“To put the entire Empire at risk for a single friend, honestly speaking, I wouldn’t have made that choice.”
“Sure.”
I nodded. The Emperor would never have done that. Not for the many… but he casually sacrificed others for his own power.
At least the first Emperor had the justification of seeking human freedom; the current Emperor just wanted the world itself.
Trying to use that device wasn’t about the power of the first Emperor, but about stealing the power of the Goddess.
“But it’s definitely a very ‘you’ thing to do.”
“…”
I looked at the Emperor while holding the controller.
“I never thought it was wrong. Just that our desires were different. In the end, didn’t you win?”
“…I did win, yes.”
Though I hadn’t fully formed that conclusion here, it seemed unlikely that going back would flip the situation.
“There were many attempts, after all.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor shrugged.
I took another look at the game screen.
[Concept is solid, lol]
[Just a minute ago, they were just a father and daughter, and suddenly they’re enemies.]
I even glanced at the chat.
It seemed everyone didn’t take my conversation with the Emperor too seriously. They were just treating it as a concept.
“If Your Majesty had a power like mine, what would you have done?”
“I would have solidified my plans.”
“How many times would you have gone back in time?”
“Indeed.”
The Emperor said, sitting with his arms crossed.
“For quite a long time, I thought you could see the future. Ultimately, that was somewhat true, but in reality, it was a much harder path. I think you’re amazing. Just because others think you can do it doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
“When did you become so humble?”
I chuckled.
In the game, news spread that Sylvia had gone missing after the battleship crashed.
If Sylvia had been on the battleship, where could she have disappeared to?
I recalled the internal layout of the ship.
I had thoroughly explored every nook and cranny. But remembering all of that was stretching it. Throughout the time-turning, I had tried to memorize the inside of the battleship.
To be able to instinctively navigate it. To recall exactly what it was like when I closed my eyes.
In the end, I had blown it up. Though it wasn’t my doing directly.
Did she use a parachute? Maybe it was a delayed bomb. It could have been discovered before it exploded, but Sylvia had infinite chances. As long as she succeeded just once after hundreds of attempts, it would appear as if she had succeeded on the first try.
That doesn’t mean it was easy.
In any case, after the battleship fell, Sylvia went missing. No one chased after her.
The remaining children panicked and worried about Sylvia, which the Emperor watched quite seriously.
“Honestly speaking, I’ve almost never thought about being in a position of suffering.”
“Is that so?”
I was surprised by the Emperor’s words. Alice and Claire felt the same.
No, it wasn’t the fact that he had never considered being in a position of suffering that surprised me. It was my surprise at him saying that in this situation.
The Emperor… wasn’t he kind of a self-righteous person? He was someone who would rather crush others than negotiate when he had the power.
For him to sound like he empathized with the people he crushed… it was hard to accept.
[Sylvia looks horrified, lol]
[Is it because the Emperor said that? lol]
[If it’s a concept, it looks like he could act.]
“So, is the feeling of sympathy now overflowing?”
“Well…”
The Emperor quietly stared at the screen.
Alice in the game looked anxious. Claire was ready to jump out any second, but then Charlotte stopped her.
Other characters felt the same. They genuinely worried about the missing Sylvia.
Sylvia was probably, just like I was, a member of a secret force under the Emperor. Known as the Emperor’s children, a name given by others.
“It’s a bit different from that feeling.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m an ordinary person here.”
Alice said in a somewhat haughty voice.
If anyone here had feelings resembling affection for the Emperor, it would undoubtedly be Alice.
Though I stood as the Emperor’s child, we had been at each other’s throats for a long time, and Claire, while having some blood relation, wasn’t a child raised by the Emperor.
But Alice was different.
From childhood, she sought her father’s attention, almost leading her down a twisted path. Fortunately, the Alice I knew didn’t have that twisted personality.
“In this world, there’s no privilege of being an Emperor. It’s far removed from the story of being born with the future of an Emperor in store from the moment of birth, right?”
“Hmm…”
The Emperor pondered again after Alice’s words.
“I wasn’t born an Emperor from moment one.”
[It’s a prequel.]
[This is actually kind of interesting to hear.]
[At this point, it feels genuine.]
There were still people in the chat thinking our conversation was just following the characters.
Yet the atmosphere had calmed down a bit compared to before. There were fewer who seemed to enjoy our dialogue than before.
Perhaps it was a mood where it couldn’t just be light-hearted laughter.
No matter how much it was a concept, if the performers looked serious, it wasn’t too strange for other people to start questioning its sincerity.
“There were countless adversaries, and I dealt with them one by one. I couldn’t let the nobility take power. My blood needed to be shared widely. To ensure the success of my plans, I needed many possibilities, and I prepared for it over a long time.
The Emperor’s words felt like something I had heard before but, at the same time, felt completely new.
Because of his attitude. That one difference created such… an eerie feeling.
“Looking back now, how do you feel?”
“Well, I still have to accept what I did. That was my entire life.”
A life chasing power.
“Does that mean you have things you want to try out now? Is there anything you want to start anew in the remaining part of your life?”
“…To some extent, yes, I can say that.”
“Even so, when you go back, I won’t leave you here.”
I replied firmly.
I don’t think the three of us believed we could keep the Emperor firmly in check. The Emperor was someone capable of plotting new schemes anytime, anywhere. To think we could completely thwart someone like that was arrogance.
So, I can’t leave the Emperor in this world.
Though I might not come back here, even if I never see this world again, I won’t let the Emperor devour this world.
…In this world, my family still exists. Not the family I gained over there, but my parents and my younger sibling who raised and birthed me are here.
Though I hadn’t met them again yet, I wasn’t too comfortable thinking that the Emperor, if left behind, could involve those people in whatever he might do.
“I don’t expect anything either. And—”
The Emperor said after a moment of thought.
“And don’t worry; what I want to try out here isn’t particularly dangerous.”
“You think there’s a fool out there who would fully believe the words of someone who, while claiming to make the world peaceful and free, is plotting to make that very world his puppet?”
Upon my words, the Emperor closed his mouth while chuckling again.
“…”
A brief silence fell in the broadcast room.
The chat sensed the atmosphere, and questions began popping up.
“…Ta-da!”
Claire, having watched the scene, suddenly shouted at the screen.
“This was all part of a script written in advance! What do you think? Was it convincing?”
[Lolololol]
[Of course it was]
[If it’s a concept, it looks like it got a little too serious.]
“I’m sorry. It seems I have a personality that gets immersed when performing.”
I also said with a slight hint of teasing.
“Right? Sylvia, you tend to get a bit too immersed in your acting.”
Alice laughed as she said it.
No, that was just a real diss. She was talking about how I was holding on to a concept over there.
“I had almost completely forgotten it in that performance.”
The Emperor defended me.
I wasn’t really pleased by that.
I wasn’t particularly happy, but…
How should I express this feeling?
…
For now, I’ll just set aside expressing it.
Later, when my feelings become a bit clearer, I can decide then.
I let out a light sigh and continued with the game.
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