"Papa?"
Claude de Alger Obelia, frankly, wasn't having fun living until that day.
No one dared, but if anyone did ask him, "Why do you live?" probably Claude would answer casually, "I live because I don't have any reason to die."
"Papa!"
But the very day that he met a little creature who called him father.
Claude's life was completely changed.
* * *
"Your Majesty, why did you leave so suddenly during the meeting?"
Chirp chirp
An urgent voice resounded among the birds that were singing brightly. Felix was already in a rush following the man ahead of him. But his heartless master still walked ahead, never slowing down his pace once.
"In addition, it's vandalism."
Felix scratched his forehead, recalling what had just happened in the conference room. It was not just a breakdown, but the round table contents and the papers that was placed on it were completely powdered, so it was good to say it was not a breakdown but an annihilation.
"If you're going to keep making noises, don't follow me."
"Next time, please say something in advance. Didn't you cause quite a surprise?"
"If there's nothing more to say, like today? Then that is the reason why I left the meeting room."
Earlier, Felix stood dumfoundedly in his seat for a moment and belatedly followed him out of the door. Just before that, he recalled the faces of the subjects who came into view, a sigh of admiration leaked out. The faces were all black and blue.
Oh, you deserved it. The young emperor's magic was especially smooth among the wizards in Obelia, so the objects in front of him were simply crushed with a gesture.
With what Claude showed today, does it mean next time you're powdered? Those ignorants had a warning.
"Oh, it was an ancient object made of a 500 years old Rosanna's fir tree...."
Felix felt deep sympathy for the fact that the national treasure, which had been rooted in the imperial chamber for a long time, had turned into powder in an instant. But the other party did not seem to have any reaction.
"That's better than cutting off the tongues of the three that kept talking the whole time of the meeting."
"No, of course it is, but...."
Felix was speechless with that dry recited statement.
It was because he knew better than anyone else the person in front of him.
It's been 20 years since the two of them came together. At any rate, there's no time of empty words, so in short, he knew it was not a hoax.
Only 10 days ago, 'Why don't I hit the princess of the neighboring Castorea with the rain?' He then made fun of her snake-like tongue and made Marquis Harkintos' body to a body never be seen again.
Felix groaned at the recollection of the late Marquis of Harkintos. Of course, the reason for his death was not only because he failed to keep his tongue, but also because of his alleged intimacy with Castorea.
But I could say that what the Marquis said about the empty side of Claude was the stupidest thing he'd ever done.
Why did the aristocrats, who had been trying to offer their daughters to the emperor until a few years ago, soon calmed down? Well, how many people died outside the palace during those times, should we figure out the numbers?
It should not be overlooked that the emperor, who usually had his own pick, became as cold as he was when it came to matters concerning the heart.
However, he forgot his past feats, that the time had passed and opened another belated debate in the conference room today about the treatment of Marquis Harkintos, which made him uncomfortable.
"You've gone too far, Your Majesty."
But in the end, as a result derived from a single hand gesture of the young emperor, they all closed their mouths like honeyed mittens. So in the end, it was safe to assume that it was what Claude intended.
"It's a nuisance. If you're so unhappy, I'll give you a Seal. I'll go to the office right now, so follow me."
"Your Majesty. Enough with that kind of display. No, why do you even keep the Seal in the Oval Office like that?!"
"What's wrong with the office?"
"That precious thing, like the Zaro Seal, is more intimate than anyone else's gaze or touch...."
"You say it's important to have a piece of stone."
"Split of stone..."
Felix felt incredulous again, so he stopped walking without realizing it. But whether he did or not, the bright blonde in front of him still moved forward without hesitation.
But one step after another, the footsteps of Claude suddenly stopped. It was only then that Felix recovered his mental faculties and moved closer to where Claude stood.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?"
The cool dark blue jewel eyes was nailed to the ground. Claude looked around without responding to Felix's question.
The place was strewn with traces of someone who was not supposed to be here.
"Do you want me to catch the person?"
Felix also asked first as he had noticed. Claude turned away without hesitation from where he had been looking at for a short time, he moved out before answering.
"Just leave it."
"What?"
"If they're on the wrong track, they won't be able to turn back again, and if they have a different purpose, they'll come back someday. It's just annoying now."
When he said so, Felix eventually followed him silently, not speaking any more.
A moment later, Claude tilted his head slightly, feeling the warm breeze that brushed his cheek.
Somehow it was strange that the trail that he saw just now was small enough to be foreign.
A sharp headache soon came in and he stopped digging and frowned.
"Felix. I'll go alone from here. Stop and go back."
"If the intruder is still inside...."
"Shall I say it twice?"
Then Felix, with his lips pinched over, failed to resist Claude's words. After finally being left alone as he wanted, Claude walked to the pitifully desolate Garnett Palace.
A space filled with deep silence, not a single sign of a person. It was also a place that Claude considered to be the only space allowed for him to be alone in this spacious palace.
* * *
Footprints were found again.
This time, I was walking alone in the back garden. Claude walked next to the tiny footprints that was half his own.
a rustling sound.
The trail ran through the thick undergrowth. Why did the intruder walk in such a remote place where not even he, the master of the palace, enters?
Tak! Clack clink.
Just then, something caught his foot while crossing the bush. Considering the angular shape of the grass and the sound it made being kicked by a foot, the identity of this thing is...
'Is it a weapon?'
No one that knew would have dared to smuggle weapons into his place, but it did not seem to be such a big deal.
Claude snapped another round of sticks that appeared only half way through the bushes.
And finally, it was something a little different from what he had expected.
"......trowel?"
It was quite a personal tool for someone to hide for the purpose of harming him. So did the gardener leave it behind? But why are you buried in the ground?
He squinted his eyes and swept through the dirt floor. Then this time, I could see the spotting ground that someone had dug up.
Claude bent one knee in front of him.
His eyes, full of curiosity, stared at the blue cord, which showed only a sprout from the soil.
It was extremely impulsive to pull it with his finger.
A small stringed pouch came poking up from the ground. Claude put what he had been observing in the air for a while and then back on the ground. Then something in the pouch hit each other.
What is this? Is it a new type of landmine or a bomb?
It's been six years since Claude became emperor. The situation was quite stable, until about three or four years ago, there was poison in his tableware or an assassin disguised as a courtesan suddenly robs his memory.
Of course it was extremely rare, and none of them achieved their original purpose.
Most of the criminals were secretly sent by the noblemen purged by Claude, or a household rank who could not recognize him as an emperor, or a child of some woman. I remembered that there was a black magician who tried two or three times.
Of course, Claude personally sent back those who longed for the reign of the former emperor.
"Hmm."
Looking more closely, what's with the pouch with a circle and eyes in front? It was embroidered.
And Is this the name of the person who dropped it or the surname of the family? It's quite careless of them to keep the things here that might reveal their true identity.
Claude picked up the pouch again and checked the shape on the cloth. And soon he was silent.
"......"
It was a strawberry with a nose and mouth.
That alone was not enough and they made the red strawberries have arms and legs. Strawberries are two......No, they are different kinds, one with a smiling face and the other with a crying face. But also the same in a sense that both were strangely swinging their limbs.
"What is this?"
Questions arose from his tired eyes.
There was no way to explain these strange objects that had suddenly appeared in his palace. His question deepened as soon as he opened the pouch.
It was obvious that he would be stopped by Felix from tampering with things that he didn't know and would have been dangerous if he had been with him.
But right now he was the only one here. There was no hesitation for Claude for touching the pouch, he slowly loosened the strap of the pouch.
Jewels? And it was quite crude jewels. I wondered if it was a magic item, but after a moment's appraisal, it was just ordinary jewelry.
The sun shone through the leaves, and the peridot in my hand shone.
It's a sunny afternoon. In a rustly undergrowth.
An unexpected development fell into Claude's usual routine.
* * *
"White flower."
Perhaps the intruder enters Garnett Palace through a flower garden. When he saw the petals that had fallen next to the footprint near the undergrowth, he thought that.
Once every few days, when the intruder came to his palace and buried his pouch, Claude will dig it out again.