Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 107. The Maximum Speed of a Shuttlecock at Any Given Moment Is 330 km/h (9)
“Hisperon?”
“Why? You say Hisperon’s name all the time anyway.”
“No, it’s just… this is the first time you’ve called me by my name.”
What? We’ve been living together for several months and I haven’t even called him by his name yet? Then what have I been calling him all this time? The question nagged at me for a moment, but the answer came quickly enough. Probably things like “hey you,” “oi,” “you,” “you bastard,” that sort of thing.
I gave Nanark Astiages a look that said he’d done something terribly wrong.
“W-what! My older siblings all told me to call him a bastard!”
Still, we’ve been living together—he should have thought to change how he addressed me on his own. No matter how I looked at it, Nanark Astiages was in the wrong, so I voiced it aloud.
“Prince of Astiages, you were at fault.”
At that, everyone around me chimed in to blame Nanark Astiages.
“The Prince was indeed at fault.”
“I believe the Prince bears some responsibility.”
“The Prince was wrong, Your Highness.”
But who was the Chief Chamberlain to say such things? She’d been calling me “lowborn” every single day. When I gave her a sidelong glance, the old woman cleared her throat and spoke in a small voice, reflecting on her words.
“Perhaps we should simply call you by your name from now on.”
Right, we’re not strangers anymore. At the very least, we should maintain basic courtesy. And while Hisperon, from the Emperor’s perspective, is someone of unknown origin and utterly distasteful, if he were to seek asylum anywhere, he’d receive the finest treatment. He’d be granted the title of a high noble house and given command of powerful military forces.
Of course, such asylum would invite the Empire’s resentment, so few nations would accept him.
“Hmm…”
How can I bring Hisperon here without incurring the Emperor’s displeasure? From his perspective, he’d want to eliminate the problem right before his eyes, but Hisperon is far too capable. This is hopeless.
Should I just throw myself into the succession struggle and tear the Empire apart? There’s no peaceful way to bring him here.
“Did Your Majesty seek permission from the Princess?”
“No? Nanark did.”
I’m a guest—I couldn’t easily say such things. Of course, the escort in charge should have reported it. When I told Hisperon that the Prince had done it himself, he let out a series of sounds—”heh,” “hmm,” “ho”—in that smooth, playful voice of his.
So Hisperon has this mischievous side too. I like it. I like it so much. I came to the Empire and I like it so much. I want to take just Hisperon and bring him back to the Kisomalos Empire.
“Marry me, Hisperon!”
“I would be executed, Your Highness.”
Ugh, that would’ve been the fastest solution. So what’s left? Faking his death on the battlefield and smuggling him away?
The situation is difficult… Right now, Astiages is too preoccupied with the succession struggle to pay attention to external matters, and it’s also a period of consolidating internal affairs.
…I suppose the only way is to get involved in the succession struggle, convince the other Imperial Family members to kill Hisperon, fake his death, and bring him back.
“Princess Vishnabel?”
Huh? Why are you calling me like that, Chief Chamberlain? Your tone sounds ominous, and my eyes darted about nervously. Behind the old woman, I could see many people passing by. The theater troupe members arrived on schedule and bustled about constructing the stage, moving large and small props.
“This wasn’t planned, was it?”
“A… a surprise?”
Surprised you, didn’t I? No, listen to me—I only came for a date. But there’s a theater troupe with the original rights to “The Young Hero’s Epic,” isn’t there? Don’t you think this is fate?
“How much did you spend?”
“Sigh!”
So that’s what you’re asking about! You cold-blooded materialist who sees the world only in terms of monetary value! There are so many things in this world more precious than money!
“Isn’t this a chance to see a performance banned in the Kisomalos Empire? Isn’t it worth a fortune? Isn’t it a value that cannot be measured in money?”
“So how much did you spend?”
“Sigh!”
I squeezed my eyes shut and spread all five fingers wide. When I first entered, I’d been thinking along these lines. So I hoped she would understand.
“….”
The Chief Chamberlain was oddly quiet. Was 50 million lakma safe? Would I avoid punishment? With that thought, I cracked open my eyes to find a massive paper effigy of the Young Hero standing in the center of the stage under construction.
Wow! Fire’s even coming out of its eyes. There’s no hiding this.
“How much was it?”
“100 million lakma was spent. I sincerely apologize.”
Here I go again—getting scolded by a man for spending money on another man. As I accepted reality and begged forgiveness, Choco burst into breathless laughter, and Nanakda poked Croa repeatedly with a genuinely curious question.
“Didn’t you say the Princess was covering the banquet expenses too? Does the Princess have that much money?”
“The Princess Palace’s total assets exceed 1 trillion slightly.”
“Wow, really?”
“Negative.”
“Wow… really?”
Nanakda clutched his head, muttering that collecting it would come with 1 trillion in debt attached.
I never asked you to collect it for me?!
“You there. Bring me some name tags.”
The Chief Chamberlain, who commanded the servants of the Young Hero Residence like extensions of herself and brought guest name tags, stuck blank ones all over my dress’s back and scribbled something on them with a flourish.
“What is it? What did you write? Did you write an insult about me?!”
The moment the Chief Chamberlain released me, I rushed to the mirror in the corner of the hall. I spun around and looked over my shoulder into the glass, only to find an absolutely mortifying message stuck to my back.
― I am a Princess who spent 100 million lakma because I lost my mind over a man.
“Damn it!”
Take this off! I can’t reach it! As I flailed about at the perfectly positioned spot my hands couldn’t reach, the Chief Chamberlain made a tsk sound and scolded me like a child.
“Wear it as a sign of reflection.”
“Ugh….”
Losing face in someone else’s home. The Chief Chamberlain is an idiot. As I grumbled in complete frustration, the Chief Chamberlain relented and gave me one concession.
“I won’t send the people away, so you’ll have to watch that ridiculous play.”
“How exciting! And it’s not a ridiculous play—it’s ‘The Epic of the Young Hero’!”
Wearing my extravagant Princess name tag, I took a seat closest to the stage and waited for the performance to begin. The orchestra brought in by the Theater Troupe made a sharp sound with the timpani, the lights flashed dramatically, and someone like a master of ceremonies came to the edge of the stage to incite the crowd’s cheers.
“Esteemed citizens of Astiages! Our idol, our hope! I present to you the great hero, Hisperon!”
“Uwaaaaah!”
I stood at the very front, screamed the loudest, and clapped the hardest. Sensing from my piercing shriek that they were permitted to enjoy themselves, the servants of the residence followed my lead with applause and cheers.
“Kyaaaaa!”
“Hisperon, you’re the best!”
“Hisperon, look over here!”
Riding the wave of the crowd’s fervor, Actor Hisperon took the stage. Of course, it was an actor dressed as Hisperon. The man in the black-haired wig didn’t have quite Hisperon’s commanding presence, but he was passable enough. The black officer’s uniform, permitted only to Hisperon, suited him well, and above all, he sang beautifully.
“Ah! Even now, somewhere the people of Astiages suffer! Those hateful foreign barbarians!”
He always watches over the young and weak with such compassion! If only those foreign barbarians tormenting Hisperon could be absorbed entirely into our Kisomalos Empire!
“Your Excellency, the Western Battlefield is in peril!”
“I, the hero Hisperon, go wherever salvation is needed!”
How magnificent! As Actor Hisperon expressed the appearance of riding swiftly upon a great war chariot through dance, the masses behind him—humans, trees, and beasts as one—sang his praises and rushed forward in his wake.
When Actor Hisperon leaped gracefully from the war chariot and swiftly cut down the tactical weapons of the Western Battlefield, there came a boom as the great chariot split in two, and the captive people burst forth in a torrent.
“The hero Hisperon never loses!”
“He saved the people again today!”
“Even if his head gets smashed in, he doesn’t lose!”
The people danced in formation, singing praises of Hisperon, who never loses. In truth, Hisperon’s battle record showed victories and defeats in roughly equal measure, but that hardly mattered. What counted was that Hisperon always survived in the end, and his status as a hero was eternal.
“Kyaaah! Hisperon!”
“Marry me!”
“Haha! Ladies, I’m afraid another battlefield awaits me elsewhere.”
Actor Hisperon winked with a charming smile, his cape billowing dramatically as he swept from the stage. In that same instant, Choco shouted toward me at the top of her lungs.
“Pisha, the other Hisperon—the real one—is escaping!”
“Bring him back!”
“Yes!”
And we hadn’t even reached the best part yet. Where does he think he’s going?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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