Chapter 472: 472

As soon as Kael stepped down from the carriage, he noticed the frantic expressions on his knights’ faces. Ahead of them, another group of knights stood in formation, blocking their way with guarded stances. The tension in the air was thick, and even the horses seemed uneasy as they stamped their hooves on the ground. Kael narrowed his eyes and scanned the group without any patience.

Others from the carriage stepped out

"Now who are you shitheads?" Kael barked out coldly.

A deep silence followed his words. No one replied immediately, and the atmosphere grew even heavier.

Seraphina gently tugged at Kael’s sleeve and leaned closer, her voice low but firm.

"Isn’t it rude to greet people like that?" she asked.

"He just doesn’t care," Lyria added calmly, earning herself a sharp glare from Kael. Before he could retort, a massive shadow fell over them, blotting out the sunlight. Everyone instinctively looked up, their eyes widening in shock.

A gigantic figure materialized above them, its form stretching across the sky. Seven enormous serpent heads swayed slowly, their eyes glowing as they radiated crushing pressure. The ground trembled faintly under its presence.

"Holy shit!" Vic screamed, stumbling back as he stared at the seven-headed serpent in horror.

The Black Lion burst out from Kael’s soul space at once, reacting to the threat. It jumped forward and let out a roar, trying to counter the pressure.

"ROARRR!"

Instead of something fearsome, the sound came out like a cute, coy call, closer to a kitten than a king of beasts. Even the massive serpent seemed momentarily confused, one of its heads tilting slightly as if unsure what it had just heard.

Kael covered his face with one hand, completely ashamed, and grabbed the Black Lion by the scruff.

"Stop acting like this. You aren’t scary at all," he muttered through clenched teeth.

Thankfully, Elfie was asleep. Otherwise, this humiliation would never end. Kael lifted his head and stared straight at the serpent, enduring the pressure it released without backing down.

After a moment, he spoke calmly. "Did you finish scaring us? If so, come out."

There was a brief pause. Then a cough echoed, and a blond-haired young man, slightly older than Kael, stepped forward. The serpent slithered back and vanished behind him like mist.

"Greetings, dear friend," the man said with a polite smile.

Kael studied him briefly. "Are you the son of the Duke?"

"Yes," the man replied. "I am Melvin Serpentine. Welcome to the land of Serpents."

"That’s really a grand welcome," Kael clicked his tongue dryly.

"I was only checking the situation," Melvin explained. "My spiritual beast sensed another presence, so it came out to greet him."

Kael rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So it was interesting, huh? Fine. Whatever. Let’s go."

From there, Kael chose to ride on horseback. He wanted to observe the terrain carefully and carve it into his memory. As they moved, strange sounds followed them.

"Roar."

"Hiss."

"Hiss."

"Rrr."

Kael blinked and looked down. Two small figures were facing each other, one shaped like a lion cub and the other like a tiny seven-headed serpent. They looked like soft toys, quietly communicating in strange noises.

"Can it also change shape?" Kael asked in disbelief.

"You didn’t know?" Melvin asked.

"No. I just got this puppy a few days ago."

The Black Lion bristled as if saying"I am not a puppy."

"Whatever. You’re just a small, useless kid," Kael snorted.

Roarr!

ROARRR!

The black lion jumped and bit Kael’s head.

"Seeing you can’t properly...Even cats are stronger than you."

Hearing all this,the black lion face fell and it looked at Kael with a teary gaze.

The little serpent moved towards it and nestled the seven heads as if trying to calm him.

Hiss.

Hiss..

Wuwu.

For a moment Kael wondered if he should just stab these two.

Melvin smiled faintly. "It just needs time to grow."

"Yes, but it will be slow unless I find some enhancement," Kael replied.

"Enhancements are rare, but we have quite a few," Melvin said confidently.

"Good. I’ll take a look after we deal with this mess. So what’s the situation?"

Melvin’s expression darkened. He ran a hand through his hair. "Honestly, it’s a complete mess."

"As a Duke, you can’t even handle this much?" Kael asked bluntly.

"We could have," Melvin said grimly, "if not for betrayal from within."

Kael tilted his head. "What do you mean? And why don’t I know about this?"

Melvin frowned. "We relayed everything to the capital."

"WHAT?" Kael grabbed his hair in frustration.

"Are you sure that you relayed everything!"

"Of course we did.. Why would we hide such crucial information?"Melvin asked with a frown.

’That son of a bitch,’ he cursed inwardly.’Roosevelt definitely hid this to prank me.’

’Just wait, Roosevelt. I’m going to tear you apart after I come back.’

.....

Far away in the capital, Roosevelt suddenly sneezed.

"ACHOO!"

"Achooo!"

"It seems someone is cursing me," he muttered, wiping his nose.

"Achoo!"

"Damn...Stop cursing me as if I killed your family."

"I’m sure it’s Kael, after you kept things hidden," Martina said without looking up from the documents.

Roosevelt smiled bitterly.

"He would be knowing eventually..He will figure out something."He then turned to the table ahead.

"For a moment,I think it’s better to take part in war than to handle all this."

He had imagined a glorious life as Emperor, but reality hit him hard. He was buried under endless reports. His father had neglected work and war updates for days, and everything had piled up.

He lifted a file and sighed. "Is this really what an Emperor should do?"

"No," Pleard shook his head.

"Then what is it?"

"It’s wartime," Pleard replied. "As a newly crowned Emperor, you lack trusted people. You cannot neglect anything. Consider this training until you build your own forces."

Roosevelt sighed again and glanced at Martina with resentment. ’Damn it. I don’t want to be Emperor anymore.’

"By the way, there’s an urgent matter," Pleard added.

"Urgent? What happened?"

"Verion is causing trouble after drinking."

"Fuck you, Verion!"

"Mind your language," Martina said flatly.

"Ahh! Just tell the guards to grab him and stuff him into a room."