It’s our turn to put on a show
by M1zushithank you for the ko-fi donation AC!
[Government Hall]
With the sovereign kidnapped, the entire administrative system was in chaos. The cabinet meeting had already been going on for half an hour, everyone’s voices became hoarse from arguing, yet no decision had been made on whether to make the news public.
At this point, all eyes turned to the Chief of Staff’s office.
“Lord Heinz, the cabinet is still waiting for your decision. You see, various heads of state have already arrived one by one—only the Federal Vice President is still on the way. Should we notify them that the celebration is cancelled and everyone can go home?”
Heinz made a simple gesture: “Wait a moment.”
The deputy secretary was drenched in sweat. Wait—wait for what? This was already a fire burning their ass.
But on second thought, the deputy secretary realized: given the leader’s background in intelligence and espionage, he might have already sent spies to follow. Perhaps he was waiting for national-level intelligence right now.
Sure enough, a moment later, a subordinate knocked and entered to report: “Lord Heinz, the place you asked me to investigate… There’s a lead.”
The deputy secretary’s eyes lit up: Just as expected!
Heinz crossed his arms, leaning casually against the edge of the mahogany desk, staring with a meaningful gaze at the other: “How is it?”
The subordinate pulled out a plastic bag: “In Sava II’s bedroom, I found half a pack of tissues, three pairs of holey socks, a bag of potato chips, and—”
“And?” Heinz leaned forward slightly, a hint of tension in his voice.
“And a claw-wiping cloth.”
Heinz took the plastic bag, his expression serious as he rummaged through it. Indeed, there was no owl ceramic cup inside.
The young master had taken the cup with him.
Heinz was suddenly struck by immense joy. He hugged the claw-wiping cloth tightly and sang out in praise: “The young master loves me. He still loves me.”
“Even when running away from home, he took our token of love with him.”
The deputy secretary’s expression was hard to describe: Was the leader perhaps a little… well, wishful?
Heinz, extremely action-oriented, folded up the claw-wiping cloth and carefully locked it in his office cabinet.
The deputy secretary: …His Majesty Kaide’s treatment wasn’t even as good as a foot-wiping rag.
As the top confidant, the deputy secretary was still entitled to pry a little into the leader’s personal life: “Your young master left with the rebels, why are you still so happy?”
Heinz, half-serious and half-joking, said: “I should be angry. But I’ve figured out Sava’s intention.”
“Uh… you understand that he wants to gain freedom?”
Heinz, face full of rapture, shook his head with a sigh: “No. He wants to play hard to get with me.”
The deputy secretary: “…Whatever makes you happy.”
He had to be understanding. After all, in this day and age, which workaholic wasn’t a little crazy? They were all just pretending to be composed.
Heinz went into the private bathroom, splashed water on his face, looked up at the mirror, and slowly let out a trace of morbid bitterness.
The young master was gone. After all his scheming to hold him back, he’d still flown off with someone else.
Still, the young master’s departure hadn’t been entirely unexpected.
Heinz knew that with his current power and influence, he could easily take Sava and run, either changing their names or living a peaceful life, and the young master would most likely not refuse him.
But after thinking it over again and again, he still didn’t want to do that.
No one understood his young master better than he did. Sava II had the blood of the eagle-owl flowing through his veins—he would never be content to hole up in a corner during times of chaos.
Heinz could already picture the scene—
The Little Hen eloped with him. At home, he’d be wearing fluffy pajamas, curled up on the sofa eating sweet tangerines and watching TV. Suddenly, the news broadcast would report that Bai Ling fought his way to the Capital’s military district. The Little Hen would definitely be so jealous that he’d throw the remote control on the spot, and then resent himself for not having made a career of his own.
Heinz couldn’t bear to watch his young master regret it.
Sava, his little bun, was destined to spread his wings and fly.
Heinz broodily murmured: “Sava, as long as I become emperor, I can shield you from harm and clear your path for the rest of my life.”
“I will become a beta worthy of my young master.”
“Then, no one will ever separate us again.”
A knock sounded on the bathroom door. The deputy secretary said from outside: “Lord Heinz, the Golden Eagle Marshal has sent word. The military has decided to pull an electric grid across the stratosphere, forcibly intercept the suspect ship, and conduct a covert bombardment against it.”
At a time like this, Kaide’s life or death no longer mattered—what mattered was the Empire’s face. If, in front of so many people, they let a ship that had kidnapped their sovereign slip away, where would the Golden Eagle and the military put their dignity?
They’d lose face straight across the entire interstellar community.
So better to kill indiscriminately than to let it go.
Heinz wiped his hands slowly with a towel: “Did they say why it has to be covert?”
“Something about that Bai Ling having high popular support among the civilians. The military is afraid of stirring public outrage.”
Heinz rolled his blue eyes slowly and said: “Tell the Golden Eagle Marshal that I’ve been shot.”
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
The deputy secretary had barely finished speaking when he heard a muffled gunshot from inside. His heart jolted. Heinz had already pushed the door open, clutching his abdomen as blood trickled out, his expression remarkably calm.
Heinz smiled modestly: “It’s our turn to put on a show.”
If the Golden Eagle wanted to suppress the news, he would blow it wide open. The more shocking the incident, the safer his Little Hen would be.
[The banquet hall hosting the State Dinner]
Long tables capable of seating 500 people at once were arranged around the venue. Although it was nominally a birthday celebration, the scale of this banquet rivaled a national centennial day.
Heads of state from various nations remarked: “People say the Empire has declined, but coming here, the pomp is still so extravagant. As expected of an interstellar great power, it has truly deep pockets.”
“Of course. As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Just looking at this celebration. If it were placed on some small interstellar nation, it would probably drain their treasury.”
Everyone praised: “It seems Emperor Kaide’s rule is still remarkably effective.”
“Indeed, Kaide the Great is far more approachable than Izsu Paraiso.”
As they raised their glasses and exchanged pleasantries, they all felt a nagging sense of oddity. According to the schedule, Kaide should have come out by now to exchange mutual flattery with them—why was there still no sign of him?
Just then, the gilded banquet doors were pushed open.
Everyone’s spirits sharpened. Here it comes, they thought.
They craned their necks to look—and were all taken aback. The person at the door had blue hair, and struggled against the doorframe. His pale right hand left a clear bloody handprint on the door.
Clutching his abdomen, he staggered onto the podium. Under the crowd’s stunned gazes, with a voice trembling from blood loss, he strained with all his might to maintain decorum and said:
“Go—good evening, everyone. I am Heinz, the Cabinet Chief of Staff. I regret to inform you that His Majesty Kaide will not be able to attend the banquet tonight.”
Every live camera brought by the various nations turned toward the podium. The lens zoomed in, magnifying Heinz’s bloodless, anguished face, letting his voice pass through the microphone, through electromagnetic waves, and spread across the entire Empire and beyond—
“His Majesty Kaide has been kidnapped by vicious terrorists! But please rest assured, our great Golden Eagle Marshal will surely mobilize the full might of the military to rescue His Majesty without a single scratch!”
Praise to the point of destruction!
Watching the live broadcast aboard his ship, the Golden Eagle felt those two words surface in his mind.
“HEINZ, THAT PETTY MAN! He’s ruined our plans.” The Golden Eagle slammed the table in fury. “Now the entire world’s eyes are on me. If His Majesty suffers even the slightest mishap, I’ll be condemned by a thousand fingers.”
Clearly, Kaide had been kidnapped right in the palace. Heinz should have shared the blame by all logic.
But Heinz struck first, pulling off this bitter act of self-injury. Now the whole world believed that Heinz was the loyal civil official who had bloodily fought, disregarding his own life, and run out covered in blood to plead for help.
In doing so, Heinz had earned himself a mountain of reputation, while hurling a scorching hot cauldron straight onto the Golden Eagle’s head.
“Civilians really are nothing but a bunch of insidious, treacherous garbage.”
Just as the Golden Eagle was tearing his hair out, the Grand Duke Swordfish suddenly sent a connection request:
“Marshal, no need to worry. If His Majesty meets with any accident, it certainly won’t be your fault.”
The Golden Eagle: “What does the Grand Duke mean?”
“Even if a shell strikes the ship, causing His Majesty injury or even death—as long as the media maintains a unified narrative, saying the terrorists flew into a rage and killed the hostage, then you, Marshal, can walk away completely clear.”
“In short, it will all be the terrorists’ fault. Once His Majesty is dead, the entire world will help us condemn them.”
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