The arabesques carved in gold glittered on the marble columns, and the floor was spotless and glowed like glass. No matter how you look at it, this room is exquisitely like a palace.

No, maybe it is.

Carlil stared blankly at a mirror in front of him, the person in the mirror had a handsome face, but the excessive paleness and gloom ruined everything.

If you see him with your own eyes, you won't think he's handsome, you'll just think he's eerie and scary.

Illuminated by the soft light around him, he resembles a ghost. And his expressionless face brings a subtle boredom, and if you look closely, you can see the disgust hidden in the details.

+ You don't seem to like the room I arranged. +

A voice rang out, and it didn't appear in the air, but in Carlil's heart.

Psionic energy.

It's a power of convenience.

+ Don't tell me you like it. +

+ I have to design everything in this style. In a sense, this ship represents the status of the emperor as a symbol. It can just be a ship, but, for the most part, it's not. +

+ Politically significant considerations? +

+ If I want to be emperor, I must do so. +

+ Does your 'must be so' list also include the use of psionic energy to talk to me? +

+ Yes. +

+ When does the dinner start? +

+ Forty minutes later. Be prepared as soon as possible, one of my sons will probably ask you many questions at the dinner. +

+ I can not answer. +

+ I likewise wish you could not answer or even attend this dinner, but you and I both know that this is impossible. +

Karil Lohals closed his eyes and sighed deeply. The sound in my ears was gone, and little by little it faded and disappeared, but the echo remained.

It was the first time he had used psionic energy to have a conversation, and it felt strange, but Carlil didn't like it.

He didn't ask the Wraith if he would attend the dinner, and he knew the answer.

And since the Wraith participated—no, since Conrad Coetzes participated, he had to participate.

Nothing else, just political significance.

When he saw the religious decorations of the ship and the worship of the 'emperor' along the way, Carlil understood a lot.

However, it is only understood.

"Dinner." He muttered to himself, still looking in the mirror. "I'm going to a dinner party."

At this, he smiled. Not for anything else, just because he suddenly realized the identity of Karil Lohals.

A son of a nobleman, is there anything wrong with attending a banquet? At most, it's just that the nature of this banquet is a little special.

An emperor who is recovering the lost land of humanity in the galaxy brings his demigod son to a banquet......

Presumably, the dishes will be hearty.

There will even be people on the side to record what all of them have said, what they have eaten, and how to draw the scene......

Just, can I still eat normal food?

With a sigh, he stood up. There was a special changing area in the large room, and no one explained this to him, as if the 'Emperor' had told him not to need a common sense introduction.

He really didn't need to.

He didn't even want this room.

Grimacingly, Carlil walked into the changing area, a long hallway with a dark carpet on the floor.

The ceiling is a mirror, and at the end there is a large mirror. On the right-hand side is a small dark wood-grain door, which is opened.

Inside, there is a splendid shower room, with a large tub for soaking and a shower head hidden from the ceiling.

There is a strange scent of smoke that spreads from within, and they come from some of the white boxes placed on the walls, which reflect a white jade-like light. Thirty towels were hung on a gold hanging table, waiting softly.

The corridors were lined with men's clothing of different sizes, ranging from dark robes embroidered with gold threads to tight tops with lace sleeves, and even dozens of styles of boots.

Staying at the door, Carlil didn't walk in immediately. He surveyed the place and took another deep breath. After that, he walked into it with a blank face.

The sound of the bath soon sounded and ended quickly.

-----------------

"Trust me, Conrad, the dinner was a sumptuous one."

“...... How hearty? Conrad Coetzes asked, confused.

Fogham couldn't help but smile, and he spread his hands out and made an exaggerated gesture—something that was unusual.

"Very hearty."

He whispered. "I've eaten more than a hundred kinds of dishes alone, and today is the day of your return, and my father should have those venerable chefs prepare more. Tonight, you're ready to enjoy. ”

"Enjoy?"

"yes...... Look how skinny you are. ”

Leaning against the door of the fitting room, Vogrim sighed inevitably: "My brother, this is the smallest size of clothing I can find, but it still looks wide on you. ”

"Isn't it good to be lenient?" Coetzes asked.

He stood in front of a fitting mirror with a double-headed eagle carving, dressed in a loose black robe with a pendant from Vogrim on his chest. The black hair was brushed back, and a peculiar aroma was spreading through his nasal cavity.

He didn't really like the taste.

"Clothes that are too loose will look frivolous and spiritless – and most importantly, they will be out of order, Conrad. Didn't he teach you? ”

“......”

"Conrad?"

“...... Do you need etiquette to eat? ”

"Of course." Fogrem nodded. "If you indulge yourself and eat and drink, you may lose more things as well as your manners."

But I'd rather wear loose clothes and squat in the corner and eat the cream.

Staring at the mirror, the ghost thought.

Loose clothes can hide more weapons, and Carlil likes to wear clothes with wide and long sleeves so that others can't see his knife.

It is necessary to hide weapons. The ghost said to himself in a Karil voice.

He didn't like the man in the mirror, not at all.

The people in the mirror are like gods under the decoration of clothes, and the dark agate-like eyes make this sense of alienation even stronger than before.

The ghost had not seen himself unseen, occasionally seeing his reflection in the glass as he climbed buildings and spires in the cold wind. Sometimes, I can see my face in the cloudy mirror formed by the acid rain.

That face was his first understanding of what he looked like. And now this one......

He didn't like the change, and he didn't like it here.

The ghost never imagined that he would miss that dark corner.

"Conrad? You okay? ”

Fogham's voice came from far away from the other end of the hallway, with obvious concern, not fake, genuine. This emotion, which originates purely from the bloodline, is beyond the reach of the ghost.

He remembered the names of each of them.

Roger Dorn, Fogham, Ferus Manus, Lorga Aurelian.

And they called him by the name Conrad Coetze.

I'd rather be called a Midnight Ghost. He thought. The man you call Father hasn't even spoken a word to me.

“...... I'm fine. The ghost replied in a voice belonging to Conrad Coetzes. Does Carlil attend dinner? ”

"Of course he will! Oh my God, brother, do you think we're going to be so rude as not to allow him to participate? He's—"

Fogrem stopped talking and shook his head, his expression apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Conrad." He said softly.

“...... Why apologize? ”

"What?"

"Why do you apologize, Fogen?"

Conrad Coetzes repeated, turning around, his lips pursed tightly: "You've been good enough for me, why do you apologize?" Other people who meet for the first time will only replace greetings with swear and bullets, why should you apologize? ”

"I-"

Fogrem froze.

"—don't apologize, I know the reason, but please don't apologize."

Conrad Coetzes said calmly. "If you don't let Carlil attend, he won't mind, and neither will I. But I'm not going to participate either. ”

"Of course we'll let him go — no, no, of course we'll ask him to!"

For the first time since they had resolved to pursue the glory sowed by their father, the Chemus people were so flustered.

He couldn't understand why his brother would say something like not going to dinner when everything was normal, though he soon realized that the problem was his own wording, but ......

"What is said unintentionally is often what is true."

Konrad Coetzes said. "Mr. Fogrem, I actually know that you look down on him."

"I didn't say that, Emperor, Conrad!"

"The details tell the truth."

Conrad Coetzes replied calmly. "To you, Karil Lohals is just an insignificant mortal. I know. ”

"So, even if he raised me, it was just his luck. Even if he protected me in Nostramo, it was just a coincidence. I appreciate your love, but I don't think I deserve something as heavy as this. ”

"Brother!" The Chemos stood there with a pale face. "Please, don't do that."

"I must, Carlil said, that if there is a grievance, it should be raised as soon as possible, rather than let it take root in each other's hearts and become a bloody barb. So, don't apologize, Mr. Fogream. ”

He was silent for a moment.

"I know you see me as a brother, but have you ever wondered if I would like to be your brother? The man you think of as a father—he hasn't spoken a word to me. ”

"And Carlil......"

His language was shattered, and he seemed a little out of logic, as if he were ...... Finally like a one-and-a-half-year-old child.

"You look down on him."

The wraith pursed its lips, its eyes widened, and its voice trembled.

"You apologize only because you accidentally said what you really thought, because you didn't want to hurt my feelings. Mr. Fogreme, you apologize, not because you are genuinely sorry for your words. ”

Fogrem was finally speechless.

His lips trembled, his noble countenance weakened by his pale complexion, and his eyes were full of sorrow and shame—the sorrow that came from seeing Conrad Coetzes tremble and tell the truth, and shame from the truth he spoke.

Silent.

Unrivalled silence.

"But I'll be at the banquet." Wraith said. "I don't want to break your hearts."