Ceo In A Fantasy World - 195 Chapter 195

The next morning, Elizabeth awoke before both Ahri and Caesar. She tussled with her new, beautiful necklace and couldn’t restrain her cute giggling. She wasn’t thrilled due to its beauty, but more so the fact that it was gifted to her by her parents. Of course, the sapphire was pleasing to the eye, which was a plus.

Her loud and rambunctious behavior caused Caesar to reach out with his long arms and snatch Her unsuspecting figure. He pulled her into his embrace and nuzzled her with a slight smile, shocking the young lass.

Elizabeth was stumped for a few moments but soon got ahold of herself and wrapped her arms around the nape of Caesar’s neck. A wide smile formed on her lips as she climbed on top of his back and used his hair like handlebars.

Caesar continued to play with her for a few minutes before leaving her to the still half-awake Ahri. He needed to shower, groom himself, and prepare for the day. Ahri smiled wryly as she grabbed Elizabeth and began styling her hair in front of a tall mirror.

On the other hand, Caesar entered the bathroom and shaved off the small stubble growing on his chin before washing himself. He brushed his hair, scrubbed his body, and put on a relatively simple black and red suit.

He looked into the bathroom mirror and nodded in approval before exiting the restroom to bade Ahri and Elizabeth farewell. They could only begrudgingly nod their head as they set off to breakfast without Caesar. Ahri was sadly aware of how busy her fiance was, however, she was understanding, thus, she didn’t make too big of a deal out of it.

Caesar fixed the cuffs of his suit as he walked, greeting the servants with a slight nod every time they passed by. He was in a rather affable mood and decided to buy a few delicacies on his way home for both Ahri and Elizabeth, but first, he needed to head toward the training grounds.

He soon exited the palace and walked along a somewhat abandoned street, where not many people were present. Although he didn’t mind walking along the crowded streets, many nobles and officials thought it was unsightly for a crowned prince to walk around with no guards. In fact, assassinations, muggings, Ransomes, and other heinous crimes occurred quite often to unguarded nobles.

Fortunately, Caesar possessed a strength that no mere thief could even hope to imagine. As such, no silly fools had yet to even think about messing with him whilst he was walking the streets. Alas, he was still tired of his father’s constant ramblings and rebuttals.

With this in mind, he soon arrived at the training grounds where the Human, Elven, and Fox-kin knights awaited. Most of the fox-kin still adorned their conspicuous hoods while the others wore rather light clothes, to fend off the intense heat.

They seemed to have been waiting for a while as a few of them had sweat dripping from their chins. Behind them, a heavy youth was running laps. His clothes were soaked with sweat and his chest heaved up and down continuously.

As if noticing his gaze, the knights simultaneously kneeled on the ground, including the fox-kin. The only one who remained standing was Tod, who approached Caesar with a pleading gaze, “My lord,” Tod said, “we ask of you to add Bronson to the knight brigade, he has been running for hours now and his limits have clearly been passed.”

Caesar didn’t respond straight away, and instead, glanced at the running man; full of sweat and bodily fluids. His stench traveled throughout the entire training grounds and Caesar shook his head, “his work ethic is rather impressive, however, it is the end result I am looking for” he said, “It doesn’t matter if he works hard for two days, I need his body to shape up before he is qualified to join the knight brigade.”

His words were like a douse of cold water for the other knights. All of them had heard stories of Bronson’s past and family. His father was a baron who gave birth to a son who possessed half commoner and half noble blood, neither faction supporting him. His mother was a servant, who was banished by the Baroness once their affair was brought to light.

To save some face, his father groomed Bronson into a man who knew some basic form of etiquette, however, his attention was soon focused on his new daughter. Abandoned by his family, Bronson was forced to join the knight brigade and gain his father’s recognition.

Unfortunately, his trials were layered with difficulties as he met face to face with the demon marshall, blocking his path. The fear of giving up and dying constantly assaulted the poor man as he ran, yet he continued, never surrendering to his inner voice.

His feats were commendable, but they were still not enough for Caesar. He merely ran for two days. To gain Caesar’s approval, he would need to continue for a few months, then he would be capable of joining the knight brigade.

After hearing his story from Tod, Caesar felt that it was laughably similar to some kind of heroes story from his past life. With that in mind, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he figured he was the bad guy in a sense.

Soon, Caesar clapped his hands and began the daily training, forgetting about Bronson for the time being. He ordered the fox-kin to complete their set of physical training, 20% harder compared to yesterday. He then inserted a bit more mana into the meditating human and elven knights, preparing them for the future.

This continued for another two hours or so until the training was finally complete, all of the knights becoming exhausted. The only sound that echoed throughout the training grounds was heavy breathing and frantic steps.

Caesar fixed the collars of his suit as he inspected Bronson, who was on the verge of collapsing. His movements were much more sluggish now than compared to earlier and even signs of heatstroke started to present itself.

However, Bronson continued running, the flames of determination burning within his eyes. Suddenly, his blurred eyes could vaguely see a figure standing before him. In a moment of hesitation, Bronson stumbled and fell to the ground, his face planting into the floor.

He quickly attempted to stand up, but his legs shivered and refused to listen, instead, he could only watch as Caesar approached him. His towering figure was imposing, yet Bronson stared back into Caesar’s eyes challengingly, as if it were a different person from yesterday.

“You’re doing an excellent job,” Caesar commended, “keep it up Bronson, and perhaps you’ll finally receive that recognition you want from your father so badly” he paused as he crouched onto the ground, moving closer to Bronson.

“In this world, you’re better off fighting for yourself, rather than others,” Caesar whispered quietly and stood back up. He turned around and walked out of the training grounds, not at all caring about Bronson’s reaction, nor his response.

Suddenly, tears fell from Bronson’s face as he struck the ground with his fists, “I-I don’t have anything left to fight for… my sister died just yesterday, raped and killed by some influential noble from another kingdom.” he paused as he wailed toward the sky, “my father gifted my dear sister to that scum, just to curry favor!”

HIs loud screamed resounded throughout the surroundings, causing Caesar to halt his footsteps and turn back. He scrutinized the wailing youth and contemplated for a few moments before approaching him.

“Do you hate your father? Or do you hate the noble who killed your sister?” Caesar paused, “Or perhaps, do you detest your absence of authority and power?” he asked. The curiosity in his voice was evident, and all of the other knights listened in.

Bronson once again slammed the ground, “I hate it all!” he replied curtly.

Suddenly, Caesar outstretched his hand toward Bronson, “hatred was born from you trying to protect your loved ones. All of that sadness, fear, anger, let it out on the world. Rise to prominence, overcome your father, personally behead that scummy noble,” Caesar paused, “join me!”

A wide smile appeared on Caesar’s lips as his eyes gleamed with a crazy light. A hero’s story? No, Bronson could potentially become something much more interesting. A mere hero was shackled down by righteousness, instead, he would become an adjudicator.

After all, what would you do if you cannot defeat evil by just means? Do you dirty your hands with evil to destroy evil? Or do you remain steadfastly righteous, even if it means surrendering to evil?