Chapter 165: |
“Holy shit!”
Running out of the restroom, Kairos shouted at Qasim, Pengyi, Caldwell, and the magic swordsmen who were drinking with him.
“You guys! They’re all men! This is not a flower garden, this is a pepper garden!”
Qasim, who was feeding Pengyi some grapes, tilted his head wondering what the problem was.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You idiot! All the women here are actually men! It wasn’t a field of flowers, it was a field of peppers!”
“You didn’t know that?”
“…Huh?”
“We all knew about it.”
*Nods!* *Nods!*
Everyone at the bar who was drinking nodded in agreement.
“W-What?”
Kairos asked, flustered that they all knew the truth about the Harem.
“Then are you saying that I was the only one who didn’t know? That I was the only one unaware that it was a pepper field instead of a flower garden? Qasim, you bastard! Answer me now!”
“We know because His Highness informed us.”
“Huh?”
“So that we could attend the drinking party in peace, hahaha.”
Qasim laughed sheepishly.
“Actually, I’m not a fan of places with female hostesses and such, and I think that culture should be eliminated.”
“Th… This…!!!”
“As you know, the officials in our home country are not allowed to enter any establishment with female hostesses. That would be an immediate dismissal. And as you know, His Highness is quite strict about entertainment, right?”
Qasim’s face lit up with respect for Otto.
“That’s why I admire His Highness, that such a corrupt culture… Kwueh-eh!”
Qasim, who had been praising Otto without realizing it, was kicked in the butt by Kairos.
“These rascals! How dare you scheme and mock me?”
Kairos whipped out his club.
“Uh, Senior!”
“It’s not like that! We didn’t know!”
“We thought you knew, Senior!”
The men of the Lota Kingdom tried to explain to Kairos as best they could, but it was impossible to stop him now that he was already at the boiling point.
*Swoosh!* *Swipe* *Swoosh!*
The thought that he was the only one who had been conned made him so angry that he could hardly contain himself.
“OK! Tonight, I’m going to teach you all why they call me the Cannibal Emperor!”
Kairos lunged at the men of the Lota Kingdom.
“Aaaaaaah!”
“Please….. spare me, senior!”
“Run!”
The men of the Lota Kingdom scattered in all directions like cockroaches.
Now that Kairos had begun his rampage, if they were caught, they would be beaten into the ground.
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A few minutes ago.
“The rumors of harems spreading across the continent are actually centuries old, and common sense tells us that it doesn’t make sense to have a pleasure house in the middle of a royal palace.”
Otto did his best to “explain” the whole harem thing to Elise, telling her the story behind it.
“There used to be such a harem, not in this current dynasty, but in the Ismaili dynasty. The sultan would spend all day in his harem, indulging himself, and the result? The country went to ruins, naturally, which is why there was a revolt and the Pamirs took over.”
“Is that what happened?”
“Yes.”
Otto explained the history of the harem more eagerly when he saw Elise nodding in agreement.
“The current Pamir dynasty took a lesson from the destruction that the harem caused back then, and got rid of the sexual element entirely, but they didn’t want to get rid of it completely, so they decided to add cross-dressers to at least keep things interesting.”
“So the rumors about the harem.”
“Those are from 500 years ago.”
“I see.”
Elise nods thoughtfully.
“I wondered why it seemed to be filled with men.”
“How do you know that?”
Otto was surprised to hear Elise’s words.
“Men and women have slightly different mana energies. A minor difference.”
Indeed, Elise.
No matter how well the dancers dressed up as women, they couldn’t escape her eyes.
“So the conclusion is….”
“I was never distracted!”
Otto threw up his hands.
“Like I said, I was just trying to set up Kairos and Camille together! I’ve already told all my men about it, and if you don’t believe me, you can ask them!”
“I was just worried that perhaps you weren’t that kind of person. If you really are that kind of person….”
Elise said, sounding somewhat concerned.
“No way, absolutely not.”
Otto said dryly.
“My tastes are firmly established.”
“Really?”
“I swear.”
Elise’s stony expression softened, and she smiled faintly.
‘Huu… I thought I was going to die. Ugh.’
Otto finally relaxed and let his guard down.
He never thought he would be at the threshold of the great beyond, trying to prank Kairos and Camille.
“I promise.”
Otto took Elise’s hand in his.
“No matter what happens, I won’t be tempted.”
“Didn’t you once enjoy a life of debauchery? I heard you frequented brothels.”
In that moment.
‘Otto, you son of a bitch, you’re making me look suspicious!!!’
Otto screamed at the original owner of his body.
Part of him was resentful.
To be suspected of something he didn’t do, and then have to explain himself.
“…That will never happen.”
Otto’s voice came out a little sullenly.
“I guess I was a little crazy back then, I don’t know if you’ll believe it, but… I was under the curse of an evil witch.”
“I believe you.”
“Really?”
“It’s a little disturbing, but from what I’ve seen of you, you don’t seem like the kind of person who would go in and out of such a place.”
“Do you really think so?”
“You said you were under a curse, so I’ll believe you.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Otto was overcome with gratitude and bowed his head in thankfulness to Elise.
“But why did you came over so suddenly? Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Elise was momentarily embarrassed and couldn’t say a thing.
” Are you worried that I’m going to the harem, and you rushed all the way here? Over such a long distance?”
“N… No.”
“Eyy~ I think am right~”
“W-Wouldn’t it be troublesome if the Sultan forcibly took you to his harem!”
Elise’s face reddened.
‘Elise is jealous?!’
Although Otto was surprised, he found Elise’s reaction cute.
“Hehehe.”
“Why, Why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing, hehe.”
“…..”
“It’s still good.”
“What’s good about it?”
“Well, that sort of thing.”
Otto had seen a human side to Elise, and it honestly felt good.
A woman who had only known the sword all her life.
A person chosen by Providence.
It would be hard for someone born with such a destiny to remain humane…
“Shall we take a walk? It’s a nice cool evening, and it’ll sober me up.”
The nights in Al-Salam, the Capital of Caliphate, are quite pleasant.
While the daytime is scorching hot, often reaching the high 50s, the nighttime is very cool, which is a characteristic of the climate in the Kingdom.
With clear skies and a bright moon.
The conditions were perfect for a stroll.
“Are you suggesting we go for a walk?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not bad.”
“Then let’s walk.”
Otto smiled and walked with Elise through the palace grounds.
“By the way.”
Elise asked Otto.
“Why are you still holding my hand?”
“Ah.”
Apparently, he hadn’t let go of the hand that he’d grasped so eagerly earlier.
“Should I let go?”
“You don’t have to let go.”
“Of course.”
Otto smiled.
The moonlight gently illuminated her beautiful face.
“I’ll keep holding on.”
“…Good.”
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Elise left Otto’s side in the early morning hours.
“I’ll come back another time.”
“Why don’t you rest a little longer?”
“Your schedule got messed up because I came in a hurry.”
“You don’t need to worry. I’ll be on time no matter what.”
Otto reassured the departing Elise once more.
“You’re doing great things on the other side of the Wall, Elise, and the last thing I want to do is cause you any trouble, nor ought to, so I need to be doing well on this side.”
“You thinking that way means a lot to me.”
“Take care, don’t push yourself too hard, and if you get tired, take a break in between.”
“All right, I guess it’s goodbye for now.”
With that, Elise disappeared like a mirage into thin air.
As if it were magic.
“… It’s amazing every time I see her. She appears to have gotten stronger.”
Otto stuck his tongue out in amazement as Elise disappeared.
‘He seems to be very careful in front of Elise.’
In Camille’s eyes, Otto was like a meek maiden seeing off a nobleman.
‘He’ll probably spend the rest of his life in captivity.’
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t picture the opposite.
Prioritizing the bond of marriage beyond the engagement relationship would be essential.
“Ugh. I’m tired. I need to get some sleep.”
Otto is just about to head to bed.
*BAM!*
Qasim and Pengyi burst through the door and shouted.
“Your Majesty, run! The Elder is coming after you, threatening to beat you to death!”
“Gwick, Guiiiick!”
Dreading to hear the end of it.
*Crash!*
Kairos broke the window and burst into Otto’s bedroom.
“You little bastard! How dare you play with me! I’ll never forgive you! I’ll give you a good beating!”
Kairos swung his club at Otto.
“Aaaaah!”
Otto screamed and leapt out of bed, closing his eyes.
*Thwack* *Thwack*
*Smack* *Smack*
And just like that, the harem incident ended with Otto and Kairos’ dawn brawl.
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The next afternoon.
“Mm-hmm.”
Otto woke with a grunt.
His body was sore from a pre-dawn scuffle with an enraged Kairos.
“Crown Prince Saladin and his wife have sent a servant to request an invitation to Your Highness.”
“When?”
“In an hour.”
“Really? I see.”
“Are you feeling alright? If it’s too much, we can postpone it to the evening.”
“No. I’m fine.”
Otto dragged his aching body out of bed and began to prepare to meet the couple.
On the way to meet Crown Prince Saladin and his wife.
“When do you think we’ll be returning to our kingdom?”
“I don’t know.”
Otto couldn’t give a definitive answer.
“I think it might be a little longer.”
“I thought the transaction was already finalized.”
“That’s true. Given the circumstances, I might need to do something.”
“What?”
“I’ll see how it goes.”
As he had told Camille, Otto was looking at the situation very seriously.
‘If they’re not invited to the banquet, it’s a sign that things are going worse than expected. And sooner than I’d anticipated. Maybe it’s a variable.’
Otto realized that Saladin’s scenario and the actual unfolding events were far out of sync.
‘If this is indeed a variable. The situation in the Caliphate will go in a direction I cannot predict. Then I’m in trouble. The Caliphate is the world’s largest producer and exporter of the magic stones. Considering its role in the upcoming world war….’
As he was thinking about this, he arrived in front of the Saladins’ palace.
“How dare you call yourself the crown prince of our Pamir dynasty!!!”
The angry voice of Abdul II rang out from deep inside.
