Male Lead, Don’t Push, Pull! - Chapter 4

Due to my father’s call, numerous people in the palace searched for me, and even my brother, who was serving in the Knights, rushed out to find me.

 

It seemed that some exaggerated worries about me being lost and what he should do if I had been kidnapped played a part.

 

There are so many knights in the palace! Moreover, my father wasted all their time on me.

 

I pouted my mouth thinking it was too much worry over something so small, but my tail curled up at my father’s stern expression that followed.

 

Gee, I thought it would work if I said I got lost while looking for the bathroom….

 

However, after word reached my father that someone had seen me disappear into the garden, no one bothered with buying my excuses.

 

My father asked in a stiff voice, “What did this father tell you to do when we arrived at the palace?”

 

“You told me to follow Father well because I could get lost.”

 

“You remember it well. But where did our Vivian go to have a fun trip that was so tempting that she suddenly disappeared?”

 

My conscience was pricked by my father’s rebuke, and my toes trembled for nothing.

 

No, but! I was doing something important, too.

 

Of course, it was wrong to say nothing and disappear.

 

Marquis Rosiere sighed afterwards.

 

“Do you know how surprised I was when you suddenly disappeared?”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay if you know now. Don’t do that next time. If the same thing happens again, I will not bring you with me to the Imperial Palace in the future.”

 

That’s never going to happen!

 

I nodded in a hurry. At my passionate nod of the head, my father smiled and loosened his stiff lips.

 

Without missing this chance, I ran to his side and hung on my father’s arm.

 

“Daddy, Daddy!”

 

“What else are you going to say, after suddenly calling me Daddy?”

 

“Hehe.”

 

You’re a quick-witted fellow, by the way.

 

I smiled and gave a light aegyo. The corners of my father’s lips twitched.

 

It was a situation where he was scolding me so far, so even though he wanted to laugh, it seemed that he was too stubborn to laugh at will.

 

I understand, Dad. But I am a little cute right?

 

So….

 

“I have one wish….” I said while blinking cutely.

 

Do you want to hear it first?

 

***

 

In front of a huge door engraved with the founding myth, Marquis Rosiere adjusted his clothes for a moment.

 

A white-haired attendant leaned over and said to the marquis, “Go in. His Majesty the Emperor is waiting.”

 

The Marquis of Rosiere nodded.

 

He had requested an audience with the emperor today.

 

As the heavy door opened, a strange scent tickled his nose. It was a scent that smelled like burning wet leaves and tobacco.

 

The Marquis realized that the source of the smell was the incense emanating out from a small incense burner placed on one side of the room.

 

He respectfully greeted the emperor.

 

“I see the sun of the Empire.”

 

“Yes, you did come,” Emperor Ishad said, without looking at the Marquis.

 

He was sitting at his desk with glasses on, reading papers. There were so many documents that the desk looked like some kind of paperwork tomb.

 

The emperor, who was close to being a perfectionist, usually did most of the work himself.

 

Scholars praised him as the most brilliant and limitless genius among all emperors.

 

But even such an emperor had his shortcomings. His particular shortcoming was his fickleness.

 

This was especially the case when it came to women.

 

The union of Emperor Ishad and Empress Christine had a strong political purpose, as has always been the case with the imperial family.

 

Because he had to produce heirs, he had a relationship and a kid.

 

Having achieved their common goal, the emperor no longer had to remain with the empress.

 

The empress also did not significantly restrain Ishad’s actions, provided he did not produce a child with another woman.

 

However, when Prince Kyle was born, things took a big turn.

 

The emperor rejoiced with the child’s birth and acted as if he would give Titania the world.

 

But it was only for a short time that Titania was drenched in happiness. The emperor’s whims changed again, and soon Titania was neglected.

 

Everyone thought that Titania had lost the emperor’s favor as a concubine, and that their child, Prince Kyle, was abandoned by the emperor.

 

But was that really the case?

 

The Marquis cleared his throat and began saying, “Yes, there´s something I want to say about Prince Kyle.”

 

Marquis Rosier let out an inward laugh of relief. The emperor did not look up from his papers to direct his attention towards him.

 

‘Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to face him when I just would like to say one thing about Prince Kyle, not Prince Logan.’

 

In fact, the emperor listened to the requests of Titania as far as Kyle’s education was concerned.

 

Because of the empress’s restraints, he could not give him the best teacher, but he did at least support him so that there were no shortcomings.

 

“Your Majesty may already know this, but my son Verdo is teaching Prince Kyle in swordsmanship.”

 

The Marquis was here today because of his daughter’s request, but he put out his son Verdo as an excuse.

 

“Verdo said that the prince is a prodigy. He said that it was a waste for this talent to conduct classes only one class a week. Accordingly, he expressed the opinion that it would be good for the prince to enter the Arene Academy and learn in earnest, and I am here to report this promising news to his Majesty the Emperor.”

 

This was the request from Vivian to Marquis Rosiere.

 

That was, to persuade the emperor to allow Prince Kyle to study at Arene Academy.

 

Arene Academy, which selects and teaches only the best talents regardless of their status.

 

Their notoriety is as great as their fame. If satisfactory results are not achieved, students will never graduate.

 

Therefore, those who usually had to take over the title or couldn’t concentrate on studying for a long time did not challenge the Arene Academy.

 

The emperor also pointed this out.

 

“Are you suggesting for Kyle to walk the path of a swordsman?”

 

The Marquis Rosiere’s offer could have been interpreted as an attempt to persuade Kyle to withdraw from the competition for the throne.

 

Truthfully, Marquis Rosiere thought it was unlikely that Prince Kyle would become emperor.

 

In terms of abilities, Prince Kyle was definitely an exceptional person. It was true, not made up, that Verdo praised the prince.

 

However, the position of the emperor is not a position that one could climb to with smarts alone.

 

It is possible only by gaining the support and justification from those around you.

 

Prince Kyle lacked legitimacy compared to Prince Logan.

 

A deduction factor was that Prince Kyle had nothing compared to the fact that Prince Logan had the Duke of Grassrin, the founder of the empire, as his maternal grandparent.

 

To reverse the inferiority, you have to show something more than that.

 

Yes, for example, a twist like becoming a Sword Master which you can only become if you have reached the apex of the sword.

 

“I don’t know whether he will be in a position to swear allegiance after graduation or to be in a position to receive an oath of allegiance.”

 

Marquis Rosiere didn’t know if Vivian thought this far ahead when she asked for this kind of request.

 

However, he didn’t think Vivian’s proposal was bad.

 

Prince Logan has the Duke of Grassrin. In addition, many other families follow him like followers.

 

It’s hard to benefit from a place already crowded.

 

‘But what if Prince Kyle becomes a new possibility’?

 

The existing structure will collapse, and new opportunities will arise to gain power.

 

Since it’s Prince Kyle who has to take the challenge anyway, Rosiere had nothing to lose.

 

Hearing Marquis Rosiere’s words, the emperor stroked his chin.

 

After a while, the emperor spoke.

 

“That’s a good idea.”

 

Marquis Rosiere’s face turned bright. But the emperor’s words did not end there.

 

“You have a daughter.”

 

At that moment, an ominous premonition passed through the Marquis of Rosiere´s head.

 

The emperor gave a fishy smile.

 

“Why don’t they join the school together?”

 

“Eh?”

 

“I don’t know if you know that, but Kyle is lonelier than you think. It might help him to adapt if people of the same age enter the school together. It will be helpful for your daughter in the future if she is educated in a good place.”

 

The smile disappeared from the Marquis’s face at the coercion disguised as an invitation.

 

What kind of a bolt from the blue is this?

Who are you sending to where?

 

His daughter Vivian was at her prettiest time.

 

Sometimes he gets upset because she doesn’t listen to him, but when she smiles and plays aegyo his angry hearts melt away.

 

Because she was a precious daughter who was born after raising his son, his love for her was great.

 

You want me to send my daughter away to a place where it might take some time or even years to graduate?

 

That is not all.

 

If his daughter enters the academy alongside Prince Kyle, then there will surely be a story of the two children’s friendship.

 

Only a few people are aware of the fact that these two people are interacting with each other face-to-face. Although the prince occasionally visits the Marquis’s residence, people think it’s because of his teacher, Verdo.

 

The emperor was now urging the Marquis of Rosiere to make a choice.

 

Which side will you stand on, Logan or Kyle?

 

***