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Yes, those were my thoughts back then.

But right now,

As I look at the approaching typhoon, a thought naturally comes to mind.

What becomes of a butterfly caught in a typhoon’s winds? Will it be torn apart, its wings and antennae ripped off, left with nothing but a battered end?

No, not necessarily.

…Perhaps I should ride those currents instead? Revel in the massive flow itself.

Not as a butterfly, but in my own way.

In the general store, silence fell as if sound itself had ceased to exist.

“…………..”

A chill crept up my spine as I thought. It had been a long time since I’d felt such a sensation. When was the last time I’d felt chills like this?

‘Which princess accepted my proposal? I truly don’t know.’

The most crucial detail — her name — was missing from the letter.

An ardent ally can become the most formidable enemy the moment they turn their back. Not knowing who the recipient of my proposal was filled me with dread.

And seeing my reaction, Apple eventually nodded, seeming to realize the gravity.

“…We’re doomed, aren’t we? A fate of vanishing without a trace?”

“It may well come to that.”

The fact that we don’t know who wrote the letter was one problem, and the current emperor’s dignity was another problem. Apple’s words were quite reasonable.

The Unseen Emperor Verd.

Regarded as possessing the greatest martial might in imperial history. A warmonger who took ‘tyrant’ as a compliment…

And I had propositioned his daughter. Through the audacious act of a marriage proposal, no less.

And not just one daughter, but all five of them.

I quietly pulled a petal still attached to its stem from my pocket. It was just the right size to hold between my lips. Commonly known as Sunweed, it was a plant with effects comparable to a hot, burning tobacco.

Chiiiik—

There was no need to light a fire. Simply chewing it would set it alight.

The chill that had gripped my body began dissipating bit by bit, replaced by rising heat and blurring vision. Ah yes, here was the world as I knew it.

‘What’s done is done. If it cannot be avoided, make an opportunity of it.’

To track down and marry the princess who accepted my proposal.

That was the sole path forward in this situation.

“Say, Apple, want me to give you one too?”

“No thanks. While your condition forces your internal mana to constantly freeze over, sunweed is still undeniably an illicit drug, you know.”

“Even if I was an ordinary person, I’d have smoked sunweed. Started earlier, indulged more heavily.”

“…You really do sound like a junkie saying that, you realize?”

Smoke began wafting through the store interior.

Yes, the root cause of all this was truly this accursed condition of mine.

‘I have no more than perhaps 2 years left in this life.’

I had reached the pinnacle of ice magic, achieving a breakthrough, but I couldn’t find a way to overcome its power with a human body — and the result was this constantly freezing-over state of body and mana.

At some point, my gaze drifted to the masked woman beside me.

“Apple, have you heard the tales of sacred artifacts?”

“You mean those reported to be in the Imperial Treasury?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I’ve heard of them. There are supposed to be many incredible ones, including an artifact that grants the Emperor immortality, or so it’s said…”

As she spoke, Apple’s expression shifted to one of sudden realization as she looked at me.

“Don’t tell me you wrote asking for those? The sacred artifacts?”

“I didn’t outright ask for them. I was…more circumspect in my phrasing.”

By marrying into the imperial family, might I not receive a share of the sacred artifacts? Such was my simple line of thinking.

“Oh…! So how exactly did you put it? I’m dying of curiosity here!”

Phoooh—

I exhaled a long stream of sunweed smoke.

“Apple.”

“I proposed to each and every one of the five princesses, without exception.”

“Pardon?”

“And one of them actually accepted. I just don’t know which.”

“Ah. No, wait, what?”

Apple stared at me, her expression utterly scrunched.

“………..”

She seemed to ponder something gravely for a long while, before finally walking over and snatching the sunweed right from my lips.

“…This person is out of their mind. Is this what sunweed does to you?”

“I agree. I’m not in my right mind.”

Never was. Never have been. Not now, not ever.

* * * * *

On my way back home, a large crowd had already gathered around the entrance. 

“Ezekiel!”

“It’s Ezekiel! The bastard’s here!”

Those who recognized me widened their eyes. One of them, the same man who had asked if I sent a communique, hurried over urgently.

“H-Hey, Ezekiel!”

“I’m listening.”

“You clearly said you didn’t send any message to the palace, right? People from the imperial palace came looking for you. They said they were here to take you!”

“It’s because of the alcohol. You should stay away from alcohol too.”

“What’s that…?”

In front of the entrance was a massive carriage, flanked by two palace guards.

Its sheer size practically begged to be noticed, and its exterior radiated an undeniable regal elegance. It even bore the imperial sun crest reserved solely for the palace.

The carriage door opened and a black-haired woman with a bob cut stepped out; expressionless — a visage devoid of apparent emotion.

Dirrk! Dirrk!

She deftly turned a hexahedral cube with just the movement of her fingers in one hand. Her fingers moving at a constant speed were elegant to watch.

Her uniform, which resembled a suit, was also jet black, and a pin with a sun crest was pinned near her chest. She was also a person who came from the imperial palace.

“The palace never did have ordinary personnel, past or present.”

“…………”

She gave me a sidelong glance, then swiftly turned her head away without uttering a single word. Instead, she addressed the guards.

“Have you verified his identity?”

“Not yet, ma’am.”

“Open it.

“Yes, Lady Agnes.”

The scroll held in the soldier’s hand fell vertically and unfolded. I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes when I saw it.

‘They don’t look alike at all.’

Aside from the long white hair and facial features, there was virtually no resemblance. Yet this woman called Agnes nodded in affirmation.

“That’s right. Take him to the imperial palace.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

At last, her gaze turned towards me.

“Get in.”

Dirrk! 

Agnes gestured with her chin towards the carriage entrance, still fiddling with the cube. Its scrambled exterior had become realigned.

‘Well, it’s not like the attitude of inviting a guest.’

It was more akin to hauling off a criminal, if anything.

I boarded the carriage puffing on my sunweed. As soon as I shut the door behind me, it immediately lurched into motion.

“Always in such a hurry with official business. Quite befitting of the palace.”

At that moment, the partition at the front slid open, revealing Agnes’ face. She spoke with her usual expressionless face.

“This is the interior of an imperial carriage. Please refrain from smoking.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“You will. Especially if that’s classified as the illicit sunweed drug.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if dealing with something beneath her.

“I don’t plan on having a power struggle with a drug addict. Spit it out.”

Simultaneously, Agnes extended her hand, indicating for me to spit out the Sunweed into her palm. Clearly, she didn’t care about hygiene; work seemed to be her only concern.

“Is that so? Well, this is awkward. I’m an Imperial-certified addict.”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“Then you must have received shoddy handover briefings. Perhaps you dozed off?”

“……….”

Agnes’ eyes narrowed further.

She pulled out a thick notebook from her coat and began flipping through it quickly, all while making it clear she wouldn’t tolerate any nonsense from me.

“If it’s a lie, there will be severe punishment. Be prepared.”

However, the flipping pages came to a halt at one particular page, almost at the end. It was almost the last page. Her golden eyes trembled slightly.

“…………..”

She silently tucked the notebook back into the inner pocket of her suit jacket.

I tilted my head slightly and asked, “Well, am I going to be severely punished?”

“……..”

Drrrk—

Drrrk—

She just kept solving the cube without answering. She seemed to have gotten irritated. It was a while before she spoke.

“…It was my mistake. Please accept this.”

“What is this?”

“It is a letter from His Majesty the Emperor.”

She handed me a scroll and promptly closed the partition with a firm thud. It seemed that she was embarrassed because there was something she didn’t know.

In fact, it couldn’t have been her fault. It was just that the relationship between me and the imperial family was so complicated and so unknown.

Anyway, I unfolded the Emperor’s letter.

“So the nobleman knows how to write letters too.”

“Don’t call His Majesty the Emperor a ‘nobleman’”— Agnes’ voice came from behind the partition, but I ignored it and started reading.

Ezekiel.

Let’s talk at the imperial palace.

Come alive.

It was a short but powerful letter.

Come alive.

In other words, the journey ahead would probably involve risk of death.

“Looks like the road won’t be an easy one.”

I muttered that and closed my eyelids.

I intended to get some sleep beforehand, in case the journey wasn’t easy.

…At least, that was my intention.

Drrrk—

Drrk! Drrk! 

Drrrk—

“…Noisy.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore and snapped my fingers.

And at the same time, the noisy sounds outside stopped.

With a thud, the partition in front opened again.

“Excuse me.”

Agnes stared at me expressionlessly. Her hand gripped the frozen cube tightly.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Be quiet. Quietly.”

“Unfreeze it. Are you in your right mind?”

“I was never in my right mind to begin with.”

After that short reply, I used my powers to slam the partition shut with a thud.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It seemed to try to open again, but it was no use. I had frozen the seams shut.

Once again closing my eyelids, I thought,

Well, I wonder how much the Imperial Palace has changed?

— END —