father, who happened to know the severe truth of the risk in that ancient chamber... Felt a ripping sensation strain his body’s muscles, furious and impatient to let his hand reach for the Emperor’s throat without the polite moderation he usually placed on his strength.
’Francois. You dare put my child in harm’s way...’
Sinister hatred was growing inside him. The dangerous actions his old friend had done against his daughter were outrageous.
An unthought treachery from his dear friend... Orland was fighting the unbearable thought with all of the kindness he could invoke from his darkening soul.
The rage was consuming his rationale, yet his heart continued to battle against its fall into the murderous intent produced by the deception and sadness.
Orland was grasping his consciousness with desperation, knowing that...
’There is a reason for this... There has to be.’
A pulsating headache was menacing to cloud his head as he continued to walk the blurry halls.
Soon, they reached his youngest daughter’s lodgings.
Acting as usual, Orland said his farewell to Theressa portraying truthful loving eyes... and then...
"I shall guid–"
"No need." — Interrupting the servant Orland said with a harsh low tone.
"Take me to Francois. Now."
"!? The Emp–?"
"Now."
"... Yes, Your Grace."
His cold eyes gave no space for the servant to refuse.
If he did not follow his order... The servant was sure that his decision would have been regretted.
*******
"Your Excellency, Duke Sy–!!!??"
BANG! CRASH!!
"FRANCOIS."
The closed thick entrance, crumbled with the fierce disruption Orland knocked it with to enter the Emperor’s Lounge, walking with decisive speed and holding a usurped spear from the Royal knight guard that was supposed to keep defence outside.
"What the f–!?"
The sharp end of the spear was already grazing his throat by the time he had left his chalice on his side table as he turned to see what was happening.
"Speak. I give you the chance to explain before I let this pierce your useless neck."
"... Did something happen–!" — Cutting his sentence, Orland pressed the spear against him.
"Don’t try. The answer, now."
Orland was not blinking.
His body was concentrated on controlling the turmoil overwhelming him, letting the Emperor learn how outraged his friend truly was.
’The Lucid Warrior... He will kill me if I don’t say the truth.’
Francois understood the dangerous situation he was in.
His old friend was furious, and watching the menacing bloody aura exude from his body like a thick fog... The nickname he won from his enemies at war was recalled.
A Lucid Warrior, completely aware of every slash, stomp and scream he dealt to any adversary, fully conscious of owning the flowing adrenaline that... No death he perpetrated was missed to be counted.
"... I knew she would succeed. Fenrir has a strong bond with the Sylfinniers, and I wanted people to know she is not any noble I am giving my favour."
"...."
Orland examined the Emperor’s unwavering gaze for a long time, analysing his words with high speed and searching for the minimal hint of a lie in his statement.
With a smooth twist of his wrist, the Duke retired the spear from his neck and let it rest on his shoulder as if it had been a long-time used weapon.
"I see. Elaborate on that."
"Sigh... You darn madman... What number would I be by now, huh?"
"Only the fourth. I haven’t killed many in this easy position. They usually try something, not like you, Maurice the sissy Emperor." — Orland said as he took a seat on the couch next to Francois’s.
One of the guards came closer to retrieve the spear and Orland returned it with a relaxed posture.
"... There are ten hidden guards in this room... And none came to aid me when you clearly were about to kill me. What the hell did you do to my knights? By now it’s obvious they fear you more than their Empire’s Monarch... Sigh..... Bloody Fu**ers..."
"How would I know? They are just clever enough to know what’s best for them, Maurice."
".... Son of a b*tch."
"Do you want me to kill you with your dear chalice? Don’t waste my time, start talking while I’m being nice."
"You ar*ehole! No more is left to say! That’s all there is to it! The cute child would even charm the Forsaken in Izeneya! I was certain nothing would happen to My adorable favoured Guest!!!!"
"... ’My’?"
"... That’s right."
"So the Emperor is a suicidal b*stard... Good to know." — Preparing to stand Orland said, intending to reach for the Chalice he had mentioned earlier.
"Hey! Sit! Sit down! She’s your daughter, I get it!! I’m sorry, d*mn it!! Just don’t!" — Trying to prevent him from completely leaving his seat, Francois reached to his shoulders pressing with force on them.
"Don’t touch me, shameless tw*t! My daughter could have died there!! Even if you were sure it would be alright, it didn’t cross your mind that things could go awry??! That whether it succeeded or not I would come at you like this?!?! Are you truly that brainless of a duff*r??
"... I- I did kind of guess it..."
"... Maybe... Maybe I should seriously consider piercing your head next time... I might be praised instead of winning a death sentence."
"Hey! Don’t be like that! It all went well and now the cute child is a Fenrir
Protege!!"
"And what does that mean!? The chosen ones have been praised for hundreds of years and we never knew their real purpose! The only who knows are the Royals!... and I’m sure you won’t tell me... voluntarily..." — Raising his brow, Orland concluded, slowly considering how to make it "voluntary".
"Sigh..... No need to warn me with that expression. I had already decided on telling you the moment I assigned the chamber to her... The girl is your child... I know your children are your everything... It’s clear with how broken my door is now..."
Both glanced at the crumbles on the ground, somehow unsurprised by the scene.
"..."
"... You won’t even apologise?"
"You said you had guessed my reaction. Therefore, you knew this could happen. No need for me to apologise since you expected it." — Shrugging his reproach, the Duke leaned back calmly on his seat.
"..." — The Emperor bit his lower lip in frustration, aware that this time he would lose again if he went against his sharp old Friend.
’Curse him... I’ll make him regret this... I’ll blab it all to the child... That will teach him.’
"Alright. Now tell me, what is it that makes the chosen by Fenrir so crucial to the Royal Family?"
"Haaah... Orland... I’m not truly a believer of all that’s been passed on to me... But I will tell you everything I know... All of you, Leave."
Ordering everyone to leave their presence Francois waited for the lounge to be empty and asked Orland to check its security.
"Can you feel anyone lurking?"
"... No one in at least... fifty meters ratio... Besides the ones outside... And two Umbra"
"That’s good enough."
Francois proceeded to explain the teachings his ancestors had left, pouring out to his loyal friend, a forgotten and dubious truth.
*******
In a daze, I walked inside the room closing the door behind me, baffled at all the possible meanings this new "Title" could signify in my "almost peaceful" life.
’... It could be a really bad... Or an extraordinarily good thing...’
"..."
Marianne was also nervous since I was acting this quiet. Transmitting cautious energy, peeking in and out, kept alternating its force inside me. As a child would, she probably noticed my restless emotions and didn’t know what to do about it.
’... You know what?... I don’t care. We will know sooner or later whether it’s a good or bad thing... So, F*ck it. I’m going to do whatever I want either way.’
I don’t like feeling restless. And I’m actually hoping for it to be something really bad.
Like maybe I have now some dark power or something that... Uh... I don’t know... Absorbs my life force or whatever it needs from me to build itself... Who knows.
It could be some self-destructive thingy that only has a dope name.
However, even if it’s exactly what I just said... I’ll cleverly use it to ruin the main story as much as I can.
’The original novel lacks a lot of information. The least I can do is ruin it enough so the whole world burns to ashes for giving me a flamboyant death sentence.’
"..."
"... I’ll save the Duke. But no one else, understood?’ — I told to Marianne’s concerned silence.
Even Karina, I will take her down too. That Female Lead was only good at being led by the horny Male Leads. If she had any good character development I might have forgiven her, but the chick was the one mostly narrating the story, yet she knew basically nothing.
It’s not her fault that the Author made her narrate as she did... But I want to blame her.
’Horny naive girl... Priorities matter. For example, knowing the freaking Royal you were banging actually was being protected by his family’s deity, or why you had to wear red every time said Royal called you here to have a good time... Or... I don’t know... Maybe caring about other cool things besides sex...’
... She was made that way, so it’s not her fault though.
"..."
’Tsk. To hell with it... Bloody Karina.’