285 – Side story – Is there a life without regrets? (2)
Two weeks have passed since I called my children to quickly come to Windheim where I am.
William, Martin, and Victoria haven’t called for them so urgently since I came here.
He brought his children and grandchildren one after another to Windheim where I was.
In particular, as soon as William arrived in Windheim, he ran into the room where I was, crying.
“Father, father! Are you in good physical condition? “Even if you go, you have to see my face!”
The sight of a guy called the Emperor running up to the room where I was lying, panting and crying, seemed a bit funny and strange.
That’s because he was worried about me, so he abandoned the emperor’s authority and hurried away.
I called you because it was time for me to die, but I wanted to joke around so I responded like this.
“It’s still fine. I just called you because I wanted to see you. hahahaha. You guys were properly caught by the fishing hook I threw. “If I were in critical condition, wouldn’t I have written in a letter telling me to come quickly because I was seriously ill?”
I didn’t think it was that funny, but it was quite funny to Martin and Victoria.
“There’s no way your father, who is healthy and not suffering from a serious illness, would suddenly pass away, right, brother?”
“Martin, that guy has been crying like that since he was little. Well, when that guy was 10 years old…”
“Wait a minute, sister, don’t talk about that. “If you tell Martin, rumors will spread throughout the family.”
Even those who normally call William ‘Your Majesty’ because he is the emperor, in front of me, they call him older brother and younger brother like any other family member.
In other imperial families, even in private situations like this, there are distinctions between the children of the wife and the children of the concubine, but it is fortunate that our family does not do that.
And then I use a cane to hug my grandchildren who are seeing each other for the first time in a while. No, I think I will be able to walk well today without using a cane.
Instead of holding a cane, he stood up on both feet and walked.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m so close to death and the remaining energy in my body burns like the last flame, but it’s like when I just retired from being an emperor.
My steps felt very light.
“For the first time in a while, I see everyone’s faces at once. William, Victoria, Martin. Okay, everyone worked hard to get to where I am today, so let’s have a quick meal. “I told the servants, so you can eat it right away when you go to the restaurant.”
So, I ended up eating at a huge table that can seat dozens of people, a table that I don’t normally use.
Because of his age, he cannot eat that much even if the fortress is full of food, comparable to an imperial palace banquet.
“Your Majesty, do you mind if I eat a lot today?”
“Your Majesty. “If you overdo it, you might have trouble sleeping…”
My appetite increased today to the point where Ella and Irina were worried.
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The children who saw this were happy, saying that their elderly father was eating a lot because he was happy to have his sons, daughters, and grandchildren together for the first time in a long time.
“Did you call us to tell us that our father is in such good health that we don’t have to worry about him?”
“I was worried because he was old, but I will be able to go with peace of mind when I return. “It’s great to see you moving so well, eating well, and being healthy.”
“You’re not doing too much by coming here, are you?”
Until yesterday, if I ate like this and moved like this, I would have felt sick or laid down.
There is no sign of that happening at all right now.
No, if I were a little greedy, I think I could run around the yard of the mansion.
“By the way, how are you guys doing these days? “Do you have any pain anywhere?”
Then Martin took out the report he had kept in his pocket and brought it to me, as if he had something to brag about.
William, Victoria, Ella, and Irina noticed that.
“Father, finally! He succeeded in creating the efficient steam engine that his father had proposed. He mined coal in a coal mine, spun yarn from cotton, and made cloth on a loom, starting a factory that quickly and easily made cloth and clothing. Although the factory has only been built in Nantes yet, clothes made of cotton have already become common in Nantes. Now children in orphanages can sleep without blankets with holes in them in the winter! “This is all research done by graduate students to make their dreams come true…”
“I recognize your contribution in making it possible to make a lot of clothes using the steam engine. Martin, I’m hearing rumors these days that graduate students aren’t coming home from work. “I heard that when Jesu went to visit Britanya’s parents, he couldn’t get off work for two weeks.”
“Sister Victoria. That’s because graduate students voluntarily agreed to sleep in the lab. As the dean of a technical college, I knew that if I could build this good machine quickly, it would help the people’s lives, so I just slept on the bed in the lab while my wife was at her parents’ house to save commuting time. So, other master’s and doctoral students followed me and provided room and board in the lab. “I didn’t force you to do it.”
“In the past, I had to work by candlelight, so I went to bed at 10 o’clock in the lab, but these days, with the invention of electricity and the creation of electric lights, I heard that people do research until 2 or 3 in the morning. “The academy can’t pay for overtime this time, so you’ll have to pay it yourself.”
…… If you had forced me to do it, I would have scolded you right now, but you didn’t force me by relying on the authority of the royal family.
This is a virtue that was corrected over a long period of time by listening to a lot of nagging from her wife, Lily.
But he even made a real lightbulb, he’s such an amazing youngest child.
Then William slowly approached and said.
“Thanks to Martin, within a few years no one will be wearing tattered clothes in the Empire. Also, if Countess Lily is there, graduate students won’t have to miss work…”
“Why would I scold Martin when I’ve already been away from practical work for a long time? “Anyway, how are you doing?”
“hahahaha, I can’t live as stoically as my father. Another concubine this year…”
I can’t say anything about the emperor of an empire taking a concubine, but I think he also relieves the mental fatigue accumulated while attending to government affairs in a s*xual way.
“I won’t say anything. Just make sure that the issue of succession rights does not become a problem. After my generation, there should not be any distribution of fiefdoms just because of imperial family status. “There should no longer be a number of nobles with territories on the mainland of the empire.”
“I understand, father.”
“By the way, do you have any great-grandchildren yet?”
“Victor, Gayle, Christina, Eleor… All of them have been married for less than two years. “There is no news yet.”
This is a little disappointing.
If possible, it would be nice to have a little more time and see my great-grandchildren.
Well, I was reincarnated in this world and lived safely for 70 years, without getting any major illnesses other than minor illnesses, so that’s a big deal.
Also, my son finally found a huge continent like America on Earth last year.
In about 4 to 5 years from now, as the discoverer of a continent flowing with milk and honey, I will probably be able to achieve a reputation that surpasses mine.
So, for the first time in a few months, but for the first time in what felt like a long time, we got together as a family and talked about all sorts of things.
Stories about grandsons and granddaughters getting married, love stories, old things that were quite serious secrets at the time but are just funny if you know them now, good things that happened in the empire, my daily life, etc.
With the endless conversation, too much time has passed.
Irina and Ella yawned first, realizing that it was quite late, and everyone was about to get up to go in and rest.
Is it because he experienced a paranormal phenomenon called reincarnation in another world?
A woman’s voice rang in my head.
‘Thank you, Ciel von Kreutel, or Kim Do-yoon, for your hard work. Now it is time to enter into rest, so rest in peace. When you open your eyes and wake up, you will be able to see the tomorrow that your descendants have created.’
Ah, I think it’s really time for me to go.
I start to feel out of breath, and my vision becomes increasingly blurry.
Is it a good thing that I knew this would happen and already organized everything I wanted to pass on to Ella, Irina, my children, and my grandchildren?
“William, I’m sorry, but please move me to bed. I talked to you all late at night and I feel a little sleepy. “I want to sleep well.”
I repeated my words, but William seemed to notice the sudden change in my condition and understood the meaning of my words.
Tears flowed from the eyes of the guy who had been laughing just now.
“Everyone, follow me to your father’s room.”
Everyone started shedding tears in silence at these words.
At least I haven’t died yet and I’m glad that no one is crying.
Then I would have felt a little more uncomfortable.
As I lay down on the bed in my room with William’s support, my entire body’s strength gradually began to relax.
Ella, Irina, her children, and her grandchildren stood around them.
“I said almost everything I wanted to say to you during our conversation today, and I left a will for each of you. Consider that my will to you. Just, William.”
Then William put his ear towards me.
“Someday.” Indeed, one day, our empire may become corrupted, and the level of consciousness of the people may grow so that the people of the empire no longer need the imperial family.”
The second emperor of the empire showed anger at the words of his father that the imperial family would disappear at the moment of his death.
“There is no such thing as an eternal empire in this world. “The Kreutel Empire, which is shining now, will one day fall down like me, who is slowly getting older.”
“Ah, father…”
“Then withdraw with honor. Of course, some of the imperial family’s assets should be left behind so that the family members can live comfortably. Don’t try to sit on the emperor’s throne in an ugly way like that damn Adolf from Elain. Members of the imperial family of an empire whose ending is not beautiful end up either dying a miserable death or living a life more miserable than death. You should also share this information with the emperor after you and make it the first lesson to be passed on to future emperors. “Empires also die.”
When I said that, a cough came out of my mouth.
It wasn’t bloody, but the cough seemed to urge me that time was running out.
Then, I reached out and stroked Ella and Irina’s hair one last time like I did when I was young and said,
“Without the two of you, there would be no empire or a person named Ciel von Kreutel. I always thought it was an undeserved gift from God to me. Lastly, I would like to say something. Love. Really…”
As soon as I finished speaking like that, my vision instantly became black and my consciousness slowly disappeared as if I was submerged in warm water and melting.
In the meantime, what I heard were Ella and Irina’s words ‘I love you’ and the children’s wailing.
The living must live, and the dead only live and breathe in the hearts and history of the living.
This is enough.
Ciel von Kreutel, the first emperor of the Kreutel Empire, died at his villa in Windheim.