Hmm, well…
Seems like bringing the Emperor along was a pretty good choice, after all.
If it was just the three of us, I’d feel a bit guilty, and surprisingly, watching the Emperor who’s almost clueless about daily life was kind of funny.
Let’s see…
At home, the Emperor didn’t really cook much.
It’s not because he’s overly patriarchal; it’s just that picking the menu usually fell to one of us three—me, Claire, or Alice.
We’d decide what we wanted to eat, prepare the cooking together, and then call the Emperor. Naturally, his chances to cook disappeared.
And because of that, the Emperor wasn’t very good at grilling meat.
“It’s only natural since I’ve lived my whole life eating meat grilled by others.”
I said that while I grilled the meat myself.
“Technically, the one who usually grills meat in this kind of setting should be the father figure, but it can’t be helped.”
“Ahem.”
The Emperor made a noise that hinted he was a bit uncomfortable.
This kind of talk was actually rare to hear in Azernar.
The Emperor… well, he rarely got angry, good or bad.
It’s a bit like…
He has one of those frustrating ways of thinking that screams, ‘I’ve thought about that too.’ Maybe that’s why he’s good at stocks or something, meticulously calculating the risks and diversifying his investments.
I was really curious, so I tried watching a rebroadcast, but honestly, just watching doesn’t mean you can imitate it. It’s more of a method where you literally do nothing and just focus on stocks for almost all your time.
But when the Emperor joined us to play around, he seemed a bit relaxed.
“It’s surprising that someone who can do so much can’t cook.”
Seeing the Emperor like this for the first time, I figured this was my chance and started teasing him.
As I watched sausages sizzling on the burner, a shadow fell over them.
Looking up, I saw the Emperor had come close.
“…Do you have a pair of tongs?”
The Emperor asked, and I happily handed him a pair. I brought plenty just in case multiple people wanted to grill at the same time.
“If you teach me how to grill, I’ll give it a try.”
“Are you sure? Cooking is harder than it seems. Didn’t you just fail at grilling meat a moment ago?”
Honestly, that was kind of inevitable.
Unlike relatively easy grilling, like with pork belly or shoulder—which isn’t too tough—the meat the Emperor tried to grill was a thick slab of beef! Without the right feel, he couldn’t help but burn the outside.
But since he was grilling sausages now, it probably wouldn’t be a huge issue.
“You can learn what you don’t know.”
“You have a positive mindset.”
Hmm…
If I tease him too much, would it look like revenge for losing in the last game?
But I figured it didn’t really matter. After all, we weren’t broadcasting. Even though Alice and Claire were watching, they already knew my real personality.
I guess you could say it was the attitude of someone who’s given up everything.
“Then, let’s give it a shot.”
“Okay.”
The Emperor nodded seriously at my words.
…
To sum it up, the Emperor actually learned to cook quite well.
It was his first time grilling today, so I couldn’t say it was perfect. I wasn’t a chef either, so I didn’t think I had taught him perfectly.
Still, he didn’t burn the outside too much, and the insides weren’t cold, so that was good enough, right?
The first thing we grilled was beef; this time it was pork.
“The food in this country is wonderful.”
“Well, more than half of what we’re eating is actually foreign food.”
“But since it’s made in our country, you can’t say it tastes exactly the same, right?”
That was a fair point.
Honestly, the sausages from Azernar were tastier. And it’s no wonder, considering Azernar is modeled after Europe. It’s even bizarrely a mix of Germany and Britain.
It was a country famous for sausages so there were all kinds overflowing.
Still, dining out was mostly awful. I don’t know why that is.
“If I may say, compared to Azernar’s food, there’s a bigger chance that whatever food you bring from anywhere else will taste better.”
Unless it’s a case of them being too poor to cook properly.
I think that even if genuine British food was served, it’d be far worse than Azernar’s cuisine, right?
“With all the ingredients coming from all over the continent’s history, they should be the best.”
“If it’s not properly distributed, then it’s pointless.”
“That’s true.”
“Well, I’m learning various things too, so don’t worry. I’ve heard that countries similar to ours are implementing many forms of welfare policies. We’ll have to apply it slowly over time.”
“There’s no need to discuss national prosperity while camping.”
Claire seemed a bit irritated as she said that, and we all laughed.
“Ah, right!”
Claire clapped her hands, quickly grabbing the camera hanging around her neck.
She loved taking pictures, and she was always printing and storing them whenever she had the chance.
“Everyone, look here!”
Claire said as she aimed the camera at us.
Me, Alice, and even the Emperor all squeezed into the shot, click! She took the photo.
“Great, great.”
It was October, and the sun was already setting. The sky was clear. It was either not a day for the moon to rise, or a few bright stars were already twinkling.
The Emperor quietly watched Claire doing that.
“What’s wrong?”
I asked, and the Emperor shrugged his shoulders.
“Just thinking about other possibilities that haven’t happened.”
“Within those possibilities, someone probably did stop your plans.”
“That’s not what I was thinking.”
The Emperor said with a grin, as if he found it amusing.
“I was just thinking about those who got caught up in the things I did.”
…
I wonder if becoming an ordinary citizen changed his perspective.
But honestly, we’re living a lot better than most ordinary citizens.
…You might have risen to the top even if you were born in the back alleys.
“You think so?”
“I do.”
It really seemed that way.
Even if it was the back alleys of Azernar, the Emperor would have struggled a lot from the moment he realized he was born into this world.
And I think that struggle would bear fruit.
“Perhaps it might have been safer for you to be born as the Emperor.”
“Sometimes, I think that way too.”
The Emperor said with a smile.
“It’s usually less of a sacrifice to be the one rising to the top than it is to struggle just to get there.”
I didn’t have any comeback to that statement.
…
Midnight.
It had gotten pretty cold, but the three of us—me, Claire, and Alice—were sitting together on the beach.
Looking up at the sky, the stars were quite visible.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t like those picturesque illustrations or movies where the Milky Way is on full display. It was just that there were more stars shimmering in the sky than in Seoul.
But even that I found very beautiful.
“I hope we can do this when we go back to Azernar.”
“We should be able to. After all, I’m going to be the Emperor, right?”
“…No, if you go with the Emperor, there will be soldiers everywhere.”
“That’s just something we’ll have to deal with. The other side really has bandits and thieves lurking around.”
Claire made a “Tch” sound in response to Alice’s words.
“Well, if there’s a chance to hang out, you better take me along too. I don’t want to be the only one left out while you two have fun.”
It was such a Claire-like remark that I almost laughed.
“…?”
For a moment, we all paused to speak.
…”Does it seem like that person’s personality has changed a bit?”
Claire was the first to break the silence.
“Yeah, it’s not at all the person we saw in the Empire. Do you think the failure affected him significantly?”
I thought for a moment before I spoke up.
“And living in this world has probably influenced him a lot as well. I think we three are the biggest reason for that.”
“…Us three?”
I quietly gazed up at the heavens and said.
“The Emperor has never experienced family.”
“….”
Yeah, there was an Empress. He had a daughter. He did pick and cherish talented kids in his way.
But could those be termed as family relationships?
I… was a bit skeptical.
“…I think I understand what you mean.”
Alice said with a somewhat bittersweet expression.
“But just because he has that doesn’t mean a person… can become someone else. He’ll have to be careful when he returns.”
“I know.”
At my words, Alice let out a sigh.
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