Eldest SS4

Side Story 4.

“Hera, I heard you went out in person today to the disputed territories in the West and met with the lords? Well done. There will never be a better time than now to get firsthand experience. Once you take the throne, you’ll have to judge far-off regions using only your subordinates’ reports. That’s why you need to gain as much experience in the field while you can—”

“That’s enough!”

Bang!

Hera slammed her hands down on the table and stood up.

Killian, who had been pouring out his advice, stared at her with wide, startled eyes.

“This is the only bit of rest I’ve managed to get, and I came here because I wanted to spend it with my brother! And yet even at a moment like this, is that really all you can talk about?!”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“I know you care for me, but you’re getting more and more nagging all the time! Brother, you’re really—!”

As if she’d endured it for far too long, Hera pointed her finger at him and cried out.

“You’re completely overbearing!”

“What?”

“You’re suffocating!”

Blurted out, she stormed from the lounge without looking back.

Killian stared blankly at the teacup his little sister had left behind, then finally managed to speak.

“Anen.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“…Was I too much?”

Anen, who had been his closest aide since the days of his princehood, answered matter-of-factly.

“As ever, Your Majesty.”

Anen shook his head with a sigh.

“Her Highness Princess Hera is doing remarkably well. She rapidly digested the killing amount of course material you assigned her, and went straight into real-world training.”

“It’s not as if I’m unaware of all the effort Hera’s put in. But her coming-of-age ceremony is just a month away, and I intend to abdicate at once. I suppose I’m getting… impatient.”

So murmuring, Killian sipped his now lukewarm tea.

Hera had indeed done well.

Starting later than others, she’d made up for it with tireless study, learning how to rule people and listen to the lives of her subjects.

She’d absorbed the essential qualities of a wise ruler like a sponge.

Eight years had passed this way, and now, at last, the coming-of-age ceremony Killian had so long awaited was at hand.

Ironically, the closer it drew, the more anxious Killian became.

“I really have been too hasty, haven’t I? Maybe I should wait a bit longer before passing on the throne.”

“As you see fit, Sire.”

“No, I’ve really waited long enough. I’ve given my all for the Dekardil Empire. Isn’t it time I step aside?”

“As you see fit, Sire.”

“But Hera still feels a bit too young for the crown.”

“…”

“Still, I have a beloved, an eagle of a lover whose patience never flags and for whom I could never feel anything but joy, waiting only for me these past years.”

At that, Anen gave up on trying to reply, letting Killian’s worries wash over him.

The Emperor, so inscrutable and masterful at reading his retainers as to show the perfect poker face, always turned into a complete fool when it came to his lover, the Duke of Alton, and his little sister Hera.

Killian, wearing an awkward expression, finished his tea and rose.

His worried look was nowhere to be seen.

“It looks like my break is nearly over.”

Regardless, he was the reigning Emperor of the Dekardil Empire, and an Emperor is always busy.

“Let’s go, Anen.”

Anen bowed respectfully to Killian, who had resumed his sovereign’s countenance.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Side by side, the two made their way to the familiar imperial study.

---

Inside the study, Killian swiftly handled the paperwork coming in from each domain.

Then there was a knock at the door.

“Your Majesty, Duke Fredo is here.”

“Let him in.”

At his command, the study doors swung open and Duke Fredo strode in.

Killian looked up from his documents and greeted him.

“Welcome, Duke Fredo.”

“I greet the mighty master of the Empire.”

Duke Fredo’s brown eyes curled impishly as he greeted the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, on my way here I happened to hear another entertaining story.”

“If it’s something that will grate on my nerves, keep it to yourself.”

“Oh no, Your Majesty, do hear me out! It’s delightful news.”

Undaunted by Killian’s wish to preempt him, Duke Fredo pressed on.

“I just ran into Her Highness the Crown Princess outside.”

“Hera?”

“She told me, ‘Duke, I’m thinking of running away for the first time. Do you happen to have a room for me at your mansion?’”

“What did you say?!”

Killian shot to his feet, startled nearly out of his wits, and all decorum forgotten, rushed forward to seize Fredo by the shoulders.

“Is that true?!”

“With all she’s been through, Her Highness’s face had gone as pale as her own eyes, so I did what I could to calm her down, of course.”

“Mostyn Fredo!”

The recently invested Duke, who had taken up lordship of the West just last year, Mostyn grinned widely.

“Would you like to know what I said?”

“Of course!”

“As Emperor, or as her brother?”

Killian grimaced at that.

“Who else but one of Belladi’s friends would ask such a confounding question?”

“I learned from the very best, Your Majesty.”

“Belladi may be adorable no matter what she does, but you are only ever exasperating.”

Mostyn burst into laughter and flopped down on the sofa.

Over the past eight years, their relationship had changed greatly.

Through Belladi, the two had grown from Crown Prince and heir apparent of the West into fast friends.

“Your Majesty, I suspect you’re the only person in the world who would call Belladi cute.”

“Of course. There’s no one but me who can be Belladi’s beloved.”

“Ugh, that’s so saccharine.”

Mostyn rubbed her arms as if to fend it off.

“I told Her Highness this: regrettably, there’s nowhere in my house she could hide from the Emperor’s reach.”

“That’s as it should be. I would never entertain the idea of my precious sister sleeping in someone else’s home.”

“But there is one place in the capital where even Your Majesty’s reach cannot extend.”

At that, Killian’s face went pale.

“Don’t tell me—?”

“I told her to try the House of Alton.”

Killian shot Mostyn a venomous glare.

She met it as if well used to it, letting it glance off.

‘How on earth does Belladi spend time with a person like that?’

Killian sighed in exasperation.

No matter that she now wore a ducal coronet, Mostyn’s mischievousness remained the same.

Truly, she was an amusing and delightful friend, but for Killian, who had a lower tolerance for such fun, sometimes it was just too much.

And this was exactly one of those times.

“At the moment, the House of Alton is especially on edge, and you recommended it to Hera?”

Belladi was currently in strict seclusion at her estate.

Diligently training in swordsmanship, she was developing a new technique bearing her own name.

As a result, the atmosphere at House Alton was sharper than ever, downright forbidding.

Even Killian himself had not dared to visit.

“Of course, Hera is careful enough not to charge in recklessly.”

“She was already packing when I left.”

“What? You should have stopped her!”

“It would have been odd to both suggest it and try to stop her, wouldn’t it? Hahaha!”

Killian rubbed at his throbbing head.

‘How on earth does Belladi tolerate Mostyn?’

Utterly unaware that Belladi was every bit as mischievous, Killian could only groan.

At last, Mostyn let the matter drop.

She knew any further teasing would quickly earn reprisals from Belladi herself.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. The House of Alton’s front doors will open wide, and soon.”

“Will they really? If Belladi had finished her sword art she’d have told me first.”

“That’s not it. It’s about time, isn’t it? Those children who went to study in the Magala Empire are coming home.”

“Ah…”

At that, Killian let slip a soft exclamation.

He realized he’d been so focused on Hera, the children’s graduation hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Nesia and Ryuspell are finally returning, aren’t they?”

After all, Hera’s coming-of-age marked theirs as well.

As if reading Killian’s thoughts, Mostyn nodded.

“Her Highness and Nesia Alton are friends. Since they’ve been apart for years at their studies, Belladi will surely welcome them joyfully.”

At last, Killian fully understood the situation.

‘Yes, Hera isn’t someone who’d thoughtlessly run off to House Alton.’

After hearing about Nesia from Mostyn, she must have set out to welcome her old friend home.

If it was such an adorable reason for “running away,” he could allow it without qualm.

Especially since that morning’s words from Hera still echoed painfully in his mind.

—Brother, you’re so overbearing! You’re suffocating!

‘…….’

It had hurt more than he’d expected.

Killian calmed his wounded pride and looked at Mostyn.

“That must be why you seem more spirited than usual. Because Duke Fredo is coming home.”

“Our Ryuspell… The boy who left his family behind for love at such a young age.”

Mostyn recalled the moment.

When Ryuspell decided to follow Nesia to study in the Magala Empire, both his father and herself had been floored.

‘Was it that I couldn’t bear to send Nesia to such a foreign place alone?’

To Mostyn, Nesia always seemed more mature than Ryuspell.

In any case, Ryuspell had been so resolute and stubborn that in the end, even their father surrendered.

Mostyn shrugged at the memory.

“It’s true, I’m happy to see Ryuspell again, but that’s not why I’m excited.”

“Then why?”

“Your Majesty, do you know what Nesia’s nickname was at Magala Imperial Academy?”

“Hmm, I can’t say I do.”

He was aware that Nesia, as a spirit master, had drawn much attention at Magala and had maintained top grades throughout—but Killian was too busy to keep up with the details of her daily life.

Mostyn understood.

She’d only learned herself through Ryuspell’s most recent letter.

“The Spirit Master of Demons.”

“What?”

“That was Nesia’s nickname. The Demon Spirit Master from the Dekardil Empire.”

Once again, Killian was taken aback.