"Inquisitor Keith from the church of protection. I heard that you humiliated my younger brother." Barou said as he stopped right in front of Keith.
Keith looked up at the first prince who was towering over him and smiled, "He was the one who threw a bottle of wine at first. I thought that the people of the royal family has a standard to their mannerisms."
Barou stared down at Keith threateningly, but all of a sudden, he grinned.
"Hahaha you did great! That guy needs to be knocked down a few pegs haaahahahahaha!!!"
'Of course… why was I expecting political stuff from this muscle head. He literally got poisoned and died in the novel for being too dumb.' Keith thought inwardly, but laughed with Barou.
'Well, I kinda like this guy… he didn't get much screen ti in the novel so I don't know much about him but he gives good vibes.'
Barou then patted Keith's shoulder and grinned, "Why don't you just join my side, friend."
Keith blinked a few tis as he tried to process the sudden invitation.
'Doesn't he know that I'm on Mathew's side?' he thought and decided to just use his system for assistance.
The system screen popped up as Keith looked up at Barou with a confused look on his face, "You do know that I'm on Mathew's side right? I promised to help him with the succession war."
Once he spoke, he began to read the contents on the screen whilst listening to Barou's reply at the sa ti.
"Well, I don't really understand the point of this whole succession thing you know?" Barou said as he walked beside Keith and put his arm around his shoulder.
Keith felt a little uncomfortable as he barely knew Barou, but he still went along with his actions and began to walk with the first prince.
"Like, we're all brothers and sisters right? What's the point of this succession when all that's going to do is create a lasting enmity between us? I just want to be friends…"
Keith shrugged, "Well, that's what you're ancestors have been doing for centuries. Though, I kinda agree with you here since the succession does create lasting grudges and enmity amongst siblings.
Buuuut! Humans you see… we're complex beings. You guys can't escape the clutches of greed and pride. That's the curse of being born in a royal family. Well, in a way I can also ask you to just step down from the succession war since you're one of the main contenders for the position of the future king.
If you do, you can stay friends with at least three of your siblings. That's the easiest way you know? To put down your own ambitions for the sake of earning love and trust but are you willing to do that?
To throw away the title of an emperor even though you currently have the second highest chance of getting it."
Keith continued to read the contents on his screen once he was done speaking, but Barou was just lost in thought.
The two of them walked silently until they made two rounds around the periter of the palace property. This took almost four hours, but this much ti was enough for Keith to read most of the important stuff related to Barou.
He silently turned to look up at Barou's face and then inwardly sighed, 'I was hoping that he was just putting on an act of being a muscle head but he actually is a naive guy with a passionate heart of gold… h, he's nothing like Zander.'
"How long are you going to think for?" Keith asked as he looked straight forward while Barou gave him a half hearted chuckle, "I have my reasons…"
"You know, you should follow your own heart sotis. Not what others say, even if it's your own blood. Let ask you this… do you think you'll be happy sitting on a throne for almost half a day, just listening to people blabber about the problems in the empire?
I an, both and you know that you don't exactly like things that require you so sit in a single place. Managent was never your strong point, but you're an extrely talented warrior. You know it, I know it, every single noble and even your siblings know this." Keith said and paused for a bit before letting out a heavy sigh.
"Listen, just talk to and I'll help you out. Consider as a random guy who has the ans and power to assist you instead of soone who's on Mathew's side."
Barou nodded and took his hand off of Keith's shoulder before he sat down right where he stood. Sit down, this will probably take a while.
Keith already knew the whole story since he had just read the stuff thanks to his system's help, but he still complied and sat down.
"You see, my mother wants to beco the emperor no matter what. For so reason, she doesn't pay much attention to my younger siblings, both Mathew and Silvia. Ever since I was a child, I've been listening to her words so if you suddenly just co to and tell that I should be doing what I want…" he said and looked up at the dark sky adorned with beautiful stars.
He grabbed his huge but short war axe that was behind his back and placed it on the ground before lying down.
"I don't know what I want. I don't know what makes happy but all I can tell is that I don't really feel great when I see my brothers and sisters look at like I stole their food…"
Keith nodded even though the comparison was slightly weird from normal standards in this world. But he also knew that food was one of the most important things to Barou, and it was more dear to him than gold.
"But… if I don't compete for the throne, I fear that the only one who is close to will hate . I can't afford to disappoint my mother…"
Keith silently stared at Barou and nodded, "Understandable. Do you have a lover by any chance?"
'He's been grood since childhood but damn, this is a bit too much. He's almost thirty and he's just wired to follow his mother's words. This is so pitiful but I don't really know if I should get involved or not…'
"I had so feelings towards… three girls until now. But that was all years ago and all of them are currently married. Mother told that they're from small families, so it's beneath my status to go for them…" Barou said, his voice low before he grinned.
"But hey!" he exclaid cheerfully, "I'm still doing great you know? I'm the strongest man in the empire and I have a huge army that follows every single one of my commands. And I'm very happy with that…. I'd say that my group of knights… they're the only ones with whom I feel genuinely happy.
You know, one of my n got married recently and most of them are actually getting married. Especially after hearing the news about the impending war."
Keith nodded as he took out a huge leather bag out of thin air and placed it between him and Barou before opening it.
"Grab so if you want." he said as he took a potato chip and tossed it into his mouth, "What about you by the way? No plans on marriage? After all, this is a war and no matter how strong you are, there is a high chance of losing your life."
Barou stared at the bag of potato chips silently for a few seconds before looking up at Keith, "What are these?"
"Sothing really tasty. Just try so. Like co on, even I'm eating from the sa sack so there's no way they're poisoned."
Hearing this, Barou shook his head, "No, I just never heard of foods that can be that… loud. I an crispy. You simply ate one and I could hear it clearly."
Keith smirked and grabbed a few more, "This is my secret recipe so dig in. You won't find it anywhere else."
"Okay…" Barou said and nodded before he took one and put it into his mouth.
A crisp sound of the crunch was heard by both of them and Keith could instantly tell that the guy in front of him had beco a fan.
Barou tilted his head to the side slightly before frowning, "That was way too little… I need more. It's hard to grasp the taste…" he said and grabbed a few chips and stuffed them all into his mouth.
A few seconds passed with Keith grinning as he watched Barou's expression change.
"This is good! Forget the taste, I'll eat it just for the crunch." he said and grabbed more before continuing, "Anyways, what were we talking about?"
"Your marriage."
"Ah yeah." Barou said, "Well, mother said that I can't marry until I beco the emperor. Only when I beco the emperor will I get soone who is truly worthy of marrying . The daughter of a grand duke or whatever but honestly speaking, I don't like that woman."
"Which grand duke are you talking about?"
Barou scratched his head and spoke with half eaten chips still in his mouth, "That old man.. Drax Von Kaizer."
"Ah, the Kaizers… He's got like four daughters, doesn't he?" Keith asked and Barou imdiately nodded.
"Yeah, I don't like any of them. The two of the youngest are the only ones with no partners but they're both really…. Unlikable. I saw them bullying one of my n's brother when I went to visit him at the academy to recruit him and since the, I've never seen them do anything that's good or likable in my eyes."
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