Episode 166
“And make up with Mom quickly, too!”
Originally, I was going to stay still until Dad spoke first.
However, after watching for a few days, I felt that if I stayed still, reconciliation would be difficult.
‘So, I should step in.’
Asil ran over and brought Arcian toward Brianna.
He seemed to hesitate, yet he allowed himself to be pulled along quite easily.
But the moment he met Brianna’s eyes, he seemed to drop his gaze, and his lips merely hovered with a small voice.
“Um… that is…”
Even after a long time passed, the words of apology did not come out of his mouth.
In the end, tired of waiting, Brianna waved her hand as if shooing away an annoying fly.
“Forget it. What kind of apology would I expect from you? It’s not like we’re going to see each other for long anyway, so let’s not waste each other’s emotions.”
“Not see each other for long?!”
“Ah, no, Asil. Mommy and Daddy will see each other for a very long time!”
A startled Brianna comforted the shocked Asil.
During that time, Arcian remained silent.
After a moment of silence, with a troubled expression, he sighed and swept his hair back. Then, he spoke in a voice that was barely audible.
“…Sorry.”
“Huh?”
Brianna, who was bouncing Asil, paused.
She looked at Arcian with an expression that asked, ‘What did I just hear?’
Arcian muttered once more.
“I’m sorry.”
“…Are you perhaps a snake disguised as Arcian?”
“No!”
Arcian shouted, feeling frustrated at the sight of Brianna raising her claws as if she were about to attack at any moment.
However, the moment he met her eyes, he flinched and avoided her gaze again.
“I think I acted a bit childishly back then.”
“…”
“Since you are the King, it was naturally something you had to do, but I was narrow-minded. I’m sorry.”
“It’s definitely a snake.”
“I said it’s not!”
“Cunning fellow. When on earth did you switch places with Arcian?”
“…”
In the end, Arcian turned one arm back to its original form to prove that it was indeed him.
Nevertheless, Brianna hid Asil behind her back, took a step away, and muttered to herself in a voice full of suspicion.
“Can a snake transform into a dragon too…?”
“I’m telling you, it’s really me.”
“Arcian doesn’t grow things like apologies.”
“I’m trying to grow some starting from this time.”
“What wind is blowing?”
“What do you mean what wind. It’s just because I think I was wrong—”
“Ha—then did you think I would be fooled, you snake?”
“…Do you want me to destroy the mansion once in my true form?”
At the voice filled with sincerity, Brianna seriously contemplated.
However, recalling the great commotion that occurred when he destroyed the Marquis Skya’s mansion before, she shook her head.
“Was there poison in breakfast?”
“I am perfectly sane.”
“Do you have something pathetic to ask of me?”
“No.”
Arcian pressed his throbbing head. It was just sad that all of this was his own doing.
“I am apologizing because I am truly sorry.”
“Wow, I just got goosebumps.”
“…From now on, if I’m sorry, I’ll apologize right away.”
“—!!!”
Brianna, who was stroking her arms, let out an internal scream.
She looked at Arcian as if looking at a bizarre creature, backed away slowly, and then disappeared out of sight as if fleeing.
At that, Arcian stood blankly for a while and then asked Asil, who was staring at their conversation.
“Was Dad that strange?”
“No.”
It looked very good to see him apologizing to Mom. Asil gave a thumbs up.
“Dad is the best. Give this back to Mom, too.”
Asil opened the subspace and handed over a pair of rings she had picked up from the trash can.
A hesitating Arcian refused.
“These are only worn by a married couple.”
“Mom and Dad are married, aren’t you?”
“…Asil will understand when you grow up a bit more, but Mom and Dad decided to
respect each other and go our separate ways.”
“But Dad loves Mom.”
I don’t know what it means to respect each other and go separate ways.
But the fact that Dad loved Mom was an unchanging truth.
“Mom said that beastmen who love each other wear rings. So Mom and Dad have to wear them, too.”
“That’s why Brianna wouldn’t think—Wait.”
Arcian, who was exhaling a bitter breath, froze.
“What did Mom say?”
“She said that beastmen who love each other wear rings.”
And Brianna did not get matching rings with her other husbands.
Does that mean?
Arcian hesitated for a moment and then took the rings.
Asil grinned.
“You have to get down on one knee and put it on her.”
“By any chance, did Mom tell you that too?”
“No, I saw it in a book. It said when giving a ring, you get down on one knee and put it on. Dad must do that, too. Okay?”
“Ye, yeah.”
It feels like Brianna will run away again if I do that.
However, watching her run away wasn’t all that bad.
Should I bring up the story of a formal reunion soon…?
With such thoughts, Arcian tucked the rings away preciously.
Asil, Eokaste, Selena, and the representatives of the four families possessing Divine Beasts gathered in one place.
It was to prepare for the upcoming public event of the ‘Source of God.’
“It is highly probable that the person who attacked the Great Temple and assassinated Her Majesty the Empress will attempt to seize the Source of God.”
Eokaste spoke in an arrogant tone on behalf of the Imperial Family.
“The fellow takes the form of a giant white snake, but it is said he has the ability to swallow an opponent and disguise himself as that person.”
“The, then… won’t we be unable to recognize that snake either…?”
The one who said that was the young Duke of Sunrise, Leon.
He became a Duke at a similar age to Edenber seven years ago, but he was showing a lack of capability to the point where it felt sorry to compare them.
Eokaste said indifferently.
“That is why we must use code words.”
“The, then what if, if they can’t answer the code word—”
“You must kill them.”
“Hieek!”
A terrified Leon developed hiccups.
Eokaste looked at him with pathetic eyes.
Sol, the Divine Beast of Sunrise who attended this meeting together out of concern for the young Leon, calmed him down composedly.
“Don’t worry, as you won’t have to face the snake.”
“U, unh…”
“It would be best not to jump to conclusions.”
Edenber said sharply. Duke Starafit and Lilibet also nodded as if in agreement.
It was a matter of course that Leon’s complexion, which seemed to barely recover, turned pale again.
At that sight, Asil kindly explained the method to distinguish the snake.
“They said you just have to look closely at whether they behave differently than usual.”
“Since he won’t have both eyes, wouldn’t it be easy to distinguish anyway?”
“Vigilance is essential as he might act as if he has eyes.”
Lilibet and Duke Starafit also added a word.
However, the blood did not return to Leon’s face once it had left.
Watching this, Eokaste pressed her temples as if it were bothersome.
“We will provide more troops to the place the Duke of Sunrise will take charge of, and let’s move on to the next story. His Majesty the Emperor wants to capture the snake alive.”
“That is not possible.”
Edenber, who had heard about the snake in advance from Asil before coming here, cut her off firmly.
“I heard that the snake bewitches people and switches bodies. To prevent another victim from appearing, it must be killed unconditionally.”
“That is correct. It would be a disaster if he were kept alive and even His Majesty the Emperor were to be assassinated.”
Following Edenber, Lilibet spoke.
To this, Eokaste opened her mouth leisurely.
“I am of the same mind. His Majesty seems to want to keep the snake alive, unable to let go of his lingering attachment to Her Majesty the Empress and the Crown Prince. But what can be done when they are already dead?”
She wore a gentle smile on her lips.
“However, as the Imperial Knights follow His Majesty the Emperor’s orders as top priority, they will try to capture it alive without killing it. I will take responsibility for the aftermath, so kill the snake by any means necessary.”
“Hieek.”
Leon gasped again.
While Sol soothed him once more, Selena shrugged her shoulders and cut in.
“The Holy Knights will also try to capture it alive if possible, but you can just ignore them and kill it.”
“Why the Great Temple?”
“His Holiness said that even if it is killed, it must be killed after performing purification… He says such things because he isn’t the one fighting himself. Oops, please pretend you didn’t hear that just now.”
Selena poked her tongue out.
Everyone except Asil lost their words for a moment at the sight, which showed no dignity of a Saintess at all.
Among them, Eokaste, who regained her senses first, cleared her throat.
“Anyway, let’s make it so that if you see the snake, you kill it by any means necessary.”
The silence descended, ending with Leon blocking his mouth where another hiccup was about to pop out.
A solemn energy circulated in the conference room.
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