Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire-Chapter 416 - 411 -

"—opening the doors for the Visigoths to invade," I finished with a shrug.

Yuri crossed her arms, lips pressing together in a way that suggested she still wanted to lecture me but was too amused to commit to it.

"You’re still an idiot for pretending that hard," she said finally.

"An idiot who survived," I said.

She blinked at that... then sighed in defeat. "Ugh. Fine. But your nostalgia spiral is getting worse."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yes," she said flatly. "You look like a wolf pacing in a cage. And you’re one bad mood away from jumping the city walls just to punch a bandit for stress relief."

...She wasn’t wrong.

Not much i could do, i may have had a peaceful life for twenty something years on earth, but here... here i had know almost three consecutive years of nothing but war.

I rubbed my temples and exhaled slowly.

"I need to get out of here," I muttered. "Not for war. Not for politics. Just—out."

Yuri’s eyes softened with something like concern. "Where would you go?"

I didn’t even have to think.

"...Zeff and Miri."

Her reaction was instantaneous—like a spark of light igniting in her eyes.

"You want to see the children? Really?!"

Her excitement was contagious.

I found myself smiling without meaning to.

"Yes. I haven’t met their son yet, and Zeff hasn’t shown his face in the palace since Miri dragged him into fatherhood. Besides..."

I stretched, joints cracking, soul loosening.

"A quiet visit to old friends sounds perfect."

Yuri practically vibrated with joy. "Let me get ready!"

"You don’t need armor," I called after her as she sprinted away.

"I KNOW!" her voice echoed down the hall. "I MUST SHOW THEM THEIR PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL AUNTIE!"

I chuckled.

Yuri was a princess afterall, she couldnt help but want to imprint that thought upon the children even if they werent properly old enough to form memories just yet.

Gods help those newborns, their about to get a royal fauning over.

~

We left the palace within the hour, slipping out the western gate under minimal escort.

I insisted on no guard entourage—Zeff would mock me endlessly if I arrived with a parade of legionaries.

Our carriage was simple.

Our pace comfortable.

And the road toward the residential quarter of the Eternal City—where High Class citizens and officers lived—felt like a breath of clean air I hadn’t had in weeks.

Zeff’s manor wasn’t large.

Not a villa.

Not an estate.

Just a clean, well-built home along a quiet street.

A respectable, dignified place... but downright humble compared to anything an Imperial Knight of his caliber should possess.

"I still can’t believe he refused the three-manor estate near the central gardens," Yuri murmured.

I snorted. "He said it was ’too big’ and that he’d get lost walking to the toilet."

"Honestly," she sighed, "that sounds like him."

I mean can’t fault the guy, he previous to me finding him, was the lowest rung commoner... a slum dweller.

Miri and he had escaped the city slums only to find themselves in a poor frontier village, their ’house’ if you can call it that was really nothing more than a single room shack.

Compared to that, living in a noble mansion, yeah if i were him i’d probably wake up with night terrors.

We stepped up the stone path.

The door was slightly open.

And inside—

Chaos.

Glorious, domestic chaos.

~

Zeff was standing in the middle of the sitting room.

Or rather—frozen in the sitting room.

Rigid.

Motionless.

Like a soldier facing down a giant beast.

Except there was no beast.

Just a tiny, adorable, one-year-old girl sitting on the floor in front of him, holding a wooden block, staring at her father with the bewildered horror one might reserve for a demon crawling from the abyss.

"U-uh..." Zeff grunted.

The girl whimpered.

Zeff visibly panicked.

He did NOT move, as if any motion might cause her to explode.

"Zeff?" I called.

He jolted like he’d been stabbed.

"Oh thank the GODS—Julius?! Yuri?!" He practically staggered toward us. "H-help."

I nearly burst out laughing.

Zeff.

The Demon of the Sword.

Visage of Death to Thousands of Visigoth soldiers.

The prodigy who could split a boulder with a wooden training sword at fifteen.

The lunatic who once screamed joyously while fighting three Praetorian commanders at once.

Now reduced to:

"I—I can’t smile properly! Every time I try she cries harder!"

Yuri was already crouched, scooping the girl up with practiced gentleness.

"Ohhh you precious thing~," she cooed.

The little one immediately relaxed, burying her face into Yuri’s shoulder. "See? Nothing to fear."

Zeff deflated. "She likes you more than me..."

"That’s because you glare like you’re about to execute someone," I said.

"That’s my RESTING FACE!"

"Exactly."

Before Zeff could argue, a wail rose from deeper inside the house.

A newborn’s cry.

Then—

"ZEEEFFF!" Miri’s voice rang like a summoned wrathful spirit. "WHY IS HE SCREAMING AGAIN?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I—I didn’t do anything!" Zeff shouted back. "He just... exists!"

"BRING HIM HERE!"

"I—UH—BUT—HE’S SO SMALL—"

"Zeff," I said, patting his shoulder, "You’ve carried the fate of the world before buddy. You can carry a baby."

"That was EASY compared to THIS!"

But he shuffled off anyway—like a condemned man approaching the gallows.

~

When he returned, he was holding his newborn son.

Or trying to.

Mostly he was trembling like the child was a bomb wired to explode on contact with oxygen.

Miri followed behind him.

Exasperated.

Beautiful.

And so terrifyingly tired she could probably kill with a glance.

She had become a mother, but even still Julius or rather his Empire wasnt prepared to let her go.

Her intelligence over the years since coming here had rocketed making her one of the top minds in the empire, so while she was pregnant official documents were brought here to their home for her to deal with.

Even root operations needing her sign off were done in the open rather than in seclusion to accomodate the fact the empire could not do without her, especially with their emperor away at war for the sake of themselves and their allies.

"Julius," she said, bowing slightly despite the exhaustion. "Yuri. Welcome."

"Miri," I returned warmly. "Congratulations. Twice now. Sorry it’s late."

She smiled faintly, pride softening her face. "Thank you, They’re... loud. But perfect."

The baby wailed again, and Zeff nearly fainted.

"Hold him closer to your chest," Yuri instructed. "Stop acting like he’s made of glass."

"I AM TRYING!"

"No, you are panicking."

"I AM panicking!"

The baby’s cries escalated.

Miri sighed, plucked the boy from Zeff’s arms with a motion so smooth it belonged in a holy scripture, and instantly the child quieted.

"Goo goo..." the tiny thing burbled.

Yuri melted into a puddle.

Zeff meanwhile died inside watching how easily his love managed parenting even alongside everything else.

"See?" Miri said sweetly, even as exhaustion dripped from her eyelids. "You just need to relax."

"How?!" Zeff cried. "He hates me! They BOTH hate me!"

"They don’t hate you," I said. "They’re babies. Babies dont hate anything... well except mushy peas, perhaps fish..."

"They fear your face," Miri added helpfully.

"STOP SAYING THAT!"

"You asked."

Zeff dropped into a chair, burying his face in his hands.

"I swear I can slay an aura-rank warlord but can’t get my daughter to smile at me. Julius. Please. Tell me this is not how fatherhood is supposed to feel."

I laughed—helplessly, honestly.

"Zeff."

"Yeah?!"

"There is something very important i need to tell you."

He peeked at me through his fingers.

"...Really?"

"There is absolutely nothing i can do to help you."

Zeff hearing this dropped his arms, as his face deadpanned at the thought that this, exactly this was the way things were going to be for the rest of his life.

The sight of which tugged at the stern face Julius was wearing.

But off to the side the three girls, brought out into fits of giggle and laughter at Zeff’s sullen expression.

A blow to his dignity and mind sure, but... he finally got his daughter to laugh, even if it was only laughing at him.