A night of inner turmoil passed, and the next morning, the mbers of Chaldea bid Nero farewell early and headed to Mount Etna to set up the ley lines.
Sakatsuki extended an invitation to join them, but Nero stopped him, dragging him into her bedroom—which also served as her office—and then...
"Umu..." The emperor in her red dress rested her chin on the desk, letting out soft, pitiable whimpers like a small animal.
In front of her line of sight, the white-haired commander read through Ro's military strategies without so much as glancing at the nominal emperor (Master).
Seeing Sakatsuki's indifference, Nero pouted her red lips, flopped backward onto the bed, and began rolling around.
Sakatsuki: Still reading.
Thud!
A pillow stuffed with feathers, straw, and reeds flew over, smacking the white-haired man in the face and finally forcing him to close the book. With a sigh, he picked up the pillow.
"Your Majesty..."
"Governor!" Even when pretending to be angry, Nero's tone remained soft, almost like she was coquettishly whining, "Talk to , won't you?"
"No, I refuse. Your Majesty shouldn't be this idle either." The white-haired general remained expressionless as he pointed at her desk. "The pile of today's docunts is already towering, isn't it?"
"Guh..." Nero swallowed hard at the sight of the mountain of paperwork, making a rather undignified sound before rolling around on the bed again. "I won't! I haven't eaten yet, I'm too hungry to move!"
"Your current behavior hardly suggests you're too weak from hunger." Sakatsuki tossed the pillow back at her in exasperation. "By noon, the Senate will co to collect the docunts. Let's see what excuse you'll give them then."
"Find an excuse to delay?!" Sakatsuki's offhand remark suddenly energized Nero, as if she'd discovered a new way to handle things. "Why didn't I think of that? As expected of you, Governor!"
I didn't an it like that, don't twist my words... Sakatsuki opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, silently apologizing to the eagerly awaiting officials in his heart.
Gentlen, I have sinned. It was I who led this foolish emperor astray, pushing her one step further down the path of becoming a tyrant.
But Nero wasn't done yet. After muttering "Umu umu" to herself for a while, her eyes suddenly lit up. She lifted her upper body like a seal, patted the soft bed with her fair arms, and flashed an expectant smile at the white-haired general.
"Governor, I'm sleepy. Won't you sleep with ? My bed is quite spacious, you know?"
Nero's reasoning was simple: if she dragged her highly accomplished governor into this, even the Senate wouldn't dare say a word.
However, the young emperor didn't realize that her current pose—lying prone on the bed, her head raised like a swan's—tightened her dress, accentuating her alluring curves. The pillow pressed against her chest only emphasized the glimpse of fair skin, an irresistible temptation for any grown man.
Faced with Nero's enthusiastic invitation, Sakatsuki fell into a shaful silence before finally forcing himself to look away. "Stop fooling around."
"Ehehe..." Sensing the governor's wavering, the golden-haired girl grinned even wider. "Co on, co on~~ Eek!"
With a startled yelp, the white-haired general appeared beside her in an instant, expressionlessly slapping her rounded backside with the scabbard in his hand.
"Mind your decorum, you foolish emperor!"
"Ugh!" Nero clutched her rear and sprang up, pressing herself against the wall like a startled fawn. Her wide, teary eyes brimd with panic as she stared at Sakatsuki, who had abandoned his aloof deanor and now stood poised for action. "G-Governor! What are you doing? I am the emperor!"
"A man and a woman, alone in a room—now you realize the danger?" Sakatsuki smirked coldly, slapping the scabbard against his palm with a nacing thwack as he advanced step by step.
Nero, watching him draw closer, opened her mouth as if to protest—only to abruptly shut her eyes, assuming an unresisting posture as if surrendering to his whims.
Sakatsuki: ???
Wait, this isn't how it's supposed to go! Shouldn't Nero be ordering to stop, using up her last Command Spell and finally setting free? I barely managed to fool Chaldea last night!
What's with this "do whatever you want" attitude?!
After a long pause, Nero cautiously cracked one eye open. When she saw Sakatsuki staring at her with an utterly complicated expression, she hurriedly shut it again, continuing to play dead.
But Sakatsuki had no intention of pressing further. With a sigh, he sheathed his sword and gently ruffled the emperor's hair.
"Enough fooling around, Your Majesty. After breakfast, let's tackle those docunts... I'll help you."
By the ti Nero opened her eyes again, Sakatsuki had already left the bedroom. All that remained was the golden-haired girl, sitting duck-like on the bed with mussed hair and dazed, half-lidded eyes, suddenly breaking into a foolish giggle.
Ah... It seems this emperor has broken beyond repair.
***
After offering up a self-made breakfast to the emperor in exchange for a few minutes of peace, Sakatsuki leaned back in his chair and began organizing the mountain of docunts.
"Governor, aren't you eating?"
"No need. Servants don't require sustenance." The white-haired commander replied smoothly.
"Umu." Nero quieted down for a mont before starting up again.
"Governor, this oatal is cooked just right! It warms up from the inside!"
"Governor, won't you really eat? These grapes were picked fresh this morning—they're so sweet!"
"Governor, Governor..."
"Your Majesty, can't you stay quiet for once?" Sakatsuki set down the docunts with a pained smile and turned to face her.
Those erald eyes glead with insight, piercing through the veil of bloodlust to glimpse the turmoil in Sakatsuki's heart through their exchanged gaze.
"Governor... is sothing troubling you?"
Sakatsuki froze.
It suddenly struck him—though Nero often acted affectionate and even a little foolishly cute, she was still an emperor, one who had ruled Ro with remarkable competence.
How could I have let my guard down in front of such a perceptive girl?
Yet, seeing the concern in Nero's expression, Sakatsuki hesitated before finally nodding.
"Yes. It's about one of my subordinates."
Perhaps Nero could offer him the answer he sought.
With that hope in mind, Sakatsuki sorted through the docunts while carefully wording his explanation, indirectly recounting Caren's situation to the emperor beside him.
"Umu. So then, Governor, what is your dilemma?"
"Should I defy her wishes and carry out what I believe to be salvation? Or should I respect her will and let her continue like this... Hah, I've truly grown weak."
"It's not just about one person. Whether it's a nation or the world, the principle remains the sa, Governor."
"What do you an?"
Nero hugged her pillow, sitting upright on the bed with an earnest expression as she spoke words that seed unrelated at first glance.
"I want Ro to prosper, but are the policies I enact truly what the people desire? Will this decree end up hurting soone?"
"I could spend a night, a day, a week, even a year pondering this... Yet no matter how much I think, I can never account for everything. Human wisdom has limits—oversights are inevitable, and pain is unavoidable."
"But if we do nothing, nothing will ever change, Governor."
The girl gazed at the contemplative, white-haired man, her lips curling into a tender smile.
"Wanting to protect soone, only for that very desire to beco a poison that harms them both; longing to save the world, only for that love to beco the root of its destruction... Isn't that just how things are?"
"But Governor—my Servant—if we let such fears paralyze us, humanity will never move forward."
On that morning, the golden-haired, erald-eyed Venus whispered devilish counsel through rose-tinted lips.
"If you want an answer, why not act and find out?"
***
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