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Chapter 234

“Your Majesty, everything is ready for the meeting with the nobles.”

“Hmph. Just tell them to come here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Eventually, the clatter of footsteps drew the Emperor’s attention. He was confused at first, thinking that an order of knights had come to see him. His anticipation was resolved shortly thereafter.

“All of the guests have arrived, Your Majesty.”

“Come in!”

“Then, let them come inside!”

At the Emperor’s behest, a large group of people entered—fifteen, to be exact. All of the higher nobility except for Marquis Crombell, who was a convicted criminal, and Duke Pontier, who was on his deathbed.

“Aden.” Marcus’s eyes were fixed on the Duke in the front. “You are Avalon’s true treasure and a loyal friend.”

Duke Agnus bowed respectfully.

“My jealousy of you started five years ago. I’m so jealous of you that I feel like I was going crazy. It’s unprecedented!”

“You flatter me too much, Your Majesty.”

“Hahaha, but it’s true, yes?”

“...” Duke Agnus didn’t say anything in response, blanketing the throne room in a terrible silence.

“What do you have that I don’t? Money? Fame? Power? ADEN! I am the master of Avalon. Avalon is me, Marcus ben Britten! Is it personal strength? Do you mean that the one they call the Titan of Avalon and the Dark God is more important than me? Such words!” Emperor Marcus stared at Aden with eyes that looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

Eventually, Emperor Marcus smiled and continued. “You’re not that special. But that kind… No one does that kind of thing, Aden. No one dares to steal my fancy out of the blue. And that’s what I’m missing—my children.”

“Your Majesty, the princes—”

“Stop, Aden. Do you want to make me look bad in public? Joshua von Agnus—or Count Sanders, which is his current identity. Hehehe.”

”We know, and they know… everyone knows that he\'s the finest in Avalon. I am simply denying reality for the sake of my pride.” Emperor Marcus looked at the nobles and asked, “Am I wrong?”

“...” The nobles remained silent. They didn’t dare to answer.

Emperor Marcus clicked his tongue. “Tsk. It’s hard for you to all say yes at the same time, after all, isn’t it? You all have sons his age, and your pride won’t let you admit it, either…”

”Anyway, thank you, Aden! I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You gave me a chance to see his talent as well. I would have been sad if Joshua were the heir of your name rather than Babel. Hahaha!”

Duke Agnus’s staid reaction made Emperor Marcus lose interest, and he sank into his throne. “Your son will help me a great deal. He has undesirable traits that we will have to change, of course. For example, you know how arrogant he is for his young age, right? We have to whittle that down.”

Duke Agnus slowly shut his eyes. He knew that Emperor Marcus wouldn’t have done something so wild without considering his own children. Now, it was clear that Emperor Marcus was going to use Joshua to save his children’s plummeting status.

“We shall now begin the competition for Princess Serciarin’s hand. The final decision lies with me, of course. Raw strength is important, but I wouldn’t mind someone with the right skills and connections.”

“Your Majesty…” Duke Prius, who was famous for his martial prowess, asked, “I wonder what Your Majesty means…”

“I said that the competition would end when the Imperial Knights receive no more challenges from the participants, but the candidates can also win without fighting.”

Finally, the nobles understood what Emperor Marcus was talking about. In fact, more than a few marquises stirred and quivered at the realization.

“Ahahaha! What do you think about that? Even if our land is called the Empire of Knights, isn’t this rather fair as well? If you still can’t figure it out, then the clue is that my knights are pretty expensive. That’s it! Do your best.”

It seemed that Emperor Marcus was truly a madman. Otherwise, why the hell would he encourage them to bribe his knights?

“Ah! Of course, if your child is great, you don’t need to deal with any of that complicated stuff. And one last thing—personally, Count Sanders is my first choice. Do you understand me?”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty truly has the greatest breadth of mind throughout Avalon.”

A small group of quick-witted marquises rushed to fawn over the Emperor. Their excitement was clear to see in their eyes.

No matter how strong Joshua Sanders was, there was no way he could beat every Imperial Knight by himself, not to mention Knight Commander Rod, who was a Superhuman.

Joshua was a Superhuman as well, but he lacked Knight Commander Rod’s experience. By the time he was done dealing with every single Imperial Knight, he would be too tired to deal with Knight Commander Rod.

The nobles were already imagining Joshua’s reaction when he was plunged into despair after his sweet moment of hope.

“Pffft! Hahaha!

”

The nobles had no idea that Emperor Marcus was the one who was enjoying the situation the most.

Eventually, Emperor Marcus stopped laughing as he turned to the two people who were still indifferent, and he started talking to them with a bright smile.

***

‘Serciarin…’ Joshua strode forward with a hard expression. He smashed the golden elixir in his hand into a glass wall, which proved his mounting fury. ‘I was so caught up with getting stronger that I lost sight of what was important!’

Getting stronger…

Taking revenge…

Getting even stronger…

Keeping his people safe…

Joshua’s goals were clear, but it seemed that, at some point, the priority had been flipped around. Strength stopped being a means to achieve his goals. It had long become the goal itself.

However, he could no longer ignore the thoughts he had long buried in his head.

‘What am I so afraid of?’ A voice emerged from deep within him, asking, ‘Are you worried that you’ll lose the happiness you’ve so fought to get back?’

No, he wasn’t… He worked harder than anyone else to protect that happiness.

‘Are you worried that you’ll make the same mistake again?’

No, he wasn’t dumb enough to repeat his mistakes twice.

‘Are you afraid that you won’t be able to change the future you think you know?’

Joshua froze. He couldn’t explain it, but this feeling made his chest ache. It was something he’d never thought about before, but he couldn’t resolve himself to deny it

‘Right. You’re not afraid of the future itself. You’re afraid that your efforts to change the future will be futile and that the future you know might remain the same despite your efforts.’

“Right.” He couldn’t help but clench his fists. Joshua always had to remind himself that, even though he had to be strong, he was only human. He had to accept the waves of uneasiness in his chest.

“I’m still a human being. I can still feel happiness, anguish, and anger.”

If he wanted to move on, then he had to control his feelings and let go of his worries.

However, Joshua was somewhat convinced that reaching the next level of the Magic Spear Arts was easier than completely controlling his feelings and getting rid of his worries. After all, emotions, feelings, and worries were what defined a human being. Freeing yourself from them was similar to transcending the limits of humanity.

Honestly, Joshua was convinced that it was the only way forward.

“From now on, everything changes,” said Joshua with a fire in his eyes.

People from the Second Prince’s palace had come out of the walls to meet him, and they were led by a handsome blond man with sparkling eyes.

Many knights were following him. The blond man was, of course, Kaizen ben Britten, the Second Prince of the Avalon Empire.

In Joshua’s past life, he was the first prince who died in his brother’s hands.

Joshua was convinced that Armstrong had told everyone that Joshua was going to pay Kaizen’s palace a visit. It couldn’t be helped. The Commander of the Golden Mane Corps had always been that kind of person.

“Count Sanders, what brings you to my palace?”

“You want to make a bet with me?”

“A bet?” Kaizen frowned at him.

“You trash!” The Battalion Commander of the 8th Battalion, Jekarta, whose duty was to ensure the safety of the Second Prince, was furious. “This is the first time you’ve met His Second Highness, and you’re already acting high and mighty?!”

“Stop.” Kaizen quietly raised his hand. “That’s enough.”

“I think you’ll find my terms quite appealing. If I lose, I will give you something that even His Majesty the Emperor couldn’t get.”

“Something that His Majesty doesn’t have…” Kaizen froze as a strange look crept up his face as he said, “What happened back then was something else. It was unprecedented. Perhaps you’re talking about…”

“What else would it be?” replied Joshua.

“You mean I’m going to be the owner of the famous sword, ‘Joshua Sanders?’ The sword that even His Majesty couldn’t get?” Kaizen furrowed his brows as he stared intently at Joshua.

“Of course, but only if you win.”

“...!” Kaizen\'s eyes widened. He stared deeply at Joshua as if he wanted to uncover whether Joshua was telling the truth or not.

Eventually, he smirked and said, “I thought you’d be an unwelcome visitor, but you’re nobler than I had expected. Even though I can’t offer as much as my father, I can still give you something great. Tell me, what do you desire?”

“I’ll be greedy, then,” warned Joshua.

“Oh?” Kaizen’s smirk deepened as he nodded lightly, signaling Joshua to continue.

“If I win…” Joshua finally said, “Her Highness Serciarin shall be mine.”

Persephone\'s Thoughts

Unedited