"It was just overnight, but since when did he become more like his father?" a youthful man, around his early twenties, opened the pot that was being simmered. "I wonder what went in his head this time, running and yelling like a maniac, about to go off on a killing spree?"
The youthful man with a darker shade of ash hair sniffed the aroma of the stew. His plump lips curled up, appearing like a crafty fox.
"Amazing," said the young man, reaching for the ladle to scoop into the pot and taste the soup. Delight immediately washed over his charming face and the twinkle in his deep crimson eyes gleamed in satisfaction. "I can't believe this food is being simmered for two years."
"The person who preserved this place is amazing." A deep voice came from behind him, making the young man turn around. All the latter saw was a towering figure folding his brawny arms under his buffed chest, leaning his side against the jamb of the entrance of the kitchen.
"The family in this house just looked like they overslept," he continued, glancing over his shoulder. "They're warm and breathing normally. Although they wouldn't wake up even if you shake them."
"Even if you stab them?"
The man slowly set his dull eyes back on the young man. "Even if you eat all that food like a food thief."
"Hehe!" the young man giggled, facing the pot and distinguishing the fire. "We've been fighting all this time. I'm famished, really. Who knows when we'll have the chance to rest, let alone rest? Take a sit, Your Majesty. I'll serve this real quick."
"I'm not hungry." The man by the entrance denied, frowning when he heard his stomach grumble.
"If a vampire like me is starving, what makes you think you will not?" the young man cocked his head back, still grinning craftily. "It's good that it seemed the family in this house planned to have a late dinner, so there is a lot."
The young man carried the pot to the table. There were already plates ready on the rectangular table for six people. At this moment, they simply intruded on a commoner's house in the capital to confirm their investigations.
Upon arrival, there were unconscious people in the house. That includes the lady who was unconscious in the kitchen. The man with ash eyes and neat blonde hair carried the woman to the bedroom, hoping she was the matriarch of the house and not a maid. They didn't want to create misunderstandings once they woke up since there were a few females in this house.
"I am assuming Law and Tilly parted ways at the border," said the blonde man, marching inside and sitting down in the nearest chair he reached.
"Well, if Law waits for Tilly, it would take weeks before they actually move," said the young man, sitting several seats across from the other man excitedly. "Dig in!"
The young man unhesitatingly served himself some soup, bread, and meat to enjoy. He ate as though he starved and hadn't eaten for years... which was technically true.
"I wonder what Fabian is up to..." said the other man with golden hair, reaching for the slice of bread modestly. "I told him repeatedly not to cause trouble. What in the world did he not understand with that?"
"But he didn't." The young man replied with his mouth full. "If Mister Fabian didn't listen to your advice, I don't think things wouldn't go on as peacefully as it was."
"An entire empire had fallen overnight, Claude."
"Not entirely." The young man named Claude shrugged. "If this empire had fallen, everyone wouldn't be in their homes, sleeping. And that castle, that imperial palace, wouldn't stand gloriously just like its peak."
"You were never in this place before."
"That's right." Claude rocked his head, swallowing the food down his throat. "But I've been into places as a former earl to know if one really fell from its grace or not. Your Majesty, how can you not know that when you once rule an empire?"
"I succeeded it."
"Changes nothing. My uncle passed the throne to you because he's an irresponsible and arrogant prick. How the Heart's Empire flourished is all thanks to you." The young man lowered his eyes, running his tongue across his teeth. "It would continue to do so if not for me."
"Enough, Claude." The man's expression turned solemn and stiff. "We've already passed that talk."
"I know. That's why I can talk freely about it." Claude shrugged nonchalantly. "Anyway, you said you met the emperor of Haimirich back in the World Summit. What sort of person are we expecting?"
The man leaned back, chewing the bread slowly. Unlike Claude, who continued to gobble up the food while waiting for his response and kept his attention on him, the man didn't seem to have much appetite.
"I'm not sure anymore," said the man sincerely. "My impression of him is almost exactly like my lord. A person to be wary of, but with how things turned in this place, I can only expect the worse."
"Worse... like Mister Fabian?"
"Sort of."
The young man, Claude, pondered for a moment before he grinned. "I want to meet him. He's probably a person full of fun."
"Fun..." the man whispered, assessing the excitement on the young man's face. "... right. You might get along well with him."
"Right?" Claude's grin grew brighter at the thought of meeting his grandfather. His grin, however, stiffened when an arrow suddenly grazed his cheek and then embedded in the wall behind him.
The other man's brows rose, glancing at the arrow on the wall. When he looked back, the glass of the window shattered; evidence of where that arrow came from.
"Charlie's influence on her is still there, huh?" said the man, drinking the water leisurely. "Well, her mother was an impressive archer herself. I guess even though you haven't met the young miss, she remembered how you seduced her mother while she was pregnant."
Claude's face twitched as the veins on his temple protruded in irritation. "And I will continue to seduce my auntie just so she stops producing little devils like them."
"Good luck with that."
"I'll make it happen, even if it means killing my uncle. You can't stop me in this, Sir Rufus." Invisible fire engulfed Claude while the other man shook his head.
"Finish your meal fast. It's better to check the imperial palace first before Tilly, or my lord and the madam, arrives. They tend to attract trouble intentionally," said the man with blonde hair named Rufus, eating comfortably, despite the arrows that kept coming at the young man Claude.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶