Chapter 149 Leave It to Me to Put Things on the Shelf!!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Special Honorary Count Sanai—by imperial command, I have come! His Majesty the Emperor of Yugan wishes to hear your counsel personally. You are to appear at the Grand Palace at once!”
So early in the morning, just as Ayumu Sanai was settling into breakfast, a courier in the Emperor’s personal uniform appeared at the old government hall. The summons was clear: Emperor Rai demanded his presence immediately.
Naturally, keeping the Emperor waiting was unthinkable. Ayumu gulped down his meal, threw on his best cloak, and climbed into the carriage prepared for him.
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The carriage rolled to a stop at the palace gates. After giving his name and purpose, the guards bowed and replied, “Lord Sanai, we have been informed of your arrival. His Majesty awaits you in the lounge. Please, proceed.”
How things had changed. Back when Ayumu had first been dragged here, abducted to save Crown Prince Aare, even the lowest guards had glared at him like a criminal. But since being granted his hollow title, the tone had shifted. Now the welcome was genuine.
Peace, cooperation, and getting along—that was best.
Still, the Knights of the Guard remained severe, their gazes sharp as blades. And the palace maids whispering as he passed? Their gossip made Ayumu’s skin crawl, dragging him back to memories of his school days in the old world—lonely, ostracized, painful. His sanity ticked down with every step.
At last, he reached the lounge where Emperor Rai awaited. Knights glared daggers at him, but that was almost comforting compared to what came next.
”Well, well… if it isn’t Special Honorary Count Sanai. What a pleasure it is to see you at last. Though your arrival was… rather delayed, was it not?”
Ayumu froze. Beside the Emperor sat the very man he despised most in the court: Lord Wyndham, Court Earl and Minister of Internal Affairs.
Monocle gleaming, posture rigid, air dripping with fussiness, Wyndham was the product of a family that had held authority for generations. If only he carried humility, Ayumu might have respected him. Instead, Wyndham flaunted his lineage like a weapon and picked at details with all the elegance of a toothpick scraping lacquer. His greeting, though polite, was pure mockery.
Ayumu forced a smile. “I must apologize, Your Majesty, Lord Wyndham. I hurried as best I could, but alas—there is some physical distance between Keldan and the Imperial Court…”
It was all he could do. Nobles of Free Yugan were supposed to stand equal, but reality placed Elandric nobles like Wyndham firmly above upstarts like himself. One wrong word, and Ayumu would be ruined.
Wyndham gave a dismissive sniff and turned away, sparing Ayumu further effort. So Ayumu turned instead to the Emperor, bowing deeply. “Your Majesty… forgive me if I overstep, but what matter requires my presence today?”
The Knights frowned at his forwardness, but precedent was on his side: the Emperor had tolerated such behavior before, and Ayumu’s tone was humble enough.
”Humbly, I would hazard a guess… since the esteemed Lord Wyndham sits at your side, might this concern domestic policy?”
The Emperor clapped his hands. “Ah! Just so! Sanai, that is indeed the matter.” He looked almost as if he had only just remembered why Ayumu was summoned. Which, of course, he had.
”In truth, it is this—earlier today, Lord Wyndham presented a proposal for a new tax…”
The explanation boiled down to three points:
1. Commoners no longer respected nobles as they once had. Wyndham found this outrageous. Nobles must flaunt their superiority through opulence and luxury.
2. Such lifestyles required money.
3. Therefore, new taxes were needed, with the Emperor’s approval.
The indecisive Emperor had stalled, unwilling to say yes or no. Wyndham simmered with fury, biting back his words. And so, desperate for escape, the Emperor had shifted the burden to Ayumu.
In other words: “Let Sanai, the otherworlder, speak for us.”
Ayumu had been sacrificed.
Sacrificed!!
He bit back the urge to scream. Dammit, he had left his lordship’s duties behind for this nonsense. And the Knights—oh, he noticed. They scolded him for the smallest slip of etiquette, but when Wyndham spoke out of turn, they held their tongues? Cowards, every one of them!
Of course, Ayumu dared not voice that aloud. These were the same Knights who had nearly cut him down upon their first meeting. Best not to tempt fate.
So instead he bowed again. “Ahh, I see, I see. That is why I was called. Well, let me also apologize for earlier—when I requested permission to speak, I was perhaps hasty. My apologies again, Your Majesty.”
And, seizing the chance, he laid on the flattery thick. “Still, I must say—His Majesty’s bodyguards, the Imperial Knights, are truly impressive! Exemplars among Knights! I am deeply moved! Surely such noble protectors would not hesitate to admonish even those above them in station if their behavior strayed… ah, not something a coward like myself could ever imitate, of course.”
Saccharine praise, laced with just enough barbed irony.
The Knights looked away, realizing exactly what Ayumu meant.
And so, in that moment, Ayumu Sanai—hypocrite though he was—felt he had scored a small, private victory. Lofted, if only in his own mind, above the Knights themselves.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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