Pen and Paper Translations

Actually, this was what I was most curious about. After dragging me here talking about rewards and such, he left me in the sitting room. Where had he gone?

I-jun tried to recall the original work. He couldn’t remember how Lev met the Emperor and came to the Imperial Palace. Probably because Lev was the villainous uke, no one had bothered to care about that.

“At the very least, you should tell us where, how, and why the two met and became lover and kept man!”

While I-jun silently grumbled that Lev was being criticized even more harshly just for standing by the Emperor without any proper backstory, the attendant, unaware of his thoughts, answered plainly.

“His Majesty said to escort you to the dining room as soon as the meal is ready.”

“A meal?”

I-jun, who had thought he would just change clothes, exchange greetings, maybe chat briefly and then part ways, jumped up from his seat.

But even if he wanted to refuse the meal, the Emperor was nowhere to be seen, so there was no way. In the end, the attendant also said he would return later and left the sitting room after saying his piece.

Can’t I just run away like this?

Unable to resist the temptation, I-jun stealthily rose from his seat.

“Do you need anything?”

It was before the door had fully opened. The attendant, who had dashed out, stuck his face back through the half-open gap.

“Do you perhaps have milk?”

Ah, so he hadn’t actually gone elsewhere. With a sullen look, I-jun changed the subject and stepped back.

For some reason, even if he went out like this, he felt he wouldn’t be able to leave the palace.

Sitting back at the table, I-jun drank his tea with a disgruntled face. Was it because he didn’t like being here? The fragrance seemed good, but somehow the taste was astringent. 

A little later the attendant brought milk and syrup and only then did it become drinkable.

How long had he been killing time like that? The tightly shut door opened and the same attendant appeared.

“Please follow me.”

I-jun followed the attendant out of the sitting room. The detached palace wasn’t very large. Yet its interior decorations were prettily detailed, and its location was on a seaside cliff, the surrounding scenery so beautiful that it was counted among the top five palaces in the Antoine Empire.

That’s why the two main characters come here to have their noisy romance.

As I-jun turned his head, recalling a scene he didn’t need to, he let out a “Wow!” The view through the tall vertical window truly looked like art.

An endlessly spreading sea, waves crashing white foam against the cliff. It was also a spectacle. Add a sailing ship receding along the horizon, and it was like a picture.

Back when he worked as a lifeguard, I-jun would sometimes gaze past the horizon. He’d never even dreamed of something called traveling, but if the chance arose, he wanted to see a foreign land across that sea.

Especially Europe, where coffee had supposedly truly developed, or America, homeland of the Americano. Of course, opening his own café right away was far-fetched, so the real possibility was almost nil.

Just like then, I-jun occasionally looked at the scenery outside the window while following the attendant.

Before long, in front of the dining hall, several attendants and a knight stood in a line. It seemed the Emperor had already arrived.

Doesn’t someone of the Emperor’s stature usually appear last?

“You’re here.”

Grumbling for no reason as he entered, I-jun heard the Emperor’s voice and whipped his head around.

The dining hall was the size of three sitting rooms put together, with one long vertical table in the center.

The Emperor sat at the deepest seat and indicated the seat diagonally to his right with a tilt of his chin. With a little exaggeration, it was close enough that if he stretched out his arm, he could grab the other by the collar.

Of all the seats, why that one…

Clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, I-jun swallowed it down and sat where the Emperor pointed.

Guien looked at the man who didn’t even try to hide his mood with curious eyes. Knowing he was the Emperor, yet acting so brazenly, made Guien more and more interested.

Well, he did seem to have a bit of a fierce personality.

Remembering how the man had talked back without losing composure, Guien curled the corner of his mouth. It was amazing that he wasn’t daunted even knowing Guien was the Emperor.

Soon the table was quickly filled. Each time colorful dishes appeared, I-jun’s expression changed little by little. Things he had only seen in illustrations unfolded before his eyes as if real, drawing involuntary admiration.

Brightly colored, beautiful, fragrant… Could he dare lay hands on it?

Swallowing, I-jun stole a glance at the Emperor while eyeing a mouth-watering steak.

Just then, his gaze met the Emperor’s, who was watching while drinking wine. Somehow that gaze looked as though he were observing a trivial creature.

Yes, I’ve never eaten steak even once! So what, huh?

Pettily annoyed, I-jun stabbed his fork into the salad instead of the glossy steak.

Even eaten in a fit of pique, the salad was very fresh. The crisp crunch in his mouth… Supplies for the palace really were different.

“Why did you do it?”

Just as I-jun was thinking that and moving the salad onto his plate, Guien spoke.

“Pardon?”

“What were you thinking when you jumped into the sea?”

What is he talking about?

I-jun stared blankly at the Emperor. He understood the question itself, but he couldn’t figure out how to interpret those eyes that looked at him as if saving a person were the most useless act in the world.

It didn’t seem like something you’d ask the one who saved your own child.

“Because the child fell in.”

I-jun gave the most sensible answer.

“A stranger anyway, no? It didn’t have to be you.”

“That’s true.”

That was also right. When he came out holding the child, there were many people around. So it didn’t have to be him. Even so, I-jun was sure that if the same situation happened again, he’d jump in the sea. Because to him, that was the natural thing.

“And since I know how to swim, I didn’t hesitate.”

As soon as I-jun finished speaking, one corner of the Emperor’s mouth lifted.

“Then if I fell into the sea, you would come save me too.”

“Eh?”

I-jun looked at the Emperor in disbelief, then seeing the sneer on those lips thought he was trying to tease him.

“I am the Emperor of this country.”

“Yeah, well, that’s true.”

Answering perfunctorily, I-jun added with a slightly prickly face.

“I think you’d be fine even without me.”

Instead of replying, Guien let out a small snort. He had instantly grasped the intent behind I-jun’s words: With all the people around you, do I really have to save you?

Watching the silent Emperor drink wine, I-jun belatedly pondered. He felt he probably had to answer again.

“What is your name?”

Yet the Emperor spoke first.

“…Lev.”

Strictly speaking, Lev Schilly, but I-jun quietly omitted the family name. He didn’t want to advertise to the Emperor that he was a lord’s son. If he gave the surname, the Emperor would find out quickly.

“Very well, Lev. What kind of reward do you wish for?”

Fortunately, the Emperor’s interest shifted elsewhere. But even that wasn’t what I-jun wanted.

“A reward… It was only natural to do it. Well, this is fine too.”

Saying so, I-jun looked at the plate before him. Only a little of the salad he’d taken earlier was there.

“So… being treated to such splendid food is already more than enough.”

Hoping his smile wasn’t awkward, I-jun raised the corner of his lips. Guien looked at him for a moment, set down his glass, and opened his mouth again.

“Lev Schilly.”

Huh?

Startled, I-jun looked at the Emperor. Amazingly, the Emperor knew the surname he hadn’t spoken.

“Son of Jean Schilly, correct?”

Even the lord’s name. With a smile on his lips, Guien asked again. I-jun’s face hardened.

So he left me in the sitting room that long just to investigate me.

Such a thought occurred.

Scary guy.

Indeed, in the original, the Emperor was portrayed as meticulous and crafty, unlike his beautiful appearance. In his first year, he had uncovered all his political enemies’ corruption and embezzlement and eliminated them, firmly grasping power.

For such an Emperor, finding out the identity of someone from a small seaside town wouldn’t be hard.

Still, he suddenly lost his appetite.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Setting down the fork with salad, I-jun looked the Emperor straight in the eyes. It might seem a bit arrogant, but oh well.

It’s my dream anyway, so whatever.

Suddenly a smile appeared on Guien’s lips. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but his eyes seemed odd again. This time as though watching an interesting beast. He’d rather decline that sort of interest.

“Touloun is a fairly popular resort, isn’t it? I find it hard to understand that the lord managing such a place is struggling in poverty. Did he fall into gambling?”

“No!”

At the Emperor’s question, I-jun immediately shook his head. Though the lord lacked economic sense and was somewhat incompetent, he wasn’t that sort.

“Then did your brother, who paints, squander the fortune?”

Just how much had he found out in such a short time? The Emperor even brought up his brother.

No, that’s that—why is he picking a fight?

Barely restraining the glare that was about to appear in his eyes, I-jun answered that it wasn’t so.

It frustrated I-jun too, so he’d looked into it. He found out the lord had been badly swindled a few years ago, by the estate’s trusted financial manager.

The swindler had siphoned off the lord’s funds for years, then made one big haul and disappeared. When I-jun heard that, he’d been speechless.

But there was no need to tell the Emperor all that trivial detail.

“Even so, you need to pay attention. Aren’t you short of the taxes due this autumn? You can’t even borrow money. No, isn’t daily livelihood itself a worry?”

Slicing his steak with graceful hands, Guien again nit-picked the lord’s finances.

“Our situation isn’t ample, but not so bad as to trouble Your Majesty.”

Maybe because the Emperor kept bad-mouthing the lord, I-jun’s tone turned a bit sharp. Guien looked at him with curious eyes, then nodded.

“Indeed, unlike your father, sister, and brother, you seem to have some talent. Even so, can selling a few juices on the beach support the household?”

“Yes. Luckily there’s no one extravagant.”

Unable to glare at the Emperor, I-jun just stared at his plate. He wanted to ask why he kept picking a fight, but he also held back.

“I’ll cancel the debt and provide for your living for a few years.”

Hearing the lightly smiling words, I-jun looked up again, face saying What are you talking about? The Emperor wasn’t even looking at him, busy cutting steak.

“And how about reducing the taxes too?”

Each casually tossed phrase was hard to follow.

“…”

“Why? Too much?”

“…Yes.”

Is it only excessive? Surely the great Emperor wasn’t joking around with a poor lord’s son. Then there must be some ulterior motive… What was it?

“On the condition that you become my consort.”

“!!!”

I-jun’s eyes grew enormous as he tried to fathom the Emperor’s intent. What kind of baseless development was this? Even if in the original he became the Emperor’s lover, was there any storyline justifying such words when they’d only met?

“Why? Is that too burdensome?”

“…”

“Do you need to sell twenty glasses of juice to buy one sack of bread?”

Chewing the cut steak annoyingly, the Emperor’s once-beautiful eyes narrowed, making him look like a fox smiling.

Indeed, appearance reflects character; heavenly beauty downgraded to fox-face in an instant.

“Well, I don’t really know the prices around here.”

In truth he did know. Before selling drinks, I-jun had checked the going rates. But he didn’t feel like explaining that to the Emperor.

“So, your answer?”

Ignoring I-jun’s sullen face, Guien asked.

“Why are you making such an offer?”

At a glance, it didn’t seem like love at first sight or anything romantic. Maybe some kind of original-work buff?

While I-jun secretly sneered inside, the Emperor threw out his words.

“Let’s just say you’ve rather taken my fancy.”

“What?”

Whether dream or whatever, he should at least treat the Emperor with courtesy—thinking so, I-jun had behaved politely, but now an informal exclamation slipped out.

The Emperor didn’t rebuke the rudeness. He merely set down the knife leisurely and took his glass.

Of course, Guien had his reasons.

Since his coronation the nobles kept pestering about the Empress seat, and he was getting annoyed.

The excuse was that he would visit the Prince recuperating far away, but any noble knew the Emperor didn’t have much affection for his son.

Still, when the Prince was swept away by a wave, he intended to save him. After all, the child solidified his political position.

Yet someone moved before him. That was this man, Lev Schilly.

Guien had spent his youth on battlefields where life and death hung in the balance. It was survival of the fittest.

Thus, he was intrigued. Who was this man who moved so decisively for others?

Guien deliberately brought the man to the villa, had him wait in the sitting room, and sent spies to uncover his identity.

In less than an hour, information arrived.

A kind-hearted but incompetent father, an eldest son who left home obsessed with painting, an eldest daughter who returned divorced, and a youngest son who was selfish and ill-tempered.

The lord was burdened by enormous debt, always worrying about money, yet he neither embezzled taxes nor shifted funds elsewhere and was considered fairly benevolent by his tenants.

But more than anything, Guien noted the information on the lord’s youngest son.

Selfish and ill-tempered, they said. The character described on paper was similar yet different from what Guien himself felt.

Yes, his temperament wasn’t exactly tame, but to dash so unhesitatingly to save someone required considerable responsibility and courage.

He wondered which was the real one.

“I watched from start to finish as you leapt into the sea without hesitation when the Prince was in danger. I like that sort of courage.”

Guien explained with a feigned smile. To anyone listening, it sounded absurd. He’d sneered earlier, yet now he told him to believe that.

Most of all, I-jun hadn’t forgotten the Emperor’s earlier words—not that I like you, but let’s say so.

No matter how he looked, this wasn’t affection. Clearly there was another scheme, but the Emperor wouldn’t reveal it—

—or maybe he just had.

Suddenly I-jun realized why the Emperor told him to become his kept man.

In the original, why did the Emperor take a consort? To flaunt it before the nobles. No matter what you do, it’s useless. I’ll keep someone of low birth at my side.

Now Lev understood even the absurd things the Emperor had said so far.

Well, that’s his problem.

As for I-jun, dream though it might be, life with his family now wasn’t bad, and knowing how it would end if he went to the palace, he definitely wanted to refuse.

Therefore, what I-jun wished right now was to finish the meal, part with the Emperor, and never meet him again.