The flagship Argos broke through the atmosphere of House Banfield’s home planet and arrived at the port. There, countless people waited to greet me. Messages of joy at my return were projected in the air. A red carpet was laid before me, and since it was a moving walkway, I covered ground at a pretty fast clip. A vehicle would’ve been faster, but I wanted my subjects to see me returning safely. The personal walkway was enclosed in a glass-like transparent material, so everyone around me could watch me as I moved.
Being forced to celebrate in such an exaggerated way over my return must’ve been rough for my subjects. I held absolute authority here, so all they could do was kiss my ass. It really made me reflect on how unfair this universe was.
As I walked down the moving pathway with an unfazed smile on my face, Rosetta tackled me in a hug.
“Darling!”
“Stop that!”
A second ago, I’d been acting like an imposing evil lord, but Rosetta had ruined all that when she hugged me and called me that stupid, sappy nickname. As she clung to me, my guards just smiled wryly. Marie actually looked happy about this—but she also knew her station, so she stepped forward to stop Rosetta.
“Lady Rosetta, that’s improper.”
Tia looked at our surroundings. “It’s not a problem. Everyone knows each other here.”
Rosetta was weeping with happiness at my return. “I’m so glad you’re home safe! I was so scared in the beginning, when I heard things weren’t going well…”
“You thought I’d lose? Impossible.”
“No, I believed in you. But if you hadn’t come back, I’d…” Tears spilled from Rosetta’s eyes.
I averted my gaze from her. “You don’t need to worry about me. Anyway, that’s not important right now. It’s about time to begin, right?”
When I mentioned the time, Amagi—who was waiting nearby—bowed her head deeply. “Preparations for the ceremony have concluded.”
“I guess Wallace did his job well, then.”
“Yes.”
Hearing his name, Wallace appeared from the crowd. He must’ve been waiting for my return along with everyone else. He came over to us looking as though he was satisfied with a big job well done. “When you told me to keep planning the wedding you were supposed to cancel, I thought you were just being a huge jerk! It was a real pain to start everything back up again, you know!”
Wallace looked a little tired as he needled me. This wasn’t any simple wedding, it was a noble affair, so putting it all together must’ve been exhausting.
“That’s your specialty, isn’t it?” I replied. “You’ve got to do something useful once in a while. I’ll make sure you’re well compensated.”
Wallace did look happy at that, but quickly frowned again. “I heard that you cut ties with Cleo. I can’t understand how he thinks at all.”
“We’ll talk about that later.”
Once I implied that I didn’t want to discuss politics here, Wallace backed off. He was replaced by a crying Brian—crying even more than usual, that is.
“Master Liam! I’m so glad to see you return home safely…and I’m so proud that you ensured that, in your absence, the ceremony would still be arranged! Despite all the things you say, you really do care for Lady Rosetta, don’t you? I feel pathetic for having worried so much about you seriously abandoning your planned marriage…”
Brian had dropped a bomb on everyone assembled; they all look shocked. I heard various exclamations over how I’d ended the war early for Rosetta’s sake.
Stop it! You’re embarrassing me!
When I remained silent, Wallace grinned. Any suggestion of heroic sacrifice had vanished from his face, and the way he smoothed his hair back with one hand irritated me to no end.
“I’ve prepared a magnificent wedding just for you, Liam! I hope you and Rosetta enjoy it!” He gave me a thumbs-up.
Everyone else around me was still giving me those heartwarming looks. Right before my eyes, the evil lord image I’d worked so hard to foster all these years was crumbling.
I insisted to everyone present that they had it wrong. “It wasn’t for Rosetta—it was for me! Now get everything ready, already!” I shouted.
At that, they all saluted or bowed, responding in unison, “Yes, sir!”
Them all being in sync like that was somehow incredibly irritating. These people were supposed to fear me, but today they were all giving me tender looks.
This simply could not be allowed.