“So, like, someone in the front row said that Crow brazenly took Her Majesty and—”
“Whaaat?! You’re kidding! Holy crap, that guy’s something else!”
The voices of the crowd behind the thin cloth of the curtains were really grating on the emperor’s ears.
“Oh, shut up already,” Zilsonia muttered, sighing. This was why he didn’t like attending public events.
The public commendation ceremony had been set up parade-style, with Crow Titus slowly making his way toward the central square of the imperial capital. There, the emperor sat under a tent, awaiting the young man at the end of the red carpet.
Zilsonia chuckled. “Hurry now, little hero. I’ll sing your praises all you want today,” he murmured, grinning wickedly as he twirled his golden scepter between his fingers.
Yes, today he would shower the filthy commoner with all kinds of praise. He would be generous. He would smile. He would excuse any and all rudeness, no matter how much he hated it. And he would do it all with a friendly smile.
And then the next chance he got, when Crow Titus’s guard was down...
“I’ll melt you down with my scepter’s power, just like I did to that useless minister!” he said, laughing as he fantasized about the moment the thorn would finally be plucked from his side.
Before long, the time of his encounter with his greatest enemy arrived. From beyond the thin curtains, the shadow of a man approached. Cheers echoed around him as the people gathered around the square grew excited.
Monkeys, all of them, thought the emperor.
“Oh man, oh man!” someone exclaimed. “It’s the legendary Crow!”
“Wow! I was curious what kinda hero the Dragonslayer was, but this is even better than I imagined!”
“Shit, man, I’ve never been so glad to have paid my taxes! This is the best use of public funds I’ve ever seen!”
Zilsonia found their enthusiastic prattle irritating. He’d heard Crow Titus was a handsome man, but this amount of fuss was ridiculous.
“Hmph! How far the citizens of the capital have fallen,” he muttered. Maybe he’d implement policies to favor the elite once this all blew over, and eliminate every last commoner who’d ever annoyed him.
Starting, of course, with one man in particular.
“Time to get a good look at your face, you worthless insect!” he declared, standing up from his chair. Normally, getting up for a commoner would have been awful, but not today. Today was special.
Putting on his best false smile, the emperor emerged, taking center stage.
“Hail, Crow the Dragonslayer! I bid you welcome!” he boldly declared, shifting his gaze to look directly at the young man. It was time for their showdown—
—which ended as soon as he realized what he was looking at.
“Oh. Oh, darling... ♡ I’m having trouble staying on my feet. My legs are so weak... ♡” Eldia cooed.
“I see. Then I shall continue to hold you as I speak to the emperor,” Crow said. Wow, she must be feeling really sick.
It was an astonishing spectacle indeed.
Beyond the curtain stood Crow Titus. And cradled in his arms, with hearts in her eyes, was the emperor’s mother, Eldia.
“Wh-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” The emperor gave a strange shriek before dropping to his knees.
He felt as if he’d been punched in the brain, his consciousness quickly devolving into a blurry mess.
Alas, the outcome of their showdown had been set in stone.
The man who had taken the lives of so many peasants was served the ultimate revenge as a commoner NTRed his mother.
As fate would have it, however, he was not defeated. Not yet.
“Watch out!”
As Zilsonia began to fall over, his consciousness fading, he felt an arm supporting his back. The strong, warm grip reminded him of his father.
“Oh, father,” he murmured for the first time in decades, as he opened his eyes.
“Your Majesty, are you all right? Oh, my apologies, I should call you Zilsonia, shouldn’t I?”
Before the emperor stood the loathsome Crow Titus, looking down at him at an extremely close range. The empress dowager was still in the young man’s arms.
And that was the moment Zilsonia noticed it—on the fourth finger of Crow’s left hand was the royal family’s ring.
“Now then, Zilsonia. I will scold you in place of your father,” Crow announced, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The royal retainers, lined up by the tent, were similarly stunned by the young man’s words and the treasure adorning his finger alike.
That could only mean one thing.
As if to confirm this, Eldia smiled at her dumbfounded son, saying, “Now, now, Zil. Let your new father scold you! ♡”
Thus did the emperor come to know that Crow had burrowed his way into the royal family.
“Wh-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”