Chapter 640: Just a Look
It was a tragic moment for the little system that had prepared for this very situation.
Thousands of materials in different languages, only to be caught unprepared and unable to respond because all the careful steps and scenarios it had stockpiled had been ripped apart like cheap paper.
The Host was similarly malfunctioning. His temperature had spiked, his golden eyes wide and glassy, and his ears were practically steaming.
So, as his most trusted system, what exactly was D-29 supposed to advise at a time like this?
"No need to really say anything. Her Imperial Majesty seems to have drawn a favorable conclusion," Sid finally explained, calm as always.
"Favorable? How is it favorable when the Host was not offered anything?"
"That’s because in all your research materials, there had always been resistance first, only for the people to end up together anyway."
Sid’s tone was maddeningly reasonable. "In this case, there had really been no need to prepare for resistance when the Imperial family had been looking forward to the Little Master’s arrival."
"Huh? But then what about—"
"He would get everything." Sid cut in before the little system’s processor could start sparking from overuse. Anyway, he had a good sense of what D-29 was about to say.
"!!!"
"Everything? But what is everything?"
"The Empire of Solaris," Sid said without hesitation. "Because knowing the Master, what was his would likely become the Little Master’s."
D-29 took a moment. Calculations flickered across its circuits at lightning speed. By the time Sid finished speaking, the results were conclusive.
The Host would be rich.
Extremely filthy rich.
The thigh that was being hugged was not just a golden thigh. It was the golden thigh.
Sid could already see where this was going, so he decided to get ahead of it. "Now that you know, it’s important to remember that others will also want to serve the one who owns everything. The competition is cutthroat."
"!!!"
"Is that why you train so hard?" D-29 asked, horrified.
Sid didn’t bother to answer. He didn’t have to. The little system had already concluded as much and was begrudgingly envisioning the terrifying possibility of being demoted.
Obviously, such a fate could not be allowed.
But instead of training harder as Sid clearly intended, D-29 decided on an alternate course of action: it would start checking the status of all other systems.
After all, who would need a competition if there were no competitors? At the very least, as a measure of security, the little system should really make sure to sabotage—er, monitor the competition!
"..."
Hopeless.
This was just hopeless.
So Sid, the long-suffering guardian mecha, simply chose to double his own training for compensation as the others in the room began to recover from the Empress’s direct words.
Emperor Xavian privately thought, as usual, that his wife was really one to think on her toes. She clearly understood how necessary it was for Luca to have a favorable position in their family.
But the Empress thought it wasn’t exactly a tactic.
It was simply her conclusion after weighing Xavier’s priorities and what she’d gathered after observing and speaking with Luca. She had realized it was best to be as direct as possible.
Contrary to what she had been taught all her life about sparring and fighting with words, this was a refreshing change of pace. So she had blurted out her true feelings in the hopes of clearing up her earlier questions.
Unfortunately, when she thought back to it, she cringed.
She had wanted to fish for answers, to know about Luca’s preferences. But if she put herself in his shoes and replayed his reaction earlier, she might have created a disastrous scenario.
What if the golden boy felt unwelcome? Worse, what if he thought there was someone else? She had, after all, mentioned her son’s supposed romantic problems.
But how could they have known that those two were already married?!
Luca, however, was in full-blown panic mode.
Because the Empress had just kowtowed to him.
Kowtowed.
From what he’d learned, monarchs never bowed to anyone. Yet here was the Empress of Solaris lowering herself to him.
"Y-Your Majesty! Please don’t!" he squeaked, scrambling forward in alarm. "You can’t bow like that! Please get up!"
The Empress lifted her head just enough to meet his frantic gaze, her expression soft and apologetic.
"Lord Luca, I must explain. We only wanted to see you and Xavier for ourselves. At first, we tried to wait for our son’s signal. But when the headlines broke and showed us things we could never have imagined, we began to think differently."
Luca froze.
Headlines. Headlines?!
He dared not ask which ones.
The Empress sighed, voice low with genuine regret. "In truth, before those headlines, we had no idea who the great chipmunk was."
Luca’s ears went red. "Wait—what?! You—you know about that?!"
The Empress gave a pitiful little nod, entirely serious. "Yes. That is how we’ve been referring to you as per Nina’s stories."
Luca covered his face with both hands. He wanted to melt into the floor.
The Empress continued, "But then right on cue, as if a blessing in disguise, Marshal Julian came to inform us of the mecha registration. Since that matter was also important, we decided it was the perfect chance to take a look."
She bowed her head again. "Just a look. That was all we wanted. It had been so long. And with something so monumental, it felt wrong to miss it."
But she wasn’t just saying that. She meant it.
She felt a strange sense of unease and melancholy when it seemed like everyone but them had access to their own child. So she had really just wanted a look. Maybe just a chance to be in the same space again, as it had been so long.
In fact, she figured that if not for Nina’s birth, it would have taken longer than usual for them to see each other in person.
But she understood, because she understood more than anyone that Xavier had partly done it for them. Their son had thought more about their welfare, especially after being exposed to contamination.
Such was Xavier, and there was no convincing him otherwise.
But that was also her main reason for wanting to go through such lengths for him.
Because, really, how fortunate had they been to have him as their child?