People often say that those in positions labeled ‘noble’ live their lives enjoying many advantages.
If I lived in a modern society that theoretically considers people equal, then most of those who fit the term ‘noble’ would actually be capable individuals in their own way.
But I’m not talking about things like money, brains, or athletic skills. Sure, people might have those things.
What I mean is self-sacrifice.
People who do things for others, regardless of their own gains.
Like volunteers or firefighters. Or those who quietly do good deeds without any affiliation.
Since there are no legal boundaries to differentiate people, those living in such a society usually think of the ‘noble’ when they hear the term.
However, in a society where ranks are legally defined, it’s different.
In such a society, ‘noble’ refers to the aristocracy, or those above them.
They are literally born into nobility, grow up that way, and live nobly until they die, only becoming ‘un-noble’ when those below them rise up and pull them down.
Of course, it’s not just the nobility; royals and emperors are no different. In fact, it’s worse for them. They get pardoned for specific crimes just because they belong to the royal family and often start at an advantageous position in trials. Sometimes, their actions never even go to trial!
Some say they must work hard to appear noble because their lives may be in danger due to that nobility and they literally have to work day and night.
What a joke.
If we are talking about effort, it’s much tougher for those below to climb to the top.
In danger? Those who have never seen photos of workers building skyscrapers in the early 20th century or those who shoved their hands into regularly moving presses without safety gear wouldn’t know what danger is.
Working day and night? That’s funny. There are those who work until they drop and then sleep on a soft bed nearby, completely unaware of those barely hanging on a thread, suffering through a life of 16-hour shifts.
“It’s been a while, my daughter.”
And I’m one of those so-called noble people.
Under normal circumstances, I would be scratching the bottom of the barrel in this world, but somehow I got caught up in some strange event, whether by someone’s plan or pure coincidence, and became the second most noble being in this country.
I don’t think that at all.
But I’m not planning to become a ‘real’ noble either.
“It seems like you’ve been comfortable during this time.”
I spoke to the Emperor.
Ever since I became the second person in the Empire and Alice made herself the Crown Princess, I hadn’t been given any tasks. Alice was really averse to thinking of me as ‘above her.’
We still don’t know how Alice plans to run the Empire. She hasn’t taken the Emperor’s position or presented any vision. For now, it was just her saying she’d think about her future while living an academy life.
But that doesn’t mean she can avoid doing at least the bare minimum expected from a Crown Princess.
“Am I going to the Empire?”
“Yes,” the Emperor responded, and I answered honestly.
Well, he’s not the Emperor anymore, is he? Should I call him the former Emperor, or is it still ‘situation’?
Eh, I might as well just stick with what’s in my head. It’s not like the Emperor’s position is filled anyway. Using the term Emperor won’t confuse anyone.
I looked around unnecessarily.
Though they called it a prison, it was not your average prison that people usually imagine.
The floor was covered in thick velvet, and the walls had fancy decorations. There were iron bars, but there were also sunny windows and what looked like a guest reception table and chairs—like a noble’s room.
“I see you’ve been well.”
“I’ve been doing fine, thanks to the King of Velbur’s warm hospitality.”
Well, ‘warm hospitality’ isn’t exactly true; this prison isn’t built solely for the Emperor. It was originally a prison for the aristocracy and royalty.
Yes, a prison for the ‘noble.’
Velbur wanted to keep the Emperor in their custody. Those making such claims were the nobles. The King of Velbur seemed to agree to some extent, but at least he was more realistic than the nobles around him.
The Emperor was trying to ‘start’ a war. But he ‘couldn’t.’
Where the Emperor ran was the Papal State, and that action ultimately failed.
The Papal State effectively collapsed. And Velbur practically occupied the territory of that Papal State.
More than anything, the troops building up under Lutetia were all from the Papal State.
So, if we remove emotions and think about the gravity of his crimes, the Emperor was guilty of crossing Velbur with weapons.
And those weapons he had were nothing spectacular—basic hand-held melee weapons—and in this world, carrying such weapons isn’t that big of a deal. It’s a lot more troublesome to carry firearms like me.
Of course, the Emperor did have something else.
The ‘Jibo.’
But that’s just a worthless rock now. Moreover, the events that happened in the Papal State were too sensitive to announce casually.
So for various reasons, Velbur had no justification for keeping the Emperor imprisoned for the rest of his life.
“Was all of that your plan?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m asking if you guided everything so that you could still be left intact, even if it all failed.”
The Emperor smiled at my words.
“No, that’s not it. If I succeeded, everything would be under my feet, and if I failed, I would lose everything anyway. I prepared to have a backup plan, but that was only up to choosing one of my plans. The current situation can be called nothing less than a game of divine providence.”
“……”
“Did Alice order you to assassinate me?”
“Alice isn’t the type to issue death commands against her own father.”
“Then what about you? Do you think it would be better for you to kill me?”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the Emperor.
“Shall I take a guess? If you still had that capability, you would have tried to kill me first. Then observe Alice’s reaction and how the world spins before turning back time, right?”
“……”
I can’t completely deny that.
I think the chances are high that it didn’t happen, but at the same time, I thought there might be a method of choosing if it was more beneficial.
“You never know what might happen if you kill me.”
“That’s true.”
I don’t know how many supporters the Emperor still has left.
While I’m sitting here quietly watching, fearing him, and slowly watching Alice’s faction emerge, there are surely those who would gladly follow him if he stepped back into the Empire as a figure named Emperor.
If I kill him here, I might get killed too.
“I…”
I almost called him ‘Your Majesty’ but quickly corrected myself.
“I’ve come with orders to return you to your homeland.”
“That order must have come from Alice.”
“Right now, she is Crown Princess.”
“But Alice is Alice. You don’t think she’ll appreciate you using that title, do you?”
I decided to ignore that comment.
“Even if you return, you’ll be in confinement for a while.”
“Does that ‘while’ mean the rest of your life?”
“That depends on how you conduct yourself. If you cooperate during the transition of power to Alice, you’d probably live your life out normally in that situation. If not, then ‘for a while’ would indeed mean for your entire life.”
The Emperor silently looked up at me.
“Why do you think I’d be cooperative?”
“Do you really think I came to meet you first after coming to Velbur?”
I stared down at the Emperor as I spoke.
“I met my ‘siblings’ before meeting you.”
“Oh.”
The Emperor laughed in interest.
“And to all of them—meaning those who can’t save themselves anymore by turning back time—I spoke about your relationship with them.”
And I was able to glean a bit about my siblings who had passed on. At least I’m sure that ‘they’ existed.
“One side reacted with indifference, but the other reacted—a bit differently. Yes, I’m talking about your daughter, who almost ended up in a similar situation as mine.”
I gazed steadily into the Emperor’s eyes, but his expression didn’t change.
“It took quite a long time to convince her.”
Such is the age we live in.
And she’s a woman.
The already miserable life gains even more weight because of the age.
“I don’t think it’s about living long or short.”
“I see.”
The Emperor, having heard my words, laughed.
I don’t know if that laugh was because he realized it hasn’t come to an end or if it was just a refreshing laugh of letting everything go.
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