Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 15

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

Chapter 15. If You’re Not Going to Date a Hundred Lovers, Don’t Go Around Calling Yourself a Ruffian (3)
Kisomalos let out a long sigh and explained patiently.
Human bonds extend far beyond the connection between parent and child.
One could forge new family ties, find romantic love, cultivate friendships of unwavering loyalty, receive oaths of fealty from knights, earn the trust and devotion of the people—the methods were countless.
[Family affection, friendship, loyalty, respect—there exists a single word that encompasses all of these. It is love!]
“So you’re saying that I and the previous Emperor lost our lives and our nation because we received none of these forms of love?”
[Precisely. Still, I’m grateful you grasp one concept when I explain it.]
Ahem, I do pride myself on my comprehension.
As I straightened my chest proudly, I heard the sound of teeth grinding. That’s going to ruin your jaw.
[Since time is short, let me tell you plainly the fastest way to accumulate divine power, legitimate heir.]
“What is it?”
[Creating a hundred lovers!]
“Garbage!”
The suggestion was so utterly absurd that I had no qualms calling Kisomalos garbage.
“I plan to keep just one husband and live peacefully with him.”
[That’s not how our fate works! Look at your father—it’s not something you can control!]
“No way, I hate it!”
Of course, my biological father and grandmother married only once, yet they both kept numerous lovers.
Precisely because of that, I had resolved never to live such a life. If one marries, one should devote oneself to that single person—how could anyone carelessly entangle themselves with others like some sort of trash?
[I’m telling you, it’s not something you can control by sheer willpower.]
“Ugh, I hate it. How am I supposed to manage a hundred people?”
[Loving someone doesn’t necessarily mean you have to take responsibility.]
“Garbage!”
Once again, Kisomalos uttered such garbage that I cried out in disgust.
[Making a hundred lovers is the fastest method, but regardless, you need to receive plenty of love from friends and others! That’s how divine power grows, meeeeeh!]
Meeeeeh? What sound was that? Cows go moo, but what animal makes that sound?
[Meeeeeh! Meeeeeh!]
A goat, perhaps? Yes, that sounded like a goat’s bleating.
The moment I reached that conclusion, both Kisomalos’s voice and the goat’s bleating vanished.
I awoke from the dream. Outside, dawn had already broken.

✦ ✦ ✦
Having gone to bed early, I woke before dawn. The Imperial Palace was still in shambles from yesterday’s chaos, and my restless dreams had left me in a foul mood.
“Ugh…”
No matter what, dating a hundred lovers doesn’t make sense. I’m only five years old.
The only thing I could realistically attempt right now was making a new friend.
The moment I reached that conclusion, I frowned at the strange sensation in my nose.
The acrid stench of gunpowder and the thick metallic smell of blood hung in the air.
Endless screams echoed through the night. And by morning, every Imperial Guard had been replaced.
The new Imperial Guards revealed they were from the Duke’s House private forces and explained they would henceforth protect the Imperial Palace.
Though they’d reduce numbers later, for now those supporting the blockhead were seizing the moment, using the pretext of protecting the Princess to attempt an invasion of the Princess Palace. I nodded in understanding.
Well, I’d anticipated this much. A nobody seized Kisomalos’s throne—naturally, opposition would emerge.
The amusement park construction would be suspended for a while, and this conflict wouldn’t end anytime soon.
“You all… have done well.”
“No, Your Highness! It’s an honor to protect the Princess!”
Baaaa!
“How you all caught the eye of that Prisoner, I’ll never know.”
“His Majesty is rather unique, but he’s not a bad person!”
Baaaa!
“Get along well enough and everyone’s good. Besides, where else would I find someone like me?”
Baaaa!
“No! His Majesty is truly a good person!”
Baaaa!
“What kind of sheep is this! It’s so damn loud!”
I’d tried to ignore it, but the noise had been unbearable since dawn.
I was fuming about making mutton stew from that bleating creature when Emily led me out to the courtyard and pointed at the elephant slide.
“It appeared at dawn and has been crying ever since. Perhaps it’s an auspicious omen, Your Highness.”
“Indeed. The golden sheep is the very symbol of Kisomalos, is it not?”
Hmm, that’s true enough.
So they’re saying it’s auspicious that the blockhead was captured and a new Emperor—not Kisomalos—ascended the throne?
When I casually tossed out that remark, the Imperial Guard and attendants dropped to their knees begging for their lives.
“Ha, get up. I was only jesting.”
Still, I’d have to do something about that sheep bleating majestically atop the elephant slide. I ordered the Imperial Guard to bring it to me and headed toward the kitchen.
Since it was a fortunate day anyway, I’d feast on lamb today.
I put a rope around the sheep’s neck and walked toward the kitchen. The little creature followed obediently with its bleating until the Princess Palace’s head chef emerged with a waft of spices, at which point it cried “Baaaa!” and tried to bolt.
“Stop! Hold still! Emily! Get over here!”
For a full-grown sheep, I could overpower it with ease—clearly this creature had never known hardship. Pitiful and worthless as it was, pity or not, it had to die today.
Cooking it to fill my belly was merely an excuse; if that thing stayed in the Princess Palace and bleated every morning, it would become insufferable.
I was only five years old, at the perfect age for sleep. I’d nap during the day too.
A child with the freedom to sleep whenever she wished would be absolutely furious if woken by that wretched sheep.
Furious enough to order its death.
Either way, I’m going to die, so it’s better I die before I lose my temper—it brings peace to us both.
“Chef Bap! Chef Bap! Hurry up! Today’s special is a lamb course.”
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but I have served in the Imperial Palace kitchens for twenty years. A name like ‘Bap Boy’ does not command respect from those beneath me.”
“Ah, ah… Chef, Chef…”
“…”
“Chef Bap.”
“Your generosity knows no bounds, Your Majesty!”
So he’s satisfied with that. I’m relieved he’s a man of modest ambitions.
Chef Bap dropped to his knees and bowed deeply to me, then gazed at the struggling lamb with a troubled expression and shook his head.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, this lamb is so old it’s barely worthy of the name mutton. Not only is the smell quite strong, but I suspect the meat will be tougher than steel wire.”
Baaaa! Baaaa? Baaaaaaa!
This old? No wonder it had no strength at all.
If Chef Bap is criticizing me this harshly, it must truly be inedible. Should I give up on eating it?
“Hmm…”
Well, the blockhead isn’t dead yet either, and slaughtering a lamb that’s practically a symbol of the Imperial Family right now feels… off.
Now that I think about it, there’s a practical problem too. If I do this as a bad omen and the blockhead doesn’t die, what then?
“Forget it, take this old mutton far away and dispose of it.”
“Your will be done!”
“I shall dispose of it outside the Imperial Palace, Your Majesty!”
Yes, that’s right. If I dump it outside the City Gate, it won’t wander back in.
The only greenery in the Capital exists near the Imperial Palace, the City Park, and the Artificial Lake, so it’ll be caught by the people before it can escape anywhere.
Though lamb meat may not taste good, its bones, hide, and wool will be a small blessing to the household of whoever finds it.
Ah, what a refreshing feeling—doing good for my people first thing in the morning.
After breakfast, I should go out for a bicycle ride.
I washed my hands thoroughly at the sink, went to the dining hall, and bit into a morning pastry.
As I tore into the bread aggressively and slurped soup from my bowl, my aunt finally woke up and came in, immediately looking for Pisha.
“Pisha!”
“Not eating, ma’am.”
“You need to have manners! What is this! We learned dining etiquette last year!”
“Learning and doing are different things, I reckon.”
“Pisha! Don’t use such difficult words!”
“A ruffian stays a ruffian no matter what.”
“Pisha, you’re not a ruffian!”
“If the blockhead’s a ruffian, so’s the kid, naturally.”
“That bastard is a ruffian, but your mother wasn’t!”
Ah, here we go again.

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