The Martial Unity

With the quick resolution of the disagreement and the decision to prolong the meeting to make it look like the negotiations were long-fought, the two of them simply found themselves at a loss for words opposite each other. The light of the morning sky illuminated the room with its warm light as the two of them sized each other up.

“So… heir of the Emperor of Harmony, are you?” Rui remarked with a knowing tone. “I was his heir once upon a time.”

She simply smiled at him. “Is that jealousy I sense?”

“Perhaps a little, makes me feel like I wasn’t as close to my father as I might have imagined,” Rui remarked with an earnest tone. “I could have never imagined that he was grooming heirs such as yourself to eventually take over the throne. I didn’t even know that you existed until after he died.”

“That is because you have been an outsider to the royal palace for a long time. Most of our half-siblings take residence in the many palaces our royal family possesses, and we spend a good portion of the year at the royal palace in the capital of our nation, the Vargard Royal Palace,” she informed him with a patient tone. “You, on the other hand, never took the opportunity to live in the royal palace ever. Even when you did reside in the Kandrian Empire, you never spent time with the royal family or the royal palace. If you had not distanced yourself, we would have met much earlier.”

“Living in the royal palace feels like it would be uncomfortable,” Rui heaved a sigh. “The truth is that I’m not comfortable with the extravagance of royalty. It feels suffocating and nauseous. I’ve always slept in the Quarrier Orphanage, where I grew up, and that’s where I’ve felt comfortable.”

“It seems that you have yet to fully accept that you are a member of royalty, even though you are all but certain to succeed our father,” she pointed out with a musing tone. “That is not particularly unexpected, since you have lived much of your early life believing that you were of ordinary heritage. But as Emperor, you will need to accept this fact in your heart now. We cannot tolerate the Emperor of Kandria sleeping in an orphanage in Quarrier Town anymore.”

“…I suppose that’s true,”

he said with a wistful tone

“It seems you are familiar with only the most direct duties of the throne.” She frowned with realization. “You have not received the royal grooming and training that we have, so you still don’t fully understand all the duties that come with being Emperor. This will not do.”

“I mean, I know I have some other official stuff,” he remarked with a shrug. “It’s fine since I have Claris to help me navigate all that stuff.”

“There are many duties she can’t help you navigate, such as fathering many descendants.” She shook her head, heaving a sigh. “I’m afraid you will have to get busy at night after you ascend the throne. We can’t have an empty roster of future princes and princesses after you abdicate the throne or die somehow.”

Rui winced at her words as an awkward expression emerged on his face. “Kids, huh? Can I just… skip out on this one?”

“I’m afraid not, Prince Rui.” She flatly denied him. “Producing potential heirs to the throne is a very important duty of the Emperor. Even if you are immortal, I don’t believe that you will remain on the throne for all of eternity. You must father descendants.”

“Yeah, but I’m going to be busy as a Martial Artist and Emperor.” He heaved a sigh. “It’s why I avoided starting a family, it’s too much of a responsibility and a burden. And a weakness, too.”

“And here I thought you had changed your mind on responsibility.”

“Yes, well, there’s no need to jump to the highest level of responsibility all at once from the very get-go. Warm-ups are a thing too, you know?” Rui remarked with a wry smile. “Being Emperor itself is a huge commitment, and I don’t want to take on anymore until I get the hang of being a ruler. Even then, I have no idea how I’m supposed to make time for being a father when two major aspects of myself consume all my time.”

“You don’t have to raise them yourself.” She shook her head. “Our father didn’t feed me as a child himself or change my diapers, but he took more time to be a part of the lives of his children who were born after the throne war.”

“Yeah, but then I’ll feel like a deadbeat for not being a part of their lives,” Rui remarked with a knowing tone. “If I’m going to be a father, I would rather do it right. I don’t want to abandon my kid and not see them on a regular basis. That’s a pretty messed-up childhood, you know?”

“You of all people should know that family does not need to be bound by blood,” she remarked. “You may assign them excellent royal guardians who are trained to be parents and groomers. I was largely raised by my mother and a royal guardian, and I cherish them as my family.”

“Your mother was…?”

“The princess of the Kingdom of Grahal, a vassal state in our domain of influence.”

“Oh, right, we had those. Vassal states.”

“…You are a real piece of work, my esteemed brother. I cannot help but feel nervous you’re becoming Emperor.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll retain whoever the current Minister of Foreign Affairs is,” Rui remarked nonchalantly. “They’ll be able to maintain the status quo with all this minor stuff. As for the family stuff…”

He heaved a sigh. “I’ll think about it. To be honest, starting a family with Amare doesn’t sound bad, but it will be a lot on my plate. Still, teaching our son or daughter Martial Art also sounds quite fun. I’m actually quite good at accelerating growth with adaptively evolved training customized for any given individual, you know?”

He also couldn’t help but feel that their relationship would grow emptier if they simply continued as they were now. For they had fallen in love on a voyage through human civilization and later once more on yet another journey through the true world.

But now that they were anchored with burdens and responsibility, the essence of what made their relationship shine would perhaps lose its luster. They had a lot of love for each other, but sometimes it felt empty if it only ever amounted to words and touch.

“I’ll have to have a serious conversation with her,” Rui remarked.