Who Said A Necromancer Can't Be A Priest?

"I'm disappointed. No, let's correct that. I'm beyond disappointed."

Aaran was back in the palace. The Emperor had left two of his ministers to deal with the Marki as they could, though he knew nothing would come of it.

With Morales dead, there was no way to prove where he had gotten the guns from. In other words, Runedral couldn't blame the Marki for what had happened.

But that wasn't why the Emperor was scolding Aaran.

"I gave you the mantle of an emperor considering your maturity," the Emperor said. "But it seems I was mistaken. Your actions tonight prove you were anything but mature."

Aaran remained quiet. There was nothing he could say to save his ass this time. He knew it and chose silence.

"You left the palace of your own volition. This is a massive breach of trust. Not to mention what happened afterward. You could have died, or worse, it could've been Leon's daughter."

The Emperor continued, "Not only that, you failed to secure evidence related to the incident—"

"I'm disappointed too."

Those words from Aaran's mouth shocked everyone. Even Eleanor, who was standing beside her father.

"Your Highness, you should mind your language!" one minister yelled.

Aaran aimed his gun at the minister, and he immediately cowered. The other ministers were also shocked into silence.

For nine years, Aaran had met with the ministers countless times and had even worked alongside them to understand the workings of the empire.

No one had ever imagined he would turn his weapon against them.

"Interrupt me again and it'll be the last thing you'll ever do."

Aaran lowered his gun once the ministers were silenced. In his eyes, only the Emperor had the right to talk down to him. No one else.

"Father, your statement is incorrect. I'm the one who should be disappointed because of your excuse for knights."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow, gesturing for Aaran to continue.

"They didn't even notice when a huge shipment of guns was smuggled into the capital. And on top of that, they're the reason Morales is dead."

He continued, "I had it under control. I only took my eyes off Morales once he was secured by the knights. Don't you think it's shameless of you to blame their mistake on me?"

The Emperor didn't speak, but Aaran had a lot more to say.

"I am disappointed because I thought the knights were capable individuals. But if they can't even protect the empire's capital, maybe you should just hire fools instead. At least then, we could blame their failure on their foolishness."

Verbal shots were fired one after the other. Aaran's words must have hurt the knights, and that's what he wanted. After what had happened earlier, that was the least those knights deserved to hear.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what the Emperor thought.

SMACK!

For the first time.

The Emperor hit Aaran for the first time.

Eleanor gasped, but the rest of the court remained quiet. Even Leon was taken aback by it, but didn't say a word.

"Leave and don't show me your face until I call for you! You're also stripped of all the titles you've been given. Until you can learn how to be an emperor, you'll be nothing more than a filthy Aurelia."

The ministers looked at each other. As much as they wanted to see Aaran face some consequences, the punishment was too harsh. No matter how the Emperor framed it, he was disowning Aaran, and for what? Killing some goons?

Donovan was equally shocked. Why was the Emperor pushing Aaran away after going through the trouble of brainwashing him?

However, only one person dared to voice her opinion.

"Father—!"

"Not a word, Eleanor."

The Emperor cut her off.

As for Aaran, he didn't say a word and calmly handed the Imperial brooch he was wearing to Donovan before walking out of the throne room. He should've felt sad about what had happened, but for some reason, he felt… happy.

***

A few hours later…

While sitting in his rocking chair, the Emperor wondered if he had been too harsh. He was frustrated.

Frustrated that the Marki dared to toy with them.

Frustrated that he almost lost Aaran.

Frustrated that the Marki got off scot-free.

Unfortunately, he took all that frustration out on Aaran. The boy had just turned into a man and he slapped him in front of the entire court.

Such a blow could shatter anyone's self-worth and self-confidence. Aaran was a tough cookie, but maybe it was too much for him.

I need to make it up to him.

He didn't know what Aaran would like, so he summoned Eleanor. She had spent most of her time with Aaran. If anyone knew what he would like, it was her.

"Something that Aaran would like?" Eleanor said, tilting her head. "…I think I know what."

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"That's fortunate. Do you have it on yourself?"

"Yes…" Eleanor replied, blushing.

"Good. Please give it to Aaran and make him happy," The Emperor said, patting her head.

"…I'll do my best, father."

With that, Eleanor turned and rushed outside. She didn't think her father would go to such an extent to earn Aaran's forgiveness. But now that she had her father's permission and blessing, she would make Aaran hers.

She touched her flushed cheeks, trying to calm herself.

"It's okay… The maids told me a lot about this. Come on, Eleanor. You know the theory, doing it won't be too hard. Just remember… it's the fastest way to make a man happy."

***

Knock, knock, knock.

Aaran was surprised by the sudden knocking. The knights and servants knew better than to disturb his sleep, so it couldn't be them. As for the Emperor, he wouldn't visit him. That left him with one option.

"What's Donovan doing here so late?" he mumbled and got up to open the door.

As soon as he opened the door, someone wearing a nightgown rushed inside.

"Eleanor?"

"Can you close the door? It's cold outside."

Aaran looked outside before closing the door.

"Your Highness, what is this about—"

The remaining words got trapped inside Aaran's mouth as he turned and saw Eleanor standing there… without a single thread on her body.

"H-Happy birthday, d-dear!"