The Age Of Arrogance

“Did you call for me?”

 

“You came. I thought it would be nice to see our portrait together since it’s finished.”

 

“I don’t have much artistic insight.”

 

“I know. But if you have eyes, you should be able to tell if you like it or not.”

 

Asha seemed to want to run away somehow, but Carlyle grabbed her wrist and made her sit next to him.

 

She could have resisted with all her might if she wanted to, but Asha sat down helplessly.

 

Even that looked cute.

 

As they sat down, Fabian opened his mouth with a cough.

 

“Ahem! As I told His Highness Carlyle, the original contract was to create two of the same painting.”

 

“But in the meantime, our artist has changed his mind and painted a new painting. Let’s see it soon.”

 

Fabian, who had his words cut off by Carlyle, awkwardly stroked the back of his head and approached the easel.

 

Two canvases, much larger than the easel, were covered with white cloth.

 

“First…… This is the first painting I painted.”

 

As he pulled the cloth, a painting of Carlyle and Asha, dressed in fancy clothes, posing very aristocratically, appeared.

 

Asha craned her neck like a turtle, surprised that Fabian saw her that way.

 

Asha, sitting on the couch in a beautiful and luxurious dress and wearing fancy jewelry, was lightly resting her hand on the back of Carlyle’s hand, which was on her shoulder.

 

At the time of the sketch, she must have had an awkward and uncomfortable expression on her face because she was in an awkward position, but in the painting Fabian drew, she was a dignified woman who seemed to look down on everything in the world. She was even more beautifully drawn than she actually was.

 

‘Isn’t this almost a scam?’

 

A portrait of a royal couple is like a historical document. If so, this is distorting history.

 

However, Carlyle had a different thought.

 

“It’s pretty good, isn’t it?”

 

Asha was surprised again and turned her head at Carlyle’s words next to her.

 

He was stroking his chin and he really looked satisfied. There seemed to be no intention to be sarcastic at all.

 

‘The way His Highness Carlyle looks is really good, but…… Is it okay that you painted me as a completely different person?’

 

Well, anyway, she’s not the real wife anyway, and she’s the first wife with many flaws, so it’s okay to exaggerate her a bit to save Carlyle’s face.

 

Asha thought of another excuse to convince herself and nodded along with Carlyle.

 

“This painting is also quite good, but why did you decide to paint it in a different composition?”

 

“Well, the greed of a painter…… I guess that’s it. If you don’t like it, I’ll paint another one like this one.”

 

Fabian pulled off the cloth covering the remaining easel, revealing a painting that seemed to have been drawn by someone possessed.

 

At that moment, not only Carlyle and Asha, but also Lionel, who was looking at the painting with them, gasped.

 

“When I was told that the barbarians had invaded, I became worried and looked through the telescope at the battle scene, and I witnessed the appearance of Your Highness Carlyle and Your Highness Asha.”

 

Fabian recalled that unforgettable moment.

 

In the middle of the battlefield, where it seemed like a magnificent and tragic orchestra was playing, he saw the scene of the war god Aguiles and the god of death Himero slaughtering the barbarians together.

 

“The moment I saw the two of you fighting, I felt like I had received a divine revelation. I knew that the result would be quite different from what I was commissioned to do, but I couldn’t help but draw it.”

 

The two people who did not back down even as endless barbarians rushed in and swung their swords seemed like two souls that had split in two to be united.

 

Blood and flesh splattered, the stench filled the air, and screams and the sound of swords clashing seemed to be heard, but unlike the previous portrait, which felt like a still life with no breath, this one felt full of vitality.

 

“Well, it’s definitely different from a typical couple portrait.”

 

Lionel looked at Carlyle with an absurd expression at the mere expression “a bit different.”

 

However, Asha’s evaluation was even more lukewarm.

 

“Anyway… it’s a picture of the two of us together.”

 

In fact, Asha thought this painting was better.

 

The ‘princess’ in the previous portrait was elegant, beautiful, and majestic, but that was why it didn’t feel like her.

 

However, the slaughterer depicted in this painting was ‘Asha Pervaz.’ She was a warrior who would wield her sword until she was soaked in blood to protect Pervaz, not a noble lady at all.

 

‘But you can’t send that to the palace.’

 

It was obvious.

 

No matter how the painting was headed straight to the Imperial Archives as soon as it arrived at the palace, it should at least not have any corners that could be picked on by the emperor or empress.

 

However, after looking at the two paintings for a while, Carlyle smiled and pointed to the second painting, as if he had an idea.

 

“Let’s make two of that one. Send one to the palace, and hang one in this castle like the painting in front of me.”

 

“Yes?”

 

Lionel asked before Asha.

 

“Your Highness! What did you just say?”

 

“I’m tired of you pretending not to hear when you’ve heard it all, Rio.”

 

“Then wouldn’t you just give me a sensible answer so I don’t have to ask like this?”

 

“I don’t want to. What you call common sense is boring and dull.”

 

Lionel placed his hand on his forehead.

 

“Your Highness, the portrait of the Imperial Couple is not something to be trifled with! It is a painting that will remain for the rest of your life, no, for as long as this empire stands!”

 

“That’s why it’s even better.”

 

Carlyle crossed his legs and tilted his chin, smiling in a playful manner.

 

“Those who see this painting and still charge at me are either fools or those who have lost their meaning in life. Thinking that way, I can kill them with a clear conscience.”

 

His voice was chilling, yet his demeanor was light as air.

 

So Fabian, thinking it was a joke, laughed along with Carlyle. Lionel and Asha didn’t laugh though.

 

“Anyway, this is too unconventional. Let’s send the previous painting to the Imperial Palace and hang the second one only in the Pervez…”

 

“I’m not joking, Lionel. Send that one to the Imperial Palace. Oh, I’ll write the letter to accompany that painting myself.”

 

Lionel thought about trying to cut ties with Carlyle right now.

 

However, there was no way Carlyle would let him go quietly, and there was no way for Lionel to live the rest of his life comfortably without the string called Carlyle.

 

Lionel sighed heavily and tried to calm his boiling heart.

 

“What else are you going to write to turn His Majesty’s heart upside down? We’ve just managed to appease His Majesty, and now you’re going to overturn it all?”

 

“In all human relationships, ‘push and pull’ is important. He must have enjoyed the feeling of superiority for a while, longing for his good-for-nothing son, so now it’s time to tighten the leash.”

 

Although he had endured the humiliation in Zyro and improved his relationship with the Emperor, he had almost squeezed out all the benefits he could from that relationship.

 

And in fact, he had more of an intention to show this painting to the Empress than the Emperor.

 

“Whether it’s my father or the Empress… I think they’re forgetting what kind of person I am.”

 

Carlyle stood up abruptly and walked over to the painting that depicted the middle of a battlefield.

 

He said he felt like he had received a divine revelation, but there was no sense of burden that he should depict the royalty beautifully.

 

The muscles twisted to the limit and the eyes full of murderous intent seemed to make the viewer cower.

 

That’s why he liked it.

 

“You like this painting too, don’t you?”

 

Carlyle was even dragging Asha into this.

 

“Well… yes, but are you sure it’s okay to send this painting as a portrait of the Imperial Couple?”

 

“What’s wrong with it? There have been royalty who have had their portraits painted covered in jewels. This one has more artistic value than that.”

 

In the end, Lionel couldn’t break Carlyle’s stubbornness.

 

Fabian decided to paint a second painting, and Carlyle agreed to pay for the previous painting as well.

 

Lionel was the only one who left the room unsatisfied.

 

***

 

“Gyaaaah!”

 

With a roar like a monster, the enemy soldiers around him were scattered and blood splattered in the air.

 

“St, stop him! Stop that bastard!”

 

General Ipartak of the Kingdom of Kelob pointed at the knight who had just defeated the three soldiers who had rushed at him at once, his neck veins pulsing.

 

However, no one dared to follow the general’s orders, as the knight’s power wielding his greatsword as if the pyramid-like soldiers were nothing.

 

“How dare you look down on the Empire, you savages!”

 

Ipartak turned his horse’s head in a hurry, pale with fear at the sight of the knight charging at him alone, leaving his dead horse behind.

 

He didn’t know how many men had died under the knight’s greatsword.

 

Ipartak had not expected to be defeated so easily in a battle he had already won.

 

His horse stumbled between the bodies scattered all over the place, but he couldn’t get up to speed, and in the meantime, the demonic knight charged towards his last target with a glare in his eyes.

 

“Y, you bastard! Die!”

 

Ipartak swung his sword, believing that he had the advantage on horseback.

 

However, the knight of the Chad Empire, who seemed to have surpassed human limits, bravely clashed swords and immediately stabbed the enemy leader again.

 

“Kugh!”

 

The speed of the knight in his armor was incredible.

 

As a result, Ipartak was stabbed in the armpit and fell from his horse.

 

The knight did not miss the opportunity.

 

“If you have any soul left, fly to your king and tell him! Never look down on the great Chad Empire again!”

 

With that, the knight without hesitation slit Ipartak’s throat.