The Emperor Who Was Chapter 64 : Chapter 64

Chapter . 64

I retorted sharply. However, even if I was not scared of my brother, I ended up underestimating him.

“When did I deny it? If I ordered a knight to hit a mage with an iron gauntlet, it must have been before I started wearing a knight’s iron gauntlet myself! So I must have ordered a knight!”

“…….”

“If I punished a mage, he must have committed a cri. Isn't that right? What cri did that bastard commit anyway?”

Maximilian shouted nacingly.

“As the First Prince, I have punished sinners not just once or twice; must I rember each one? Anyway, when I beco Emperor, people will rember! Just as you rember now!”

“He did not commit a cri!”

I shouted too.

“Far from a cri, he approached

when I was crying alone, comforted , and showed

fireworks. I saw magic for the first ti then. I had never been to banquets or any court events. Since I didn't have a teacher like you, Brother, I knew nothing, so I just asked him to teach

sothing amazing and beautiful I saw for the first ti. Even if he refused my pestering, I was happy. Until you ca and half-killed him.”

Maximilian’s deep blue eyes stared at

intently. As if looking at a madman.

“Why were you crying alone in the first place?”

I was so dumbfounded I was speechless.

“Ah, don't answer since I'm annoyed. Co to think of it, you cried at the drop of a hat. You cried whenever sothing was said. Forget conversation, I couldn't even distinguish if you were a Prince or a commoner. Not like a brother at all!”

“I was young!”

“So what? Imperial Mother had already passed away, so who would listen even if you cried?”

Maximilian snorted. I wanted to bury that nose bridge alive in the dirt.

“When you were young, Imperial Mother would have listened!”

“Ah, quite the opposite. When Imperial Mother cried, I comforted her.”

“…….”

“I told Imperial Mother too. Not to cry. That my mother, the Empress, does not cry. Do you know how old I was then? Before I could even speak properly. Not only did you cry at the drop of a hat, but when your nanny died, didn't you cry for a whole week without eating? And you cried even after that. When Imperial Mother died, I was much younger than you were then, but I did not cry!”

“…….”

“Do you think you are any different? If you want to remain as the Prince of Armatia and my younger brother, you shouldn't cry. Not only crying so unsightly since childhood, is it sothing to be proud of that you were caught by others, especially a lowly mage!”

Maximilian grabbed my shoulders and shook

violently.

“And why bring up that story all of a sudden? It seems today you sobbed in front of enemies, and then rembering old tis, ca to confront ? To resent

for not comforting you like that mage back then?”

While mocking

cruelly, anger boiled in my brother's eyes. As if ready to kill if I really cried in front of them.

“…Did you punish him because I cried in front of him?”

Although I knew it was sincere, I couldn't help but ask. My brother's eyes looking at

asking that couldn't be more sincere.

“Don't worry. Now I will punish you too. You passed the age where you'd die from being hit by an iron gauntlet, haven't you. Since I wear my iron gauntlet now, I don't need to borrow a knight's hand either.”

Saying so, he raised his hand and rubbed my cheekbone with his index finger. As if he would hit right here himself. I shook off that hand.

“Back then, you said you punished him because I asked the mage to teach

magic.”

“Ah, did I? Do I have to rember every foolish thing you did while being bullied by Desmond or bastards like today? If so, I should have rightfully punished that too. Wanting to learn magic, no matter how young you were, don't you feel ashad of yourself even thinking about it now?”

My brother sneered at , but that sneer didn't last long and was consud by anger.

“Still, that's because you were uneducated, so I understand. But to show such a sight of weeping in front of others? What was I supposed to do then? Should I punish the guy who did such a shaful thing even if he's my young brother, or should I punish the guy who saw it so he can't run his mouth carelessly!”

My brother shouted. My ears were ringing.

Eyes as sincere as when he laughed earlier.

I could have pitied my brother. That it was truly because he was uneducated. Because he didn't know what was shaful.

But that was not my right. I had no right to forgive my brother.

“You shouldn't have punished that mage.”

I said.

“He is soone who helped the Prince of Armatia when he received no help whatsoever. Unlike you, Brother, he didn't care about face or dignity. Because he cared more for

than himself.”

“If I didn't care for you, would I have punished the one who saw you in that state? And if you don't want to care about face or dignity, don't go around showing off that you are a Prince! That is exactly honor!”

Now my brother was genuinely angry.

“If honor can only be obtained by cruelly punishing an innocent person, that is not honor. It is just evil. Base evil.”

“Did you dare call

base?”

My brother grabbed my neck. Like back then.

When I looked straight at him without blinking an eye, he ground his teeth and let go.

“He was a good person. Not a bad person because he didn't fit your standards, Brother, but a good person because he didn't fit your standards.”

“What?”

“Also, he was one of the few people who helped

when I had nowhere to rely on. And you punished him for exactly that reason.”

“…You talk too much.”

With a murderous face, my brother cut

off.

“What do you want to say? So you will take revenge on

for that person?”

“What is his na?”

I asked.

“Why ask

that? It was you who rembered him, not ! I already told you I don't rember!”

“ was he your mage back then? Or was he soone else's mage? After you ruined his face, what happened to him?”

“Why should I know that? If I knew, do you think I would leave him be? This ti I would cut his lifeline for sure!”

“You will know soday.”

I said quietly.

“Soday, you will know and also rember his na. The person you punished cruelly just because he was better to your brother than you were.”

“…Why would I?”

“Because he will beco my subject.”

***

When I pushed my brother away and returned to the residence, Yolande stood behind Nanette who ran out to greet . Looking at Nanette running to hug , with a face that wanted to separate her sister from

right away. How different that wary gaze is from Master's gaze full of benevolence…….

“Prince? Did sothing happen?”

Nanette asked. When I couldn't answer imdiately, Yolande approached quickly.

“The Prince seems tired, so let him rest a bit, Lady Nanette.”

However, Nanette shook her head.

“If sothing bad happened to the Prince, I must comfort him!”

“…My kind Nanette.”

I said.

“I have a story I want to tell you.”

Nanette's small hand grabbed my hand and led

to sit.

“…Once upon a ti, there was a child. A child younger than our Nanette. One day, that child was crying…….”

I started the story like that. While Yolande standing behind Nanette watched with hawk eyes.

-Do you want to forget the sad things?

Master had asked

quietly one day.

-I want to.

I admitted.

-But that is my past. Oblivion is not the true path.

-But wouldn't your heart be at ease if you just forget everything?

-Why wouldn't I want to? It is natural to feel that way. However, that ultimately becos admitting my past as sha. Nanny said those who claim I should be ashad are the ones who should be ashad.

Even though the face of Nanny, who died long ago, beca blurry, I never once forgot her words.

-It is the perpetrator's claim that the victim should feel ashad for being hard. No matter how they subjugated , my heart did not submit to say they are right. That heart is my honor.

No matter how much I wanted to win, I didn't want to be a winner who considered defeat as sha.

-The honor of the loser.

Master nodded.

-In other words, you an you never chose oblivion, and you will continue to do so, right?

-That is correct.

Looking back now, ultimately because I didn't forget the past, I could revive the true aning of regression.

And only now do I realize the heartbreaking gaze Master looked at

with.

-…I wanted to help you be less painful, but I will respect your decision.

-That respect is also help, Master.

-…Leontes, you will not forget this matter. You will rember.

Master said, holding my hand tightly.

-You did not wish for oblivion. That very fact will beco the standard of your mory amidst all that oblivion. It will be the end of oblivion and the beginning of mory.

I didn't know then, but Master cast Word Soul Magic on

with those words.

So that I could recover the mories forcibly taken from .

-You will not forget, you will rember.

Looking back, it wasn't that I rembered the forgotten past just by seeing that mage's action. Master's words ca to mind first before that.

Otherwise, even if I felt sothing was fishy about the mage's action, it would have taken a long ti to rember.

Or I might have lost the clue to the contract seal I suffered, which I barely obtained, forever.

The one branded with that seal gradually loses mory of how harmful that contract is. No matter what humiliation they suffered because of that contract, they cannot rember it for long. addicted to that oblivion the master gives, that oblivion that makes one forget everything.

-This contract is certainly more vicious than the general master-servant contracts mages undergo. It is worse than the contracts the Emperor's mages make, yet since even the mory of it is not intact, breaking it is even more difficult.

Just as Master lanted.

If I hadn't been distanced from them due to being banished from the Imperial Palace.

If I had given up on the upright teachings Nanny left behind.

If Master, who perhaps wanted to make

live forgetting the contract altogether with another oblivion magic, had not respected my decision.

I would not have been able to resist that contract seal before the regression either. I would not have been able to crush Rhiannon and Desmond’s conspiracy by confronting them, and liberate myself and Michelon.

Because I would have been addicted to oblivion, like that mage.

“So, is the story over?”

Nanette's question brought

back to reality.

“…And I thought. What happened to that mage. What is his na.”

Throwing the question like a murmur to Yolande behind Nanette.

To Master whose eyes were burning in a face that lost color.

“Lady Nanette, would you spend so ti with Lord Michelon and Sir Rolf? I have sothing to tell the Prince.”

Yolande said, placing her hand on Nanette's shoulder.

Nanette looked up at her sister and nodded. However, even while standing up, she asked

carefully.

“…Why did that child cry?”

“What?”

I asked back in surprise.

“You said that child was crying then. Before eting that mage. Why was that child crying then?”

“…That child cried often. Why that child cried then…….”

I thought hard while answering, but…….

“I forgot.”

Without asking anything more, the child hugged

tightly.

***

Yolande and I entered the study. Michelon glared at

for agreeing to her words that she wanted to talk alone. Rather, Sir Rolf, who looked displeased whenever I was alone with Desmond or Maximilian until now, acted calmly.

“So people think everything is possible with magic.”

Yolande started like that.

“Even moving people's hearts.”