I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited - Chapter 55

“Ha! What a sight this is!”

The nobles leaving the grand hall all turned to look in my direction.

Their attention would have come soon enough anyway, but the harsh exclamation just now had instantly drawn everyone’s eyes to me.

The imposing appearance of the palanquin that had suddenly faced them was that impressive. Nobles, who had seen all kinds of extravagance, looked at me with surprised expressions.

“……”

I maintained my silence under everyone’s gaze.

After all, I was still making eye contact with my father. Meeting the person I absolutely didn’t want to show myself like this to, right at this moment, was nothing short of dreadful.

Just as I stayed silent, my father also said nothing. It was then that the harsh exclamation rang out again.

“What’s the meaning of this! In His Majesty’s imperial palace, this, this!”

The furious voice finally allowed me to avert my gaze. The owner of the voice was an elderly marquis, notorious for his bad temper. His flushed face made him look like a drunkard, though surprisingly, he was completely sober. Judging by the gathering of prominent nobles, they had just concluded the noble council.

‘How could I forget this?’

I pressed my forehead with my hand.

Despite spending so much time in the imperial palace, I had forgotten the regular noble council was scheduled for today.

My title wasn’t one I inherited by blood. If it were, the next count of Bodebachne wouldn’t be me but my older brother. The countship I held was an honorary title given by the emperor as a knight. Thus, the true head of the Bodebachne family and the count of the empire was still my father, Verdell Bodebachne.

Naturally, it was only right for him to attend the noble council.

From my father’s hardened expression, I could easily see just how ashamed he was of me. My face twisted into a miserable grimace. Then, more noisy shouts reached my ears.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in all my life!”

The marquis was now stomping his feet. He looked so riled up that the surrounding nobles were frowning at the sight.

“Watch your words.”

Melaine coldly rebuked the marquis. Since he was acting in the role of a guard, he kept his tone reasonably in check.

“What? How dare a mere priest say such a thing—!”

The marquis, seemingly offended by Melaine’s words, began to raise an even greater commotion. Things were becoming a headache. Melaine’s expression while looking at the furious marquis was unsettling.

“How dare you, wretched—!”

“Stop it already…”

“Enough.”

My sigh-laden voice came out much colder than I intended. As if it wasn’t already enough that my father caught me like this, I had no intention of making matters worse.

“Melaine, step back.”

“But—!”

“I won’t say it again. Move.”

Melaine looked displeased but obediently took a step back. Seeing me seemingly reprimanding Melaine, the marquis grew even more arrogant.

The marquis, raising his chin, attempted to mock Melaine with a contemptuous gaze.

“That’s why those without proper heritage—!”

“I clearly told you to stop.”

“W-What?!”

The marquis looked stunned for a moment, unable to believe what he had just heard. He must have thought I would continue to tolerate his insults.

Ridiculous. Did he really think I would just roll over like that?

I pressed my hand, which had been on my forehead, against the palanquin and rested my chin on it. My posture became deliberately insolent, and I curled one corner of my mouth into a smirk.

In situations like this, it’s best to look as disagreeable as possible.

“Everyone is watching. Control yourself.”

The sound of me clicking my tongue was crisp.

“It seems our group unintentionally blocked your way. We’ll move aside, so please continue on your path.”

The wide pathway was by no means obstructed by just the palanquin, but I lazily extended my arm, gesturing to the side.

My mocking smile was flawless, and as expected, the marquis’s face turned bright red.

Nobles never initiated a physical altercation. Instead, they fought with their three-inch tongues and haughty expressions. While throwing the first punch was a crime, getting under someone’s skin was applauded. Such was the absurd nature of noble conflicts.

Many had ridiculed my origins, and I had grown used to such petty provocations. There was no reason to react strongly; I just needed to disdainfully ignore them, and they would withdraw on their own.

As I brushed off the marquis’s provocation as if swatting away a fly, the surrounding nobles subtly chuckled.

But I had overlooked something—the marquis was not in his right mind.

“Lately, everything has been going insane! All because of that woman, everything’s gone mad!”

His reddened face glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.

“You dare act so arrogant under His Majesty’s protection, now nothing matters to you, does it?!”

“M-Marquis!”

“Oh-ho! I thought the priest looked suspiciously handsome—so that’s why you’re so close! Is that why he dares speak on your behalf?!”

“Please, calm yourself!”

“Let go of me! What did I say that was wrong?!”

The nobles, alarmed by his outrageous words, hurriedly tried to restrain the marquis.

Being insulted so suddenly, I was baffled and wondered if the man had lost his sanity. Though my title was merely ceremonial, such public disrespect was unheard of. Moreover, he had also insulted Melaine, giving me no reason to hold back anymore.

I ordered the palanquin to be put down, my expression grim, when someone abruptly rushed forward from beside me.

“Melaine!”

The previously silent Melaine had finally caused a scene.

“Ack!”

“Hey! Let go of him immediately!”

Melaine grabbed the marquis by the neck with one hand and lifted him. His height left the marquis’s feet dangling in the air, causing an uproar among the surrounding people.

My face, too, turned pale.

‘We’re in trouble now!’

I had wanted to strike the marquis myself, but if anyone were to do it, it should have been me, not Melaine. The issue was Melaine’s status as a commoner priest.

“Melaine, put him down!”

Other nobles, who had been idly watching, rushed to grab Melaine, but they couldn’t stop him.

The marquis, wheezing for air, flailed even more, only adding to the chaos.

“Say that again—”

As I hastily jumped off the palanquin, the situation escalated to its climax.

-Thwack!

“Urgh!”

With a loud slap, the marquis’s body flew backward.

“W-What?”

I heard the startled voices of those around me. But it wasn’t Melaine who had done it. He was still standing there, blinking, with his empty hand in midair.

The real culprit was someone else.

“…Count?”

Someone called out to my father in a dazed voice.

It was none other than Count Bodebachne who had struck the marquis across the face.

Seeing my father standing there, looking down at the marquis with a face like a demon, I froze.

***

The incident ended rather anticlimactically.

Despite a priest acting as a guard grabbing a high-ranking noble by the throat and a count striking the marquis across the face, the matter quickly settled.

Part of it was due to the marquis fainting on the spot, but it was largely thanks to the general who appeared afterward and handled the situation.

The general, who had always favored me, scolded the unconscious marquis after hearing what had happened.

The marquis was dragged away like a criminal by the knights, and no one else dared to intervene.

“That man is your father?”

“Yes. But why did he do that? He would never act like that.”

I hadn’t spoken with my father much, but I knew him well enough.

My father was always a calm man, even when angry. The fact that he had done something like that still felt unbelievable.

When the incident ended, my father immediately turned to leave, but I stopped him and asked why he had acted that way.

But his response was no different from usual.

“I simply dislike seeing my family name disgraced. Don’t misunderstand.”

His expression, unlike earlier, was icy, and I had no choice but to abandon the hope I hadn’t even realized I held.

‘Right, he wouldn’t have done it for me.’

As I sank into mild dejection, Melaine tilted his head and asked, “Why do you call that human your father?”

“Ah…”

Melaine, who still thought I was a dragon, found it strange that I called a human my father.

“I’m human, so of course my father is human.”

“But then—wait, what?”

Melaine’s eyes widened in shock.

“You’re half-blooded?!”

“…Why do I even bother with you?”

“Half-blooded! That’s why!”

Melaine’s eyes grew moist, as if his imagination was running wild.

The general perception of half-bloods wasn’t positive, and it seemed dragons were no exception. Hence, his reaction.

However, Melaine looked at me with a face full of pity rather than disdain. He was certainly a good guy, in his own way.

“I’m not half-blooded. So calm down and stop crying.”

“You’re not?”

“No, I’m not. There’s just a complicated situation. Let’s not dig too deep into it.”

Melaine looked confused but eventually nodded. Seeing his eyes welling up like chicken poop tears, I roughly rubbed his face.

At this point, Melaine felt more like a little brother I had to look after than a dragon. Maybe it was because I’d seen him in his small dragon form a few times.

“Oh, this is quite an unexpected sight.”

It was then that I heard a playful voice.

Turning my head, I saw Sionel entering through the door. Behind him were the knights assigned as his escort, all of whom seemed oddly uneasy. Their anxious gazes flitted to my hand wiping Melaine’s tears.

“Are you having an affair?”

“Gasp!”

At Sionel’s words, the knights reacted dramatically, their eyes darting between me and Sionel, wide with shock.

“How could that be?”

“I’m relieved then.”

When I answered in an exasperated voice, Sionel smiled. The knights finally looked reassured and left the room.

“Where have you been?”

“Someone has been imprisoned, so I went to check. You know the person well.”

“The marquis was imprisoned right away?”

“Of course. He insulted you, after all.”

The general’s actions had been extreme. While the marquis had been most at fault, I hadn’t expected him to be imprisoned so quickly, especially given my and my father’s involvement.

Seeing my surprised expression, Sionel shrugged. “He’s committed too many crimes as it is. They’re just taking this opportunity to deal with him, so don’t worry about it.”

Sionel’s cold hand touched my cheek. Melaine, who had been pushed aside, briefly glared at Sionel but was ignored.

“It seems some nobles harbored resentment towards me during the council, but I didn’t expect that anger to spill over to you. I’m sorry, Lindel.”

“Did something happen?”

“I’ve been dealing with the nobles lately. It’s caused a bit of commotion,” said Sionel as if it were nothing.

Ah, I see. I nodded, having been deceived by his relaxed tone, only to realize something strange belatedly.

“…You’re dealing with the nobles?”

“Yes. I couldn’t postpone it any longer.”

“Not organizing a desk, but dealing with nobles? Nobles?”

Seeing my bewildered expression, Melaine interjected. He seemed to have already known, as his face remained impassive.

“The area outside the imperial city is in complete chaos these days. Because of this guy.”

“C-Chaos?”

“You really didn’t know?”

Only then did I remember that the number of nobles I had seen in front of the great hall was somewhat fewer than usual. Could it have been more than just mere absence?

Melaine looked surprised that I hadn’t heard anything, but soon his expression relaxed, as if it wasn’t a big deal. I turned my head toward Melaine in response.

He tilted his head. “You knew, anyway.”

“I had no idea the nobles were being dealt with.”

“Not that.”

“Then what?” My voice grew louder in my confusion.

Melaine blinked and answered in an innocent voice, “You knew he was crazy. Do you expect a crazy person to act rationally?”

I creaked as I turned my head toward Sionel. The moment our eyes met, his blue eyes curved pleasantly.

“See? I told you, he’s nuts.”