Chapter 873

The same words can mean different things depending on who says them and the circumstances.

The Emperor’s words were no exception.

“From now on, I’ll take care of you.”

“……!”

At the unexpected words, Prince Shangshan jerked his head up from his prostration. I couldn’t stop a groan from slipping through my lips.

“Mm.”

That was probably why the Emperor’s gaze shifted from the prince at his feet to me.

“Do you have something to say?”

Plenty.

But the man before me ruled the continent. I lowered myself onto one knee and answered as politely as I could.

“If I may be so bold, Your Majesty.”

“If you think it’s bold, you’d be wise to keep it to yourself. Assuming you want to keep your head attached.”

“……!”

“Still, very well. Go on. It might be interesting to see how much my patience has grown over the past ten-odd years.”

Those in power often dressed their whims up as patience.

Just like now.

He’s really enjoying this.

I lowered my head slightly as I watched the Emperor’s eyes gleam like a child who’d found an amusing new toy. I was trying to hide the way I’d clenched my teeth without realizing it.

Just how far did that arrogant Emperor’s patience extend? If I crossed some invisible line he’d drawn, could I bear the consequences?

Questions like those suddenly flashed through my mind, but right now I had to do whatever I could to fend off the Emperor’s grasping hand reaching for Prince Shangshan.

Stay calm.

I took a small breath and slowly spoke.

“Your Majesty’s offer is truly gracious, but His Highness Prince Shangshan is already well cared for by his loyal subjects. In fact, he may not need anyone to care for him anymore.”

“Your manners have improved all of a sudden. You’re still far from skilled at hiding the barbs in your words, though.”

The Emperor gave me a mocking look and continued.

“Tell me, who are these loyal subjects you spoke of? That devious eunuch? Or that martial-world ruffian who flouts the Great Nation’s rules of propriety and roams the land?”

Even a stray dog would know the first meant Hong Jin and the second meant me.

But I didn’t so much as flinch. I bowed deeply and answered.

“Your Majesty is right that I belong to the martial world. I have roots in my family and my martial school.”

“So you are not my younger brother’s subject. Then what gives you the right to wag that tongue of yours in front of me?”

“Though I am not his subject, I was summoned as His Highness’s guest, and Your Majesty gave me permission to speak.”

“This is getting more interesting by the moment. But dress a beast in clothes, and does that make it a person? Don’t waste my precious time on pointless formalities that don’t suit you. Get to the point. Briefly and simply.”

Briefly and simply.

That was music to my ears.

But now was the time to bow once more, just in case. I looked down at the soft carpet and said,

“How could I do that?”

“Fifteen minutes should be enough.”

“Pardon?”

“For those fifteen minutes, I’ll forgive whatever rudeness you commit. Speak freely. That is my imperial command.”

Good.

With that safety net in place, I finally raised my head and looked at him. Then I said what had been on the tip of my tongue all along.

“You already know, don’t you?”

“What?”

“His Highness Prince Shangshan has grown up well without Your Majesty’s care. He has managed without it until now, and he’ll continue to.”

“……!”

The instant the Emperor’s eyes flashed—

Whoosh!

Killing intent like invisible blades shot in from all sides and wrapped around me.

It was the killing intent of dozens of imperial guards—or rather, assassins—who had already revealed themselves once before. They’d all sent it at me at the same time.

Their martial skill was at Peak, but their abilities as assassins had reached Supreme Peak.

If they unleashed the one-strike killing techniques they’d spent their whole lives honing, staking their lives on them, even I wouldn’t get away unscathed.

But what I feared never happened.

Before their sword light could fall on me, the Emperor raised a hand and stopped them.

Shff.

The darkness on all sides rippled.

Holding back the assassins who seemed ready to drop from the air and carve me to pieces, the Emperor gazed at me through narrowed eyes.

“Prince Shangshan doesn’t need my care?”

“Yes.”

“Do you not know he’s only twelve years old?”

“I do.”

“Then how can you say that?”

“Because that twelve-year-old boy shouted at the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—a man whose authority could bring down even birds in flight.”

“……!”

“If someone had told him to do it, then His Highness would still be a child in need of care. But no one there advised him to do so.”

Prince Shangshan had decided for himself and acted without hesitation.

I didn’t know whether he’d been born with that resolve or his circumstances had gradually taught it to him, but it was a mark of adulthood.

At thirteen, he’d already shown he could do something even adults who’d merely grown older with the years they’d been given could not.

“Deputy Military Commissioner Hong Jin, who has been with him for so long, treats His Highness like a child, just as Your Majesty does. But I see it differently. When I was a child, I couldn’t even have dreamed of doing something like that.”

“Of course not. You weren’t a member of the imperial family, or a prince.”

I shrugged.

“I happened to meet one member of the imperial family. I can say with confidence that His Highness Prince Shangshan is ten times more mature than that person.”

“An imperial relative? You mean Ju Wongong?”

“You know about him, too.”

The Emperor even knew about the Slaughter Saint.

I didn’t know how deeply he’d dug into my affairs, but the fact that I was involved with one of the few members of the imperial family probably didn’t even count as noteworthy information to him.

The mention of Ju Wongong made him frown.

“Everything ultimately comes from status and authority, not age. If this boy were no more than a distant imperial relative like Ju Wongong, do you think he could have shouted at Baek Yeon so boldly?”

“I’ve heard there’s nothing more pointless than arguing about something that never happened. Besides, making the most of what you’ve been given isn’t something a child can do, either.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue at my ready answer.

“That tongue of yours is quite slick.”

“It’s one of my signature skills.”

“But can that signature skill defeat an imperial command?”

“Pardon?”

“What if I issued an imperial command right here and now to revoke Prince Shangshan’s assigned territory in Shanxi Province, grant him the title Marquis Within the Passes, and keep him by my side?”

“……!”

This son of a bitch fights dirty even in an argument.

An imperial command isn’t some fucking Spirit Bomb.¹

I swallowed the curses threatening to burst out and asked, “If you did that, what would become of His Highness?”

It might have crossed a line. A ruffian from the martial world had no business asking about that, and the Emperor could have shouted me down with that very argument.

But the Emperor answered readily, like a judge watching to see how far I’d cross the line.

“He’ll return to where he belongs. He’ll live in the imperial palace, study under excellent teachers, and be served by loyal palace attendants in surroundings far better than barren Shanxi Province.”

“Would Hong Jin be among them?”

“I said loyal palace attendants. Not a devious eunuch like him.”

The Emperor was right about one thing and wrong about everything else.

The imperial palace was where Prince Shangshan belonged. But his teachers and attendants would all be the Emperor’s people.

And…

They’ll watch his every move for the Emperor and do whatever he orders.

Even if that order were to assassinate him.

The thought left my mind cold.

“If I may ask, Your Majesty, why are you going this far?”

The Emperor’s lips curled with amusement.

“Because it’s only natural.”

“Natural?”

“I’m his older brother. Do I need another reason to look after my one and only younger brother?”

“Of course not. I just find it a little strange.”

“What do you find strange?”

“Why Your Majesty, who hasn’t cared for that one and only younger brother in over ten years, would suddenly decide to act like an older brother now.”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In an instant, before any order had been given, the assassins appeared again and packed themselves around me.

A growling voice came from behind one pitch-black mask.

“Do you truly want to die?”

I didn’t answer. I looked at the Emperor, whose expression I couldn’t read, and spoke evenly.

“The fifteen minutes aren’t up yet.”

“You bastard!”

“Your Majesty made the promise yourself. You said you’d forgive any rudeness for fifteen minutes. I’ve only followed your imperial command and spoken honestly.”

“Shut that foul mouth of yours! How dare you—”

Slice.

Cold and burning pain struck at once. Blood ran down my neck from a wound deeper than the one already there.

“Your Majesty!”

Prince Shangshan had been frozen like a statue until now. Seeing the assassins surround me, he cried out to his one and only older brother.

“Jin Taekyung of the Jin Family of Taiyuan is my guest and my friend! Spare him! Please forgive his rudeness!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

I had no time to stop him. Still prostrated, the young prince struck his forehead against the ground again and again. I bit my lip. The Emperor looked down at him with cool arrogance, then suddenly spoke.

“Enough.”

Everything stopped at that one word.

The dagger inching into my neck stopped. So did Prince Shangshan, who had been begging for my life.

His forehead red, the prince lifted his head to look at his brother. The Emperor spoke slowly.

“That man dared to insult me. Even if I made a promise earlier, he crossed the line by a wide margin.”

“Y-Your Majesty…”

“But the fact remains that I made that promise myself. An Emperor cannot go back on his word. Isn’t that right, Third Shadow?”

The assassin called Third Shadow had been pressing his dagger against my throat as though ready to cut it at any moment. He fell silent.

“You’re slow to answer.”

“……I am humbled, Your Majesty.”

“I clearly made a promise. Yet you disobeyed my command and tried to harm him.”

“Your Majesty, that was—”

“First Shadow. Carry it out.”

Slice. Shhk!

With a sharp cutting sound, the dagger pressing into my neck slid away.

Another masked man dropped from the air and, without the slightest hesitation, cut Third Shadow’s throat. Then he prostrated himself before the Emperor.

“I have executed him.”

“……!”

“……!”

The air in the vast chamber froze.

I wiped Third Shadow’s blood from my face and stepped in front of Prince Shangshan, who was breathing in short, shallow gasps. This time, no one stopped me.

No—they couldn’t.

The master who held their lives in his hands had given no order.

You fucking bastard.

I glared at the Emperor, my eyes blazing.

“Your Majesty.”

“This time, you’d better choose your words carefully. The fifteen minutes I promised you are already up.”

“……!”

“And I’ll give you one last chance.”

“A chance?”

“Yes. A chance. I hear you’re Prince Shangshan’s friend.”

The Emperor laughed softly.

“You’ll never meet again after this, so say your final farewells. That is the last act of kindness I’ll grant you.”

Shff.

The moment he finished speaking, the assassins began closing in from all sides. I looked at them and understood.

There was no longer any way to protect Prince Shangshan here.

The Emperor had won.