Shining platinum blonde hair.
Golden eyes.
Younger-than-actual-age face.
And…
"Pffftt! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."
A boisterous laugh.
That's how the Emperor of the Aurelian Empire is acting right now in the presence of the duke's family.
The emperor is currently sitting with them around the table in the garden's gazebo.
"Julian, you finally managed to bring out your youngest son after so many years!"
The emperor loudly said as he put his right arm around the duke's shoulder.
The duke chuckled and then replied.
"Well, my adorable Jeremy must have pitied my sympathetic begging earlier, Your Majesty…he finally agreed to come with me to this palace."
His tone and expression were quite exaggerated…very different from the serious duke that the nobles and other people often see.
Jeremy looked around the garden and internally sighed in relief.
'Thank goodness, no outsiders can see this embarrassing scene.'
Aside from the trusted chamberlain, the ever-so-loyal Butler Jude, and Chief Attendant Frederick…
No other people knew this side of the emperor and the duke.
To outsiders, the Imperial Family is quite wary of the Duchy of Thorne.
And for most people, the Duchy of Thorne is both a shield and a sword for the Aurelian Empire.
They act as protectors of the empire, not the Imperial Family.
But right now…
These two powerful figures who were supposedly wary of each other…
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Julian, you're really smitten with your youngest son."
"Hehehehehe…Cyrus…I mean, Your Majesty, of course I am! Look at how angelic our Jeremy is!"
"I've long told you to just call me by name, but you're as stubborn as ever…but you're right! Your son's face is truly good-looking."
The emperor and the duke casually conversed with one another.
There are no signs of being wary of each other.
They are both being their true selves in each other's presence.
"Hohohohoho, of course…all of us in the family are good-looking! HAHAHAHAHA!"
The duke boasted happily before he took a sip of his tea.
A second after he said that, Desmond and Darius nodded proudly with both of their lips twitching upwards.
"Hehehehe, that's right! Our family is good-looking."
Desmond mumbled, but the emperor still heard it.
The emperor snorted before he turned his full attention to Jeremy.
His eyes curved in a doting smile as he took a sip of his tea while staring at Jeremy.
'Hmm? What's with him?'
Jeremy wondered as he carefully chewed a slice of chocolate cake.
"So, Jeremy…"
The emperor gently called out to him while smiling.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
Jeremy answered as he put down the remaining slice of the cake.
The emperor paused for a while before he furrowed his brows slightly.
He then opened his mouth once again.
"Jeremy."
Jeremy felt confused upon hearing the emperor calling him again.
'Didn't I just answer him earlier? Did he not hear me?'
So, Jeremy answered again.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
Upon answering, he notices the emperor's face turning dissatisfied.
He immediately asked.
"Your Majesty, did I do something wrong?"
The duke and the other people in the garden also looked confused when they saw the emperor's displeased expression.
The emperor's face when he doesn't smile is stern.
But with his furrowed brows, his face looked angry and frightening.
"Hey, Cyrus…stop making that expression! You're scaring my Jeremy!"
The duke admonished the emperor as he protectively surrounded his arms around his youngest son.
Desmond and Darius also sat up straight while being confused.
Jude and Frederick also stood in attention, not knowing what caused the emperor to make such a face.
"No, Julian…He's calling me Your Majesty!"
The emperor complained with brows still furrowed.
"What's wrong with him calling you Your Majesty?"
The duke asked in a bewildered manner.
He couldn't understand what's wrong with his son calling the emperor in that address.
Even Darius and Desmond…as well as Frederick and Jude…
They don't see any problem with it.
Only the chamberlain, who was standing a few meters behind the emperor, noticed what's wrong.
He smiled knowingly but didn't interrupt his master's conversation with the noble guests.
The emperor opened his mouth and said in a disappointed voice.
"We haven't seen each other in just a few years, but you already forgot that I'm your godfather, Jeremiah de Thorne."
The emperor said it in a way that they can see how displeased he is.
"You ought to call me Uncle in private…You should only call me Your Majesty if we are in public."
The emperor added, his tone demanding.
The garden was then filled with silence for a few seconds.
The duke was amused while Darius and Desmond were speechless…
Jude and Frederick were momentarily stunned in silence…
They were amused, speechless, and stunned by the emperor's pettiness.
'How petty!'
'The emperor is petty!'
'Why is he so petty?'
They were worried earlier if Jeremy had offended this ruler, but now they can't help but internally complain about their emperor.
Reading the expressions of each of the guests, the chamberlain just smiled innocently at the back of the emperor.
And Jeremy was relieved that the emperor's dissatisfaction came from such a trivial thing.
He then smiled and opened his mouth.
"Ahem! Forgive me, Uncle Cyrus. It must be because we haven't met each other in private for a long time."
He said calmly, but deep inside, he's quite shocked.
'The book never mentioned this.'
The book never said anything about the godfather-godson relationship between the emperor and Jeremiah de Thorne.
This is new information to him.
Seeing his innocent face, the emperor softened and replied softly.
"Well, it's fine…But next time, only call me Your Majesty on public occasions."
"Yes, Uncle!"
Jeremy immediately replied with a gentle smile on his face.
The emperor also smiled back at him and continued conversing with him.
"By the way, in a week from now, you're going to the academy together with my son."
"That's right, Uncle."
Jeremy nodded his head and took a bite of a strawberry muffin.
His father and siblings were busy sipping tea while listening to his conversation with the emperor.
"Well, I know that you've been friends since childhood, but it's been a while since you last saw each other…"
The emperor started, then paused for a while.
He seems to be thinking about how to say the remaining words.
"Right, you haven't seen the crown prince for a few years now, Jeremy."
The duke butted in on the conversation.
Darius and Desmond also nodded their heads in agreement.
Desmond then commented as he remembered something.
"Come to think of it, there were times years ago when His Highness went to our residence to talk to you, but for some reason, you're always not there."
The emperor, the duke, Jeremy's brothers, and the three trusted servants turned their heads toward Jeremy.
Jeremy felt bewildered as he didn't have any memories from his current body.
He didn't know nor have memories of what happened before he possessed this body.
What he only knows is the things written in the novel, and this information wasn't written in the novel.
He then heard Darius speaking after Desmond.
"Right, after so many times of coming but not catching even your shadow, he stopped coming to our residence."
Jeremy looked at his brothers and calmly asked.
"Hmm…did that happen?"
All the people in the garden stared at him for a moment.
Then, Desmond answered in a gossiping manner.
"Yeah! So, why did you not see him? You were so close back then, you know?"
Darius also threw his question.
"Hm…was it a coincidence that you were not there, or did you intentionally avoid His Highness?"
Jeremy pondered for a moment on how to answer these difficult questions.
As he really has no idea what happened during those times.
Jeremy decided to tell the truth.
"I don't know…maybe it's coincidental or maybe it's intentional."
He then saw the duke chuckling.
The duke spoke.
"Maybe you got tired of his clinginess, so you just decided to hide from him for a while, but you somehow forgot about him?"
Darius nodded his head and said.
"Right, that could be the reason…Jeremy easily forgets things."
Desmond also agreed and spoke delightfully about Jeremy's past.
"Yeah…before, we also had important schedules to attend to, but somehow Jeremy always forgets about his, so Dad decided not to make schedules for him anymore."
The emperor nodded as if accepting the reasoning of the duke.
"That sounds plausible…my son was really clingy to Jeremy before…you must have been annoyed by him. HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Jeremy paused and felt bothered by their assumptions.
'No, are they saying that I'm a forgetful person?'
'And who knows whether it's intentional or coincidental that the crown prince couldn't meet with this body before.'
Jeremy internally commented as he responded to them.
"No, how could I be annoyed at His Highness?"
He then took a sip of his tea.
"Hmm…this is delicious!"
He commented and raised his head.
At the same moment he raised his head, he heard someone's footsteps stopping behind him.
He then saw the emperor smiling knowingly towards the person behind him before speaking.
"Oh, you're here? I haven't remembered sending you an invitation to come here, though?"
The emperor said in a provoking manner while raising one of his brows.
But the person whom the emperor was talking to… just snorted and didn't utter any response.
At the same time, Jeremy saw all the people around him, except the emperor, stand up straight and bow toward the person behind him.
His brothers saluted.
The duke elegantly bowed his head while placing his right hand on his chest.
And the chamberlain, Jude, and Frederick bowed respectfully toward that person.
Upon seeing the reactions of the people around him, Jeremy concluded that the man behind him must be an important person.
So he decided to turn around to see who this person was and then greet them.
But before he could fully turn his head and see the person, he stopped moving.
No…he didn't stop moving.
He just couldn't move.