Chapter 2

The day when the Emperor is embraced by Pluto, the Lemurian Empire will be a sea of blood!

The princes and the princesses were waiting only for the moment to stab each other and take down the crown of glory.

Only one, except for Caesar, the youngest prince.

“Because you don’t have to be a dog to die. “

It’s not just a sense of qualification. It was a fight with no possibility. Titus taught that there was no such thing as an honorable death, and Caesar truly agreed.

And above all, Caesar himself did not want the title of Emperor.

Caesar is also a member of the Lemurian Imperial family who is said to be greedy enough to find no analogue in history, and the rich and devil films that accompany that golden crown were not uncoveted. Wealth and power reached a touch of temptation even for an eight-year-old-boy.

There was nothing more precious to Caesar than life. Caesar swallowed up a desire that did not suit a child his age, and people turned their backs on him to get a more promising hands.

Sometimes he is safe because he is weak and insignificant. The more Caesar pressed himself, the more life was guaranteed.

And that’w hat most people want. This meant, in other words, that there were only a few people who wanted Caesar to be.

He thought that the smallest possibility was like nothing. Also, young enough to not even know how to cope with these things.

But it was also very natural.

“…… ….. .”

He felt the air tense in the distance. It was the sound of pulling a bow. At the same time, something blew through the wind and struck under my feet. It was an arrow with a black feather.

“…… …… !”

When he saw an arrow firmly inserted into the floor as if it had been hammered through thickly piled leaved, he realized it.

Death was on the verge of coming. It was creepy along the back. Caesar was only eight years old. No, he would say that an 8-year-old child is too dark and just standing with two feet on the spot is great. Caesar even struggled to find the best number in this situation.

The last child in the Lemurian Empire took his breath to calm his beating heart. He looked at the horrible arrow and guessed which direction it came from.

‘Back right….. …. .’

It is the direction of the village. First, he have to go over the mountain to the Imperial Palace….. .. .

“Cya….. ….. kk!”

“…. ….. !”

It was then. The sound of a beast barking was heard nearby. Caesar, nervously, turned to the place where the sound had been heard.

There was a small fox lying right to the arrow. A very pretty fox, with its red fur shimmering and sparkling with amber eyes.

“Ha… …. .”

He was surprised, a trembling sigh flowed from Caesar’s mouth. It seemed that he was much more nervous than he thought. It’s only a fox, and it’s also a surprise that it’s a fox.

There aren’t even one or two foxes on the Mount Rioni. Caesar immediately recognized the fox.

It would be like that, even though it was a child, it came to him without knowing that it was scared of people and wags his tails. Even though it was surprised by the flying arrows, it did not run away evn though he was trembling.

‘You guy, were you very hungry?’

Mount Rioni is a hunting ground for the royal family. The common red fox that can be seen on the roadside was never a game that appealed to the owner’s taste. even if the red fox was near, the imperial people didn’t want to take the trouble of catching it, so they just passed by.

Was that so? This little fox didn’t scare anyone.

Caesar often followed his brothers and sisters to the hunting grounds, but he was still young, so he could not hold the bow. That day, he was sitting in the barracks and spending time freely. A fox wandering around came into his eyes.

It seemed to be aiming for the food that people left behind. Still, shooting among armed humans without fear.Of course, nobody jumped when they saw this little fox.

He was just bored. Caesar threw some grapes next to him. The fox, which was sharper than expected, jumped up and ate the grapes skillfully. It was amazing how it jumped as high as his height, so Caesar threw some strawberries.

The fox, who had eaten all the strawberries, whine as if thankful, and disappeared to the place where it came from.

It was just a whim. Today, whether to eat white or brown bread for breakfast, it is a whim. But since then, the fox has always chased after Caesar when he came to the Mount. And Caesar sometimes the fox food to eat.

But….

“Fox, today….”

He had nothing to eat today, so he was about to go back and say that. The fox suddenly showed teeth and growled.

“Look … … , Kyaang, KK!”

In a fierce appearance he had never seen before, Caesar stopped there. then an arrow flew in.

“…. … . “

The arrow got stuck exactly where he was going to step on. Had the fox not roared, he might have been hit by an arrow. No, he must have been right on him.

“Keep,Kke!”

The fox began to bark again. As if looking at Caesar standing there as if frozen. the barking was also sharp and urgent, as he had never heard of it before.

Was he instinctively aware that he was in a dangerous situation? This fox might be a lot smarter than he thought.

caesar regained his mind and moved forward again. At the same time, arrows began flying from afar. Caesar somehow moved his limbs, hearing the terrifying sound of the wind as if the air was torn;

It was then. His hair stood on top. He had a very ominous feeling. Caesar turned around, unable to suppress his anxiety.

He could see the arrow flying right at his heart. It couldn’t have been seen, but at the moment felt that way.

“Cat!”

But the scream came not from Caesar’s mouth, but from the fox’s mouth. The fox, who had jumped high into the air, rolled over the fallen leaved. An arrow with a black feather was embedded in the back of the poor fox.

***

How he returned to the Imperial Palace after that, Caesar does not remember well. It seems that he ran without hesitation while holding the fox in his arms. No matter how small Mount Rioni is, it’s not a slick mountain that you can run and cross as soon as you become an 8-year-old.

Maybe it was luck, Titus said so.

“Do you mean that the fox was struck by an arrow instead of the prince?”

However, the two interpretations were different about the fox’s intention.

“Beast and humans are as different as gods and humans.Intelligence is also intelligence, but the dimension of consciousness is different. The beast does not know how to repay the favor.”

“But Master didn’t say that dogs would save their owners from crisis and die instead.”

“A dog considers the person he raised to be the head of the group. And he sees it as his role to protect the boss.”

“I will call it a sacrifice. If you know how to make sacrifices, you know how to thank you.”

“But the fox cannot stop the flying arrows. That is the truth.”

“This fox is dying instead of me. That is the truth.”

“…. …. .”

“But what’s the point of having a discussion like this? It is only this fox that knows the truth, and even that, he will soon die.”

“…. …. Prince.”

He knew now. Why did Titus persistently insisted on coincidence? At the time, Caesar lost his cool and did not know what face Titus did looking at the fox. Maybe Titus was looking very disappointed.

He gave affection to a beast that could not communicate with and had a compassionate heart. What a foolish thing to do!

The emperor must be strong. He need to be able to shake his hand without hesitation, knowing that many people will die at once. He must clearly recognize his heavy responsibility and endure it, but have no regrets for his actions.

Titus decided that Caesar could be the only one of the fourteen children of the emperor. So he wanted Caesar to become the next emperor. He was on the lookout for Caesar’s feelings of weakness.

Caesar was used to be alone. Of course, he had never been embraced by his nanny, and the teachers taught Caesar not to expect affection from anyone. Caesar knew very well that nobody around him would him a small piece of bread for no cost from dying from hunger.

But the fox that was hit by the arrow was dying because for him. The heat boiled all over his body, and he couldn’t wake up, his eyes were closed. His breathing was terribly steep, but he barely felt a pulse. The doctor speculated that the arrowheads were poisoned, and Caesar agreed.

“I hope you don’t die, fox.”

Caesar whispered into the fox’s ear, breathing hard.

“When you open your eyes, I’ll give you the largest room in my palace. I will make you eat delicious grapes every day.”

He was serious. Caesar believed that this fox would have blocked the arrow to save him.

The arrow struck by the fox had a different feeling from the time it flew. Caesar smelled intense death before the arrow could even escape the protest. Knowing instinctively that it was inevitable, he looked back.

“At that time, you must have been looking at the same place.”

“Wow? (Yeah?”

Esther tilted her head at Caesar’s murmur. Caesar smiled as he saw Esther.

“Would you like to go the palace with me, Esther?”