I'm the Bad Guy by Kenneth Arant

Author:Kenneth Arant [Arant, Kenneth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-28T04:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 10: The night before departure

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I stepped to the side to allow the group of servants carrying a massive twenty-foot long wooden table down the hallway, and not for the first time today, I felt myself sigh tiredly. The Emperor decided to throw a last-minute feast, inviting all the nobles and the children that were leaving to board the train to the imperial academy tomorrow morning at eight.

Publicly, this was so the princess could meet the kids who would be her classmates for the foreseeable future and to make some friends in the process... In reality, this was to give her an opportunity to network and 'mingle' with future commanders, ambassadors, and head of houses before they boarded the train and alliances were formed. If she didn't pull ahead now, then the empire could lose them to our ally the Tileas kingdom, who also sent their nobles to the imperial academy.

Tileas may have the largest militaries on the known continent, but Ziral's mages were vastly superior in both power and knowledge. Which tended to even out the playing field, if not push it in our favor... Most of the time. However, in the last few years, it was decided that Tileas could send their nobles to train at our academy so long as they continued to reinforce our numbers in the seemingly eternal conflict with the Sukon mountains at our rear. Most accepted the offer, though some didn't. And as the emperor said, "I'd rather have their future leaders close so I can keep an eye on them and know their abilities, rather than hidden in the shadows like a dagger waiting to be plunged into my back."

...

The emperor was a paranoid man.

However, none of that was the true reason I was sighing... No... I was sighing because my parents had decided to see me off. I guess after not seeing me for two months, they remembered they actually had a son.

...

I'm not bitter, nope, not one bit.

I stepped into my room, locking the door behind me as I did. And proceeded to strip off my 'work' clothes, which consisted of a filthy white T-shirt, loose black trousers, and a pair of thin black shoes, so I could take a bath in the next room and try to become 'presentable' to the nobles and my parents.

I thought it was a wasted effort, but the princess, and by extension the emperor, insisted on it so I had to at least try.

...

The key word there is 'try', by the way... I never specified how much effort I would put into succeeding.

I stepped out of the oversized steel tub, wrapped the fluffy white towel around my waist, then left the steam filled bathroom.

I heard the knob on my door start to wiggle as I walked over to my wardrobe to select my outfit for such a special occasion.

"Who is it?"

"It's us, son."

A chill raced down my spine and butterflies filled my stomach as I stared at the door in shock.

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