The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 1246

Chapter 1246: Drawing the Line

And what, pray tell, would even justify that scandalous question?

See, as unsurprising as it probably should’ve been, it was actually Xavier who’d gone through the trouble of pulling the Marshal aside and specifically asking him to find out whether those two would be willing to swear loyalty to something that might not always work in the Crown’s favor.

Naturally, Marshal Julian had found that a rather alarming request coming from the person who was supposed to inherit said Crown one day.

But Xavier’s reasoning had been simple.

"The people of House Kyros may be loyal to the Imperial Family, but if the need ever arises, they’d still be willing to lay down their lives for Luca."

Julian had stared at his nephew for a moment.

"And is that what you actually want?"

"Yes."

There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation.

"Because anyone whose loyalty lies solely with the Crown would naturally want Luca to become more of a public figure. They may also have interests focused on improving the Empire and believe his abilities should be used toward that purpose."

Xavier’s expression hadn’t changed much as he continued.

"But that’s not for anyone else to decide. Only Luca gets to make that choice."

The Marshal could still remember looking at his nephew after hearing that and thinking about just how much the boy had taken after his father.

Because sure enough, while the men of House Solaris seemed practically born to become the sort of leaders capable of carrying the Empire on their backs, they were also the first bastards who’d probably throw the whole thing away for their better halves!

Amusingly enough, the increasingly cornered uncle could actually understand where Xavier was coming from.

It wasn’t like anyone was genuinely planning some sort of treasonous uprising against the Imperial Family either.

If anything, they were all painfully aware that even the current monarchs themselves would probably choose Luca’s well-being over whatever advantage the Empire could gain from him. So what more could be expected from that deeply attached Prince whose entire focus in life seemed to have shifted after getting married?

As that punk’s uncle, Julian was well aware that this likely had a lot to do with just how unhinged his nephew could be.

Luca obviously wouldn’t believe him if he ever said it out loud, but beneath that calm exterior and the occasional worrying smile, Xavier was likely keeping tabs on everyone around them and constantly making his own quiet risk assessments.

It wasn’t out of malice.

That was simply how he was wired.

And from that perspective, people with stronger personal ties to Luca were considerably safer in Xavier’s books. Parents whose own children would probably go down with Luca if anything happened to him, for example, had far more at stake than soldiers whose loyalty came from less personal connections.

Those soldiers might genuinely care about Luca too, but there was always a chance that loyalty could turn volatile if whatever they hoped to accomplish through him didn’t unfold the way they’d expected.

Putting it that way, Xavier really did sound like one cold and calculating prick, but what else could anyone expect from the person set to inherit the absolute clusterfuck that was the Empire of Solaris?

If he wasn’t that particular kind of crazy, would he even make it out alive?

Probably not.

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