By Zephyria 
I also studied Imperial Studies, but I’ve never seen such a passage.
At this rate, I felt like I would have to listen to all the knowledge the Crown Prince studied to become Emperor, so I shook my head, disgusted.
“Stop it. And if you need help, just ask for it. Why can’t you say it?”
I grumbled, not understanding, and the Crown Prince asked.
“Why didn’t you ask me for help?”
“……”
The subject was omitted, but I instinctively knew. Besides, there were only two people in the world in a higher position than me in the first place.
My throat prickled as if a thorn was stuck in it, but I didn’t know what to say.
“You must have been afraid. Afraid that I would ignore you if you asked for help. Afraid that you would only reveal your weaknesses. Afraid that I would ridicule you. Afraid of having hope in vain and being even more disappointed. Afraid that I might report your earnest request to someone.”
“……”
“And that the anger would eventually befall you and the people around you.”
“……”
“It’s all the same.”
Actually, I had never thought that deeply about it. But it was similar to the reason why I didn’t trust the Crown Prince at first. I couldn’t help but admit that my thinking was short-sighted.
But instead of saying I was wrong, nonsense came out of my mouth without me realizing it.
“I’m going to kill all the gods in the world.”
I was surprised to hear myself say it, but it was too late to take it back. I looked at the rising sun and babbled about things that weren’t organized.
“It’ll be confusing at first, but eventually humans will adapt by fighting and living with each other. Whatever it is, there will be no god there anymore.”
The Crown Prince listened to my rambling and then opened his mouth.
“Me too?”
“Yes.”
“And after that? If you kill all the royals, what are you going to do? Are you going to become the god of the new world?”
I frowned at those words.
“I’m going to kill all the gods in the world.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened at my grumbling. He burst out laughing loudly.
“You’re saying you’re going to commit suicide in such an elegant way.”
The sun, which had already risen, brightly illuminated the world, and he took a long breath.
“Kyle, killing someone to solve a problem is the easiest way.”
“……”
“But do you know why people don’t do that? It’s not just because there are moral and legal problems and they don’t want to become murderers, but because they know that’s not the solution after all.”
The Crown Prince started talking vaguely again.
“Do you think that humans will fight and live with each other somehow in a world where gods have disappeared?”
“……”
“No. Another god will just appear.”
“……”
“It won’t take long. In all likelihood, humans who want to become new gods will divide their forces and start a war. Then the remaining people will suffer. A new god is born in that river of flowing blood.”
Although it is all fabricated and fabricated now, the founding myth of Actan was actually similar to this.
“Royals are not gods, and humans will not be happy just because gods disappear.”
“……”
“Whether they are royals, nobles, commoners, or slaves, they are all the same people. This current state is the reality of humans fighting each other that you spoke of. Perhaps peace will only come when all the humans in the world are extinct.”
I listened to him quietly and asked.
“Then what should I do?”
“About what?”
“What should I do…”
I couldn’t continue speaking easily. I don’t even know what I really want. World peace? A society where the value of life is not determined by social status? A world where there are no innocent people?
It was all just pie in the sky, so I couldn’t say anything.
The Crown Prince said as I moved my lips without saying anything.
“Even if I become Emperor, I cannot save all the poor people in the world. That goes for anyone who ascends to the throne, including you.”
“……”
“That is the realm of God. It’s not a problem that humans can do anything about.”
Despair slowly began to seep into my heart at his firm words. If nothing I do works, then all my actions and decisions will be useless.
“So I plan to use my whole life to contemplate.”
I was depressed, but I couldn’t help but be surprised by the words that followed. It was similar to what I had thought before. Of course, the content was completely different.
“What’s the point of contemplating? You said it won’t work anyway.”
The Crown Prince laughed again as I grumbled. He put the gown I was holding on my shoulders and said.
“I can’t save everyone, but maybe I can save one out of 100 people.”
“……”
“I will definitely make mistakes and face many difficulties. But if I keep thinking about it, something will succeed among those many failures.”
He was talking while looking at me, but it was a pledge to himself. The morning sunlight shone on his firm face, sparkling like a light-filled sea.
And so suddenly, so quickly, Mahir became my Emperor.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
Suddenly everything felt empty.
“……”
No, is this an emotion that can be expressed with the word emptiness? I don’t know what it is, but suddenly I felt all the strength drain out of me, and I felt like a jellyfish floating in the sea.
For a while, I spent all my waking hours without thinking. Every day, my head was so full that it was about to explode, but now it was as white as a blank sheet of paper.
It felt so awkward and strange, but I soon adapted. It was so much fun to just spend time like an unemployed person with nothing to do. I could finally understand why Abyss was staring blankly into space.
I slept in late until late in the afternoon and took naps in the sunlight. As a result, I naturally couldn’t fall asleep at night, so I read books. Mahir’s words to me were so impressive that I was reading all the biographies of great people from all over the world.
Some stories resonated with me, and some didn’t.
“Your Highness, there is a group of bandits rampaging in Gotum.”
“Your Highness, I heard that the Crown Princess often comes to Talim. There are bad rumors among the nobles…”
“Your Highness, these days Your Majesty…”
Now, I wasn’t even angry when I heard the nobles’ nonsense. It was so easy to just listen with one ear and let it out with the other. Why was I so angry about everything?
I ignored what I could ignore and went to catch the bandits with Abyss and Garam to get some fresh air. No one noticed me because Garam and Abyss were at the forefront.
I felt relieved to think that the nobles who wanted to build my statue somewhere again would be disappointed.
And Abyss finally took revenge on his brother. I thought he would leave to find his own way after learning everything he needed to learn and achieving his goal, but my expectations were wrong.
“I want to become Your Highness’s knight too.”
In the past, there were often cases where commoners became knights of the Imperial Family. I wasn’t planning on having any more knights in the first place, and Abyss was not skilled enough to become a knight. But I was in a good mood these days, so I just gave him the title he wanted.
“What is this?”
Abyss was embarrassed when I gave him a pair of sewing scissors that were lying next to me. He soon became angry and rudely yelled at his lord.
“Give me a proper sword too! I heard from other people that someone received a famous sword decorated with jewels!”
“What’s the difference between that and this? Abandon greed, Abyss. That’s one of the virtues of a knight.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
His tantrum went on for a long time, as if he had been expecting a lot. Garam, unable to stand the ugly sight, opened his mouth.
“I received a kitchen knife.”
“Yes? Really?”
Abyss’s eyes widened. I looked at Garam and asked.
“You didn’t throw it away, did you?”
“I keep it safely in the vault. If you order me to, I will carry it with me from now on.”
I looked at the unnecessarily serious Garam with strange eyes and turned my head back to Abyss. He fiddled with the sewing scissors for a while, and then calmed down, thinking that it was better than a kitchen knife.
And then, belatedly, he knelt in front of me with a solemn expression.
“I will protect my lord with my life from now on.”
That guy is not in his right mind either…
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
I came out on a Stealth mission with Abyss. Garam is waiting in Talim, and it was all Abyss’s plan.
“I happened to hear that he hasn’t had his birthday celebrated since he was a child.”
“……”
I heard that story just before Garam’s birthday, so I felt uncomfortable just passing it by. Anyway, I had a lot of days off these days, so I decided to go along with Abyss’s scheme.
“I’ll take this.”
I was wondering what to give Garam as a gift, and after much deliberation, I chose a doll made by carving wood. It was a structure where if you pulled out the doll’s neck, there would be another doll inside.
At that time, I witnessed Abyss’s expression turning strange for a moment. But he quickly changed his expression and praised my choice like a sycophant. Abyss chose ordinary leather gloves, but it was obvious to anyone that what I chose was much more unique and interesting.
I was proud and headed to Talim as soon as I chose the gift.
“Before you get off work today…”
I was talking to Abyss about when it would be appropriate to give the gift and entered the main gate of the castle. Then Abyss stopped walking and said quietly.
“Your Highness, just a moment.”
“……?”
His voice was so low that I couldn’t help but wonder. But I was soon able to understand Abyss’s actions.
Talim was too quiet and dark.