Chapter 21 – I Visited the Imperial City

Apparently, Lyle and Gin had exchanged many letters. How was that possible?  

In truth, Lyle could do anything if he wanted. He made a child with alchemy—what couldn’t he do?  

“Gin, I don’t know how to take what you’re saying…”  

Ethea wasn’t the only one surprised. Solei and Lily were also agitated by the word “His Majesty.”  

“Mom! His Majesty is the leader of the Empire, right? The master of the Imperial Palace where princesses and princes live?”  

“Yes, Lily. The princesses and princes aren’t in the palace now, but His Majesty is indeed the leader of the Empire. But what is this? Gin and His Majesty exchange letters? Ethea, explain. What’s going on?”  

Ethea was so tired she closed her eyes.  

Seisil’s “huhu” laughter sounded like he found the situation amusing. His next words were very irritating.  

“Well, let’s get ready to go to the palace. Gin, something amazing is waiting for you. Oh, since we’re at it, why don’t the lovely ladies come along too?”  

***

They arrived at the palace.  

Lily exclaimed at the magnificent palace before her eyes.  

“Wow! Gold, gold! There’s so much gold!”  

Gin, too, was overwhelmed by the sight of the Imperial City and palace.  

But he was different from Lily. He didn’t show much awe. Still, the pride of being personally invited by the Emperor was evident on his face. He seemed to think he should maintain dignity and composure as an invited guest, and even cautioned Lily like an adult.  

“Could you lower your voice a bit? Don’t take it the wrong way. This is the palace, after all. Okay?”  

“Okay.”  

Meanwhile, Solei and Seisil were chatting as if they’d been lifelong friends.  

“The yellow apples are sweet and delicious, Solei. Thanks to you, I had fruit for the first time in ages. Living alone, it’s hard to get fruit. Boohoo.”  

“I’m glad you liked them. By the way, I thought the carriage we rode was cool, but the palace is the coolest in the universe.”  

“Haha, universe’s greatest palace, huh. I think so too. If you look at the gold alone, it’s not just the best in the universe but in all dimensions—no, the best in all existence. Ah, the sunlight is strong. Solei, your skin shouldn’t burn, so I’ll make you a parasol. Leaves!”  

When Seisil chanted, leaves rushed in from somewhere and formed an octagonal sunshade over Solei, Ethea, and the children.  

Ethea took it as magic, but Solei made a fuss over it.  

“Oh my! The Mage Tower Master himself made a leaf parasol spell for me! I’m so touched!”  

“Haha, it’s nothing. It’s everyday magic for me.”  

“How can I repay this honor? I enjoy making wooden crafts—if there’s anything you want, tell me. I’ll make it for you!”  

“Oh, a wooden craft by Solei! That’s an honor. May I visit your workshop someday? I’d like to see you work.”  

“Oh my! The Mage Tower Master wants to watch me? I might faint! Yes, please!”  

They really enjoyed themselves. Ethea sighed watching them.  

‘You two are going to crash from sugar overload!’  

She worried they’d laugh themselves exhausted before even meeting the Emperor.  

Gin was the only one invited, but thanks to Seisil’s suggestion, everyone came.  

Gin wore a little suit he’d only worn once before, Lily wore her saved birthday dress, Solei wore her best dress bought by Lijeil, and even forced Ethea to wear her second-best dress and put on makeup she didn’t want. Ethea wished she could chain Solei’s hands.  

So, all dressed up, they arrived at the palace.  

Ethea didn’t want to go near the palace because of Lyle, but she followed to keep an eye on what he might say to Gin.  

What was the Emperor planning to do here? She followed Seisil’s guidance, but grew more exhausted from their endless conversation.  

They walked for over ten minutes. The palace seemed endless, and she wondered where they were headed, when Seisil suddenly chanted,  

“Goldium!”  

The scenery around them changed.  

Sssss—  

Large and small trees surrounded them, forming a forest, but the trunks and leaves shone like metal. Some were gold, some bronze, some silver, and some dark gray like iron. Most were gold, so it looked like a golden forest.  

Solei admired the metallic forest.  

“How can it be like this…”  

Ethea was impressed too. Even if you gathered all the world’s craftsmen, it would be hard to make such a metal forest.  

Seisil shrugged as if it was nothing special, which made him seem even more pretentious.  

Lily touched the metallic flowers, exclaiming how pretty and cute they were.  

Gin, who loved alchemy, was most moved by the metal forest. Despite the teal lenses Ethea gave him, his eyes shone gold as they reflected the metal trees. He observed each tree and blade of grass closely, unable to speak.  

Then, a low, deep voice sounded from somewhere.  

“In our letters, Gin and I discovered we have something in common. We both love alchemy.”  

Ethea turned around. Lyle stood there. She almost called his name, forgetting Solei was listening.  

He didn’t look like an Emperor at all. If someone saw him now, they’d think he was just a local young man. He wore a loose white shirt and black pants, his long silver hair tied up carelessly, and his hands stuffed in his pockets as he whistled lightly—nothing like imperial dignity.  

He approached Ethea and continued,  

“Gin wrote in his letter, too. He wonders how beautiful the world could be with alchemy. So I decided to show him a little in advance. Anyone who wants can make a forest like this with alchemy, and Gin, you can too. Ah, before that, we should… introduce ourselves, right?”  

He was suddenly standing just a hand’s breadth away from Ethea.  

Today, too, the lavender scent was strong, as always around him. Even though she hated how he was planting hope about alchemy in Gin, she couldn’t hate that scent.  

He greeted Ethea,  

“Hello, Etty. You look especially beautiful today.”  

Solei was delighted at the compliment.  

“Oh! Etty, you got told you’re beautiful. Nice, nice. It was worth forcing you to wear makeup, huh!”  

Then she looked at Ethea and Lyle and wondered aloud,  

“Wait, that’s not the important thing. What’s going on here? Are you two… together?”  

Seisil corrected her,  

“Solei, he’s not just ‘a man,’ he’s His Majesty the Emperor.”  

Solei’s eyes widened in disbelief.  

“What? His Majesty the Emperor?”  

“Yes.”  

“That person with such handsome features and a beautiful smile?”  

“Yes, that’s right. That person with handsome features and a beautiful smile is the leader of the Hillus Empire.”  

“Oh my! I can’t believe it!”  

A very surprised Solei gave a graceful courtly greeting to the Emperor.  

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I must apologize—I never imagined you were the Emperor. I thought you were a god!”  

Seisil, who had been praised as a god earlier, clutched his chest in disappointment.  

“She called me a god before…”  

If he knew Solei had also called her husband Lijeil a god, maybe Seisil wouldn’t be so hurt.  

Lyle smiled kindly at Solei, who was awestruck by meeting the Emperor.  

“Is it wrong for an Emperor to have handsome features and a beautiful smile? I really don’t know what my image is outside the palace.”  

‘What do you mean? You lived as an invisible lazybones, then killed nineteen siblings and became a tyrant with the Crown of Orodium. If you have a pretext, you kill people yourself—a murderous Emperor, but you don’t seem to think objectively about your image?’  

Contrary to Ethea’s thoughts, Lyle kept smiling angelically as he spoke.

“Anyway, I’m glad to meet you all. But here, I’d like to be just a regular person visiting, not the Emperor. Just a friend who invited Gin. If possible, could you treat me that way?”  

“Of course, of course. If you want it, Your Majesty, what couldn’t we do? Lily! What are you doing? Aren’t you going to greet His Majesty?”  

Solei prompted Lily to greet him, and Lily bowed to Lyle just as her mother had.  

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. You’re as handsome as a god.”  

“Haha, it’s cute how the little princess copies her mother.”  

Gin adjusted his bow tie and greeted him as well. It was his first time greeting the Emperor in the palace, so he looked a bit nervous.  

“Thank you for inviting me, Your Majesty. Today’s visit will be a memory for a lifetime.”  

Lyle replied nonchalantly,  

“How mature. Whose son is so mature, I wonder?”  

Ethea glared at Lyle. She was holding back, since there were many eyes watching, but she was quite angry at him.  

How dare he speak positively about alchemy to Gin and plant hope in him? After making a child with alchemy and running away, how could he talk up alchemy to that child?  

She wanted to snap at him right then, but she’d have to drag him somewhere private to do so. Ethea suppressed her feelings and greeted him formally.