Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 16

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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 16. Don’t Call Me a Ruffian Unless You’re Prepared to Date a Hundred Lovers (4)
Your sister was like this at your age.
I hated hearing it so much that I covered my ears, but my Aunt had such a powerful voice that my hands alone weren’t enough to block her out. I’d have to borrow earplugs from the Ministry of Law later.
“Your sister had perfect table manners at your age, and she never made the cutlery clink! She didn’t even make crunching sounds when eating cereal!”
Mother probably just liked her cereal soggy, didn’t she?
Sick of the nagging and having lost all appetite for breakfast, I filled my mouth with water, gargled noisily, and spat it out the window.
My Aunt shrieked at the sight.
“Pisha!”
“If Mother likes things that much, why don’t you go live with a corpse instead.”
“How am I supposed to live with your dead sister?”
“I’ll take you to the Imperial Mausoleum and bury you there.”
“Pisha!”
Ugh, I’ve lost my appetite. I need to use Emily as a sacrifice and escape.
I was about to leave my Aunt’s guard duty to Emily and flee when the Dining Hall door burst open and Choco entered. My official guardian’s cousin—the brown-haired man who’d been dragged unwillingly to the Imperial Palace—delivered urgent news to me with a cheerful expression.
“Your Highness the Princess! Hahahaha! An urgent message from His Majesty Chiron! Haha! Nothing serious, I assure you!”
For something you’re calling serious, you’re smiling awfully hard, aren’t you?
When I pointed that out, Choco even shed a few tears and apologized to me. He said he’d never seen Chiron make such a rotten face in his life.
“That woman living in the Empress Palace! She tried to ambush Chiron and failed, and now she’s been captured! Hahahaha! He’s demanding that you come at once!”
Now that I think about it, I’d forgotten all about her since I gave him a new lover. The Emperor’s Concubine must have been doing her best to trade up since he looked like he was dying. She really is a woman who lives with dedication.
“Where is it? I’ll go see for myself.”
“It’s the former Emperor’s Bedroom! That’s probably why the intrusion was so easy!”
“Prisoner has questionable taste.”
If it were me, I wouldn’t use a bed the Emperor had slept in—too filthy.
Well… Prisoner wouldn’t know the Imperial Palace’s circumstances, so he’s probably just using whatever bedroom is available.
When I get there, I’ll need to help him move bedrooms and give him some advice about living in the Imperial Palace.
Judging by how he’d rolled around on battlefields and spent long years in prison, it seemed hopeless to expect him to have any common sense about palace life.

✦ ✦ ✦
I had a servant announce my arrival, then stepped into the Bedroom to find a woman stripped nearly bare, bound tightly with rope. Prisoner stood before her with a rotten expression, chain-smoking.
“Cough!”
The room reeked so heavily of stale tobacco that I coughed aloud. Prisoner stubbed his cigarette out against the bed sheet with a grinding motion, and my Aunt rushed about opening windows.
Wow! Extinguishing a cigarette on the bed sheet like that—so cool and roguish!
So impressive! I’ve never even imagined living that way!
Prisoner, you’ve got real talent for being a ruffian!
Looking closer, I couldn’t find his pajamas anywhere—his shirt hung open at the chest and he sat on the bed still wearing his shoes, his roguish aura absolutely unmatched.
How could anyone look so naturally like a villain? Absolutely cool!
I hid the envious pounding of my heart and greeted him calmly first.
“Causing trouble since morning?”
“How should I punish this woman?”
Ah, so that’s why he called me.
Well, according to Imperial Family law, any child between this woman and the Emperor should be killed, and the woman returned to her family—but this was a matter between man and woman, making it rather complicated.
Since she allegedly tried to force herself on him, if Prisoner had crossed any lines in his sleep, she might deserve concubine treatment instead.
“Hey, you eunuch bastard!”
Seeing the Emperor’s former Concubine react that way, it seemed he hadn’t crossed any lines.
A eunuch, though.
So our Prisoner was a eunuch after all.
“Father, are you a eunuch?”
“How did Lorowi raise you that you understand the word ‘eunuch’ at your age?”
“Hey! I’m not the culprit! I’ve only said the word ‘eunuch’ in front of Pisha maybe twenty-some times!”
Thank you for that confession based in fact, Aunt.
As the three of us chatted together, Choco laughed so hard she nearly collapsed, then came to Prisoner’s defense.
“Ende isn’t exactly a eunuch. He just has this tendency to not see anyone but himself as human, that’s all.”
“If not human, then what?”
“Well… like chimpanzees or pandas? People don’t kiss animals with romantic affection, after all.”
“Choco’s words are difficult to comprehend.”
“Even if you dislike it, living together will make you understand eventually.”
Well, that’s true enough. As long as we don’t kill each other, we have fifteen more years of facing each other ahead.
I nodded and considered how to answer Prisoner’s question.
Let me see, according to Imperial Palace law…
“If the woman pleases you, she may be taken as a Concubine, but her low status makes her ineligible to be Empress. The Emperor’s bloodline must be secured for contingencies.”
“Wait, Your Majesty! Trimuti is innocent!”
So this creature could use formal speech toward me. I never discovered that in my past life. Truly, I’m experiencing remarkable things.
“Handle it as Pisha suggests. Move breakfast to another location.”
“Your Majesty! That cannot be! Your Highness, please spare me! How could someone as lowborn as I harbor treasonous thoughts? I will take Trimuti back to my family and continue our lineage!”
Ah, that’s the problem. Regardless of your intentions, those around you think differently.
Even though I’m the only legitimate heir, there are countless fools constantly trying to diminish me, and if the Emperor’s blood relative were to live, what would happen? Naturally, those who despise me would light their eyes ablaze and rush to enthrone this Trimuti child.
Though I’ve chosen to live recklessly, I have no desire to watch some ignoble bastard throw the Imperial Palace into chaos.
“Mark him with the traitor’s brand, remove his manhood, and then he leaves the Imperial Palace. That’s one option.”
“How is that any different from death!”
There’s a world of difference, my friend.
At least he’d still be alive. Living is always better than dying, no exceptions.
I wracked my limited brain for alternatives, but nothing came to mind. I glanced at my Aunt hoping she might have something else, but she only shook her head.
“Take him out.”
“You bastard! You castrated dog! Not a drop of blood would spill from you worthless wretches! May every last one of Kisomalos be cursed!”
There are three people here who decided to do this—why is he only cursing Kisomalos? Besides me, there’s Chiron and Lorowi.
I was about to respond in exasperation when my Aunt scooped me up, pressed my head against her chest, and firmly covered my ears.
Really, this is ridiculous. My Aunt’s mouth is usually dirtier than that anyway. Where’s she getting off acting refined?
“Ugh, what a rotten way to start the morning.”
Choco, despite her displeased tone, still wore that perpetual grin and insisted such filthy language needed to be washed from my ears, so she brought warm water.
While Prisoner hastily threw on a coat for breakfast and Choco gently cleaned my ears with her delicate touch, my Aunt suddenly broke into a sly smile and began acting friendly toward Prisoner.
“Hey. I wasn’t impressed with you at first, but you listen well to our Pisha. Turns out you’ve got some decent qualities?”
“I wasn’t trying to curry favor with Lorowi.”
“Look at you getting shy!”
When my Aunt tried to link arms as a gesture of friendliness, Prisoner made that sour face again and swatted her hand away. It was only natural that my Aunt, having her goodwill rejected, flew into a rage.
“Hey, I’m the one giving you credit here! Why are you being difficult!”
“Honestly, you Lorowi are all blockheads.”
“What did you just say, you bastard?”
Calm down, Aunt. Our Prisoner just has ill feelings toward Lorowi.
I wondered if he’d forgotten the clan he’d once tried to annihilate with his own hands, but since his opponent was my Aunt, it was possible he’d simply forgotten.
I whispered softly to my Aunt.
She made an uncomfortable sound—apparently my words tickled her ear—but she understood everything regardless and her expression hardened.
“I’ve fought countless times. How am I supposed to remember all of them?”
That seemed likely.
Since Prisoner said it happened when he was young, it would have been during the time of Lorowi’s previous family head…
Hitting Chiron, trying to erase him from history—grandmother must have been behind it all. My Aunt just does what she’s told.

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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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