IYAMD 136

IYAMD 136

Jaha enjoyed a few days of pleasant rest. While Gerald was away in the Eastern Continent, the temporary assistant who had filled in for him struggled with his position, which allowed for a more relaxed schedule.

Of course, Jaha wasn’t just relaxing. In the mornings, he lightly practiced, and after lunch, he focused on cultivating his inner energy in Marsilia’s office.

Although Marsilia had set up an office for him, Jaha honestly doubted if it would be of much use.

“Jaha, why are you training here?”

At Serez’s direct question, Jaha smiled faintly.

“We’ve been apart for so long. I just want to stay close for a while. Is that okay?”

Serez muttered with a complicated expression.

“Aren’t there too many eyes watching?”

What’s the big deal? Jaha blinked and stared at him, and Marsilia, who had been reviewing documents, chuckled softly.

“Is it bad for the Emperor and Empress to get along?”

Jaha tilted his head in confusion at Serez’s response. If their relationship was good, wouldn’t that be a good thing? It meant the Emperor could focus entirely on his duties, not his family matters, and his subordinates should be happy about that.

“That’s not it… Doesn’t it diminish your dignity?” Serez murmured.

“Why?”

Jaha was puzzled. How could the Emperor and Empress’s good relationship decrease their dignity? When he questioned it with wide eyes, Marsilia burst out laughing loudly.

“Serez, no matter how much you explain, Jaha won’t understand. And Jaha, you can ignore Serez’s words. I think he’s just been talking more because he’s bored.”

Jaha and Serez exchanged subtle looks before both turned to Marsilia. He shrugged his shoulders slightly before nonchalantly returning to his documents.

Serez let out a long sigh and offered words of consolation to Jaha.

“Don’t take what the Emperor says too personally. You know, people who become Emperor have never seen anyone better than themselves, so they think they’re the best, right? He’s actually quite reasonable compared to others.”

Marsilia squinted and looked up, and Jaha alternated his gaze between the two before letting out a small laugh.

“I could tell from the first time I met him that he had that side.”

Marsilia opened his mouth, looking as though he was about to defend himself.

“Jaha, are you going to join in on this nonsense too?”

“Well, it’s not entirely nonsense.”

“Of course, of course. It’s not like it’s totally unfounded, right?”

Serez chimed in and discreetly stepped back. Jaha chuckled as he watched the door close, and Marsilia set down the papers and rested his chin on his hand.

When Jaha couldn’t hold back his laughter at the sulking expression on Marsilia’s face, the man’s expression finally softened a little.

“Since you’re laughing, I’ll endure it.”

Jaha responded without wiping the smile off his face.

“From now on, if you get angry, I’ll just laugh.”

“I’m not fully calm yet.”

“Then what should I do?”

Jaha approached him as he asked, and Marsilia shifted his position to sit more comfortably, tapping his own thigh.

“Calm me down.”

The look on the man’s face was full of mischief. Jaha smiled and approached, sitting on his sturdy thigh and draping his arm over his shoulder. Marsilia tilted his head back.

The man’s face, eyes closed as if asking for a kiss, looked quite mischievous, but there was something irresistibly cheeky and cute about it, so Jaha couldn’t help but give him a light kiss.

After Jaha kissed him, Marsilia finally wrapped his [visit our site]arms around Jaha’s waist. Marsilia leaned against Jaha’s chest and closed his eyes with a languid expression.

“When you’re by my side, I feel like this is happiness.”

His soft voice, whispering quietly, was sweet. Jaha pulled his head closer and gently stroked the soft hair at the back of his neck.

“I want to get a better grasp of things before winter comes. Things are going to get busy, so for now, I want to stay close to you.”

“How’s the new assistant?”

“I still don’t know him well. He always shrinks back whenever he sees me, like a ‘geomeun geobuk.’”(Black turtle)

The temporary assistant had come from the Ministry of Finance. For some reason, his face, already timid, always looked intimidated, and Jaha wasn’t the type to be very affectionate, so he planned to leave him alone for the time being.

Hearing Jaha’s explanation, Marsilia raised his head slightly and asked, “What’s that?”

“Well… It’s like a turtle, but it looks a bit different. It’s darker, almost black, and has no pattern on its shell. It lives in valleys or lakes.”

Marsilia looked around as though imagining what it looked like before burying his head back into Jaha’s chest. Jaha smiled at the man’s actions, which reminded him of a puppy rubbing its nose against him.

“How’s the academy situation going?”

The day after Jaha’s return, he asked Marsilia if commoners could receive knight training. Marsilia spent a long time explaining the differences between nobles and commoners and why commoners couldn’t become knights. When Jaha didn’t understand, Marsilia gave up.

He responded that he would review the matter and seemed to be pondering it in his own way. When asked how it was progressing, a sigh escaped from his lips.

“It seems like it’s being met with a reaction of disbelief.”

As expected. Jaha sighed along with him and asked, “Then, can’t we just have the palace select the candidates directly instead of the academy?”

Marsilia had explained that the nobility was wary of commoners gaining military power. If that was the case, why not create a lower rank than knights and train them? If the issue was that commoners receiving titles was a problem, could new positions, like soldiers or officials who didn’t receive titles, be created instead?

“If we start with the palace, the nobility’s opposition will be overwhelming. So, I’ve been thinking… Since we have to gather new talent for the Mage Tower anyway, how about creating a new academy? Not the Imperial Academy, but a private one that’s sponsored in your name?”

“What’s the difference?”

“It’s just wordplay, really. But it’s probably better than selecting candidates directly from the palace. We could have the merchants start it first, and the Imperial family would only step in later.”

“Will that change the reaction?”

“At first, of course, the nobility will oppose it. It will take some time to persuade them. But if territories that have many monsters agree, it might not be impossible. If they can take people trained in proper knights into their own territories, it would be a situation where they wouldn’t need to do anything themselves.”

“Territories with many monsters?”

“Yes, I plan to give you the Doton Territory. It has many monsters. That’s why the Grand Duke could gather so many private soldiers.”

Jaha paused for a moment, then spoke.

“So, if I become the lord of that territory, I can sponsor the private academy without issue?”

“Yes, it means you can create a reason to do so.”

Jaha frowned and muttered, “Nobles in this country care too much about justification.”

“That’s the same in other countries. It might be different from where you’re from, but the Western Continent has a similar atmosphere.”

It seemed a bit complicated, but if that’s what it took, it didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Let’s do that, then. We’ll discuss it further when Gerald returns.”

“Don’t give too much power to the Sonnet family. It’s better to just introduce the merchants.”

“Why’s that?”

“The Sonnet family is a new noble who earned their title by making money. Even though it’s from several generations ago, to the traditional nobles, they’re no different from other merchants.”

Hmm. Jaha nodded, recalling the atmosphere at the tea party Gerald had once arranged in Jaha’s name. Come to think of it, other nobles had treated Gerald like he barely existed.

Despite being the future empress’s assistant, no one had spoken to or shown interest in Gerald. It seemed like they were dividing themselves by rank.

“I think I understand what you’re saying.”

Though, that didn’t mean he would follow it all.

Jaha still believed the nobility’s authority was too strong. Even with the Emperor in front of them, they would casually gossip behind his back—it was all because their power was too strong.

Jaha didn’t know much about the Empire yet, so he was just observing, but he didn’t intend to remain passive forever.

He wanted to strengthen his partner’s power. Furthermore, he wanted to make this place a better place for their future children. To do that, he thought the most urgent task was to break the nobles’ pride.

For that, it would be better to understand more about this country. Behavior that wouldn’t give the nobles any excuse to attack him would also be crucial.

“Starting next month, please assign me a teacher to learn etiquette again. They say nobles learn the history of the Empire from a young age, right? I think I should learn that too.”

At Jaha’s sudden statement, Marsilia looked surprised and asked, “Why the sudden motivation?”

Jaha pressed his lips silently to the man’s forehead, who wore a puzzled expression, and smiled quietly.

“Because I want to protect my family.”

Marsilia looked even more puzzled at Jaha’s response. Without offering any further explanation, Jaha lifted his chin and kissed him.

As the kiss deepened, Marsilia closed his eyes and let out a soft moan. Jaha held the face of his most precious person as if cradling it, resting his cheek on the top of his head.

The scent of the man, rich and sweet, lingered in his perfectly slicked hair. It was a sensual, heavy, and sweet fragrance.