The appearance of the Sword Duke, whom I hurriedly sought out, was far from good.
I had sensed something around the time I met the emperor. A faint worry and anguish were visible on the old man’s face.
Of course, at first, it wasn’t something I paid much attention to.
Right then, the pinnacle of the empire had personally come out to greet a mere knight. At that point, I had nearly had a heart attack.
It didn’t even take an instant for my knees to hit the ground.
“Ian of House Percus greets His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Enough, enough.”
However, even to my utmost courtesy, the emperor merely waved his hand. The faint boredom in his eyes revealed his true feelings.
“There’s no need to be so formal when no one else is watching. We’ll be seeing each other often in the future, so do you plan to kneel and express your awe every time?”
“But…….”
“Think of me as the neighborhood uncle. If I hadn’t been born with dragon blood, I would have lived such a life too.”
It seemed sincere.
Even so, I couldn’t casually stand up and merely…