By Zephyria 
At those words, His Majesty the Emperor wore a blank expression for a moment, then burst into laughter as if he had heard something incredibly funny, and casually sat on Eddie’s bed.
Then, with a very amused look, he opened his mouth.
“You know, you should be grateful that the late Emperor was a recluse. If he hadn’t been the type to only go to the academy in his youth, you would have lived your life hearing, ‘Oh? He’s the Emperor’s son!’ just because of that face.”
“…?”
“I’m the one who doesn’t resemble him.”
Even though the late Emperor was his own father, there was not a hint of affection for the subject on the Emperor’s face when he mentioned him. Rather, it was aversion, annoyance, or anger, if anything.
“Not many people remember the late His Majesty the Emperor’s face. He didn’t even receive ordinary noble audiences. He didn’t meet with you often either. With a man like that sitting on the throne, the imperial authority fell to the bottom as if waiting for the Demon King to appear.”
“I’m more amazed that he fathered you outside.”
Those words contained a mixture of animosity towards the Emperor and sarcastic admiration for his ability to have a younger brother in the midst of it all.
“Anyway, fortunately for you, only some of the nobles who attended the academy with him back then remember that man’s face.”
“…”
“Yes, for example, Count Demays?”
Eddie blinked for a moment, wondering who Count Demays was, but soon he was able to recall the face of the mustachioed noble who had harassed him in the past. The man who had looked at him with a profound expression, saying that he resembled the person he admired and loved!
So, the object of his unrequited love he mentioned back then was the late Emperor?
Seeing Eddie’s face gaping open at the absurdity that the Emperor knew all about the fact that he had been harassed, the Emperor added.
“Even though we’re half-siblings, the fact that we’re brothers doesn’t change. Or have you stopped wanting to consider me your brother now?”
It was common in subculture for an imperial bastard to grow up outside the imperial palace and become a king-like figure in the underworld.
But the underworld and all that wasn’t something Eddie had experienced. Even the figures from the noble faction that Eddie had been dealing with through Ebon were not, strictly speaking, being dealt with under Eddie’s current orders.
Eddie had no reason to feel animosity towards the Emperor. He shook his head.
“No, it’s not that.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor stroked his chin and looked at Eddie. His eyes, shining sharply as if he were trying to figure out what Eddie’s intention was in saying those words, softened somewhat when Eddie avoided his gaze with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“If it’s not that, then why would my dear brother suddenly ask such a question?”
“…….”
“Then Paki, look at this.”
He pointed to the scar on his forehead. Although it had turned white after a long time, the clear mark showed that it had been quite a large wound at the time.
“Do you remember when this happened?”
Normally, he wouldn’t know, but it was a scar that Eddie couldn’t possibly not know.
“…Brother, you were playing on the door and fell, and there was a rock there…”
“Exactly.”
The Emperor grinned.
“Was it when you were seven? I went to play at the place where you were staying, and the accident happened. If I said I was injured, they would have made a fuss about going to the imperial physician whether the injury was big or small, so I didn’t want to go back to the imperial palace and just wiped the blood off roughly, and it left a scar.”
The content of the story, told while reminiscing about old memories, was similar to the incident that had occurred between Lee Jeong-hoon and Lee Jeong-han in the past, with only minor details different.
Lee Jeong-han, who was playing on the door of the country house, fell and injured his forehead on a rock, and the incident was kept secret because he was afraid of being scolded by his parents.
“This is a secret that only you and I know.”
“…….”
“Even so, you’re not my brother?”
Except for the fact that he was blond, he was the same in appearance, personality, and even shared memories as Lee Jeong-han.
If this person wasn’t his brother, who could be his brother?
It’s different. Some parts will definitely be different. He was a person who grew up as the Emperor in this world, and the world he lived in and the years he spent were all very different from Lee Jeong-han.
But even so, he was Eddie’s brother, with far more similarities to Lee Jeong-han. At the same time, he was Lee Jeong-hoon’s brother.
A being who was exactly like his brother, whom he thought he had lost and would never see again.
Eddie couldn’t turn away from such a being. He didn’t know how to turn away either.
“Brother.”
“Yeah.”
“Could you call me Jeong-hoon just once?”
The Emperor tilted his head for a moment at Eddie’s sudden request, but he soon called out that name as if he couldn’t bring himself to refuse Eddie’s request.
“Jeong-hoon.”
Eddie felt his heart drop for a moment. In another sense, it was also a relief.
That’s right. That man, who doesn’t react at all to that name, is not Lee Jeong-han. If Lee Jeong-han had possessed this world, he would have been surprised to hear that name by now.
So, while thinking that it was a relief and that nothing must have happened to Jeong-han, Eddie somehow felt a sense of suffocation and sorrow filling his chest.
His brother calls him. The person he had longed for even in his dreams calls out his old name, which he had tried to forget. With a face that looks exactly like the face he longed for, with a voice that sounds exactly the same.
How could he not be sad?
“Jeong-hoon.”
In the past, everyone who knew him called him that. The name he had forgotten, the name he thought he had lost, came out of the Emperor’s mouth, who had Lee Jeong-han’s face, and it felt like he was about to vomit blood.
I miss him.
The emotions he had tried to forget while organizing the past that had already passed long ago filled his heart with a heavy feeling.
I miss you, hyung.
Looking at the being in front of him who was his brother but not his brother at the same time, he finally answered after a long time, suppressing his emotions.
“Yeah.”
Eddie smiled, holding back the urge to add, “Jeong-han, hyung.”
He hoped that his smile would be natural.
***
It was time for the Emperor and his party to leave the inn. Until the very last moment, the Emperor vowed to Eddie several times that he would come again soon.
“I came this time purely because I wanted to see you. See you again, Paki.”
After saying those words, he transformed into the appearance of an old man as he had when he came, and left the inn first. Marquis Rivalt also followed the Emperor after exchanging eye contact with Gerold and Ebon.
As the noisy guests disappeared, the inn became quiet in an instant.
Eddie, who had been waving his hand at the Emperor with a smiling face, wiped his expression away as soon as the Emperor disappeared, as if that was the limit.
Even he, who seemed to always have a smiling face, was exhausted today. He didn’t have any energy left to smile anymore, so Ketron, who was staring intently at Eddie as he let out a deep sigh, approached Eddie.
“Eddie, are you alright?”
Eddie mustered all the energy he could to smile at Ketron, who was looking at him with a worried expression.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Of course, he wasn’t fine at all.
Ketron also seemed to have had a long conversation with Marquis Rivalt, and it would be good to know what that conversation was about, but right now, no matter how hard he tried to muster the will, it didn’t exist, so he couldn’t muster it.
“Ket, I’m sorry for asking you to wait and being like this. I’m a little tired. Can we talk about it tomorrow?”
Eddie eventually gave up on talking to Ketron today.
Ketron scanned Eddie’s face for a while, but after reading the severe fatigue on his face, he quickly nodded, saying he understood.
Eddie returned to his room as it was, stared blankly at the Music box that the Emperor had been fiddling with, placed it on a display case that was not easily visible, climbed onto the bed, and covered himself with the blanket.
His body, which was terribly tired even though he hadn’t done anything, didn’t seem like it would fall asleep, but Eddie was instantly captured by sleep as if by magic.
His consciousness was once again sucked into a certain space. Without even realizing it himself.
***
Ah, it’s my room.
Eddie, who was staring blankly at the ceiling, realized that it was his room when he recognized the surroundings. The reason he had been blank for a while seemed to be because it was his room in his parents’ house, not his own apartment.
How did I fall asleep here? He tried to recall his vague memories, but he couldn’t remember well. His head was fuzzy, probably because he was very tired.
There were quite a few unorganized items in his room in his parents’ house. He had taken a lot of things with him to his apartment, but thanks to his nickname as a peddler, he had a lot of things here and there.
Jeong-hoon got up from the bed and stretched. Why am I here? When did I come to my parents’ house? Since I’m here, should I take the game console that I was going to take last time?
The room was almost the same, but it seemed like there was a bit of dust on it. Haven’t I been here that long? How long has it been?
He couldn’t even tell what day of the week it was, whether it was a weekday or a weekend. Seeing that he was at home, it seemed like it was a weekend, but it also seemed like it was a weekday. Why can’t I remember anything like this?
Jeong-hoon tilted his head while looking around, and slowly walked out of the room.