CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER: 116 VIVIAN? WHAT GIRLY NAME, HAMH!

["Hey softie, who gave you the name ’Vivian’?"]

The sword spirit asked in Vivian’s head, his voice full of clear disdain.

’Why?’ Vivian asked.

He kept walking down the long hallway toward the parliament room where the conference would take place.

His steps slowed a little.

He was nervous, because no matter what they decided inside that room, the result would be a war.

And in that war, he knew he had to fight.

He wanted to stand on the front line so he could kill every one of the Tramplins with his own hands.

While he was thinking about all this, the sword spirit snorted loudly in his head.

["What a girly name. Whoever named you must be a woman."]

The spirit’s guess was correct.

Vivian’s mother was the one who came up with his name.

She took the Vi from her husband’s name, Vined, and used it for Vivian.

She did the same for his little brother.

The Ed from their father’s name became Edward, the name of the younger son.

It was her way of keeping the family tied together through their names.

Vivian let out a cold snort.

No one ever made fun of his name, but this sword spirit kept doing it without fear.

Thinking about that, he shot back, ’It’s better than being called Mary, no?’

["Hey, watch your mouth, softie!" ]the spirit snapped at once.

["It’s not even my full name. My full name is Bloody Mary, and it sounds a hundred, no, a million times cooler than that girl name you have!"]

Vivian snorted again, louder this time.

[You are going really far. Didn’t you want me to help you meet Her Majesty the Queen? Forget it. I’m not doing it.]

He said it while remembering what happened yesterday.

After Charlotte did those strange things.

The sword spirit suddenly decided he must be a man... and then turned into a complete pervert.

The moment he saw the Queen in the morning, when Vivian was called for breakfast, he wouldn’t stop whining about wanting to meet her.

["Hey softie, don’t you have shame?!"] the spirit yelled in his head.

Vivian ignored him this time, pushing open the next door with a calm face, even though the spirit’s voice kept buzzing like an annoying fly inside his skull.

Beyond the door waited more people, more trouble, and a war creeping closer step by step.

The spirit’s nonsense was almost a strange comfort compared to that.

The moment Vivian entered the room, every eye turned toward him.

Some looked at him with admiration, some with affection, and a few with clear jealousy.

The main hall of the parliament was huge, almost like a large auditorium.

Four wide rings of tables filled the space, circling the middle section where a raised platform stood above the rest.

Each ring of tables held people of different status.

The first ring was for high-ranking nobles and top officials.

His father, Duke Zenithara, sat there, and so did his maternal grandfather, Duke Sant.

Beside them sat a man in his 40s with a calm face.

His blue hair moved lightly, even though there was no wind.

He wore no armor at all.

Vivian guessed who he was.

’He must be Sir Vikram von Indrath.’

Vivian had visited the royal palace many times when he was young, but he didn’t remember much.

Even so, there was only one man who fit this look.

Sir Vikram was one of the only two "accendent rank" warriors in the empire.

He was also the emperor’s younger brother, and the commander of the entire royal army.

And this man, Sir Vikram von Indrath, was known for one thing above all: his loyalty.

He was extremely loyal to the empire and to the emperor.

People often said his heart had no space for anything else.

He had never married, and it wasn’t because he disliked the idea.

It was because he had no desire to sit on the throne.

If he had children, they might one day try to claim it, and stopping them would go against everything he believed in.

To avoid that kind of cruelty, he chose to stay unmarried and give his whole life to the empire.

Vivian respected that.

A man who stood firm in his ideals, even when it cost him something, was worth admiring.

Thinking this, Vivian shifted his gaze toward the center of the hall.

There, on the raised platform, sat the emperor and the empress.

Their daughter Charlotte sat beside them, her expression sharp even when she tried to look quiet.

The three princes of the empire sat in the last row behind them.

All three had calm, well-trained faces, though Vivian knew each one was hiding his own ambition.

To someone who didn’t know the full story, it might look like the emperor showed clear favoritism toward his daughter by sitting her up front.

But that wasn’t the truth.

Charlotte had refused to take part in the succession.

The princes had not.

And because they wanted the crown, the emperor gave them as little real power as possible.

He wanted them to grow through effort, not gifts.

When the time came, the one with the most true qualification would inherit the throne.

Vivian watched them for a moment, understanding how much was being tested today, not just the fate of the empire, but the strength of the people who would guide its future.

After taking a good look at everyone, Vivian’s eyes finally landed on Charlotte.

The moment she noticed him looking, she quickly turned her face away.

Her cheeks were bright red.

Maybe she felt embarrassed now that she was sober.

Vivian let out a quiet sigh and glanced toward his father and grandfather.

Both of them met his eyes and gave small nods with warm smiles.

He stepped fully into the parliament hall.

This conference might go on for a day or two, depending on how much they argued.

With that thought in mind, he walked toward the speaker’s seat, the one reserved for him today.

He had a proposal to make, and the rules were simple.

When someone brought in a new idea or a new policy, that person sat in the speaker’s seat and explained everything clearly.

After that, the other officials were allowed to ask questions.

If the speaker could answer all their doubts and prove the idea was useful, then the hall would move to the vote.

If most of the officials agreed, the proposal would be accepted.

If not, it would be rejected and pushed aside.

He walked toward the speaker’s stand where he would present the problem and show the evidence he had gathered.

His steps were steady, but the moment he reached the place, his head was suddenly filled with a desperate voice.

The sword spirit was begging again.

He had already started begging the moment he saw the Queen earlier, but now it reached a whole new level.

["Softie, please, I’m begging you! Please go up there and pull me out of your subspace! I want to impress the Queen with my true form!"]

Vivian froze for a moment.

This perverted sword spirit had been annoying before, but he had never said anything about having a ’true form.’

"You have other forms too?’ Vivian asked in his mind.

["Yes, yes!"] the spirit answered without hiding anything.

["Please pull me out! You can see me then!"]

His voice sounded like a crazed fan who had lost all shame.

Vivian pressed his lips together.

Right now was not the time for this nonsense.

He shook his head firmly.

’No. Not right now.’

["How can you be so heartless?! You’re separating two lovers! You’re a villain!"]

The sword spirit cried.

His voice even sounded teary, like he was about to break down.

Vivian let out a slow breath.

’Guess I’m a villain then, since I’m not letting a pervert like you meet a married woman.’

He continued, ’And you should be thankful I’m not beating you up for acting like this toward my soon-to-be mother-in-law.’

His voice was half serious, half playful.

The sword spirit gasped loudly.

["No! I curse you!"]

He shouted in his head.

["In the name of all the killing intent inside me, I curse you! May you never get to meet your lover too!]

’No—no, wait!’ Vivian quickly shook his head in his mind.

’You don’t even have killing intent. You’re not a sword filled with anger or death. You’re a sword filled with lust.’

He paused, then added with a small smirk,

’Let’s do one thing. Let’s change your name from Bloody Mary to... Perverted Mary. How does that sound?’

The spirit let out a shocked hiss that echoed in Vivian’s skull, but Vivian simply stepped onto the stand with a calm face, while chaos screamed inside his head.

After shoving the noisy pervert to the back of his mind, Vivian straightened his back and stepped fully onto the stand.

The hall fell quiet.

He bowed toward the emperor first, then toward all the officials seated around the room.

With a steady voice, he spoke, "Good morning, everyone."

The sound echoed gently through the huge hall, wiping away every trace of the sword spirit’s nonsense and pulling the room’s attention fully onto him.