“Emperor!?”

Why is it different from what I thought? So Seisakoku isn’t a monarchy, but an empire?

After coming to the king’s audience room deep within the palace, we finally learn about that from Ajira. Because he said, “Please wait here for His Imperial Majesty Yels.h.i.+ to arrive.”

Since arriving here, this is my first time hearing my summit opponent’s name, and the fact that he’s not a king, but an emperor.

“Hey! Why didn’t anyone tell me about this, huh? If so you should have said from the start this is the Empire of Seisa[1]!”

“Young Master, why are you so freaked out? What’s the difference between His Majesty the King and His Majesty the Emperor~ It’s just the t.i.tle that’s a little different. And they don’t place much emphasis on hereditary lineage here, so it’s rather like our country!”

Josak’s att.i.tude sure is carefree.

“But the problem lies in that ‘a little’ difference!”

“Speaking of difference, this outfit has a lot of problems too, you know.”

He frowns, pinching the material on his s.h.i.+rt.

“Young Master too, such pale colors don’t suit you at all. The way Gurrier sees it, if you were such coa.r.s.e clothes to see the leader of another country, now that’s a big problem! Really, I just want to take it all off and be done with it!”

“Don’t be like that, d-don’t mess around. If you do that, won’t I be wearing ‘the King’s New Clothes’?”

Although in the ‘King’s New Clothes’, that king gives the impression of being weak and stupid, but if you change king to emperor, for some reason it just gives a cool air like ‘Scarred Lola’[2], I wonder why?

Although amongst the group of kings there’s also big names like Alexander, but because this noun was used too much in fairy tales, so it make people think of kindly old grandfathers. Once you mention an emperor, though, people like Napoleon or Nero come to mind, and you can’t think of them as gentle at all—I have a predisposed opinion when it comes to emperors, a.s.suming that they’re either good at war or tyrants, so either way they’re scary people in power.

Just like there are emperor penguins and king penguins, and the former just gives you a stronger feeling.

If it was Murata, he would surely raise a few more examples like Beckenbauer[3] and Michel Platini[4], such names that I never heard before, huh? For all I know there’d be a general in the middle of all that.

Anyway, putting aside my petty concerns, we’ve come to the Seisakoku emperor’s audience room. The room is long and rectangular, while the painted-gold ceiling is arched like the bottom of the boat. The floorboards and walls are covered in mosaic, describing the history of the s.h.i.+nzoku according to the years. Just looking at these pictures makes you feel you shouldn’t simply step on them, so all of us have no choice but to push forward while jumping like frogs. Really, since it’s an important piece of art that should never be dirtied, you shouldn’t put it on the floor!

The drapes are slowly pulled open as the guards announce the arrival of the guards. I can vaguely sense someone sitting behind the veils.

All the symptoms of the pressure, heart-pulsing, breathlessness, gastric pains, headaches and chest-tightening, all ambush me at once.

Just then His Majesty Yels.h.i.+ speaks up from behind the thin veils:

“Gasgabu?”

This emperor’s words really leave people at a loss. Even in this kind of situation, he still treats every word like gold, and his tone at the end is clearly questioning. According to my super translation skills, it’s ‘no need to be so formal, come closer’, but it’s completely different to what the expert’s translation is.

“Long trip?”

How very simple and concise.

“Ah! Thank you for your concern.”

I don’t know how to answer, so I sneak a glance at Saralegui. If you count the number of days we’ve been on the throne, he counts as my senior. But the young Shou s.h.i.+maron king doesn’t particularly greet the other party, all I see is a hint of a smile on the corners of his lips.

True, after all we represent our respective countries too, so we can’t act too submissive. A rookie king like me with so little experience it’s pitiful, can only learn by experiencing it for myself.

The Seisakoku emperor continues with a longer speech than just now. Even if it’s someone like me, who can use baseball metaphors and annoy the h.e.l.l out of people, can’t bring the baseball logic I’m so good at when talking to someone in long, foreign sentences. At times like this, it’d be best to rely on Anissina’s pride and joy, her mysterious ma-powered devices.

“Regarding your visit, we feel very happy. Do you wish to drink anything?”

After hearing that completely normal translation, Saralegui suddenly relaxes his shoulders, a smile blossoming across his face,

“Heh, Yels.h.i.+.”

He uses his white hands to push his hair behind his ears, and even a small gesture like that is still elegant on him.

“Yels.h.i.+, don’t bother with those annoying formalities anymore, this is our long-awaited reunion after thirteen years, you know!”

The Shou s.h.i.+maron king says this cheerfully, and then, ignoring everyone else who’s staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed, he reaches his hands out for the veil between us and His Majesty the Emperor.

“P-please wait!”

He disregards the opposition from the others, pulling aside the pale green veils as naturally as he would push aside his hair.

“Wait a sec, Sa… Eh?”

On the throne one step above us, there’s another Saralegui sitting there—No, to be precise there is a little difference. The hair that brushes his shoulders is shorter than Sara’s, and he doesn’t have pale-colored gla.s.ses to hide his light-sensitive eyes. But the two of them can’t simply be described as ‘very similar’.

They’re practically twins.

“So…”

My voice is so hoa.r.s.e it gets stuck in my throat.

So that’s it! When I turn around to look, I see that even Josak and Lord Weller look fairly surprised. Even the two younger guards awaiting orders in the room can’t hide the wavering of their hearts. The only ones who look unaffected are the slightly older ones.

Saralegui takes off the gla.s.ses he usually wears, opening his arms to the emperor of Seisakoku.

“Yels.h.i.+, long time no see. You’ve grown so big! Well, that’s unsurprising, after all we’re not kids anymore.”

And with that he runs towards the young king, using equally slender arms to hug his pet.i.te body.

“We lived separately, so we may not look exactly the same. What do you think, Yuuri?”

Two pairs of identical eyes look at me. One pair is completely emotionless, while the other pair of golden eyes is sparkling with joy.

“I wonder, do we still look very similar?”

I’m so surprised I’m beyond reacting.

That’s right, didn’t I know this a long time ago?

There are a lot of twins among the s.h.i.+nzoku.