71 – Is This a Dream?
Yulia was trudging forward.
Her destination was the lap of the seated Askar.
Before Yulia could sit on his knees, Askar got up from his chair. Yulia’s eyebrows twitched.
“Why are you avoiding me, Lord Debr?”
“The chair is uncomfortable.”
“……?”
The chair in Lord’s office.
Though it was a very expensive-looking chair, red and gold in variation, with soft leather and expensive gold-leaf insets, Askar didn’t like it.
Unless it’s the chair in the chief’s office of the Assessment Department, his body would not be satisfied.
“I can’t work with this chair. Lia. Get me my chair.”
From Noble mtl dot com
Askar said confidently.
Yulia looked at her lord as if he was absurd.
Could his personality change so greatly overnight?
‘This must be a dream after all.’
Yes.
Askar thought this was all a dream.
There’s no need to give in to Yulia even in his dreams.
It’s as if he was a dream corner warrior.
“I won’t work until you fetch my chair. And my shoulders are a bit stiff, so I’d appreciate a massage.”
Askar.
Stomach in!
Eventually, Ascal, who found the executive chair after scouring the entire empire, reviewed the documents while receiving a massage from Yulia.
Administration.
Military.
Diplomacy.
Intelligence.
All the reports that the capable people of the empire were supposed to handle separately were now all coming to Ascal.
“What are the ministers doing that I have to do this all by myself?”
Yulia, who was massaging Ascal’s shoulders, spoke.
“They are all incompetent, so I let them go from the neck down. The relatively competent Minister of Magic was assassinated…”
Indeed.
The empire in his dreams was already halfway ruined.
Just like the contents he had read in the novel.
And Ascal had no intention of working even in his dreams.
‘The best way to wake up from a dream is to die.’
Ascal opened the window.
The wind blew in.
It was a considerable high-rise.
Ascal jumped out of the window as he was.
‘Goodbye, Empire.’
However.
There was something soft on the ground.
As if it kn
Most attempts were foiled under stringent surveillance or, even if they chanced to come close to success, they ended up being resurrected because of a healing potion. It was almost infuriatingly foolproof.
“Let’s change the method.”
If left undisturbed, it seemed he would die from exhaustion in his dreams. Very slowly and painfully.
That’s something he’d rather not experience.
At night, Ascal returned to his room and looked around the lavish space. The bed was large enough for four people, and artists’ works adorned the walls.
“What extravagance.”
Ascal, lying quietly on his bed, was deep in thought. What would happen if he fell asleep in his dream? Would he dream a dream within a dream?
While he was caught up in such idle thoughts, someone entered Ascal’s room.
It was Yulia, clad in a gown… revealing her bare skin.
“Coming into another man’s room late at night could lead to misunderstandings, Your Majesty.”
“What, is playtime already over? I was starting to enjoy your casual treatment of me.”
Yulia walked barefoot to the bed and sat down next to Ascal.
“You’ve been hurting yourself again, Ascal.”
Even in her later years, Yulia was shorter than Ascal. Hence, she looked up at him, her blue eyes brimming with concern.
“You used to run from me, now it seems you’re tired of this world.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then why? Why are you trying to leave me too?”
Yulia spoke as if she was in pain.
And slowly, she laid her head on Ascal’s shoulder.
Seeing her visibly upset, Ascal unconsciously began stroking her hair.
“Don’t leave me, Ascal. Without you, I can’t bear it anymore. I beg you, at least stay with me.”
“But aren’t there other worthy people around you? Like Bernstein, Robin, and Yorick.”
“You jest too much. Bernstein is a conman, isn’t he? Robin was assassinated, and Yorick… He started a rebellion.”
It seemed like a development straight out of a novel.
If what Yulia was saying was true, then this empire within his dream was on the brink of ruin.
By the dragon and the rebels.
“If only I had gotten you a little earlier. If only I knew you a few years earlier, before the empire fell apart. How good that would’ve been. And we would’ve worked together.”
It seemed as if she was referring to their current appraisal.
“Then, I would never be an emperor again. I don’t want to kill my brother with my hands and execute someone every day.”
Yulia Barba, the tyrant, was filled with regret.
Was she a tyrant, or had the empire made her one?
“For instance, I could be your aide. Just the opposite of now. Serving you coffee and simply gazing upon a peaceful empire, smiling, I wouldn’t need anything else… I realised this too late.”
Yulia looked up at Ascal with moist eyes.
“Ascal, shall we die together?”
Ascal shook his head.
“Of course. Once hands are stained with blood, I must bear this burden to the end.”
Yulia threw Ascal onto the bed.
Ascal inwardly wondered if this woman might enjoy overpowering others but didn’t voice this.
“Either run away from the empire, Ascal.”
Yulia’s hair, looking down at him, tickled Ascal’s cheek.
“Really?”
“Yes. The empire has already fallen. The blessed Holy Kingdom, the Allied Nations, even the shadowy organization; they’re all meticulously trying to crumble the empire. Those damned resistance fighters who claim to be heroes punishing the empire, they’re disgusting.”
Hero.
In the story, that’s Sirius, the leader of the resistance.
Blessed by the saintess and chosen by the light.
“And the Senestia Duchy, that appeared to maintain neutrality, to think they were plotting such a conspiracy… I didn’t dream it.”
“The Senestia Duchy? Surely Shusia is there…”
“Don’t mention another woman’s name in front of me.”
Yulia gripped both of Ascal’s arms.
And she slowly moved her lips closer.
‘No, why does this empress like forcefully stealing kisses.’
Ascal struggled.
However, against the strength of Yulia, who was a sword master…
He succeeded.
Surprisingly, Ascal was easily able to wriggle free from Yulia’s grasp.
“Are you truly a sword master, Ascal? Your skill in escaping from me is quite impressive.”
“Eh? A sword master?”
“Yes. You’re one of the three great sword masters of the empire, aren’t you? Ascal Debru, the heir and head of the Debru family of Sword Saints. Did you wish to reaffirm your renown so much?”
No, why am I a sword master?
Ascal looked at his frail lower body in disbelief.
……Now that I look at it, his body was no joke. A lean body with only the necessary muscles, a body built for combat.
“They all call you the devil of the empire. An impossible monster that has mastered both literary and martial arts.”
“Indeed, it really is unthinkable.”
His body here, where he wasn’t taken by the evaluation division, seemed to have reached the stage of a sword master after constantly cultivating his martial arts.
However, he initially thought that swinging a sword around in the countryside wouldn’t be so bad. That is if someone didn’t suddenly bring up the matter of the evaluation division.
……By the way, what was Sushia doing here?
“So, what happened to Senestia’s ducal family now?”
“They’re supporting the anti-imperial army. But we aren’t being passive. We have the duchess’s daughter as our prisoner.”
“Where is she?”
“In the underground prison.”
Ascal got up from the bed.
And promptly dressed up to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I will briefly visit the underground prison. Please wait here.”
…Thinking about it, it was rather chilly.
Ascal tucked Yulia into the bed.
Only her face was exposed from inside the blanket and she grumbled.
“You’re not running away again, are you?”
“I will return in ten minutes.”
“I’ll trust you. You will come back, right?”
Ascal quickly left for the underground prison of the palace.
The guard tried to block the intruder, but as soon as he saw Ascal’s face, he immediately stepped aside. It was a total free pass.
In this place, aside from Yulia, the next person with great authority was Ascal—it was a natural outcome.
“Is Sushia Senestia in here? Lead me.”
“I understand.”
The guard held the torch and led Ascal.
After walking a bit, a woman lying on the floor was visible through the bars.
Her mouth was gagged.
“Why is she gagged?”
“…Because she was being too noisy.”
“Admit it.”
As the guard turned the key, the iron bars opened.
Ascal walked forward and unfastened Sussia’s gag.
“Uh, euh.”
“Stand up. Sussia.”
A dirty, unkempt face, lifeless hair.
She was the picture of misery.
“Hey, bring some warm water and a cloth.”
“Yes.”
The guard brought warm water. Ascal soaked a cloth in it then gently wiped Sussia’s face. Sussia, regaining consciousness, was taken aback when she saw Ascal’s face.
“Kya, Kyaak! The evil of the Empire!”
“You really are consistent, even here.”