LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 8
Well, if Lucas was being careless like before, it might be a different story. But facing him directly like this, there’s no way I could shoot him in the head no matter how many times I tried.
Not just a few times, it could take hundreds or even thousands of attempts before I might hit him once.
…However, for the main plot to unfold, this guy needed to stay alive. He was quite an important supporting character in the original story.
So, in order to predict even a little about what lies ahead, I have to go through all that trouble to bring this annoying brat back to life by turning back time. What kind of nonsense is that?
Moreover, even though I often find this guy irritating and sometimes feel like I’d really like to kill him, it’s not like I actually hate him. I didn’t have any particular affection for the male characters in the original game, but I wasn’t at the point of outright disgust, either.
If I really looked at the situation, I might’ve brought this on myself.
Besides, the Emperor plays a role of indirectly helping the protagonist for a while. He usually offers assistance through his children, and Lucas was one of them.
Maybe I could end up being one of them too. Right now, instead of Claire, I’m in that position.
In the original, Claire doesn’t actually join the academy right from the start. She gradually intertwines with the protagonist’s group as an outsider at first, and then later sneaks in under the pretext of being a transfer student when the story really kicks off.
In fact, she was the Emperor’s puppet and a spy.
I wouldn’t know if I would end up taking Claire’s role in this situation.
At least in my opinion, my personality was very different from Claire’s.
While Claire was a multidimensional character who typically acted like a little devil, charming many, only to turn incredibly prickly once her true identity was revealed, the character I built under the Emperor was a “cold, expressionless character, no matter the situation.”
There’s just no way around it.
I had dreamt of becoming a voice actor and attended a voice acting academy early on, but I didn’t have any amazing talent for acting. So, I chose to maintain an atmosphere of total stoicism rather than making various expressions and reacting situationally.
And the “reaction speed that seems to foresee the future” fits quite nicely with this atmosphere, especially because my ability to start knowing the situation already from turning back time made that atmosphere work even better.
“Oh, Sylvia. And Lucas.”
As I briskly walked down the corridors of the Imperial Palace, trying my hardest to ignore Lucas, who was scratching at my insides, someone approached from afar.
Unlike Lucas, who was the Emperor’s son and ran around like a wild mischief without bothering to manage his hair, this person had beautifully shining golden hair perfectly parting in a 2:8 ratio and even took care to ensure not a single hair of his eyebrows was out of place. Like Lucas, he was also one of the “Emperor’s children.”
A blush appeared on his face when he saw me, but his expression certainly turned dour when he noticed Lucas. This person really loved being neat, after all. Lucas seemed a bit messy in comparison.
For reference, even though he looked incredibly noble, he wasn’t a true noble. Among the Emperor’s offspring, only one real royal bloodline exist—the daughter. The rest were all scrappy street kid types.
I’m not sure why all street kids are such monsters, though.
“Lucas, could you please at least button your shirt all the way up while inside the palace?”
“Eh?”
And naturally, Lucas didn’t like this person all that much either. They were pretty much opposites.
“Who do you think you are to tell me what to do? Are you trying to play big brother?”
“I was born a few months earlier than you, at least.”
And I’m taller too.
If I keep talking like this in this situation, it might just rile Lucas up even more.
“Hey, Jayden.”
Lucas aimed a mock angry expression as he strutted over to Jayden Fanggriffon.
…But it was obvious that expression was just for show.
Every time he met Jayden, Lucas would act like a brat… I mean, he’d pick a fight with him, but the truth is, it wasn’t just because he didn’t like Jayden.
Jayden was already the strongest knight in the Empire.
Lucas would later become the Empire’s number one sword, and though I wondered if both could coexist, Jayden earned that reputation on the battlefield while Lucas would later gain it after defeating the Sword Saint.
Thus, the meanings of those two titles could be said to be subtly different.
While Jayden was a soldier who almost worshipped the Emperor and followed his orders to the death, Lucas was a madman with the ambition to someday look down on the Emperor, wanting to be the strongest being in the world.
He really loved fighting too. If I were to genuinely confront him, he’d probably rush in thinking it was fun.
…Earlier, I was taken off guard and ended up shot before I could even do that.
“Haven’t I told you before? If you want to give me orders, you should first prove you can beat me with a sword. If you can show me you’re definitely stronger than me, I’ll even follow orders like drinking your urine, okay?”
“…Sigh.”
With an exaggerated motion, Jayden sighed heavily, then gestured to me with an artistic flair of his swept hand.
“Look at Sylvia over there. Every little bit of her demeanor exudes grace! Moreover, even if you swing your sword all day, she beautifully moves and avoids everything with noblesse-like restraint and elegance. And is that not enough? Even when meeting His Majesty, she conducts herself with a grace beyond her age. You should at least take after your sister a little!”
All of it was a result of countless hours of practice.
Well, to people here, it probably looks like “she’s always been like that.”
…And also, this had deviated quite a bit from the original storyline.
Switching places with Claire aside, Claire and Jayden didn’t get along well at all. Since Jayden favored people dressed neatly and with noble-esque postures, Claire’s outfits looked too “unsightly” in his eyes.
Of course, I had no intention of wearing such clothing and thought it didn’t fit my image, so I dressed as neatly as I could.
It seemed that this was a significant reason for Jayden to favor me.
As a result, I had become Jayden’s most cherished “little sister.”
…So much so that he openly declared he’d personally vet any boyfriend I might one day have.
Why the hell would he do that? What a lunatic.
Ah, of course, this guy was originally portrayed as a comic relief character, so it wasn’t entirely out of character for him.
“……”
Ah, just now, the prideful expression on Lucas’s face had utterly twisted into one of shame.
Yeah, it was a bit awkward, right? Even a lunatic would think that sounded… creepy.
Complimenting a twelve-year-old as “beautiful” or whatever.
Of course, Jayden had no such malice behind it and genuinely thought that way.
Still, couldn’t he have chosen a word like “elegant” instead?
“C-come on, Sylvia. Let’s go.”
Lucas, who had just been talking in a completely rascal-like voice moments ago, suddenly spoke with an incredibly affectionate “big brother” tone.
“Don’t stick around a pervert like him.”
“A pervert? What the hell are you talking about!”
Jayden strongly protested as Lucas grabbed my shoulder, turning me and gently nudging me, trailing behind us.
*
Those who are called “Emperor’s children” usually have nothing else to do with the phrase in normal situations.
But in this game… no, in this empire, it’s used almost as a common noun.
The commoners might not know, but among the nobles, it’s a term used almost like “the Emperor’s assassination organization.”
And in reality, it was so.
I don’t know how they all came to be, but everyone the Emperor refers to as “sons and daughters” were all beings beyond the scope of mere humans in certain areas.
…If you want to argue, I was included in that too.
“Oh, everyone’s here?”
Lucas said as he opened the door to the audience room.
Under normal circumstances, there should be knights guarding the audience room… but inside were only the Emperor, one adult female, and one adult male.
“Oh, you’ve come.”
In the game, he appeared as the final boss of an evil organization, but when he called us, he sounded like a true father.
Arthur III.
The avatar of the ‘Fanggriffon.’
The emperor who established the most powerful authority in Aetherna’s history.
With ambitions to put everything in the world beneath him, he was quite literally a villain wishing for “world domination.”
And kneeling before him were two more among the ‘Emperor’s children.’
A man with delicate features and black hair reaching down his back, who, despite his tender appearance, was an immensely strong paladin. He looked this way, but if he ever took off his shirt, you’d see a lean muscular body with just the right amount of body fat.
He spoke little and was moderately handsome, making him popular among female gamers.
For reference, Lucas was also one of the more popular characters.
Jayden wasn’t.
And beside him sat a woman with a slightly gloomy demeanor who, in the original, would serve as Claire’s mentor. Due to their relationship, she was referred to as “older sister.”
A woman wielding a whip-like sword. For reference, she was already dead at the starting point in the original story. How she died was never mentioned; she simply appeared as the previous owner of Claire’s weapon.
She apparently liked Claire a lot and taught her various things, but that bad personality was passed on, ultimately making Claire a polarizing character.
…No, that’s just a set-up, and the writer probably messed up, but, well, it doesn’t mean much to argue about such things here.
By the way, I’m curious what kind of swordsmanship Claire will learn at Grace’s Estate, given that she has an aptitude for swordplay. If her eyes aren’t mere holes, Baron Grace would surely teach her swordplay and also send her to the academy.
The true daughter, the Crown Princess, was not here. After all, the inferiority complex felt towards the “Emperor’s children” was a sort of character trait. That process of overcoming the inferiority complex was part of the character’s story.
So I wonder if I’ll end up feeling inferiority towards them too.
“Have you strengthened your body since we last met?”
“Um.”
As I knelt in the position I had practiced hundreds of times, the Emperor nodded as if he was pleased and smiled.
From the back, I heard Jayden go “hmm” in admiration, but I ignored it.
“Are you well?”
The exact words of the villainous character gave off the true friendly manner of a father, but that mission would surely be one that called for someone’s death.
The Emperor was probably ordering someone from the noble faction to be killed or to be brought to a similar state. I heard that the number of nobles secretly killed by the Emperor reached double digits in the original.
I have my suspicions. But I could hardly blame the Emperor on mere suspicions.
“I’ll be waiting.”
And handing such a mission to a twelve-year-old child, this man was indeed an antagonist after all.
Perhaps this Emperor also played a part in forming Claire’s twisted personality.
“I have returned after completing my mission, Father.”
The one who held the title of “Emperor’s child” most sincerely was Jayden.
The reason he wasn’t popular stemmed from this. He was an utterly one-dimensional character who only looked at the Emperor.
“Good, you’ve worked hard. The Count is alive, right?”
“Yes, he hasn’t died. But I’m sure he understood your words perfectly.”
“That’s good.”
Is this really something that could be said from the mouth of the Empire’s highest ‘knight’?
“Lucas.”
“I took care of it.”
Though Jayden glared at Lucas’s carefree response, the Emperor didn’t pay it any mind.
“Excellent. Since my children are doing so well, this father is proud. Please continue to do your best.”
The Emperor smiled warmly.
…And I’m convinced that smile was sincere. His words, even “my children” and “father,” were all genuinely meant.
And thus, this man was undoubtedly a true villain.
I thought so.