In the end, it was Rabion himself who broke the suffocating silence.

“By the way, why is Derki eating here? Did he tell you that I’ve starved him or something?”

Freya’s gaze shifted to Rabion, her brow furrowed slightly.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, it’s just something I overheard. You said something about whether I was feeding him properly…”

“He was just so desperate to eat – it slipped out. Look at him. His belly is all sunken in. Anyone can see he’s not exactly a well-fed dog.”

Freya’s almost accusatory tone left Rabion speechless.

She obviously didn’t understand what kind of dog this was. This dog had been obsessed with building muscle since birth. What could he do about it?

“If Your Majesty doesn’t want to feed him properly, perhaps you should just let me take him.”

“…What?”

This time, it was Rabion whose brow knitted tightly.

She was going to take this black dog and raise it herself?

Was she seriously going to live with this creature by her side?

It was then that Kamangi, having finished his delicious meal, looked up at Freya with his usual droopy eyes.

His expression seemed to say.”Really?”

At the sight of those pitiful eyes, Freya’s face softened completely.

She stroked his back with all the tenderness in the world.

Watching her, the shadow on Rabion’s face deepened.

He had gained absolutely nothing by coming here today.

What little goodwill he might have had was gone, with no hope of resurrection.

All he’d done was watch the damned dog eat, only to end up arguing and now preparing to leave.

There was nothing left to say.

Ah, right. Why had he come here in the first place?

“What about dinner tonight? Perhaps we could—”

“I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Haven’t thought about it? Still, you should eat properly—”

“Watching Kamangi eat so happily… it makes me feel full, even without eating myself.”

“…What?”

“Besides, I’m still not feeling well. I’d prefer to have a light meal in my room just for today.”

“But still—”

“Your Majesty, you seemed quite busy today… weren’t you?”

Was… was she sending him away?

Rabion’s mind went blank, stunned by what felt like an outright dismissal.

Was he really going to leave after watching a dog eat?

Freya patted the now full and satisfied Kamangi gently on the head.

Her behaviour towards the dog was completely different to the way she had treated him, and Rabion’s breath grew heavier.

“Kamangi, if you’re ever hungry again, just come to me, okay?”

“Woof!”

Rabion’s eyes quivered with barely contained rage as he watched Kamangi prick up his ears and bark with energy.

“I’ll go now. Derki, come.”

The Emperor’s face, as he turned to leave with the dog, was colder than ice – no longer merely stern, but icy.

❖ ❖ ❖

Sigh…

Kider stared blankly at the feast before him.

It was a table so lavishly set that it looked as if its legs might buckle under the weight of it all.

Honey glazed roast turkey, succulent veal, seasonal fruit salad in a refreshing sauce, savoury and tender venison pie, chilled and sweet fruit compote, freshly baked bread slathered with butter…

“Eat up. Every last bite. Not a single crumb is to be left over.”

The Emperor’s voice from across the table was indescribably gentle – but Kider didn’t feel a hint of happiness.

“I said, eat.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Our Kamangi wouldn’t disobey his master’s orders now, would he?”

At the Emperor’s infinitely soft voice, Kider’s dark eyes trembled with unease.

Dining at the same table as the Emperor, in the Imperial Palace no less – to an outsider, it would seem as if the Emperor was bestowing a great honour upon someone.

But Kider, the one who actually experienced it, knew better than anyone.

This was… a punishment.

Knowing his master well – knowing that once he set his mind to something, he never let it go – this situation was nothing short of terrifying to Kider.

He was truly afraid.

“Kamangi.”

A name he had long forgotten – why did His Majesty keep saying it?

It seemed that his days as Derki were officially over.

Kamangi, of all names. Forced renaming.

Soaked with despair, Kider closed his eyes tightly.

Hearing it again after so long only made it more unbearable – he wanted to deny this reality altogether.

‘If only it wasn’t Freya…’

Any other person who had dared to call him such a ridiculous name would have been dealt with without hesitation, for the honour of all dogkind.

But the unfortunate truth was that it was Freya who had given him that name. And that fact held him back.

Well, he could accept it if it was Freya who had called him that.

The real problem was that from that moment on his name had changed – completely against his will.

“Kamangi, don’t answer me? Hmm? Our sweet Kamangi.”

The Emperor’s voice, still as soft as ever when he addressed him, pierced his ears.

When he regained his senses and looked up, Kider was met by a pair of ice-cold eyes that stared down at him as if they wanted to swallow him whole.

The sight of the Emperor personally spearing a piece of meat pie with a fork and holding it out to him sent a shiver down Kider’s spine.

‘He’s truly furious…’

“Y-Your Majesty…”

He had already eaten so much of the meat Freya had given him that he felt like he was going to burst. If he ate any more, he was sure he’d get sick.

“You need to fatten up a bit, don’t you, Kamangi? That poor, sunken belly of yours…”

“Your Majesty, I was wrong.”

“What are you talking about? People might think I mistreated you.”

“Please, Your Majesty. Forgive me. I really…”

“Eat. If you don’t put on weight, I’ll look like the bad guy.”

Faced with this murderous look, Kider had no choice but to accept the fork. His eyes drooped miserably as he did so.

The Emperor smiled brightly at the sight – a smile so dazzling that anyone who didn’t know him might have thought it beautiful.

But Kider knew better.

He knew only too well the cruelty that lay behind that smile.

He just never imagined that one day it would be directed at him.

Meanwhile, as he watched Kider, Rabion’s insides continued to boil. He had finally thought he might be able to enjoy a meal with the woman he loved – and yet, because of him, he would end up going back in defeat.

That was the inevitable result of disobeying a direct Imperial order.

Rabion had made it very clear: under no circumstances was this mutt in dog form to go anywhere near the Palace of Hebe for the time being.

And yet the fool had grown bolder and bolder, quietly ignoring royal orders and doing as he pleased – and today he’d finally been caught red-handed.

“Your Majesty… please…”

Kider looked up at the Emperor with a thoroughly defeated expression, his eyes pleading. Rabion steeled himself, suppressing the faint flicker of sympathy that had begun to stir in his chest.

“What are you waiting for? Eat. And for the record – your training is suspended as of this moment.”

“What?”

Kider’s eyes narrowed in horror.

Whatever else happened, he could not give up his muscles.

Now that he thought about it, this was more than unfair.

‘Seriously, why couldn’t His Majesty have handled things better?’

Taking this shortcut might have been an error of judgement on his part, but still. It was a gross overreaction.

It wasn’t he who had insulted Freya – it was his master.

And yet here he was, the scapegoat for his master’s tantrum.

Rabion, watching Kider’s devastated face, couldn’t help but smile as his lips curled upwards.

“Well, what did I say? You went where you were told not to, and now look at the mess you’ve made. Tsk…”

“Your Majesty… please…”

Just as Kider looked as if he might burst into tears at any moment, an attendant rushed in to announce that Viscount Adnon had requested an audience.

“I informed him that Your Majesty was dining, but he insisted that it was extremely urgent…”

Viscount Adnon was the emperor’s chief secretary. He was not one to interrupt the Emperor’s meal for something trivial.

After a moment’s thought, Rabion nodded reluctantly.

“Bring him in now.”

There would be plenty of time to punish the disobedient mutt later, so despite his annoyance, he could spare a few minutes.

When Viscount Adnon appeared, his face was etched with exhaustion.

It was clear that he hadn’t left the palace yet because of a mountain of unfinished work.

Rabion remembered that he had recently delegated many of his own duties to Adnon, and a pang of guilt crossed his mind.

“You look terrible. What’s the matter? What’s so urgent that you had to find me like this?”

“Your Majesty, the truth is… there is someone who urgently requires an audience. I tried to handle it myself, but it’s more than I can handle…”

Adnon looked deeply troubled as he hesitated before the emperor.

“What?”

Rabion’s brow furrowed, his displeasure evident.

‘He interrupted the emperor’s meal… over some random visitor?’

Just as Kider’s eyes widened in surprise, Viscount Adnon pulled something from inside his coat and continued speaking.

“I tried to handle it myself, but the individual absolutely refused to listen. They insisted they must see Your Majesty immediately and were extremely forceful… More than anything, they had this.”

‘…What is that?’

What Adnon held out was a flat golden token, intricately engraved with the imperial crest.

It was a highly exclusive item, issued to only a select few, and served as a special pass granting the bearer the right to request an audience with the emperor at any time.

That was why they had been unable to turn the visitor away.

‘Kider must’ve been handing those out again without permission…’

Rabion sighed deeply as he looked at the viscount.

Still, he figured he might as well hear the reason.

“So? What did they say they were here for?”

“Well, that is…”

“Hurry up and speak. You’re being unreasonably slow today.”

Rabion’s voice, clearly irritated, indicated his eagerness to send the viscount away and resume punishing Kider.

After a moment’s hesitation, Viscount Adnon, now drenched in sweat, finally managed to speak.

“They said… to tell you that they had come to see the ‘muscular man’. And that it was very urgent. They also insisted that I inform you that the item you gave them has changed.”

“What did you just say?”

Like a spring snapping, Kider shot up from his seat, shouting in alarm.

“Your Majesty, it’s them!”

“Them?”

“….”

Rabion turned to see Kider giving him a sharp look, clearly unable to speak freely in front of others. He took the hint and motioned for Viscount Adnon to leave.

As soon as the viscount left, Kider leaned forward and whispered urgently, his voice full of tension.

“The Red Beard Merchant’s Guild. They, Your Majesty!”

“What?”

“That phrase just now… it’s the code I use whenever I make contact with them. And that token – it’s the one I handed over on the day of our first transaction.”

“Why did they show up at the palace all of a sudden?”

“They said the item had changed… It could mean there’s a problem with the Saint’s Sword we returned to them.”

“…!”