“Does His Majesty the Emperor… speak?”

“Yes. It seems he suddenly collapsed due to a chronic illness and only opened his eyes after half a day.”

A complex emotion flickered in Yuder's eyes. The feeling was that the time had come, as only a few months were left until Emperor Keilusa's departure from the world in his previous life, due to the worsening of his chronic illness.

But on the other hand, he was not pleased. Even Gakane who would have died in the west if things had been the same as before, and all the other Cavalry members, were alive and well in this life. Despite so much change, could the death of Emperor Keilusa be the only thing that remained unchanged?

'If the death had been caused by an assassination attempt or another factor that could have been resolved in advance, it would have already been resolved.'

“...That's what will be announced to the public, but it's a bit different for those who know the situation.”

Yuder, who had been lost in thought, raised his eyes that were cast downward due to Kishiar's sudden reversal of his previous statement.

“Yes?”

“Do you remember me saying that His Majesty’s chronic illness is similar to the reason why I had no choice but to be known as a sick person to the outside world until I became an Awakener?”

Did he remember the conversation they had before? The red pupils calmly asked. Yuder, looking into those eyes, suddenly opened his mouth to a speculation that had briefly crossed his mind.

“Could it be that His Majesty the Emperor's condition has worsened…?”

“...I can't know. Not yet.”

Emperor Keilusa was heading towards his end day by day due to the vessel problem, just like Kishiar had before. Kishiar had supported Thais Yulman's research, hoping that the power of the Red Stone would help the Emperor, but he had not yet heard any other news about it.

Was it possible that the news of his collapse was not bad?

Kishiar looked down at the letter once again. A deep and unfathomable shadow lingered on his face, from which his usual armor-like smile had vanished.

“I think I'll have to have a drink and go to sleep tonight. Will you join me and listen?”

Yuder thought he had seen various sides of Kishiar, but this expression was a first. After a moment of hesitation, he cautiously replied.

“Could I listen?”

“Of course. There's no conversation that an assistant shouldn't hear. If it's burdensome to stay by my side, you can leave.”

“That's not the case.”

Kishiar's eyes finally twinkled at the firm denial.

“...All right. Then listen to my stories and be my drinking partner as well.”

He promptly called for a servant to bring the wine. Only a heavy silence flowed between the two until the bottle and glasses arrived. Kishiar poured the transparent strong liquor into the glass himself, gulped it all down, and neatly set it aside. To an unknowing eye, it would not have seemed strange to mistake the drink for water.

The only sign that revealed he had drunk a painful, potent liquor was his eyes, which began to flicker like a lampshade that had just blocked a flame.

“Now, a glass for my assistant.”

Yuder swallowed the glass that Kishiar had poured for him as if it were water. In his case, it was really no different from water, but Kishiar laughed heartily.

“You didn't have to follow me. Is your stomach not hurting?”

“I'm fine.”

“Does this amount of alcohol fall within the range where my assistant doesn't get drunk?”

“...Yes.”

“Then it's good.”

The two drank several more glasses back and forth. Despite drinking from small glasses, they soon finished a bottle.

It was when Kishiar had opened the second bottle and taken the first sip that he began to speak.

"His Majesty has always been more robust than me. Many have said that you could live a long life if you didn't overexert yourself. But that His Majesty should come to this state is not a natural result of the power outgrowing the vessel, as happened to me."

Then why has it come to this now?

Kishiar, meeting Yuder's gaze, lifted the corners of his lips coolly.

"His Majesty and I think it's the nobles' trickery."

"You think...?"

"There's no remaining evidence, that's why."

"..."

"His Majesty originally knew that it was difficult to have a successor, so he was thinking of adopting one. He wanted to appoint a child, personally favored from the distant relatives of the imperial family, excluding the nobility, as the Crown Prince."

Kishiar paused for a moment before speaking again.

"But the nobles argued that it was unreasonable and that the most qualified person should be chosen through fair competition to gain everyone's approval."

And so, for the first time, an unprecedented situation arose where the position of Crown Prince was contested, with each noble family and the imperial family's relatives putting forth candidates. The Emperor finally consented only after securing a promise that no one would object if the Emperor's side's candidate won.

The candidates for the Crown Prince fought fiercely through several tests. The battles, bolstered by the strength of each family, sometimes escalated into life-threatening dangers.

Then, one day, during a hunting competition attended by all Crown Prince candidates, a serious carriage overturning accident occurred.

"It was clearly an accident targeting the candidate chosen by His Majesty. But the incident escalated as even His Majesty’s carriage got caught up in it.”

Under normal circumstances, it would have been a fatal accident. But the Emperor, in a desperate moment, exerted all his power for the first time to save himself and the Empress. As a result, both survived unscathed, but the candidate that Emperor Keilusa had wanted to adopt as his heir died.

And the Emperor's vessel also suffered damage.

"As you know, after that, the current Crown Prince and the Diarca family seized victory and took their place."

Those who caused the accident might not have known the ongoing vessel issue in the imperial family, but ultimately, they achieved great success since the Emperor became confined and unable to go outside.

"I was in Peletta at the time, so I didn't fully understand the situation. Only after I became an Awakener and healed did I learn the strange reason His Majesty was confined, citing a strange disease."

The Emperor's not being able to work outside was almost impossible, yet there was no other way. Now that Katchian, the candidate from the Diarca family, had become Crown Prince, even inside the imperial palace, they couldn't be careless.

At that time, Kishiar, having become an Awakener and appearing healthy, was like a lost hope returning to them.

"I told you before. Just as the power of the Red Stone saved me, I thought it could also help His Majesty's vessel. In a way, the rapid changes in the world due to the presence of Awakeners could be a good opportunity."

Emperor Keilusa and Kishiar, while protecting and investigating the Red Stone, dreamed once again of achieving their goals in a changing world.

"Do you remember the magic stones medium, with power separated from the Red Stone, that Thais Yulman had created? I handed them over to His Majesty."

As close as one was to the power of the Red Stone, and the more one was exposed to it, the higher the likelihood of becoming an Awakener. Thus, it was necessary to create an environment where the same miracle could happen to Emperor Keilusa. Therefore, he had requested that most of the stone, except for the amount needed for research, be placed in the Emperor's room and never be kept far away.

What returned even before a proper result could be confirmed was a letter reporting that the Emperor had collapsed.

"... His Majesty has an incredibly strong patience. Even amid the immense pain of the gradually crumbling vessel."

Did this mean that a limit was approaching, now that he had collapsed?

Kishiar drank another glass of liquor, his face solemn.

"The likelihood that the gift I sent didn't take effect is high... But just because he has collapsed once doesn't mean everything is over yet. Although my heart is heavy, I want to think that way until I return and check it myself."

Silence flowed once more. Yuder looked down at the liquor before him and slowly opened his mouth.

"Commander, you've gone through the same process as His Majesty."

Kishiar's hand paused.

"...Yes. I did."

"How much time do you think is left then, in your view?"

It was a frank and bold question. But there was no cleverness in Yuder to ask it indirectly.

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